Mentors & Experts

13 Years experience helping businesses start-up, develop and grow. I’m a well rounded business adviser who understands marketing, finance, operations, project management and innovation. I’m particularly interested in helping businesses gain access to finance and know quite a bit about what it takes to become investment ready.

Rob Fitzpatrick

"How to do customer development and avoid lipservice when talking to customers"

Legal advice in relation to Intellectual Property, IT issues and Data Protection

Pay per click (Google Ads, Bing Ads, Linkedin Ads, Facebook Ads)
Analytics (Google Analytics, Tag Manager, Reporting, CRMs)
Marketing strategy
e-commerce

Use of data, artificial intelligence and automation

– Astrophysicist and founder of a cycling security startup.
– Problem solving.
– Lean business thinking and strategy.
– Company core values and purpose.

MBA, bootstrapping, strategic planning, non executive, investor,

I’m a Video Game Producer, specialising in start-up and scale-up studios. It”s quite a niche role! It encompasses aspects of Project Management and Change Management but basically it is a facilitation role designed to keep the team on track and aligned with delivering their goal. Sometimes it involves helping them find out what their goal is! Through enthusiastic cheer-leading and use of interrogative and investigative questions, my role is to help the team deliver high quality output at a sustainable pace. The Producer is never the star of the show – our job is to help all the members of the team work together better.
I Can Help With:
Refining Ideas – What problem are you actually trying to solve?
Formulating A Plan – How are you going to go about solving your problem?
Presentation – Let’s proof-read your pitch together.
Mentoring – I’m also a failed entrepreneur! Learn from my mistakes!

• Building tech and startup communities
• Connecting the right people together
• Public speaking & Events planning
• Signposting
• Startup knowledge and networks

"Brilliant connector who can help you reach out to anyone in the UK tech ecosystem"

Business Plans (for VC/Angel investment)
Marketing Planning, Implementation and Evaluation
Idea Validation
Generational Motivational Advice

Thomas Constant, founder of BeoBia

Great overview video of the key crowdfunding options for startups (donations, Equity or rewards) and a deeper dive into Kickstarter which Thomas used successfully himself.

Launched my own startup and worked at early stage startups, so have experience most aspects of launching and growing a business. Happy to help with product ideation, business models, sales and business development and fundraising strategies.

Gigi Levy-Weiss. General Partner at NFX seed stage venture firm

Good guide to recruiting for startups. Covers the conflict between recruiting quickly and recruiting well. Advocates using your network to find candidates due to increased likelihood of them being a good fit

2 startups, 2 exits, ran an accelerator, run a fund. I can help with most things relating to startups. I am really good at founder coaching/mentoring and with helping people preparing their pitches.

Experienced at helping start-ups figure out their position and messaging in the market, acting as a sounding board and outside advisor to help ideas develop. Experience working with multiple companies ranging from Seed – Series A funding, helping them build credibility with customers, the media and potential investors.

Sean Ellis & Morgan Brown

A highly accessible, practical, method for growth that involves cross-functional teams and continuous testing and iteration.

Good for not only understanding the sorts of experiments one can run but also how to organise your business around experiments (cross-functional teams, etc)

Broad experience cross-sector of designing, building and launching products and services globally. Experience with everything from Ideation to Launch and Operation. Most recent experience PropTech; FinTech; EdTech; LegalTech; HRTech; Enterprise SaaS;

Skills, experience, expertise: capital equipment, sensor development, quality control, rolled goods, colour science, R&D funding, collaborative innovation, capex business development, exporting, international sales.
Connections: researchers at DMU, businesses of all sizes in the region.

– 5+ years working for the BBC as a broadcast journalist (radio)
– 4 years working in PR/communications
– Independent podcast producer (recording, editing and publishing)

Seth Godin

By reaching out to only those individuals who have expressed an interest in learning more about a product, Permission Marketing enables companies to develop long-term relationships with customers, create trust, build brand awareness, and greatly improve the chances of making a sale.

“How to market to people with their blessing rather than cold calling”

Working in Health and Education, supporting women in business, start up support

Freelance full-stack software developer specialised in Microsoft .Net technologies with more than 20 years of experience delivering enterprise solutions with 1+ years in scaled agile framework (SaFE) implementation. Familiar with working in agile teams, following scrum, BDD and Domain Driven Development methodology. Experience of the following industries and sectors: Utility, Retail, Banking, E-Commerce, Digital Signage, Kiosk, Small Office Home Office, Information Technology, Logistics, Automated Trading, Warehouse Management.

Passionate about storytelling. Succinct and intelligent communications, and creative media production. We lead an opinionated, funny and direct discourse on the effectiveness of B2B Marketing AND Internal communications.

