Not to miss!

Speakers include:

DR ALEKS KROTOSKI PhD
Academic, journalist and host of the Guardian Tech Weekly podcast, who writes about and studies technology and interactivity.

BEN HAMMERSLEY
UK Prime Minister’s Ambassador to TechCity & Editor-at-large of WIRED UK magazine. He helps people understand the modern world, the internet and where it is taking us.

NICK HARKAWAY
Author of The Gone-Away World, Angelmaker and the forthcoming non-fiction book The Blind Giant, which will examine technology’s influence on politics, society and commerce.

Discussion will be chaired by JUSTIN WEBB, Presenter on BBC R4 Today programme, and former BBC Washington Correspondent.

Sign up here!

Antonio Borges, creator of The Hub Academy, talks to Clare Goff about its launch

Where did the idea for the Hub Academy come from?

While working with the team at Hub Westminster on a trial accelerator that ran in the autumn, on which I was asked to be a mentor, we realised it would be interesting to have classes on certain topics for entrepreneurs that could be offered to a broader audience, beyond the accelerator programmes. People going into start-ups and social enterprises know what they want to do but don’t always have all the skills they would like, such as knowledge of law, web development, sales, recruiting, etc. It’s about helping entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs and freelancers to get to a point where they have the skills and knowledge to achieve what they want.

How does it differ from mainstream entrepreneurship programmes?

I am not convinced of the effectiveness of full length programmes in supporting entrepreneurial ideas to get developed. Often a basket of courses is more appropriate, where people have the choice to follow what they need or are most interested in. So what we offer are sessions that an entrepreneur can drop into without locking themselves away for 12 months and coming out with a diploma. It offers a different set of opportunities – it does not require such a trade-off. Also, on a full-length programme you often receive training from those without extensive hands-on experience of what they are training you in. We are bringing in experts and experienced entrepreneurs who have done it rather than studied it. At any moment entrepreneurs can drop out and do their venture or, if they need something in particular, they can drop in. It’s training-meets-freelance, applying the model of freelance working to training delivery. I think the model of education in the future – relevant to entrepreneurship and business creation – will be more modular and flexible and determined by the receiver.

One of your main resources is the community at Hub Westminster. How will you harness that?

Yes, we have a huge community at Hub Westminster already, but also within Hub London (which includes Hub Islington and Hub Kings Cross) and we want to provide a forum to facilitate what this community is about. We are interested in people from the community teaching others in the community. Participants are coming to sessions as much to hear from the presenter as to meet other participants and share experiences. Teachers are offering their time in exchange for the opportunity to speak and to mingle with our community and the amazing ideas coming from it. At the moment, classes are at the end of the day, so it’s easy to stay on a couple of hours and participate in something new. I guess, the twist is that we also help entrepreneurs from all backgrounds and trajectories, understand how to do business differently. So the session on law for start-ups includes information about setting up with agreements and structures that perhaps promote building ties with stakeholders and community as well as establish a for-profit objective and the social media session will aim to show how you can use social media when you have no budget, which will be particularly beneficial to social enterprises and charities, but also pre-funding start-ups. Classes are open to entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs and freelancers and that mix of audience is invaluable.

How much do classes cost?

We plan to charge between £10-£20 to make sure people are serious about attending and understand the value and effort that has gone into the classes. That money will mostly be used to fund a pool of investment that may seed an accelerator programme or simply be channelled into grants, loans and equity investments into some of the ventures we meet. We are still thinking about how this will work and any ideas from the community are very welcome. At the moment, to offer some value to the community at Hub London, we are offering 10 spots in every class free to members of the Hubs, but we would like to hear from members on how to take this forward.

What is available?

Classes are mostly at 6pm on Mondays and Tuesdays and occasionally on Wednesdays and the programme is available here. We send out a regular email with updates on session, so if anyone is interested in knowing what’s happening, they should sign up for this email at academy-hub.net (we are working on a website…). Our classes will expand with more workshops and bootcamps going forward. Our first target audience is the Hub Westminster and broader Hub London communities. But we will also be opening it up to anyone in London and would like as much diversity in the classes as possible.

Do you have a background in enterprise?

I was a strategy consultant for a while, mostly in the telecoms, media and tech industries, until six years ago when I was asked by an investor to run a start-up they were planning. I’ve since been co-founder of several ventures and built two of my own, some of which did well and some of which didn’t. I’ve been through the rollercoaster and now I’m somewhat on the other side of the table, mentoring and supporting others. I am still starting new ventures, like the Academy.

For more details on the Hub Academy: http://signup.academy-hub.net/ and @academylon

The Academy at Hub Westminster

Programme Update

We have a great lineup over the next few weeks at the Academy, from Accounting, to Legal Foundations, to Web Development, to Social Media. All live at the moment. We are also beginning our Speaker Series, hosting Darren Fell, founder and MD of Crunch, the online accounting service that is disrupting the accounting industry, on his experience as an entrepreneur, form idea to success and what he plans to disrupt next.

This Thursday, David Wilsdon of Green Accountancy will be running a session on the essential elements of Accounting, Bookkeeping and Tax. Don’t miss this if you want to get a grip on your accounts. He will also be taking a closer look at the topic from the perspective of a social enterprise. David is offering free 1-on-1 clinics throughout the day to anyone who wants individual or private advice. See the link below for information.

Given the great positive feedback on the first session, we will also be running a repeat Cash-Flow modelling in Excel session with Alex Soskin, FD of Hub Westminster – soon to be posted.

