Sep 28th

Prove Your Idea First, Then Build

By Miguel Garcia




This week’s member blog post is showcasing Sazneo, another great company here at TechHub. Sazneo specialises in facilitating group communication by enabling people to hold multiple real-time group discussions with their team members. Brett Davis, CEO of Sazneo, shares some more about his company, their latest projects and advice on starting a business:

Sazneo is a real-time group messaging service for business that enables teams to communicate more effectively both internally and with teams at other companies. You know you have the problem that Sazneo solves if most of your e-mail is of the reply/reply-to-all variety where people are trying to have team based conversations. You will probably spend several hours a day managing your inbox.

Sazneo went live in September 2010 and we have two routes to market: a ‘freemium’ model where people trial the service for free and begin paying when they pass through the limitations of the free pricing plan and an embedded model for companies that wish to offer a group messaging capability within their own products

We’ve been pretty busy, having recently released some key new features, including; the ability to structure discussions around “Topics”, real-time questions and answers and support for Blackberry smart phones. We’ve also just closed a round of Angel funding of just over $200,000. However, let’s not beat about the bush, starting a business is hard and will turn your hair grey. If you have grey hair already, then you will probably get wrinkles. There are a few challenges we have faced that are worth a mention.

Fundraising is a huge task! You can literally spend 85% of your time over 3-4 months on this one task, which has a very real impact on your ability to run the business during this period. Generating awareness of your new company is just as hard, especially in the UK. Getting covered in the main tech blogs is easy when you first launch but continuing to generate blog-worthy content is difficult. Also, building a following on social media takes time and the jury is still out for me as to how useful it is in the B2B space.


The immediate benefits I noticed are:

  • Everyone is very supportive; there is a genuine passion to see people make a success of their business
  • There is a great network of contacts you can have access to
  • Sources of outside funding are connected to the Tech community, this can help with fund raising conversations later
  • I don’t need to take my suits to the dry cleaners as much, but I do need to buy another pair of jeans...

The biggest market dynamic that affects us is the move by companies to explore other ways to communicate outside of e-mail. This momentum has definitely been caused by the take up of things like Facebook and Twitter, which is great for us. The increased usage of Freemium as a pricing strategy is also interesting, especially as it is still a young business model. However, when people decide to pay using this approach they expect the cost to be only a few £’s per month, meaning you have to keep a close eye on costs.

Lastly, I have seen a significant shift this year as to the acceptance of cloud based services. If we had started Sazneo in 2008 I think we would have struggled to gain traction with larger companies. 

Sazneo is gaining ground on both the stand-alone and embedded options, so expect to see some great success stories around these projects. Also, look out for an increased API capability.


Here are my top tips for anyone considering starting their own tech business:

  • Prove your idea before you start coding to avoid spending time and money developing something people don’t need
  • Find a co-founder you can trust – starting a business on your own is hard and it really helps if you can test ideas with someone else
  • If you are privately funding your business, make peace with the amount you are planning on spending and then don’t think about it anymore
  • Don’t build any features that customers have not asked for. What you think is cool doesn’t matter unless it gives you a competitive advantage
  • Be prepared for any initial press coverage you gain from Tech Blogs to fade pretty quickly
  • Plug yourself into the Business Angel’s scene as soon as you have something to show people, even if only a prototype
  • Don’t delay exploring whether your business idea has legs. I can’t imagine anything worse than saying “What if?” on your retirement day...

If you're a TechHub Member and would like to blog about about your company or product email miguel@techhub.com. Look forward to reading your story!
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Sep 27th

TechHub on Bloomberg

By Tech Hubber
Obviously there was a LOT of coverage of the Facebook F8 event last week and commenting on the events, and the prospects for the UK as a tech hub (badum, tish!) was our very own Elizabeth Varley, co-founder, with Mike Butcher, of TechHub. Here she is:

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Sep 14th

A huge 21 events coming up @TechHub!

By Elizabeth Varley
We have a really fantastic selection of events coming up at TechHub, including an intimate event with the "god of VC" Fred Destin (just for TechHub Members), TechHub Finance Week, sessions on marketing, our monthly Mobile Day, TechHubTuesday Demo Night and absolutely loads more.

We have a huge 21 events for you at TechHub between now and early October. Yes, that's twenty-one, two one, events over the next three weeks - we're starting Autumn off with a bang! 

