Techcelerate 11-Year Reunion Analysis – Part 2 – The Second Coming

In Part 1, I captured the event. As tradition dictates, we continued networking at a local bar, this time at Refuge. I left at 1 am but some continued networking until 4:30 am. I’m glad to report that the legendary Sam Sethi slept this time before getting the train back to London, unlike 11 years ago.

The overwhelming message from the event was that the:

  • Community has missed Techcelerate (the last event was run in 2013).
  • They felt Techcelerate offered something genuine, giving everyone a chance.
  • They want it back.
  • They want to volunteer in running it without I taking the full burden.
  • Idea was seeded organising a SaaS Tech Trade Mission to San Francisco in May.

Since then I have been gathering feedback, especially as I do not want to simply replicate what else is happening in Manchester. Referred to as The Second Coming, the plan for 2018 includes three core elements:

  • A Community where knowledge is shared freely and managed by volunteers, perhaps through a Steering Committee. This might resemble close to what Techcelerate was from 2006 to 2013.
  • A Commercial arm where we take on clients and generate revenues creating a sustainable commercial organisation.
  • Generating revenue opportunities for volunteers in the community through the commercial arm, e.g. filling talent gaps our clients may have.

 

The Community

As briefly introduced earlier, the Community activities will be driven by a Steering Committee, chaired by me. We are initially looking for three more individuals to come forward to support Stewart Townsend, Alexandra Morris and me.

Stewart is currently investigating the possibility of organising a SaaS Tech Mission to San Francisco in May to attend SaaS Connect. We are looking at organising an event in March to bring SaaS companies together in Manchester, as a precursor to the SaaS Tech Mission.

 

The Commercial Arm

The commercial arm would focus on helping technology companies achieve their goals faster through sourcing of investment whilst exploring acquisitions and mergers. It will source talent from the community to help fill talent gaps. We will also develop technologies to help our clients through UnifiedVU.

We would work with any technology company that could benefit from our services. We will define these services as we move forward tapping into our community. We are keen to work with companies until an exit, as well as working with the founders after an exit to find them suitable investment opportunities.

 

The Network

We will tap into our existing network from San Francisco to Shanghai and develop them further. Manchester will remain our key focus, but will be operational from any geography through strategic partnerships to ensure we provide an invaluable service to our clients.

 

We now have more than a skeleton of an idea what The Second Coming might be. As always, we welcome your thoughts further.

 

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