We will shortly be adding HR and Recruitment, Marketing, PR and a few specialist legal sessions, from Planning for exit to IP and patents, and we will be expanding our Speaker Series with new announcements soon – so keep an eye on this space.

Have a great couple of weeks of learning, sharing and connecting at the Academy!

Next week at the Academy:

• Tue 15 May – 6.00pm      Strategic social media
• Wed 16 May – 6.30pm     Speaker Series – Darren Fell Founder and MD of Crunch

Further ahead:

• Mon 21 May – 6.00pm     Legal Foundation 1 – Key startup documents
• Wed 23 May – 6.00pm     Developing a web project – Process: what to think about when
• Mon 28 May – 6.00pm     Legal Foundation 2 – Employment, consultants and internships
• Wed 30 May – 6.00pm     Developing a web project – Bootstrapping / prototyping
• Mon 11 Jun – 6.00pm      Investment and Funding – The legal issues

We’re hosting, you should come!

Friday, 11 May 2012, 9.30-12.00

Next Generation finance consortium members will be holding an open forum where entrepreneurs are invited to attend to find out everything they need to know about raise finance through non-bank sources.  The Sessions will include short presentations, an entrepreneurs panel that will open the floor to a debate on different methods of funding a high growth business, audience Q&A and networking opportunities to talk directly to our members.

Entrepreneurs Panellists include:

Sebastain Lewis – Get Site Tracked 

Crispin Moger – Provisional Marmalade 

Ed Dowding – Sustaination 

Charles Armstrong – Trampoline Systems 

Will King – King of Shaves 

Sign up now!

From our Partners at Westminster:

Workshop presented by Linda Eziquiel

How ambitious are you? Ambitious enough to spend some time planning your own success?

This workshop covers the critical elements of business planning, including:

- Why you need a business plan

- How to go about developing your plan

- Techniques for creating a realistic financial plan

What will you gain?

- Knowledge of why good planning is critical and how to go about it

- An understanding of the emotional Selling Points that will give you sales

- Methods for mapping your ideal customer or clients

- Ideas on how to reach your target customers or clients

- Information on how to create a realistic financial growth plan for your business

- A Business Success Workbook – to create a simple business plan for a small business.

Admission Free. Opportunity for Networking.

Church Street Library, 29th May 4:30pm – 7:00pm

To book your place, email: churchstreetlibrary@westminster.gov.uk or telephone 020 7641 1300

Big thanks to Tessy Britton and Laura Billings for beautifying our Innovation Greenhouse!

The Academy at Hub Westminster update

After a few session addressing some of the basics of thinking about a web-based business, next week we will be looking at getting up and running.

Monday, entrepreneurial lawyer Mike Buckworth will look at the various legal structures to set up as a business. Tuesday, Hub Westminster’s Finance Director Alex Soskin will look at the intricacies of excel and help build a robust cash-flow model. Wednesday, the successful entrepreneur and angel investor Paul Grant will cover every aspect of the funding game for startups.

We will also soon be announcing a session on business structures covering cooperatives and community shares among others. More on this very soon – keep an eye on this space.

Next week at Hub Academy

Tue 15 May      Strategic social media – Kofi Oppong, 6pm-7.30pm
Wed 16 May     Speaker Series – Darren Fell Founder and MD of Crunch, 6.30pm for 7pm start

We are working on adding sessions to the programme in the weeks ahead. If there are topics you would like to see or if there is a topic you would teach, please get in touch at email@academy-hub.net.

@academylon

Bigger, better, bolder!

Now in our sixth month, we are looking for an awesome and passionate Head of Operations to help us build an inspiring and creative home for our amazing community of budding and established social entrepreneurs.

Deadline is Monday 21 May 2012.
Salary range: £ 27,000-30,000.

For more details, please see Job Description Head of Operations

We’ve been eagerly awaiting this Hub Breakfast Talk and are excited to announce Jonathan McKay of the Praekelt Fondation on Monday 8th of May.

Mobile Innovation in the Majority World: An African Case Study

For more than 10 years, Praekelt Consulting and is sister company Praekelt Foundation have been exploring ways of harnessing mobile technology to being about real change in the lives of ordinary Africans. Recent award-winning work includes the creation of a Young Africa Live, mobile, social network addressing HIV/AIDS with almost a million users; the successful application of SMS messaging in antiretroviral adherence programmes; the creation of a mobile job board which promotes the sharing of skills; and the construction and management of Africa’s largest branded portal, Guinness VIP.
Presented by Praekelt’s Creative Director, Jonathan McKay, this presentation will provide an introduction to the rapidly developing African mobile environment, an overview of recent projects and a discussion of the way the two halves of Praekelt – commercial and social – attempt to work together.

About Jonathan

Born, raised and educated in South Africa, Jonathan McKay has more than 10 years of experience working in the fields of broadcast design, branding, interaction design and content creation. An award-winning designer himself, Jonathan currently heads up the creative team at Praekelt, delivering engaging experiences for mobile devices, from wap sites and apps through to text-based role-playing games. Currently living in London, Jonathan admits to an unhealthy fondness for teen-slasher movies.

The event is free, sign up via Eventbrite.

We have set up the Member Hosting scheme to enable early stage ventures, students and researchers to  access the wide range of resources we offer at the Hub. In exchange for hosting the space during the off-peak hours (outside normal business hours), we give you membership as well as insight into the operations of one of Europe’s largest accelerators for social impact startups.

For more details, please see: Member Hosting at Hub Westminster