Did we mention that most of these events are completely free for TechHub Members? If you've been thinking about joining, now's a great time!


DevTank
Wed, 14 Sept, 6:45pm
Brought to you by those behind the highly successful DrinkTank, DevTank provides an opportunity for developers working for (or wanting to work for) tech startup companies in London to exchange ideas and experiences about the technology behind successful startup companies. Reserve your place on the meetup site. 

Londroid London Android User Group
Thur, 15 Sept 
Kieran Gutteridge will be giving a quick rundown of some of the frameworks and tools that are available if you decide you want to take advantage of mobile web technologies to produce your content. And "From Hobby to App Success" - Chris Banes will be talking about his journey over the past 18 months, taking FriendCaster from a spare time hobby to over 1.5 million downloads. To register visit the meetup website.


Finance Week @TechHub - 19-23 September

Business & Financial Planning Workshop 
with Jim Bailey
Mon, 19 Sept, 2:00-5:00pm
Free for Members
How do you work out a company valuation - what your startup is worth? How do you make sure you have a financial plan in place that works for you and your company? Introducing you to some key financial issues, Jim will demonstrate how a sound financial plan can support overall business or strategic objectives. Brought to you as part of TechHub's 'Finance Week', this workshop aims to provide tech startups/entrepreneurs with an introduction to some key financial considerations when building a business plan and raising finance. Book now!

Barclays Business Banking 1-2-1s
Tue, 20 Sept, 2:00-3:40pm
Free
How do you manage your cashflow? What kind of financial compliance issues do you have to think about when you start a company? How can you make your business plan stand out? What do you need from your business banking? As part of Barclays’ commitment to the government’s TechCity initiative, members of Barclays Business team will be here to offer 1-2-1 advice to help you with business banking and financial things. The sessions will also provide an opportunity for the Barclays team to listen to & understand unique issues facing tech startups, suggest where existing services can help & continue to develop Barclays' support of the sector. Please mail your company details to liam@techhub.com once you've registered on the event page.

Members Drinks
Tue, 20 Sept, 6:00-8:30pm
Members Only
Get together, meet each other, exchange ideas and contacts and recognise more faces when you're at TechHub. We'll also make special announcements, let you know about great new member offers and deals at these evenings, so make sure you come along! We host these each month on the third Tuesday of the month. These events are completely free for TechHub Members, so register your details now and come along.
 
Your Accounts with Kingston Smith Accountants
Wed, 21 Sept, 2:00-3:40pm
Free
What are the basics for bookkeeping and accountancy when you start a company? Is it better to hire contractors or employees? How can you benefit from R&S tax rebates? The specialist tech team from top 20 accountants, Kingston Smith, will be providing valuable guidance in 1-2-1 sessions for tech entrepreneurs. To sign up please email your company details to liam@techhub.com once you've registered on the event page.

ArabicOnline.eu Software
Wednesday, 21 Sept, 6:30 PM
Free
ArabicOnline.eu is an interactive online language learning software that offers a beginners course in Modern Standard Arabic for self-study or classroom use. It was developed with support of the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme. Join us for an evening that brings together the worlds of education, technology, eLearning, cross-cultural understanding and business. Book today!
Startup Lifecycle: taking your company from idea to maturity
Fred Destin, Atlas Venture
Thu 22 September, 10.00am-12.00pm
Members Only
We're so excited to have "a god of VC" in the house for this special TechHub Member-only event (use your member code on the registration page).  Fred is visiting from the US, and we're extremely privileged to have some time in his busy schedule. Gaining insight from a VC stalwart on startups is hugely advantageous, especially when you're thinking about raising capital now or in the future. Do not miss this event.

Crunching Your Tax! Seminar
Thur, 22 Sept, 2:00-3:30pm
Free for Members
What's the most tax-efficient way to pay yourself as a startup founder? What's flat rate tax and can it mean more money in your account at the end of the year? Is there an easy way to manage the books? This whole tax thing hurts my head, how does it work? Founders of accountancy firm Crunch - Darren Fell (MD) and Steve Crouch (awarded Taxation Specialist of the Year 2010 from Sage!) - will be providing a presentation that will help any freelancer or small business get to grips with their tax. Book now!

