last night, I attended the Speed Updating evening hosted by the Bristol Enterprise Network (http://www.bristolenterprise.com/) in the Geography Department of the University of Bristol. This was an evening where companies could give their “elevator pitch” – a two minute pitch with no slides, and one question only. There was plenty of time for networking, both before and after, to ask more detailed follow up questions. The thing that struck me most was that there were three angel investors there, looking for companies to get involved in. One of them actually said that, as a result of the credit crunch, more wealthy people were willing to put their money into early-stage businesses than before, which I suppose is a good thing.
Another company that caught my attention was TelePA (www.telepa.co.uk), who provide a virtual assistant or remote PA service, and have been doing so for three years. They had the advantage of having a happy and satisfied client sitting in the audience, who gave them a glowing testimonial.
Presentation skills were, sadly, lacking in many of the pitches, though Jack Martin Leith (“creative activist” – event organiser, social networking facilitator – http://www.jackmartinleith.com/) was very good – leaning on a pillar in the middle of the room; and Lisa Gillingham (Lewis Global PR – http://www.lewispr.com/main/) gave a quick and confident pitch.
All in all, another good networking opportunity provided by the University, and an interesting evening.
