Everyday Startups

Jonathon Sun tells Dan about a hot new methodological approach in product development called Pretotyping.

Interviewing your friends about your business idea? There are a few things to be mindful of. In this episode, we're talking about all the different types of biases that come into play when talking to your friends about your idea. ---- Tectonic is a customer research company that helps businesses understand their current and ideal customers. If you have any questions please email us at hello@teconiclondon.com or message us on social at @tectoniclondon.com.

In this episode of Everyday Startups, we talk to Letitia Seglah co-owner of Startup Vault about all the projects she's working on, ruthless prioritisation and why being a generalist is perfect for growing businesses.

Anthony Ware joins us to discuss Founder Mental Wealth, a research group focused on the mental health of underestimated entrepreneurs. This is a topic very close to our hears and needs to be higher on the agenda.

Francesco Stasi, Founder/CEO of BotSupply.ai talk about the growth in the chatbots market due to the pandemic.

In our latest episode, Dan and Joshua touch on a few different topics including, what makes an app good, our new service to get survey responses from anywhere in the world, and gamification. If you're working on a project and have an idea for a business or feature, this is a must-listen. Tectonic is a customer research company that helps businesses understand their current and ideal customers. If you have any questions please email us at hello@teconiclondon.com or message us on social at @tectoniclondon.com.

Dan and Joshua talk about why you should be paying close attention to what people do and not what they say they'll do – and how you can use this to grow your business.

Francesco Perticarari is raising London’s first-ever VC fund dedicated to Deep Tech. He’s telling Dan and Nana about how startups can impress his investors and win big funds.

In today's episode, Dan, our Head of Product and Marketing, talks about the difference between building first and talking to customers first based on his experience of launching products.

We’re delighted to welcome Perdie and Margaret Anne onto the show to hear about their exciting new project, Spice Startups. They’re taking all their knowledge gathered from building one of London’s best-loved co-working spaces and creating an accelerator program for the post-pandemic ecosystem. That means going hybrid, with off and online services. Sounds interesting... Let’s find out more. Feel free to get in touch with Nana on Linkedin, Dan on Twitter or visit www.tectoniclondon.com for more info on how we help startups understand their customers in these unpredictable times.

Amandine Flachs has been wanting to startup with her CTO for years but they were waiting for the right moment. It turns out that lockdown was that moment. With a few commitments on hold, Amandine saw an opportunity at the cross-section of gaming and AI, and thought “the time is now”. Amandine has started up in “Stealth” mode (i.e. no brand name and social media). It's an underrated way to do it as it takes the pressure off and provides the opportunity to experiment without fear. Let's find out more. Feel free to get in touch with Nana on Linkedin, Dan on Twitter or visit www.tectoniclondon.com for more info on how we help startups understand their customers in these unpredictable times.

Luxury brands seem to be just there, don’t they?  It’s as if Chanel and Louis Vitton have always been leading the way in perfumes and handbags.  But they haven’t.  Luxury brands are carefully crafted over years and years, suffering peaks and troughs and having to earn their status. Much like any business or startup.  That’s why we’re talking to Thais Montjean, luxury brand expert, to find out how she helps build global brands and how any of her methods are transferable to the startup world. Feel free to get in touch with Nana on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-parry/) , Dan on Twitter (https://twitter.com/yodanparry) or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) for more info on how we help startups understand their customers in these unpredictable times.

This week we're talking to Anya Combs all the way from Kickstarter in NYC. Anya is Head of Games Outreach and therefore probably has one of the coolest jobs imaginable. She helps people with ingenious gaming ideas design Kickstarter campaigns to get them the funds they need. So if you’ve got a creative side project and want to know about how to hatch a successful Kickstarter, this is the podcast for you. Feel free to get in touch with Nana on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-parry/) , Dan on Twitter (https://twitter.com/yodanparry) or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) for more info on how we help startups understand their customers in these unpredictable times.

2020 has taught us many things but something that really stands out is the importance of building healthy online communities. That’s why we’re super excited to welcome Melanie Aronson, founder of Panion, the most purposeful social media platform out there. Melanie’s vision to depart from the instant gratification of Instagram the vitriol of twitter and develop a platform that is all about building meaningful connections and communities through shared interests. Panion already has 140,000 users, €350k investment and a leader who wants to grow online communities built around empathy and respect. So please definitely checkout Panion at App or Play Store and feel free to get in touch with Nana on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-parry/) , Dan on Twitter (https://twitter.com/yodanparry) or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) for more info on how we help startups understand their customers in these unpredictable times.

In today's episode, Joshua and Dan discuss the concept of 'Competitive Alternatives', positioning and which competitors you should be considering.   As usual, if you'd like to find out more, don't hesitate to contact us at hello@tectoniclondon.com or find us on social media at @tectoniclondon. You can also visit the website: www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) .