Demo Your Finance Product
Fri, 23 Sept
Members Only
We are offering the opportunity for any TechHub Members with financial products to do a show and tell on the Friday (23rd) of Finance Week. If you are interested please mail liam@techhub.com

GTUG, Developing with Angularjs
Tue 27 Sep, 6.30pm
AngularJS is a JavaScript framework for building interactive client-side web apps. It is designed to work well together with other libraries, especially jQuery. Testing is one of the most important ideas behind AngularJS - it provides a full testing environment and helps you to design testable code. AngularJS is an open source project powered by Google. Currently there are many internal apps built on the top of AngularJS - you can check out more at http://angularjs.org. Get more info and register here.

TechHub Residents Lunch
Thu, 29 Sept, 1:00–2:30pm
Current TechHub Resident Members Only
A great opportunity to get to know the other great entrepreneurs and startup teams who share your workspace. An excellent way to meet other Members and find out more about them, their companies and products. Lunch is usually pretty social, if you're new you might start talking about work, but by the end of
lunch there's usually lots of laughing and general chat. 
Book today!

API Developer Day
Saturday 1 October, 9.00am-6.00pm
Free
API Developer Day is a one-day event to celebrate APIs and the amazing things we can build with them. Find a team or go solo, meet new local developers and API teams, get coding support, collect swag, build the best thing you can in one day and demo it to the group. We'll have some short technical lightning talks in the morning so you can learn about some new APIs and ask questions from the people that build them. Want to pitch your API? Get in touch to reserve your spot. If you have an app idea and need a team member, or don't have a team yet but want to join one, we'll have an idea pitch session too. Then go code - any language or platform you want, just use APIs and build something awesome. At the end of the day demo what you built and even win some prizes, so register now. Sponsored by Apigee and BlueVia.

Roundabout Brewery Launch
Thu 29 Sep, 6.30pm
Free
Join us at TechHub for the launch of Silicon Roundabout's very own microbrewery! You'll be able to sample a selection of craft-brewed beers and the brewer will be on-hand to talk you through them. This event is free and starts at 6.30pm, continuing until we've run out of beer. This is a community microbrewery project and we're inviting beer-lovers from the local Shoreditch/Old Street/Hackney areas to join us for the launch. General tickets are sold out, but there's a small handful of TechHub Member tickets still available (four, at the time of writing), so move quickly to nab yourself a ticket!

Mobile Day: BlueVia 1-2-1s
Mon 3 Oct
Free
Have a chat with the Telefonica/O2 guys about all things mobile, mobile marketing-related and find out more about BlueVia. Limited slots available, so keep an eye on the registration page.

Mobile Day: TechHub Mobile Meetup
Mon 3 Oct, 1.00-2.30pm
Free
Meet other tech entrepreneurs who have an interest in mobile, bring your lunch and have a chat about what's going on in the world of mobile right now while you munch. This event is exclusively for tech entrepreneurs and developers working in mobile, and we always have someone interesting to kick off the discussions. Book now!


TechHubTuesday: Demo Night - Mobile Apps
Tue 4 October, 6.30pm
Free for Members
Come along, meet other tech entrepreneurs, have a drink and show everyone the mobile app you're working on. If you'd like to demo your product, enter the details in the registration form on the event page when you register for the event and we'll confirm with you if you have a demo slot, as they're limited and so many great companies apply. Book now! The best three Android apps will receive a free ticket to Droidcon and the chance to demo their app on the Droidcon stage.


Marketing Day (and a half) @TechHub - Wed 5-6 October

Theory of Launch, Marketing Workshop
Wed 5 October, 2.00-5.00pm 
Free for Members
With an abundance of new startups appearing every day how do you achieve that all-important cut through to reach your target audience? In this workshop Charlotte Hogg, MD of advertising agency, Gather and Throw, will introduce you to, and help you understand and apply the 'Theory of Launch', a set of steps designed to successfully launch and accelerate technology-based startups. Game on! Register now.

PR 1-2-1s with Ubiquity Comms
Wed 5 Oct, afternoon slots
Free
Ubiquity Comms invites tech startups & entrepreneurs to join them for one-to-one 'mini PR workshops to find out how you can generate media coverage, online buzz and awareness of your product or company on a shoestring. Ubiquity specialises in working with tech companies and was voted one of the top 10 PR agencies in a 2011 Peerindex poll. Limited places, so get in quickly!

