London's student entrepreneurs were rounded up and offered the opportunity to attend the 2-day Accelerator Boot Camp for Digital Entrepreneurs. In over a dozen masterclasses and workshops they were challenged to maximise their businesses’ potential through the development of their business skills and knowledge.

Parisa Louie, London Met graduate, commented “I found the boot camp extremely useful. In such short time, we were provided with so much information and resources that would otherwise have taken weeks or even months to achieve at the same level”.

The present enterprising students together represent the next wave of London’s innovative entrepreneurial talent. According to Parisa the variety of peers and professional speakers to network with were an excellent resource of knowledge and experience, who she “would hopefully arrange meetings with in the near future for additional support”.

Workshops on digital business models and marketing essentials were followed by more advanced masterclass sessions covering team planning, raising finance, and effective business networking. Eric van der Kleij, chief executive of the UK’s Tech City Investment Organisation, spoke to the delegates about the wealth of opportunities and benefits of launching a business in the Tech City area.

The Business Boot Camp for Digital Entrepreneurs was organised by Accelerator, London’s business incubator and part of London Metropolitan University, in collaboration with the university’s Student Enterprise Programme, the Innovate London project and the KEEN Network. The former three organisations are all based in the Tech City area (Shoreditch/Old Street/East London).

The KEEN Network and London Met’s Student Enterprise Programme have all been designed to offer current students and alumni with entrepreneurial ideas the guidance and support they really need in starting up their businesses. The programme runs many events and workshops which help boost entrepreneurial skills and knowledge.

The London Met Student Enterprise Programme based at the Accelerator has been awarded a Badge of Honour for its excellent activities promoting enterprise during Global Entrepreneurship Week in November 2010.

Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity; to think big - and to turn ideas into reality. Each November, Global Entrepreneurship Week connects people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and many others participate in a range of activities, from online to face-to-face, and from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings.

The Student Enterprise Programme at London Met ran a week-long schedule of events all featuring under the high-impact criteria for GEW, which showcased the enterprise talent of our students and promoted entrepreneurship as a potential career choice. These events consisted of a mini Apprentice Challenge where teams competed in making their own box of chocolates; two influential speaker events including Rachel Elnaugh founder of Red Letter Days and original Dragon on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, and Apurv Mishra a serial entrepreneur and youngest ever TED fellow; a Create Your Own iPhone App workshop; as well as the launch of our own Business Plan Competition.

These events were considered by the founders of GEW, Enterprise UK, as to be truly “inspiring and impactful” and showed an “outstanding support of the campaign”. There were a total of 700 events run nationwide as part of GEW 2011 and London Met is 1 of only 10 Universities to win the honour.

Matthew Connelly, Student Enterprise Development Manager, said of this achievement: “We are honored to be among the organizations to receive a Badge of Honour for our contribution to Global Entrepreneurship Week. This clearly demonstrates the hard work we do to promote student enterprise and through excellent initiatives like GEW we can help to surface the next generation of entrepreneurs from our university.”

Students belonging to the London Met Entrepreneurs Society were given the unique opportunity to network with top London Entrepreneur Theo Paphitis, best known for being the chief Dragon on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, at the Entrepreneur Country Winter Forum.

Entrepreneur Country, a dedicated community for leading and emerging entrepreneurs, investors, the media and corporate partners who all service the start-up industry across the UK and Europe, is managed by Ariadne Capital and headed up by leading entrepreneur and business writer Julie Meyer. Ariadne Capital, through its connections with the London Met Student Enterprise Programme, gave the most promising London Met students free access to the Winter Forum (at a normal price of £250 a ticket), which this year was entitled The Unfair Advantage and held in the prestigious Royal Institute of Great Britain. The lucky students were able to network with the most influential entrepreneurs in the country and hear from an eclectic mix of speakers, including Sara Murray founder of Confused.com, Steve Lewis CEO of Living PlanIT and Theo Paphitis.

Alongside the speakers, there was an array of exhibiting businesses in the Market Place consisting of top representatives from leading companies such as Microsoft, Autodesk, Barclays and The Telegraph Group.

The full day Forum also hosted 6 start-up companies pitching for investment from the Entrepreneur Country panel which included Dr Sally Ernst and an array of leading Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors.

