I spotted a tweet earlier today by Martha Lane Fox;

“about to face biggest challenge yet – being filmed by bbc showing my father how to use the internet. gulp.”

Martha, as well as being smart and stylish, co-founded Lastminute.com.  Later, moving from cities to ditties, she started Lucky Voice, the chain of karaoke bars.  I happen to know that the company’s Monday morning meetings begin in style, with each team member having to sing a song. And you thought your week started badly?

Something to sing, if not shout about, is Martha’s work on Digital Inclusion.  Put simply; Getting People Online.  Through the Race Online campaign,  I would argue that MLF has done more for GPO over the last few years than almost anyone else.  If I was dishing out damehoods, she would have to watch out.

Back to that tweet…  About Martha and her dad. 

I thought that there was something incredibly warm, positive, gentle and inspiring about a daughter teaching her dad how to use the internet.  The (Not-So-Angry) Birds and the Beeps. 

Dads (and mums) teach us so much.  We should teach them something in return. Not just our own parents.  Just think about how much we could teach other generations about technology (scary word) or the web!  Things which would help them to reconnect with friends or spend time immersed in their favourite subjects.

Really,  we’re the ones who have something to learn.  About the past, yes.  And about the present.  About life, I suppose.  In our rush to have the newest thing, don’t we overlook things which might be as little as a year old?  I know I do, all the time.  Just the other day I opened a book in Waterstones, and put it back down when I saw that it was published in 2009.  Ancient.  With that attitude (I’m guilty as charged) is it any wonder that we overlook not just old things, but old people?  What could they possibly know about today?  Almost everything.  

I remember hearing about a fateful conversation between my uncle, then in his teens, and my late grandfather.  Lowering his voice and inviting my uncle to take a seat, my grandad announced that he wanted to have a chat about the ‘facts of life’.  Nodding, my uncle agreed, saying;

“Sure.  What would you like to know?”

Perhaps my grandfather already knew that he’d left it too late.   Whichever side of the generation gap we’re on, maybe there is never going to be a better time than now, for a conversation about life, learning to use the internet, or just talking about whatever might be next. 

I think I’ve been waiting for a year to come when I can have those conversations.  Learning something, or passing something on, where both of us know that one (in that moment) is teaching the other. 

Martha and her dad have inspired me not to wait any more.

 

Six months ago, on March 28th 2011,  StartUp Britain was born. 

Let’s be honest, there was nothing shy and retiring about our launch.  Featured on BBC Breakfast.  Front page of the Daily Telegraph.   The Prime Minister, Chancellor and Business Secretary were all guests at our first event.

To recap, StartUp Britain is all about business people helping other business people to start up and grow.  It’s a private sector campaign, started by eight private individuals (Emma Jones, Lara Morgan, Michael Hayman, Duncan Cheatle, Jamie Murray Wells, Rajeeb Dey, Richard O’Connor and me).  It is independent, non-party-political and is funded by sponsors from the private sector, rather than by public money.    

So what’s the link with Government?  I think it’s fair to say that StartUp Britain was inspired by a series of meetings with Number 10, at the beginning of this year.  A group of us had met with Lord Young (at our request), following his resignation last year.  We wanted to chat with him, to pick his brains about enterprise.  We’d hoped that we’d be seeing more of him in his role as adviser to the PM.  His resignation made that less likely.  So we wrote to him, and arranged a coffee. 

As we introduced ourselves, he saw a potential link and wanted to put us in touch with Downing Street, which happened the next week.  With hindsight, it’s hardly surprising that Lord Young saw the connection.  He is a serial entrepreneur who now invests in technology firms.  On top of that, he has chaired major companies (including Cable and Wireless) and, unusually, been a Cabinet minister for both trade and industry and employment.  In our group’s first meeting with Number 10, we discussed the work of StartUp America (which had just launched and we had all seen).  We were offered the chance to launch something, on a platform with the Prime Minister, in less than a month’s time.  Some would have turned that opportunity down.  We didn’t.

Our decision was pretty straightforward.  We wanted StartUp Britain to be (and it is) independent of Government, driven by business, for business.  Something useful, which could help anyone wanting to start a business, whilst also inspiring current business owners to grow their business. 

So what has happened in those six months?

Here are a few numbers:

Immediately following the launch, Experian reported a 25% rise (or, more correctly, spike) in people searching for the term ‘start up’ online.  It certainly got people talking!   

From the initial buzz, things soon got practical.  We were approached by the brilliant Marketing Agencies Assocation with a great plan to run a week of events for start-ups around the theme of marketing and advertising.  Marketing 4 StartUp Britain was the result, reaching an estimated 3,000 people who attended events and watched live.