"inspirational speaker, really good at helping people untangle their USPs and tell their stories"

Team management – managing a team in a scaling business / recruitment / employee engagement
Marketing – print, digital, design – specialism in Social Media
Sales – pitching to clients, identifying new markets

A serial entrepreneur who has set up and run various successful business in the insurance sector. I have invested in a number of business’ from music, to sports clothing to the insurance sector, and worked with a range of Private Equity Houses in their insurance related investments. I am now taking on Life insurance with the aim of completely changing the customer experience and purpose.

Specialties: leadership, strategic planning, account management, budgeting, business development, business plans, change management, contract management, delivery, direct marketing, executive management, finance, marketing, relationship management, sales, tender writing,

Brad Feld

“Startup communities” are popping up everywhere, from cities like Boulder to Boston and even in countries such as Iceland. These types of entrepreneurial ecosystems are driving innovation and small business energy. Startup Communities documents the buzz, strategy, long-term perspective, and dynamics of building communities of entrepreneurs who can feed off of each other’s talent, creativity, and support.

This is the book that first promoted the idea of an entrepreneur-led startup community and has been a model for cities all over the world (including Leicester!)

One-to-one, tailored support and guidance for Leicester & Leicestershire businesses seeking help, information and advice

Email and CRM strategies including onboarding customers, dealing with churn and any other CRM Comms. Big part of how I help is to look at the right way to analyse your customer base and their behavioural attributes.

I have been the founder of 2 companies, one was a company aimed at connecting suppliers and manufacturers together. The other business was based in recruitment. I have also worked at national and international law firms within the area of commercial litigation. I have experience drafting many different types of legal documents and I am happy to share my experiences when it comes to commercial litigation. I can help you at the information stage by sharing more information on these types of documents. This will then pave the way for you to reach out to a solicitor who can actually draft these documents. You will be gaining industry insight into the legal side of things when you are talking to me.

James Currier & the NFX team

Comprehensive guide to leveraging network effects to grow startups

Knowledge of finance options in the East and South-East Midlands.

Really good understanding of the investment landscape in the Midlands region - great for introductions.

Jose Cayaso at Slidebean

How to test you’re charging the right amount and at the right frequency. Mostly aimed at B2B Saas.

Web apps, software engineering, ed-tech

– Computer Science graduate from DMU
– Founded an AI-based language learning startup in 2017
– B2B startup experience
– General tech startup-related stuff
– Vesting schedules and other aspects related to equity and company structure
– Experience in gaining commercial investment and soft funding

I implemented and grew the AI system that keeps planes in the air at 35,000 ft. Now I help other industrial businesses achieve the same.
Having helped organizations like Rolls-Royce, and SSE use existing data to achieve £100M+ savings, I am now helping large industrial organizations use the learnings to achieve £Millions in OPEX cost reduction. I engage with some of the largest industrial organizations to help them reduce OPEX costs using our high-frequency industrial analytics platform.

Made lots of mistakes over the last 7 years as we have take the team from just myself with an idea to a team of 14. Bootstrapped. Small amount of venture. Got to profitability. My key skills are in sales and marketing. Just started a diploma in coaching as long term goals is to be a mentor / coach / investor to small businesses

Have worked in SEO for 9 years, and now in SaaS for around 3 years

I have experience in Project Management, Team Leadership, Mentoring, and a Full-Stack Developer. I love coding, networking, team-building, SaaS products, IoT, STEM activities, and new ideas.

17 years running own business and supporting others’ business growth. Access to funding specialist. Business Angel (limited). Significant experience in securing grant funding (local, regional and national) for client businesses, as well as helping businesses to raise equity funding (and some debt). Well connected to public sources of funding and business support.
Many years of supporting new start and early stage businesses through advice, guidance, mentoring, coaching and signposting.

"Very informative regarding the local investment and funding landscape"

Junior doctor and founder of an award-winning collection of medical education resources, aimed at medical students and junior doctors.

Supply chain management within the Leather and Footwear Industry. Consultancy and matching brands with both raw material and finished product vendors. Also many years helping and mentoring new business start-ups. Using a wide range of contacts for both funding and signposting for professional input.

I’ve spent 18+ years working in start-ups, businesses, charities and social enterprises. This involved leading programmes, managing grant funds, operations, fundraising, strategic planning and building partnerships across Senior Management Teams. 

Worked in UX for around 7 years. Originally began working designing and building eCommerce websites, then moved into working on product for startups and some big companies (Dunelm, Waitrose). Over the last few years, I’ve specialised in designing MVP’s and working on early-stage stuff for startups. I’ve also ran a lot of innovation workshops for bigger companies.

I am a Digital Transformation expert with 21 years of experience in large technology providers including Microsoft and Hitachi, and I have led many multi-million projects for enterprise customers. I have an MSc in Engineering Management and an MBA from the University of Leicester.

Commercial lawyer and founder building a network of lawyers and accountants around the world. Happy to help with any general legal issues for small businesses or find you other lawyers or accountants with suitable expertise.