The Forum ended with a Q&A session with BBC Dragon Theo Paphitis, in which the audience was able to ask him anything. Theo, best known for turning around failing retail businesses such as Rymans and La Senza, remarked on the change of consumer habits and how the high street is dead. Even armed with this knowledge, Theo is set to open a new high-street lingerie brand this year where he aims to put a twist on internet and high street shopping. Theo ended the session with his answer to the ultimate Winter Forum question, what is your unfair advantage, by stating that his common sense was a major asset in all his business ventures; “common sense isn’t that common!”

Eszter Belteki, CEO of London Met Entrepreneurs and one of the students chosen to attend the forum, said of the experience: “This was a fantastic event. It was great to see students and such high caliber professional entrepreneurs networking together. The speakers were inspiring and listening to the pitches from real entrepreneurs trying to gain funding was an invaluable lesson in how to present your business to potential investors. The Q&A session with Theo Paphitis was a real eye opener as he was so honest and engaging.”

Mike Southon, best known as The Beer Mat Entrepreneur and Financial Times Columnist, entertained London Met students with his best air guitar display at the recent Meet the Entrepreneur event hosted by The Student Enterprise Programme.

Mike was a serial entrepreneur himself who built up and sold over 17 businesses in the 80s, then went onto co-write four bestselling books on entrepreneurship and is now the UK’s leading entrepreneur mentor featuring on the BBC and writing a regular column for the Financial Times.

He joined a packed audience at London Metropolitan’s Henry Thomas Room, made up of students, staff and local business owners, to talk on his Something About The Beatles topic, which used the most famous band to demonstrate the ways everyone can be creative and entrepreneurial.

Mike took the audience through the very start of the bands success, from choosing the right team to “finding a foil” (an opposite to work with who contains the skills you may lack in true John Lennon/Paul McCartney style), having a good manager to finding the gaps in the market. He then went on to show how to keep going in spite of downfalls and how you need to keep innovative in order to be one step ahead of your competitors.

His presentation was an interesting mix of business advice and media clips from The Beatles history to demonstrate how they followed a set of entrepreneurial skills to become the most famous band in the world. Mike, being a huge Beatles fan himself, also explained how success can have many down sides, by explaining the breakup of the four friends in 1970 and mirroring this with the selling of his own business where he lost many friends in the process.

Mike ended the talk with his own air guitar rendition of The End – The Beatles final song recorded together, with a little help from audience participation!  He then took audience questions ranging from how to start their own business to his feelings on the recession and student debt.

The event was followed by a reception where students and local business owners were encouraged to network with each other and “find their foil” as well as pitch for work through the Student Enterprise Placement Scheme.

Martina, a business school student at London Met said of the event: “This was the best presentation I have ever seen. Really engaging, informative and, above all, fun!”

The next Meet the Entrepreneur event takes place on 22 March at 5pm in the Henry Thomas Room and hosts a talk from Richard Reed, Founder and CEO of Innocent Drinks. These events are free to students and can be booked by going to http://richardreed.eventbrite.com.

Venture Catalyst is your pathway to realising your entrepreneurial dreams. Enter into the competition and not only will you get professional support to help develop your business idea, but you will also get the chance to compete for £30,000 worth of prize money to develop your business idea and pitch your idea to a network of investors who are looking to invest in great business ideas.

Go check out the competition!

Six students from across the KEEN partnership took to the stage at the KEEN Angels Live Pitch Event to pitch their business ideas live in front of Richard Farleigh and to a panel of Angel Investors.

KEEN Angels is a project designed to bring students from across the 9 university partners of the KEEN network together to bid to gain financial investment into their business ideas. Six businesses were chosen from five of the Universities, which included London Metropolitan University, University of East London, Rose Bruford College, Ravensbourne College of Design & Media and Queen Mary University London. The students went through rigorous training with a senior financial advisor from Exemplas, who enabled them to get their business plans up to the right standard to send out for investor interest. They then went through tough pitch training, which helped them prepare for the gruelling questions laid onto them by the investor panel.

During the Live Pitch Event at the grand location of Arsenal Emirates Stadium, each student took to the stage to present their business in no more than 5 minutes to both the panel and the audience and were subject to an arduous 10 minutes of investor questions.

There was tough competition from each of the student businesses which ranged from Ronlikescakes – a specialist vegan and gluten free confectionary company; Irish Ancestral Holidays – tailor made genealogy holidays; Elise Machnik – an elite dress design brand; 24 Hours in London – a new concept in souvenir guidebooks; Reel Dream – a media training organisation; and Engine Eye –an online car sales company.