Do you make decisions with your mind or your heart? Yeah, it's not a question we had considered either, but our chat with Martha Cuffy from Wellness Architects had both Nana and I looking inwards. Martha helps people embrace their mission and purpose, and connect with who they really are. Now more than ever, I think we all need some of that. If you want to experience a more relaxed you then why not try out these exercises she made: Chill Pills...: 2 min breath practice (https://youtu.be/LSb0BpxBXRA)   Martha's Meltdown: 9 min relaxation practice (https://youtu.be/Mo5B-npdwyw) Feel free to get in touch with Nana on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-parry/) , Dan on Twitter (https://twitter.com/yodanparry) or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) for more info on how we help startups understand their customers in these unpredictable times.

Dan and Joshua talk about the difference between how you see your target customer's problems, and how they see them. As usual, if you'd like to find out more, don't hesitate to contact us at hello@tectoniclondon.com or find us on social media at @tectoniclondon. You can also visit the website: www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) .

Everyday we’re being told that the impact of COVID:19 is devastating for businesses. But there are some out there that are skyrocketing during the pandemic. One is bicycles.  Jeyda’s startup Handlebars (https://www.handlebars.io/) is changing the way people can get their bike fixed with a collection and delivery service that has been a lockdown sensation. But how will she sustain in when this is all over? Feel free to get in touch  with Nana on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-parry/) , Dan on Twitter (https://twitter.com/yodanparry) or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) for more info on how we help startups understand their customers in these unpredictable times.

Joshua and Dan come together to break down what customer segments are, how they benefit your business, and some of the situations you can find yourself in if you ignore them. As usual, if you'd like to find out more, don't hesitate to contact us at hello@tectoniclondon.com or find us on social media at @tectoniclondon. You can also visit the website: www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) .

Eating insects might sound like a playground prank, but entomophagy is a staple part of the diet in 80% of the world’s countries.  That’s what Leo and Aaron from BUG are here to tell us. They are revolutionizing the food chain by introducing insects into the nation’s diet via meal plan delivery services. But they have a job on their hands. They are having to create the demand for a product that many people would squirm at! All whilst launching during the lockdown. From a startup perspective, it doesn’t get tougher than that!  Feel free to get in touch  with Nana on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-parry/) , Dan on Twitter (https://twitter.com/yodanparry) or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) for more info on how we help startups understand their customers in these unpredictable times.

As black men and black business owners, Nana, Dan, and Joshua sit down to talk about how they're feeling since the beginning of global protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. Are brands doing enough? Are they sincere or do they just not want to end up on the wrong side of history? As usual, if you'd like to find out more, don't hesitate to contact us at hello@tectoniclondon.com or find us on social media at @tectoniclondon. You can also visit the website: www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) .

It's Mental Health Awareness Week, and if there was ever a time to have frank and open communication, it's now. The Tectonic team sit down to discuss their own mental health at this current time and their personal ups and downs. As usual, if you'd like to find out more, don't hesitate to contact us at hello@tectoniclondon.com or find us on social media at @tectoniclondon. You can also visit the website: www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) .

Crowdfunding is no small thing, and it was a pleasure to speak to my good friends Ryan Crawford and Dominic Lawe about their beautiful football card game, Next Goal Wins. Check out their Kickstarter page here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obgames/next-goal-wins We spoke about: Validating their product idea Testing and prototyping Knowing when to stay the course or change Female representation in the game If you want to get some great insight on how to take a product from idea to something real, and then fundraising for it based on a prototype, this is the podcast for you. They are almost at their funding goal with a few days to go, so if you're interested in games, football or this as a gift, check out their Kickstarter page above!

How are you getting on working remotely? It’s definitely got its highs and its lows. That's why we’re delighted to be talking to Asia Lindsay, a Remote Work expert. After working for TED as their in-house linguist, Asia worked for 3 years at Toptal, the world’s largest fully remote company. In that time she visited something insane like 90+ countries, all whilst working remotely and never technically having “a home”. Asia now works on events and community at Google for Startups Campus London and she is also the Director of Community and Communication at The COVID Tracking Project (https://covidtracking.com/) , a fully remote volunteer initiative incubated by The Atlantic. She’s here to talk about building remote teams that work together and executing on fine-tuned projects.   Feel free to get in touch with Nana on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-parry/) , Dan on Twitter (https://twitter.com/yodanparry) or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) for more info on how we help startups understand their customers in these unpredictable times.

The pandemic has hit a lot of us where it hurts: financially.  That’s why having a side hustle is so important, it’s an additional revenue stream that can be a security net in hard times. Our guest, Abadesi Osunsade, is many things: the founder of Hustle Crew, co-host of Techish podcast, published author and winner of awards. Abadesi is speaking about bootstrapping a business, managing job uncertainty and decreasing the diversity-gap in tech.  Feel free to get in touch  with Nana on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-parry/) , Dan on Twitter (https://twitter.com/yodanparry) or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) for more info on how we help startups understand their customers in these unpredictable times.

