FastForward

The failure rate of new businesses is perhaps an odd topic to be talking about on a podcast dedicated to supporting startup businesses, but it’s a figure that needs to be highlighted and the reasons for it understood.

Currently 80 percent of SMEs fail. If you’re in the top 20 per cent and survive your first year the chances of your business celebrating its 5th birthday are around 50-50.

Australian entrepreneur and business coach Tristan Wright has grown a kitchen-table startup to a seven-figure turnover, but it wasn't plain sailing. After he left his job in engineering to concentrate fully on his small business the Australian dollar plummeted leaving him $200,000 in debt. His marriage also broke down at the same time. He admits he dropped the ball.

Tristan joins Trish from Australia to share how he picked himself up and rebuilt both his business and his life and the valuable lessons he learned along the way.

If you enjoyed this podcast feel free to leave a review here: https://ratethispodcast.com/fastforward

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Tristan Wright, founder Evolve to Grow https://www.evolvetogrow.com.au/

Listening Time: 45 mins

Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/
Facebook: Tech Manchester 

Accessing funding for your startup business isn’t easy. If you’re a white, university-educated male, your path to entrepreneurship is significantly less bumpy than if you’re a woman. 

Currently, female-led businesses receive one per cent of all investment. Just one penny in every pound is invested in new businesses run by women - and there are even greater roadblocks to overcome if you’re a woman of black or ethnic origin. 

A 2013 report by Warwick Business school found that black-owned businesses were more likely to be rejected for an overdraft and charged higher interest rates than  white-owned counterparts. 
BuildHer is trying to change that. The crowdfunding platform was set up for women of black origin to be able to access the funds they need to start a business, project or innovation.

CEO DamiLola Soyoye chats to Trish about why she's passionate about building a platform to help women of ethnic or black origin shine and see their ideas flourish into successful businesses.

If you enjoyed this podcast feel free to leave a review here: https://ratethispodcast.com/fastforward

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: DamiLola Soyoye , founder BuildHer www.buildher.co.uk 
YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCMObStR_owIg6FWlYxPGo9w

Listening Time: 50 mins

Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/
Facebook: Tech Manchester 

If you’ve ever organised a group event, whether a family or corporate event you will understand how frustrating it can be to chase people for payments and you may even be left out of pocket. When Amy Whitell lost £80 after organising a baby shower, she decided there had to be a better way. 

In May 2019 Amy quit her executive role at education publisher Twinkl to launch group payment app Collctiv, along with her co-founder Pete Casson. 

As we move into an increasingly cashless society the app aims to take the hassle out of collecting money and can even collect payments in advance. 

The business has recently closed a £140,000 funding round.

Amy chats to Trish about the journey to date, understanding the world of fintech, the art of pitching and how the business had an upsurge during the Covid lockdown even though group get togethers were illegal.

If you enjoyed this podcast feel free to leave a review here: https://ratethispodcast.com/fastforward

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Amy Whitell, co founder Collctiv https://collctiv.com/

Listening Time: 50 mins

Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/
Facebook: Tech Manchester 

Is your child or children getting the education they need to survive in the 21st century? The world is changing fast, at this rate the jobs required in just five years don’t even exist yet in today's job market . 

How do we equip the next generation with the right skills to be able to adapt and thrive?  

Elizabeth Tweedale is passionate about challenging stereotypes. At school she captained the cheerleading squad and lead the computer science club. 

Today, Elizabeth is CEO and founder of Cypher, a coding company for kids. Its mission is to empower children to confidently navigate the changing world around us by understanding the language of code.  

Cypher has recently closed a funding round of £225k in investment following a period of growth in which it has pivoted to online classes.

In this episode Elizabeth shares her predictions for how future generations will create their own jobs, learnings from her own entrepreneurial journey, and tips for budding entrepreneurs.

If you enjoyed this podcast feel free to leave a review here: https://ratethispodcast.com/fastforward

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Elizabeth Tweedale, founder Cypher Coders www.cyphercoders.com

Listening Time: 50 mins

Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/
Facebook: Tech Manchester 

After launching her travel business, Tripptee in January 2020, Tanya Nichol jetted of on the holiday of a lifetime. But Covid-19 struck and five days in Cameroon turned into five months and counting. 

But the experience has been life changing for Tanya, both personally and professionally. She's learned to adapt to a new culture and focused on how her business can adapt to best meet the needs of travellers now. 

In this podcast she shares her experiences and the lessons it's taught her; from running an online platform with limited electricity and internet connection to finding love when it was least expected. 