But it was Ronlikescakes’ exclusive range of gluten free and vegan confectionary that captured the audience and judges interest. With no other similar company on the market delivering the range of products at competitive prices that Ronlikescakes can achieve, the company is headed to real business success – especially with the £1000 that Queen Mary University London student Karen Baratram wins from the audience vote and the backing of KEEN through advice and support.

Karen says of her success: “I am delighted to have won the KEEN audience prize as it has given me the confidence to take my business further knowing that other people think it is a good idea. The money shall go towards buying the equipment needed to get Ronlikescakes up and running.  The support from KEEN has been brilliant throughout the whole process and I’m very grateful for the opportunity they have given me.”

Richard Farleigh presented Karen with her cheque for £1000 and wished her luck with the future of her business. Richard said of the KEEN Angels event: “I was very surprised at the quality of the presentations, they were much better than the stuff you get on Dragons’ Den!"

Bill Morrow, Founder of Angels Den and one of the KEEN Angels panel said of the students: “There was no way at their age that I had any idea what I wanted to be, so I'm just really jealous and really blown away by the standard of people here.”

Wednesday 30 June, 5pm

With Special Guest Host

Richard Farleigh

(BBC Dragons’ Den Investor)

At

Arsenal Emirates Stadium

Watch our student entrepreneurs pitch their businesses live to a panel of Angel Investors all ready to inject real cash into the right business.

You will also have the chance to vote live for your favourite pitch and the winner of the audience prize will win £1000 in cash.

Schedule

Coffee & Cakes Reception at 5pm

Richard Farleigh Keynote at 6pm

Live Pitch Event at 6.45

Food, Bar, Casino & Music from 8.30pm

*PLUS* all audience members will be automatically entered into our prize draw to win two free tickets to the EMIRATES CUP!

BOOK HERE FOR YOUR FREE TICKETS>>>

Doug Richard’s School for Startups

Start Here! Starting & Growing a Successful Business

Hosted by London Metropolitan University and in partnership with The National Consortium of University Enterprise (NACUE).  

Wednesday 26^0th May 2010

London Metropolitan University

Registration 12:00hrs / Starts 13:00hrs

Following the huge success of these seminars around the UK, Doug and the School for Startups team are returning to London with their nationwide tour. A must-attend event for any budding entrepreneur, "Start Here! Starting & Growing a Successful Business" is hosted personally by Doug Richard and is the cornerstone of the School for Startups curriculum.

London Metropolitan University is delighted to have been selected to host the London leg of the national tour of Doug Richard’s School for Startups, highlighting the University’s growing reputation as a leader in student enterprise. The event will be held as part of London Met’s Student Enterprise Programme, which is open to all students and recent graduates. 

Event Details

Before an entrepreneur invests valuable time and money into a business idea, there are key essential questions they should ask themselves:

• Who are my customers?
• What makes my proposition attractive?
• Do I have a sustainable competitive advantage?
• What type of industry am I in?
• Do I have the right skills and experience?
• What is low cost marketing?
• How do I write a successful business model?
• How can I make money?
• Who else do I need to make this work? 

Hosted personally by Doug Richard, this seminar provides the framework within which entrepreneurs can answer these questions for themselves and offers an educational, insightful and inspiring introduction to how to succeed in business. 

Ticket Prices: Exclusive Discounts for KEEN Students!

£35 OFF! Student Ticket – Code: LMS1

Ticket Booking Link: http://bit.ly/bybNDQ

You are guaranteed to leave this event buzzing with new ideas, enthusiasm and energy!

For further information on all School for Startups events visit: www.schoolforstartups.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @s4startups

Biography: Doug Richard

Doug's expertise is backed by some very impressive credentials. A successful entrepreneur with over 20 years' experience in the development and leadership of technology and software ventures, Doug featured in the first two TV series of Dragon's Den. He is the Founder and Vice-Chairman of the Cambridge Angels (a network for private investors), Chairman and CEO of Trutap, Chairman of the Conservative Party Small Business Task Force, and non-executive director of Alert Me, Pearl Software and Beats Digital. Between 1996 and 2000 Doug was President and CEO of Micrografx, a US publicly quoted software company. Prior to that he also founded and subsequently sold two other companies: Visual Software and ITAL Computers.