Through organisations like the Supper Club, we’ve matched mentors with mentees.  To date, over 1,500 hours of mentoring have been received and there is a clue here about how StartUp Britain might have a bigger role to play as matchmaker in future.

One of the things available on the website at launch was a StartUp Guide, sponsored by Blackberry.  Over 4,000 were downloaded.

We have been approached by over 190 Local Champions, keen to work with us on a local level around the UK.  Four of these  already trialling something we’re going to be calling StartUp Local.

Our Twitter account has been a great way to engage with people, and has over 8,000 followers and counting.

Over 6,500 people now receive our regular newsletter.

We created a StartUp Britain Bus Tour which travelled 1236 miles, visiting 15 cities (including Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol) and attracting 72 experts onboard to meet local startups.  The youngest visitor was 4 and the oldest was 81!  The tour saw traffic to the website doubling when it was on the road.

Since launch,  the StartUp Britain website has had over 129,000 unique visitors.

Try as I may, I cannot claim credit for any of this.  We have a brilliant CEO in the form of Emma Jones, and a terrific team in Jamie Williams, Lorna Bladen and Becky Jones.  Our sponsors make our activity possible – they are Axa, Microsoft, Barclays, Dell, Mitie, Intuit, Paypal and Intel.  Without the hundreds of business owners who have volunteered their time face-to-face, words would not have turned into actions.

We’re six months in, and StartUp Britain is a laurel-free zone (no resting, sadly, for the team!).  We know that we have only just started and we’re still in start-up mode ourselves.  We’re starting out, both in terms of our journey, and in terms of fulfilling our potential.  Have we got everything right?  No way.  Was it confusing to have the PM’s face adorning our site on day one, making people think that were were a political campaign?  You bet.  Was it insensitive to extol the virtues of an overseas crowd-sourcing site as one of our top tips?  Yes.  Do we appreciate the people who gave us a second chance and continue to offer their ideas and help?  More than ever. 

So what next? 

1) A second version of the website, which is already being built.  Without giving away too much, it will allow people to upload things which they have found helpful, and have far more local resources.

2) Inspired by the feedback from Marketing 4 StartUp Britain, we’ll be running a Tech 4 StartUp Britain week in October.

3) StartUp Britain will be hitting the road again, with a particular focus on university start-ups.

 The biggest lesson I have learned is that the best things happen when someone with real energy approaches us, asking if we could do something together.  Something which involves them playing a key role in delivery.  I predict that our biggest future successes will come from significant players joining us to create projects together, bearing in mind that our own resources are limited.  If you think that might be you, or if you know someone that might be keen, we would hugely appreciate that approach. 

We’re looking forward to the next six months – we’ve only just got started!

 

“There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something”.
Henry Ford

September used to mean the start of a new school term.  Even now, many years later, there is the whiff of the new pencil case in the air as a fresh season begins.

Across my network, I’ve been picking up on the news of changes afoot.  Of people moving places.  Here is what I hope is an interesting selection…

Rishi Saha has moved on from his role as head of Digital Communications at Number 10.  He has joined  Hill and Knowlton as regional director, based out of Dubai. 

Another person leaving Number 10 for foreign shores is Tim Chatwin, who is joining Google.org in San Francisco. 

On a more positive note for our political friends, one of the latest additions to the Government’s digital team is Liam Maxwell, who has an excellent reputation.  Earlier this summer, the Guardian reported that he is to be “chief information officer on new ideas for the Government’s use of technology”.

In the world of social enterprise, old friend Jonathan Jenkins is leaving Unltd (the foundation for social entrepreneurs) to become CEO of the Social Investment Business.  Unltd retain the talents of Jo Hill as their current head of ventures, who I’ve enjoyed working with on several projects over the years.  It was over a breakfast meeting that Jo, Jonathan and I cooked up the idea for Unltd’s Super-Connectors, and over a coffee several years ago that Jo and I first imagined what became Speednetwork the Nation and then Speednetwork the Globe.

Coffee, I’m afraid, has a habit of fueling ideas and conversation.  So I do wish that certain Government departments would refrain from taking the austerity measures one step too far in their refusal to serve so much as a glass of water at meetings.  These meetings, which are often populated by volunteers, suffer as a result I’m sure.  I’ve resorted to bringing my own.

Back to the subject of moves…the brilliant Mary Abdo and the scarily clever James Crabtree are leaving London for Mumbai.  Mary has been leading The U (the citizen’s university) and James is off to lead the Mumbai bureau of the FT.  Mary, I’ve no doubt has already been bombarded with interesting opportunities and I’m really envious of their Indian adventure!

