Live At Leeds
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I had the opportunity to speak to a group of entrepreneurs in Leeds yesterday evening. It was a friday night in August (the summertime blues), but the turnout was excellent and I totally enjoyed the evening.
On the way down on the train from Edinburgh to Leeds, I started to put together a deck to anchor my talk. But I stopped myself and decided to select six topics to riff on (like the six amazing tracks on the original vinyl version of Live At Leeds).
But I had a tough time on the train figuring out what the six topics would be. So I did something new (for me) that worked out really well. I opened the 1:20 talk with about ten minutes on me and our firm. Then I opened up Microsoft Word on the big screen and went around the room and asked each person to suggest one topic for me to talk to. Each person had the option to pick a new topic, add a vote for an existing topic, or pass. I put each and every one of them up on the big screen. I wish I would have saved that word document because it’s an interesting collection of the issues facing entrepreneurs these days. But from memory, here are the six topics that got the most votes:
1) How do you evaluate a new investment opportunity?
2) What is going on with the US economy and how will it impact the global economy?
3) What do you make of technology platforms and software as a service business models?
4) How do you evaluate management teams before and after you invest in them?
5) What’s next for the web and web-based businesses?
6) What are the limits of advertising based business models and are they sustainable?
That’s from memory. If anyone has a better recollection of the topics we chose last night, please leave them in the comments and I’ll update this post.
There is clearly a great deal of unease in the entrepreneur community about the economy and the reliance on advertising based business models. I got a distinct sense that everyone is looking for other areas and business models for inspiration.
This talk was the finale of my summer ’08 tour of web entrepreneurship in europe. It further reinforced my view that web/tech entrepreneurship is a global phenomenon these days and that being in the US (or Silicon Valley) is no longer the huge advantage it once was. Entrepreneurs all over the world are on top of the latest technologies, companies, and business models. They see where all of this is going as clearly as we do in the states. They face challenges for sure like capital availability, awareness, marketing, travel distances, etc that entrepreneurs in the US don’t face as much. But I expect to see more and more innovation and cutting edge technology coming from outside the US in the coming years. I hope some of it comes from Northern England because I really enjoyed the people I met last night.
I’d like to thank Carl and Imran for their persistence in getting me to come to Leeds and their help in arranging the evening (and the Sheffield Wednesday match today!)
LINKS:
Guy Dickinson’s notes from the talk
Comments (Archived):
Hi Fred,It was enlightening to listen the perspective from a VC point of view. And for many of us that we just read about VCs in blogs it was very positive to actually listen one in real life. I hope your trip around Europe continues well and thank you for coming to Leeds.
Hi Fred, sounds like it was an interesting session. was it videoed?
Yes it was. I will post some video if I can find a short edited one. Otherwise I will link to it
Great stuff. Thanks 🙂
I can’t focus on a tech talk after you’ve just evoked the GREATEST LIVE ALBUM OF ALL TIME.The re-issued double album, giving much more of the concert, is a true gift.Next thing you know you’ll head a post w/ “The Song Remains the Same”, and I’ll be similarly distracted.
Or get your ya yas out!I have heard both the vinyl and the reissue CD and, like twitter, there’s something to say for the brevity and power of just six songsI think its good to have both versions
You say “being in the US (or Silicon Valley) is no longer the huge advantage it once was. Entrepreneurs all over the world are on top of the latest technologies, companies, and business models. They see where all of this is going as clearly as we do in the states. They face challenges for sure like capital availability”As an entrepreneur based in Europe looking for financing I have to take issue with this statement. Sure we may understand things just as well as our US counterparts, but without easy access to financing at the start up stage we’re at a enormous disadvantage. You’re viewing the world as a US based VC that recognises the potential in start up European companies, but until there are more people like yourself investing aggressively in Europe being in the US will remain the huge advantage it’s been for decades simply because of the easier access to financing.
Right. But that can be fixed pretty easily. NYC was capital constrained for a while but once we had some notable successes, that ceased to be the caseIt takes time but it won’t be that way forever
Hi Fred,Really good to meet you on Friday night, very interesting to hear your thoughts on Disqus + Twitter, hope you enjoyed the footy match on Saturday.Hopefully see you in London for Seedcamp.Sent from: fav.or.it
Damn! I thought you were going to answer those questions! I bet I can find some thoughts on these topics if I go into this blog’s archive.
I will because they video’d itI will post the video (or link to it) when its done
It sounds perfect for one of those nights when I’m wide-awake & can’t sleep. My attention is more focused than during the day for some reason. Thanks.
I attended the evening and have to say thanks as it was a very enjoyable evening and I found the topics and discussions very enlightening.If you are ever in the UK again doing something similar I hope I manage to catch you!Thanks.
What country has the most robust startup ecosystem outside of the USA? Israel seems to have a lot of activity.
Probably Israel historically, but I think China and India will be much bigger soon if they aren’t already
bought it from itunes about 2 weeks ago…one of my favorite records of all time. musicians tend not to think of Townshend as a lead guitarist, but this record puts that myth to rest.Oh, and nice post.
Hi Fred – thanks for taking the time to drop into the North West; I liked the ‘free range’ riff on topics from the crowd, worked really well and you covered a lot of ground.I outlined some notes (I tried to get everything, but typing speed/accuracy not the greatest) – I’ve published them here:http://www.thinkfold.com/pu…Again, a useful insight into your world.Here’s hoping you make it back to Blighty soon.cheers,Guy.
Awesome and you are right, I should have used an outliner!I added this link to my post just now
Your notes are very detailed, Guy. Thanks for sharing them.
ThinkFold is a fantastic outline tool, Guy.Wish it allowed collaborative editing like Wikipedia, I’d love to add my notes from the talk…I have blogged about Fred’s response to my question (“Do you invest in next generation media agencies?”) during the Q&A session here:http://www.realfresh.tv/an-…Look forward to seeing you again when you’re next in the UK, Fred.Come to Manchester, please!
Great set of topics, I would love to see the anwsers, you should post your ansers in a blog series. Looking forward to the Video as well.
Hi Fred,Really good to meet you on Friday night, very interesting to hear your thoughts on Disqus + Twitter, hope you enjoyed the footy match on Saturday. Hopefully see you in London for Seedcamp.sent from: fav.or.it