Sales/Business Development, Marketing, Fundraising, Strategy, Legal profession contacts

Marketing, raising funds, product vision, business development

Currently building an online wills and lasting powers of attorney startup.

– leading teams/development teams
– automating your processes without knowing how to code
– hiring great people
– team dynamics
– finding the right tools to run your business
– telling people they don’t need an app

• Rapidly developing and testing ideas
• Business modelling
• Marketing strategy
• Entrepreneur networks/community building
• Getting free support from universities
• Startups originating from universities
  

– Director-level experience in media and communications
– Various post-graduate qualifications in business administration and marketing
– Insight into regional business networks
– Corporate, public sector and startup experience

Alex Turnbull at Groove

The onboarding experience can be the difference between life and death for your product. Here’s everything we learned about improving it

Great little article about what to say to people in your first (onboarding) email when they first sign-up.

My field of expertise is Artificial Intelligence, more specifically Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing.  I can help in technical stuff, since this is my speciality. I can also help with other management-related tasks or make introductions, when possible.

Product development | Managing Director roles | Agency model and SaaS models | Coaching | Cost analysis | Enterprise software requirements | Global markets with SaaS product | Overseas subsidiary business | PLC and Global brand SaaS customers

Led a programme of support for student and graduate start-ups across various industries. The programme focuses on early stage (pre-trading/ registration) start-ups and I can provide coaching, mentoring and connect individuals with the local start-up community and further start-up support. I also have experience in start-up social media and business modelling of start-ups. I currently run my own start-up in the camping industry.

35 years’ experience in one aspect or another of accounts & tax. Have sold one practice, now building a new one using modern (off the shelf) cloud tech.

Innovator, to do something different and the ability to sell this vision.

Experience around Personal and Business development
Expertise around Sport Science-related product development
Expertise around Business Management Software (ERP, CRM, E-commerce)

Technical skills: Web development, mobile apps, servers etc. I built all of the technology for a place promotion app, so have a wide range of experience. Company financials: I’m obsessed with tracking revenue and profits accurately and focusing on maximising margins.
Processes and automating: Making a company, and the team, as autonomous as possible to get a business running as efficiently as possible.

20+ years experience in founding/working in tech startups in UK/Silicon Valley. Expertise in lean startups, software engineering, product management, business development, marketing strategy, and funding.

"Hugely experienced tech founder and member. Cyber security and fintech a speciality"

https://www.scoreapp.com/

Lead generation app that uses a nice looking quiz which takes you to a landing page where you get a score, some suggestions how to improve a pdf report

Happy to help and offer any advice on public sector procurement ( especially technical) and how you can engage compliantly with Councils.

Business consultant, branding, e-commerce. Expert investment advisor helping start ups and companies get investment ready.

I have experience in both the public and private sectors and public-private partnerships. I have a particularly strong understanding of the UK start-up and scale-up enterprises, issues faced by underrepresented founders and scaling of social projects.

I am an MBA qualified Start-Up & Innovation coach, Leanstack coach, certified pretotyper & growth master, with a passion for developing innovation opportunities within organisations and with startups.

I have over 20 years of experience of product management in global organisations, managing complex relationships at a strategic level and driving business change.

Focus on working with pre-and-early startups to develop their ideas and to gain traction.

Creator of client-portal SaaS product and design academy which helps developers conquer their fear of design. Experience of going from freelancing design services to digital products.

A usefully short guide to software pricing

How do you price your software? Is it art, science or magic? How much attention should you pay to your competitors? This short handbook will provide you with the theory, practical advice and case studies you need to stop yourself from reaching for the dice.

Patents for inventions, registered trade marks, registered designs, copyright, intellectual property law in general.

Eric Reis

The Lean Startup is about learning what your customers really want. It’s about testing your vision continuously, adapting and adjusting before it’s too late.

“Essential reading for any new innovative startup – how to validate your idea quickly and cope with the uncertainties of an untested idea.”

"Don't build anything until you've read this book!"

José Cayasso, CEO of Slidebean

Short video describing the key components of a well written investor pitch deck for startups. Lots of real world examples included.

Assistance and expertise in investment readiness
Help with connections to funders
Advice around what funding is suitable and realistic
Assistance in preparing relevant documents

Co-founder of tech startup that validates your work achievements and skills. Background as consultant and Head of Talent and Performance at various tech startups.

"Knows HR and employment but has also worked on his own startups"

Can provide advice on my learnings to date. The things that I have maybe done wrong and what I would do differently. Can also provide advice on raising finance, finding investors and the importance of creating efficient sales funnels.

Experience of running B2B software-as-a-startup (SaaS) businesses, app and website development, SaaS pricing and onboarding. Experience of running community organisations and helping startups. Good at helping work out early stage startups validate their business ideas/models.

I have experience in technology based start ups, taking them from idea through to exit. My strengths are in leadership, strategy, sales and marketing and finance (raising money).