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EVENT DETAILS
The speaker lineup will include an entrepreneur who has actually taken a hardware product to market, and one of the world's leading "mind hackers" who will join us via Skype from New York, to talk about how entrepreneurs can use her psychological techniques to reprogram and upgrade their brilliant brains!
Topics covered will include the increasing number of ways hardware entrepreneurs can fund their startups. From conventional approaches such as debt, grant and equity funding, to the less conventional, but increasingly popular option of (equity-free) crowdfunding. In addition to being highly complex, fund raising can also be one of the most stressful and mentally challenging processes endured by entrepreneurs. Being able to deal with constant rejection and criticism is unfortunately par for the course. This is why it is vital that startup entrepreneurs stay fit, healthy, and mentally resilient.
For those that go down the equity route, many sources of funding exist. Examples include, high net worth individuals, angel syndicates, early stage seed venture funds, and equity crowdfunding. Another source of equity funding are the 3Fs, which refer to Friends, Family and, rather cynically, Fools!
With regards to crowdfunding, there have been more than a few sob stories due to poorly run campaigns. The most common mistake made by hardware entrepreneurs is over promising and under delivering. This often results in a product that is shipped later than promised, or worse, the product not meeting expectations. The cardinal sin, however, is a failure to ship anything at all. Apart from the occasional pre-meditated fraud, most teams that fail to ship anything get themselves into a pickle, because they either grossly underestimate their production costs, or they become too ambitious, and mid-way through a project run out of working capital. If done correctly, pre-tail platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo can be an ideal way to raise money. This is because, instead of relying on external sources of funding, a company can cover their entire startup costs from income generated by backers who wish to pre-orders products in advance!
18:00 REGISTRATION
18:15 - 18:20 WELCOME
18:20 - 18:30 Simon Montford (WEB3//IOT)
Open Forum; members are invited to make announcements, share news, seek project collaborators, recruit talent, promote their IoT events, and request topics for future Meetups.
18.30 - 18.50 Dr Benjaman Schogler (Skoog)
Ben is the force behind a connected musical instrument called Skoog. He is an incredibly enthusiastic, passionate and engaging speaker which is why we decided to invite him back for a second time! Ben previously presented Skoog at the "Maker Revolution" which took place at TechCube in Oct 2015. Ben will give an overview of his journey so far, including raising investment, crowdfunding and will give us an update of their incredible progress including a distribution deal with Apple!
18.50 - 19.10 TBC
Further details will be added shortly.
19.10 - 19.30 Dr Patrycja Slawuta (Self Hackathon)
Patrycja is a psychologist who specialises in the complexity and non-linearity of the human psyche. Her scientific research has enabled her and the team of scientists and experts she works with, to hack, rewire and upgrade the minds of high performers around the world. She has helped optimise the brains of software engineers, employees of Fortune500 companies, and some of the most talented startup entrepreneurs on the planet, including participants of Y Combinator, an illustrious programme in Silicon Valley dubbed the "Harvard of tech accelerators". Her organisation regularly organises "Self Hackathons" tailored specifically for entrepreneurs who want to "upgrade" their minds. Benefits include increased confidence, focus, creativity, and overall performance.
19.30 - 19.50 DISCUSSION & PANEL Q&A
19.50 - 21.00 DRINKS & NETWORKING
MEETUP GROUP
Website: www.iotEdi.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/iotEdi
Twitter: www.twitter.com/iotEdi Hashtag: #iotedi
MEDIA PARTNER
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Events: www.web3iot.com/events
Submit a guest blog or speak at IOT//EDI: www.web3iot.com/contact
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ORGANISERS:
Simon Montford: www.simonmontford.com
Emma MacLean: Linkedin/EmmaMaclean
Dr Tim Willis: Linkedin/TimWillis
Allan Lloyds: Linkedin/AllanLloyds
Michelle Caulfield: Linkedin/MichelleCaulfield