Marketing for Startups with Google's Obi Felten Wed, 5 Oct, 6:30pm-9:30pm
Free for Members
Following a highly successful Office Hours here at TechHub last month we are delighted to have Obi Felten, Director of Consumer Marketing for EMEA, Google back with us for an evening to share her considerable experience and insight. She's Google's marketing guru! Focusing on themes and ideas to help startups and entrepreneurs get maximum marketing value from limited resources, Obi will be doing a 10-15 minute talk before opening the floor to 45-50 mins of questions. An excellent opportunity, so book today!

Perfect Pitch, Pitching Workshop with Diana Lowe
Thu 6 October, 2.00pm-5.00pm
With an abundance of startups vying for investor attention and limited sources of funding available how do you make yourself stand out from the crowd and capture the imagination of those whose opinion (and cash!) really matters? Pitch Perfect will provide you with valuable skills designed to help you promote your product, idea or service to investors and consumers.
The workshop will take you through constructing and practicing your pitch, as well as critically evaluating both yours and those of others. It will also touch on basic presenting skills. Book today

Droidcon (not held at TechHub)
6-7 October
TechHub is delighted to be a media partner of the UK's largest Android-only developer conference, Droidcon in London. Day 1 is a Barcamp, to give everyone in the audience a chance to talk about any topic they'd like - the more popular the topic, the bigger the room. Day 2 has great sessions covering development, design, business, enterprise and gaming. If you're working with Android, you can't afford to miss it. If you're a TechHub Member, check your latest Member News email for a special discount code.
 
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Sep 12th

Finance Week at TechHub - 19th-23rd Sept 2011

By Liam Moore
money.gifMoney, money, money - it's always the most difficult part of running a startup! How to get it, how to keep more of it and how to make sure you're keeping the right records and doing everything properly.

Next week sees the arrival of TechHub’s first Finance Week, a selection of daytime workshops and 1-2-1 sessions supported and presented by individuals and organisations from the finance sector, and aimed at helping tech startups and entrepreneurs to financial success.

Limited places are available for the all the sessions below, so be quick!


Monday 19th - Business & Financial Planning workshop with Jim Bailey
 How do you work out a company valuation - what your startup is worth? How do you make sure you have a financial plan in place that works for you and your company? Introducing you to some key financial issues, Jim will demonstrate how a sound financial plan can support overall business or strategic objectives. More information and booking here.

Tuesday 20th - Business banking with Barclays Business
How do you manage your cashflow? What kind of financial compliance issues do you have to think about when you start a company? What do you need from your business banking? As part of Barclays’ commitment to the government’s TechCity initiative, members of Barclays Business team will be here to offer 1-2-1 advice to help you with business banking issues. Book your place here.

Wednesday 21st - Your Accounts with Kingston Smith
 What are the basics for bookkeeping and accountancy when you start a company? Is it better to hire contractors or employees? How can you benefit from R&S tax rebates? The specialist tech team from top 20 accountants, Kingston Smith, will be providing valuable guidance in 1-2-1 sessions for tech entrepreneurs. More information and booking here.

Thursday 22nd - Crunching your tax! Seminar with Crunch Accounting
 What's the most tax-efficient way to pay yourself as a startup founder? What's flat rate tax and can it mean more money in your account at the end of the year? Is there an easy way to manage the books? This whole tax thing hurts my head, how does it work? Founders of accountancy firm Crunch - Darren Fell (MD) and Steve Crouch (awarded Taxation Specialist of the Year 2010 from Sage) - will be providing a presentation that will help any freelancer or small business get to grips with their tax. Book here.

Thursday 22nd - Fred Destin, Atlas Venture on the Startup Lifecycle - taking your company from idea to maturity
We're so excited to have "a god of VC" in the house for this special Techhub Member-only event (use your member code on the registration page).  Fred is visiting from the US, and we're extremely privileged to have some time in his busy schedule. This isn't strictly a finance-focused event, but we've included it here as gaining insight from a VC stalwart on startups is hugely advantageous when you're thinking about raising capital now or in the future. Do not miss this event.

 

 

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Aug 25th

If it's Not Core to Your Business Outsource it.

By Miguel Garcia


Introducing Freelancer.co.uk, a new TechHub Member.
Saif Bonar, UK Country Manager. The following blog post was written by Saif. 
 