Doug holds a BA in Psychology from University of California at Berkeley and a Juris Doctor at the school of Law, University of California at Los Angeles. In 2006 Doug was an Honorary Recipient of The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion and in 2007 he became a fellow of the RSA. In 2009 Doug received an Honorary Degree and is now a Doctor of the University of Essex. www.schoolforstartups.co.uk

Fraser Doherty, a young entrepreneur from Edinburgh & CEO of the rapidly expanding jam company SuperJam Ltd which sells a range of '100% Pure Fruit' jams, will be visiting London Metropolitan University to talk on how he went from humble beginnings of making jam in his parents kitchen, to seeing his product on every major supermarket shelf within a year of distribution.

Forbes magazine recently valued SuperJam Ltd at up to $2 million based on its current sales revenue of $1 million. Fraser has also won an array of awards including the Nectar Business Entrepreneur of the Year (2009), Ernst&Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist (2009) and Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year (2007).

Fraser will be taking us through his incredible entrepreneurial journey from such a young age and offering advice to those seeking to do the same.

This event is to mark the end of the annual London Metropolitan University Student Business Plan Competition, which encourages students to submit their business idea for a chance to win the lucrative £5000 top prize to help kick-start their business.

Six finalists have been chosen from the mounds of first round concepts submitted and have gone on to formulate their idea through an intensive 3-day Boot Camp where they were given the skills to prepare their full Business Plan. The finalists then had to pitch their idea “Dragons’ Den” style to a panel of external business judges in the live final.

Fraser will be announcing the winners and handing out the cheques to London Met’s own student entrepreneurs during the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday 27 April, from 6pm at The Graduate Centre, Tower Building, London Metropolitan University North Campus, Holloway Road.

Invitation

London was the City leading the way for student entrepreneurship at the end of 2009 with four enterprising events, where teams eagerly participated in the Xing Business Challenge.  London Metropolitan University, University of East London, Queen Mary, University of London and Ravensbourne held the exciting events, as part of the Knowledge East Enterprise Network (KEEN).

The Xing Business Challenge sees teams of students compete against each other in an intense day-long event.  The event offers students an opportunity to build teams and share business ideas, whilst gaining a real sense of commercial awareness.  The entrepreneurial students create and refine their business plan before pitching it to a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style panel of experts, including Julie Bangstrup, Vice President of the Gumball 3000 Group

The four events saw eight Universities participate, 190 students competing and 20 high level business consultants who volunteered their time to advise the teams, including Guy Rigby, Smith and Williamson’s Head of Entrepreneurs.

Guy Rigby found the entrepreneurial spirit at London Met to be exemplary: “The students were inspirational, it was a fantastic afternoon, we had five excellent presentations on some really difficult topics and they didn’t have long to work on them, so I think they did fantastically well and I hope they’ll persist and become great entrepreneurs themselves.

The Xing business challenge is a really useful tool for students to learn the process of entrepreneurship. They had the experience and guidance from some experienced business people who’ve given valuable feedback to the students and hopefully it will help them work out how they can fine tune their planning in the future.“

Matthew Connelly, Student Enterprise Development Manager at London Metropolitan University reaffirmed how the Xing event supports young entrepreneurs: “The Xing event empowers students with an enterprising spirit and gives an insight in to the planning process involved in creating a new venture”.

Students KEEN to be Entrepreneurial.


London Metropolitan University hosted the successful Knowledge East Enterprise Network (KEEN) entrepreneurs Boot Camp.

Fourteen students from Ravensbourne College, Goldsmiths University, Queen Mary University of London, University of East London and London Metropolitan University took part in the four day intensive training course, offering aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop their business ideas.

The Boot Camp educated students in Business Planning, People Management, Communication Skills, Sales and Marketing, Finance and Accounting, Intellectual Property, New Product Development, Pitching and Networking Skills.??

All students were presented with a certificate for completing the Boot Camp during the celebration evening on the last day.  They were entertained with entrepreneurial stories and experiences from Ben Keene, Founder of tribewanted.com, which was followed by a stimulating question and answer session.??

The success of the Boot Camp was recently demonstrated, Sebastian Boo explained his positive experience: “The Boot Camp was amazing.  All presenters and trainers were fantastic and I was really impressed with the other course participants.  I’ve since been given the opportunity to present to secondary school students, which at first I was a bit apprehensive about, but my week at the boot camp gave me more confidence and the techniques to optimise this opportunity.”

Matthew Connelly, Student Enterprise Development Manager at London Metropolitan University reaffirmed how the Boot Camp supports young entrepreneurs: “We empower students with an enterprising spirit by teaching them all aspects of starting up and running a business.  We foster an innovative culture by bringing together business professionals and students to network and share experiences.”