Student entrepreneurship society kicks off 2011 with expert panel discussion
Despite economic volatility entrepreneurship is alive and thriving in Cambridge. That’s the findings of the first Cambridge University Technology and Enterprise Club (CUTEC) event of 2011, which saw approximately 100 people attend a high profile panel discussion on entrepreneurship.
Held on the 17th of October 2011 at the Judge Business School, the event, sponsored by top ranked European patent and trade mark attorney firm Gill Jennings and Every LLP (GJE) and global management consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), focused on ‘Business Opportunities in Cambridge -Entrepreneurship in a volatile climate’.
Moderated by the director of Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL), Shailendra Vyakarnam among the panellists were six renowned entrepreneurs (from Left to right)
● Jon Bradford (Managing director Springboard Cambridge)
● Hermann Hauser (Serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist and cofounder of Amadeus Capital)
● Simon Haworth (Founder of Team Ventures Ltd)
● Jack Lang (Serial entrepreneur, business angel and Co-Founder Artimi)
● Robert Perry (Partner at GJE)
● Andy Richards (Serial biotechnology entrepreneur and business angel)
The panel discussion gave the audience insight into the challenges of driving innovation in the current climate, and, from their own experiences, the speakers were able to identify ways in which Cambridge can continue to foster innovation and entrepreneurship during these uncertain times.
Talking points included:
Illustrating Rasberry pie –a cheap $25 computer, brain-child of game developer David Braben, which could possibly have more application in the developing countries, the panellists were confident in the ability of the Cambridge high tech cluster to deliver technical and innovative solutions to current global challenges. However the challenge lies in finding the market for the technology and do they have the money to pay for it? Jack Lang told the entrepreneurial audience that ideas were well and good, but finding your customer base is how to turn those ideas into a business.
Emphasis lay on the importance of sharing ideas and working together and they praised the Cambridge for it attitude towards sharing. They presence of 47 business networks in this place speaks for itself.
The panellists discussed how globalization and global value chains were interlinked. The process of producing goods from raw materials to finished product has been ‘sliced’ and each process can now be carried out wherever the necessary skills and materials are available. People don’t care what location their technical solutions come from.
CUTEC’s President Elizabeth Williams said ‘We were delighted to host such a high-calibre set of panellists for our inaugural event. The close-knit ecosystem of Cambridge really came to light during the panellists discussion of 'Business Opportunities in Cambridge', with Hermann Hauser and Andy Richards agreeing on the need for healthcare innovation, and Jon Bradford and Simon Haworth outlining the 'get on and do it' approach during volatile times’.
The Inaugural event successfully marked the start of the new CUTEC year and culminated in the launch of the Technology Ventures Conference (TVC) 2012 Conference, CUTEC’s flagship event. The June 2012 event will focus on ‘Innovation in an uncertain world’ with more information available at www.tvc2012.cutec.org.
Through this topic CUTEC aims to encourage collaboration between the University and both local and global companies for the creation of technological innovations borne from University research and the entrepreneurial vision of its students. The 2011 conference had approximately 400 attendees and high profile speakers, including Rory Cellan-Jones from the BBC and representatives from Proctor and Gamble and Virgin Galactic.
CUTEC strives to create a platform to bring scientists, business minded students together and introduce them to industry professionals and early stage investment community. They do this by hosting a series of events to inspire students and provide them training and advice to support them on their entrepreneurial path. Members benefits from our networks, sponsors and alumni, with whom members can gain advice and experience from.
To know more on our upcoming events and to sign up to our newsletter visit- www.cutec.org