I'm a fairly new member of TechHub and wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself to others in the community, so jumped at the chance to write this blog when invited by Elizabeth. I spent my first few hours here last week working and then at the monthly drinks. I'm looking forward to participating in the community, gaining from the experience of others, meeting new people and I'm also determined to give something back. Initially I'm offering any TechHub members in the UK free Gold membership at the Freelancer.co.uk website for 3 months. This is worth £60 and reduces commissions you pay on projects to 3% as a freelancer and zero as an employer. 

Freelancer.co.uk is the British arm of the world's largest micro-outsourcing marketplace. Our goal is to be the Ebay for Jobs. We have over 2.7m users worldwide including 100,000 British freelancers and 40,000 UK businesses. We are already the biggest UK platform for outsourcing projects and we have ambitious plans for growth. Freelancers and small businesses can tap into our marketplace to either get work or to get work done. With over 400 project categories ranging from graphic design and SEO to financial and legal support TechHub members can find someone to plug any skills gaps they need on budget and on time. 

We recently launched in the UK and are currently running our second marketing push, which includes 500 branded London taxis. As part of this we are also running a competition which is open to TechHub users who can win £1,000 in credit to get work done through the Freelancer platform. All you need to do to enter is grab a photo of a Freelancer Taxi and post it to our Facebook page.

A big part of my role is working on PR and securing exposure for the Freelancer brand in the UK. Given the current economic climate its been a real challenge convincing the media that Freelancer is not only about jobs going from the UK to the developing world. Another challenge has been keeping up with a fast growing global tech business. Our HQ is in Sydney and I work closely with the Comms manager in New York, so the hours can be quite manic sometimes (team meetings at midnight on a Sunday) but, it's a great experience and in only a few months in post I have already been to the Webby Awards in New York and grown the UK side of the business by almost 40%. 

The space we're in throws out lots of opportunities to comment on areas such as economics, employment, technology and outsourcing. Its been quite strange going from an ad-hoc blogger to writing articles for Management Today and seeing my opinions and comments in print everyehwere from Business Computing World to The Drum. Only last week my comments on a Labour Market Report from the CIPD and KPMG found that 30% of companies and 54% of public sector organisations were published in niche websites aimed at CFOs. Sadly, the news was that 34% of UK employers are expecting to make further redundancies in 2011. While this is a blow for the UK jobs market, it's a great opportunity for those affected by redundancy to either follow their dream and turn their business idea into a reality, or to turn to Freelance and focus on doing what they do best while maintaining a more positive work-life balance.

We have big plans in the months ahead and are hoping to introduce a number of changes to the Freelancer platform which will make it much more useful for Freelancers and contract workers in the UK, who until now have struggled to compete with off-shore providers. If you are a Freelancer and haven't yet tried Freelancer.co.uk, you should and my offer of 3 months Free Gold Membership is a great way to get started.

Finally, Miguel asked me to include my best bit of advice for start-ups and entrepreneurs.... If its not core to your business, outsource it. 

TechHub Members Special Offer: As an initial gesture to the TechHub community I am pleased to offer any TechHub members three months free Gold membership on Freelancer.co.uk - this dramatically reduces the fees you pay and will provide you with a good opportunity to try out our platform. (Gold members pay no fees on projects posted and just 3% on any money earned).

If you're a TechHub Member and would like to blog about about your company or product email miguel@techhub.com. Look forward to reading your story!

 
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Aug 19th

UK Tech City Initiative Needs More Than Silicon and Technology

By Miguel Garcia


TechHub appeared in a recent video in which different entrepreneurs around the Old Street and Shoreditch areas presented their take on London's tech scene and the government's Tech City Initiative. Watch to see what TechHub's CEO Elizabeth Varley had to say! The following blog post is my opinion on the initiative and my future vision of London's Tech City.

Silicon is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust, but it only makes up 27.7%. There is a whole range of other elements that are necessary. Silicon's greatest contribution to mankind has been in the manufacturing of electronic devices and integrated circuits. Like many other elements, silicon is rarely found in its pure state. It takes a long and heated process of purification to get the type of silicon that brings our great machines to life.

A similar process is happening in the UK, where it will take much more than just silicon and technology to bring to life the type of environment that the London tech scene needs to become a global force. 

With the announcement of the UK government's Tech City Initiative in November of 2010, much praise was given by entrepreneurs and technology leaders. PM David Cameron announced his interest for London's East End to become a, "world-leading technology city to rival Silicon Valley."