If you enjoyed this podcast feel free to leave a review here: https://ratethispodcast.com/fastforward

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Tanya Nichol, founder TrippTee https://tripptee.com/

Listening Time: 30 mins

Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/
Facebook: Tech Manchester 

'Always take your opportunities because you never know where they might lead.' - Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia. 

Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia is the former CEO of Virgin Money. She started her career as an accountant, but her life took a different path after being introduced to Sir Richard Branson.

After 11 years at Virgin Money everything changed. The company was acquired by Clydesdale Bank and Dame Jayne-Anne found herself unemployed for the first time in her life. But it presented Dame Jayne-Anne with an opportunity to start her own business and she got to work building a digital bank.

Snoop launched in April of this year, in the middle of a global pandemic, and closed a £3.2 million funding round within its first week.   

In this podcast Dame Jayne-Anne shares her career journey and the lessons she's learned along the way. She also chats to Patricia about how banking is evolving and explains the key to securing investment - and it involves kissing a lot of frogs!

If you enjoyed this podcast feel free to leave a review here: https://ratethispodcast.com/fastforward

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia, founder Snoop https://snoop.app/

Listening Time: 45 mins

Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/
Facebook: Tech Manchester 

Is your business really harnessing the power of LinkedIn? With 25% increase in user activity on LinkedIn in the first quarter of 2020, there is no doubt that there is more interest in Linkedin as a platform for business than ever, not just for recruiting top talent, but to network, connect and sell. 

Louise Brogan has been teaching entrepreneurs how to use LinkedIn to get leads and win business for more than seven years through her consultancy Social Bee to help others with their social media.   

In this podcast Louise reveals the magic behind creating a stand-out LinkedIn profile that will have customers and clients reaching out to work with you. 

Download Louise's FREE guide to using LinkedIn: www.socialbeeni.com/download

If you enjoyed this podcast feel free to leave a review here: https://ratethispodcast.com/fastforward

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Louise Brogan, founder Social Bee Links www.socialbeeni.com,  www.linkedin.com/in/louisebrogan

Listening Time: 45 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

Founders put a great deal of hard work and effort into pitching to potential angel investors. But once a deal is secured the work doesn't stop. Many angels are involved in the functioning of the startup in some capacity, therefore a strong relationship can help the business grow and thrive.

Angel investor Richard Law and Ben Davies, founder of data validation platform Vypr both understand the importance of a productive working relationship.

In this podcast, recorded prior to the Covid-19 lockdown, they share their insights into what makes a winning investment partnership for both angel and entrepreneur.

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Richard Law, angel investor and chairman of Vypr and Ben Davies, founder of Vypr https://vyprclients.com/
Listening Time: 50 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

What will the car of the future look like? The automotive industry is currently experiencing a technological revolution. Vehicle manufacturers are focused on delivering electric, autonomous, connected cars and all with a completely new architecture. 

Tamanna Haque, a senior data scientist at Jaguar Land Rover is at the cutting edge of the changes taking place within the automotive industry. But as a woman in the industry she is in the minority. Just 12 percent of the current engineering workforce in the UK are female, something Tamanna is passionate about changing.  

Tamanna joins Trish on the podcast to mark this year's International Women in Engineering Day (June 23rd). She shares her career journey and discusses why more women need to consider a career in engineering to help shape and change the world we live in.

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Tamanna Haque, Senior Data Scientist at Jaguar Land Rover 
Listening Time: 30 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/

What if socks could change the world? 

In 2015 Josh Turner posed that question to his friends in a pub. Proving the answer has changed the course of his life. Stand4Socks was formed to be a force for good. 

For every pair of socks sold online the company donates a specially engineered antibacterial pair to someone in need. Stand4Socks has now donated more than 50,000 pairs of socks to homeless shelters across the UK.  

Recently Josh appeared on Dragons Den in the hope of securing some funding for Stand4Socks and his athleisure socks STRIDIES. He didn’t receive any funding but did get some really positive feedback from the Dragons.  

Josh joins Trish to talk about that experience and his entrepreneurial journey to date - he's been forming and running businesses since he was 12 years old! He'll share his tips on how to build a sustainable and commercially viable social enterprise and of course to answer the question of whether socks really can change the world!

Host: Patricia Keating
Guest: Josh Turner, founder Stand4Socks - www.stand4socks.com
Listening Time: 36 mins
Follow Tech Manchester:
Twitter: @tecmcr
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/techmanchester/