Returning to the foundation front, and Nicola Pollock (head of grants at Esmee Fairbairn) is leaving to become the director of the John Ellerman foundation.  To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t heard of it (my fault!), and I’m sure that Nicola will be doing some great things to raise its profile in the years to come.

Finally, the latest person to leave our shores is the incredibly creative Alex Tew.  He has gone to join Michael and Xochi Birch at their wonderfully named Monkey Inferno.  Described as a Personal Incubator (PINC!) it is, in their words, somewhere “where we dream up cool internet projects, develop them, then nurture them into successful businesses.”  Sounds fantastic! And when the co-creators of Bebo, Birthday Alarm and the Million Dollar Homepage start plotting, you can be sure that another great plan is not far away.  I’ll try to keep you posted!

Are you on the move?  Would you like to be?  Let me know – you never know what might happen!

 

 

August is the month of Out of Office replies.

For some, you are on ‘Annual Leave’.  This is almost to say that you would far rather be at work, however you will be in terrible trouble if you don’t use up your number of days.  So, reluctantly, you are sitting on a beach.

Others are simply ‘Out of the Office’.  Simple, cryptic and named after the alert.  You may be working from home, you might be away on business.  It’s for you to know and for us, maybe, to find out.

Some go the whole hog and admit to being on a good, old fashioned Holiday.  Holiday.  The sort of word that you imagine the health and safety gnomes will declare war on any day now on the basis that it might make non-holiday-makers feel uncomfortable. 

Finally, there is the tailored approach.  Cheeky, funny or peculiar, the sandcastle on the Out-of-Office beach…

Here are three I’ve seen winging their way back to me in the past month:

From a leading figure on the social enterprise scene:

“I’m am off until Sept 1st on a bloody well deserved holiday. (My Wife) will castrate me if I look at work emails so there is zero chance of getting me. If it is really urgent then get in touch with (my business partner) who will give you excellent service (he tells me).”

From a successful UK-based entrepreneur;

“I’ll occasionally be checking emails surreptitiously under the table at dinner when I think no-one is looking, but I won’t be catching up on most things until 25th August when I’m back in the UK”

And finally, from the CEO of a major broadcaster;

“I’m really sorry but I’m away on holiday for a  few weeks & apparently in Mexico you are forced to drink copious amounts of tequila if caught answering emails.  Therefore please ignore any responses that emanate from this address between August 1st – 16th”.

Whatever your message reads, you can be sure of an avalanche of emails when you return.  For some, this is one long nightmare of wading through sludge, with enough bum-covering ‘CCs’ to paper the Sistine Chapel.  For others, it is like Christmas morning, with the added bonus of the occasional bodily enhancement offer. 

Is there any way to avoid the return-to-work inbox?  Maybe there is.  Why not use a technique favoured by  a colleague of mine.  This is a man who has what might be the widest international network of anyone I know;

“Due to an overloaded inbox, this and my other email addresses have been temporarily deactivated, and can not receive nor store messages (thus, your message has not been received). They will be re-activated on Monday, 29 August 2011. Thank you”.

The above message appears in three languages. 

Now that’s what I call Out-of-Office.

 

 

I’ve been turning down quite a few speaking invitations recently.  Not because I’m too busy.  Not because the organisation or person inviting me didn’t seem interesting.  Just because I didn’t feel that I was the right person.

I left school fifteen years ago and have been incredibly lucky to have had some amazing adventures since then. 

But let’s get real. 

I’ve not banked lots of money.  I’ve not built large and successful companies.   I can show you dozens of people who have done both, and encourage you to invite them to share their stories.

If I’m honest, I’ve managed to a pick up a very small number of clues, and am still working the rest of it out. 

1.  Get some sleep.

2.  Get some exercise.

3.  Get some peace and quiet.

4.  Write to people out of the blue and ask them if you can come and see them.

5.  Write some goals down.

6.  Resend emails to busy people.

7.  Read some business books.

8.  Try to be nice to people

9.  Try to be helpful.

Most of all, I have been lucky to meet some phenomenal people.  Ask me to give a talk about building an effective network.  That’s something I feel confident sharing. 

This is the week that A-Level results come out.  To anyone who has managed to get what they wanted, a massive congratulations.  To anyone who hasn’t, it will be OK, even if it seems pretty grim at the time.  It really will be OK.

I’d have liked to have a quick look at my list of things when I finished my A-Levels.

What about you?

What would you like to have known on the day you picked your results up? 

What clues have you seen?  

Pass them on in the comments- – anonymously if you want.

You never know who might be reading.