Some of the Tech City Initiatives include:

  • Using Olympic Park space, at the conclusion of the games, as an 'accelerator space' providing office space for companies growing beyond East London
  • Creating an Entreprenuer Visa, giving people with good ideas and investment the opportunity to set up in the UK
  • A possible revision of the Intellectual property framework that updates laws for the internet and social media age and encourages innovation, similar to the U.S
  • UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) will provide millions of pounds to technology companies, helping them expand into new markets.
  • Attempting to become the prime country in the developed world for 'early state and venture capital investment'.

While government involvement is very important, it will be the personal initiatives of individuals and companies that can make all the difference. State finance alone will not achieve a vibrant tech city. Silicon Valley in California is driven by much more than just dollars and technology. It's the creativity, ingenuity, and culture of its workforce that creates the perfect environment.

However, let's not forget that Silicon Valley has more than 60 years of history. They're an experienced bunch! The first steps down new roads were taken by a few individuals that dared to be different, and within a few years, their pioneering vision led to homegrown businesses contained within their garages and small offices that would later become multi-billionaire companies with thousands of employees. This took many decades.

Similarily, London's Tech City will not sprout overnight. Many of London's small tech and startup companies of today are the garages and small offices of Silicon Valley's yesterday. The necessary elements have been identified but it will take time and the effort of visionaries and trend-leading companies to find and purify the final materials needed to create London's Tech City. Which includes a reinvigorated culture.

There have been a few critics who snicker at the term 'Silicon Roundabout' saying we shouldn't use a name that describes a small area of tech companies, ones which cannot compare to Silicon Valley. What do they fear? That we're dwarfed by Silicon Valley? Well, we are, whether or not we give the place a name. However, this shouldn't be a concern as we move forward. 

Tech City's Initiative is to rival places like Silicon Valley, not copy them. The UK tech scene has the possibility to redefine and recreate the tech city of the 21st Century, not just create another valley, and certainly not just by using silicon.


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Aug 15th

TechHub Residents Win TechCity Launchpad

By Miguel Garcia


This week we're presenting our very own residents from Clearer Partners who participated last week in the TechCity Launchpad Pitching Event after winning funding as part of the competition organized by the Technology Strategy Board. The TSB specialises in stimulating technology innovation in order to boost UK growth and productivity. 

The competition was a day long investor workshop that gave forty digital and creative businesses the chance to pitch and network with the cream of London’s investment community. 

In order to best illustrate their story we asked Dagmara, from Clearer Partners to give us her first-hand experience from the event:

"With some nerves and excitement, Aaron, Steve and I headed over to The Commonwealth Club for the TechCity Launchpad Pitching Event on Wednesday 10th August. We were 3rd on stage out of a list of 41 pitches, which proved to be good timing - the room was full and attendees were awake, propped up by the first of many rounds of coffee.

Being part of the lucky companies who won the TSB match funding, we had eight minutes to fly through our product and proposition, FrameBlast, which is a collaborative video production platform. Winning bids came in all shapes and sizes, from 3D toy printers, to furniture producers, to trucking logistics software solutions.

The 23 companies who came highly recommended had a lightning two minutes to pitch, and we were all given a powerpoint template to follow to ensure we kept to the point, answered the right questions and stayed within the time limit. It was a very long day of intensive networking and listening to pitches, and we learnt a lot and made a number of great contacts with investors, in-betweeners, and other startups.

Despite the (at times) gruelling process, we'd recommend the Technology Strategy Board for anyone looking to get some government backing for their projects. Now it's time for us to chase those leads and secure the rest of the match funding. Fingers crossed!"

Clearer Partners has now been offered up to £100,000 funding which they hope to match with private sector funding. Please join me in congratulating their enormous accomplishments and wishing them the best with their future efforts. Also, a huge thank you to Dagmara for sharing her story.

We're really proud of you guys and love having you at TechHub! 

If your a TechHub Member and you'd like to share your company's story here, email miguel@techhub.com  
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Aug 11th

Barclay's Blue Bikes are Expanding!

By Miguel Garcia

TechHub Bikes.jpg
Click on the map image above for TechHub's cool bike map.

More blue bikes coming your way!

Due to the highly successful demand of the Barclays Cycle Hire Program, the Boris Bike Scheme is now planning to expand even farther. Altogether the expansion will provide 2,000 more cycles and 4,200 new docking points across the new and existing infrastructure.  The current locations within 500m of TechHub:

  • Leonard Circus
  • East Road
  • Baldwin Street
  • Old Street Station
  • Bath Street
  • Clifton Street

Phase 2 of the program will include large parts of East London and will be completed by Spring 2012. You can view the expansion map to get a general idea of the current and planned London areas and the Shoreditch map with further current and future locations.  In case you're interested in the new docking stations that will be near TechHub:

  • Banner Street
  • Willow Street
  • Hoxton Market

For further assistance in locating nearby locations to TechHub you can also view our contact page where you can email us, subcribe to our newsletter, or just find more information.

We've also researched some interesting free apps that you can use to improve your biking experience. Here is the complete list with short summaries for each:

  • Barclays Bikes- Mobile App by Barclays which includes tips and tricks, easy search tool for bikes and docking stations, route maps and more!
  • Boris Bikes- Finds the nearest docking stations, keeps track of your usage, and easy to use maps
  • Yell for Bikes- Live availability of bikes, favourites list, geocoding with accurate results and improved performance

 

For more information check out the Barclays Cycle Hire website.

Happy Biking! 

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Aug 11th

Making Money from Tablets: Publishing & Monetizing

By Miguel Garcia
Last night TechHub put on a great event bringing together the power of tablets and publishing. Lucky attendees were able to hear from key players in the field on the many ways to monetize their content now and in the future.

During and after the presentation people were busy tapping away on their tablets as they began to explore the endless possibilities into this new arena of self-publishing . With a great selection of experts gathered here at TechHub we made sure to give our audience members loads of examples on how to create and promote their own projects. But don't take our word for it! Here's what others had to say:

Ashley Davison from Fixdit- "The speakers gave great insight into the surprising amount of trial and error big players like Penguin and Pearsons have had to undertake in order to get any kind of foot hold in a digital market...publishing on tablet and mobile devices truely is an emerging market. Emerging markets such as this get me excited. It means it's time to experiment and time to out maneuver the established traditional players."

Mark Errett from @iphonetipsters- "Overall from these talks I took away the need to experiment and there is no surefire way to have a success. If you go into the App Store you’re competing against 500,00+ apps that are all vying for people’s attention. If you try to do a web app then you’re seemingly competing against the whole of the internet with millions, probably billions of pages...I look forward to more debate around publishing on tablets and it is definitely a way to try something new."

To read even more about this event you can use the #techhubtablets to see what other people had to say. A big thank you to Pearson for helping sponsor the event and also to everyone that attended.

Don't forget to visit our TechHub calendar for even more great events and don't miss our exciting Demo Night on 6 September! 

See you @TechHub!


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Aug 2nd

TechHub's looking for a fab Events Intern

By Liam Moore

TechHub has an opportunity for a bright and enthusiastic individual to join us as an Events Intern.

Events are at the heart of TechHub’s business informing and bringing together our members and the wider tech community, and helping to drive one of the UK’s most creative and dynamic industries.

Working with the Events Manager, the role is initially required to look after pre-event admin and marketing (booking bar staff and volunteers, ordering catering, keeping events sites up to date), and working on events themselves (co-ordinating bar-staff and volunteers, setting up venue, greeting and checking in attendees, speakers and sponsors).

The internship is part-time (18 hours per week), and you’ll need to be available 2 evenings per week as part of this. In return we’ll pay expenses and give you access to additional goodies including:

  • Access to TechHub's events
  • Access to the exclusive TechHub Members’ Drinks
  • Use of the TechHub community workspace

You’ll need to be reliable, flexible and enthusiastic with a willingness to get stuck in. Good organisation skills are a must, an interest in the tech industry is essential, and experience of working in events would be a plus. We’ll be looking for a minimum commitment of 3 months.

This is a fantastic opportunity to get some valuable experience working within a thriving industry and as an expanding company there may be opportunities to get more involved with us further down the line. In addition, you’ll get to mix with loads of interesting entrepreneurs and other industry people and if you’re a bit good you’ll get a reference from TechHub!

 

So, if you’re interested please…

  • email your CV to liam@techhub.com
  • put “TechHub Events Intern” in the subject line
  • include a short covering email explaining why you’re interested in volunteering with TechHub (something a bit more adventurous than just ‘networking’ please!)
  • briefly detail any relevant experience
  • explain why you’d be great for TechHub
  • let us know how many evenings per week you could typically offer

 

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