If you've ever interviewed or asked your customers anything, you may be familiar with the concept of 'good questions' and 'bad questions'. In this episode, we quickly breakdown the difference between the two, give some examples of what not to do and suggest ways to stay on the right path when having these conversations. As usual, if you'd like to find out more, don't hesitate to contact us at hello@tectoniclondon.com or find us on social media at @tectoniclondon. You can also visit the website: www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) . Stay safe out there.

What should founders and startups be doing in the face of the unprecedented COVID-19 lockdown? How can you keep investors happy when all your customers have stopped buying? And are investors looking for new opportunities? Lauren Tack is the founder & CEO of Invigorate, a platform that links new startups with experts and advisors. Lauren has a wealth of knowledge and has lots of great answers to some of these really difficult questions. If you'd like to find out more about how to validate your business ideas, please email nana@tectoniclondon.com for a chat or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) .

The term value gets thrown around a lot in business, but what does it really mean? Nana, Dan and Joshua discuss the tangible meaning of the word and the benefits to your business if you can provide it to your customers regularly.  As usual, if you'd like to find out more, don't hesitate to contact us at hello@tectoniclondon.com or find us on social media at @tectoniclondon. You can also visit the website: www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) . Stay safe out there.

Artificial Intelligence is all around us and we use, rely and interact with it more than we know. So we’re talking to Kasia Borowska, co-founder of Brainpool AI and their Business Development Lead, Clayton Black.  Brainpool AI is a global team of 400 developers who are working on some seriously exciting AI projects. If you'd like to find out more about how to validate your business ideas, please email nana@tectoniclondon.com for a chat or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) .

In today's chat we take time to discuss business stakeholders and some of the conversations you should be having with them. Investors? Customers? Employees? There may be difficult conversations to have with each group, but how you handle them and how they respond will give you great insight into these coming weeks for your business. As usual, if you'd like to find out more, don't hesitate to contact us at hello@tectoniclondon.com or find us on social media at @tectoniclondon. You can also visit the website: www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) . Stay safe out there.

Starting-up, or even just working in a startup, can be a financial risk which means some of the big life goals—buying a house, having kids, retiring—are even harder to achieve. That’s why Caroline Hughe’s fintech platform, Lifetise, is gaining so much traction. Lifetise provides something we could all do with: figuring out how to afford the lives we want to lead. And it’s not as if Coron19 isn’t making it hard enough to earn money and plan for the future. That said, this is a great time to upskill, develop that side hustle and build more robust and sustainable businesses. If you'd like to find out more about how to validate your business ideas, please email nana@tectoniclondon.com for a chat or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) .

In this episode, we discuss how a diagram that Dan created to help businesses find the sweet spot they should be in. In brief, are you delivering what you want to deliver, what you can afford to deliver, what your customers want and what they need? We delve into how this affects your business needs and your customers' behaviour.  As usual, if you'd like to find out more, don't hesitate to contact us at hello@tectoniclondon.com or find us on social media at @tectoniclondon. You can also visit the website: www.tectoniclondon.com. Stay safe out there.

Entrepreneurship is never easy. It often seems as though it's one challenge after another. But when the world around you is facing challenges, it can be felt doubly hard by founders. This week we have a frank and open discussion about running a business in this current Covid-19 climate. If you'd like to reach out and have any more chats about what was discussed, please email hello@tectoniclondon.com or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) .

In the midst of Covid-19, all businesses are facing uncertainty. With so many daily unknowns it's difficult to know how to conduct yourself as a rational human, let alone as a functioning business! We sat down and took stock of the current climate with Andy Davis - investor at Atomico, a VC firm that funds tech founders at Series A and beyond. There are so many questions on founders' minds right now, such as, How am I going to raise funds? We don't have all the answers, but what we do know is that we need to encourage conversation, community and compassion in this confusing time. If you'd like to find out more about how to validate your business ideas, please email nana@tectoniclondon.com for a chat or visit www.tectoniclondon.com (http://www.tectoniclondon.com/) .

Listen in as the co-founders of Tectonic talk about why founders and businesses should validate their ideas. We discuss this through the lens of technology, your customers' landscape and from our own personal point of view as entrepreneurs ourselves. Tectonic is a business consultancy that helps startups, founders and enterprises validate their assumptions with their target customer.  If you'd like to find out more about how to validate your business ideas, please email nana@tectoniclondon.com for a chat or visit www.tectoniclondon.com.

Courtney Mae-Briggs is the star of the multi-award-winning stage show Hamilton. We sensed that the talent, commitment, luck—whatever you want to call it —needed to succeed in the hyper-competitive space of The Arts, might be similar to making it in the startup world. And if we’re right, we can all find inspiration from different industries and not be so siloed in our own little “worlds”.  Basically, what we’re asking is, are we all entrepreneurs, no matter what industry or role we’re in?

Lizzie Shupak is a CEO, Digital Innovator, Mum, Abbey Road Studio Mentor and Cambridge Grad.  She’s got an amazing amount of experience and stories. But how does she balance it all? We all struggle enough with what we’ve got on our plates. Like trying to build that side hustle that’s going to change the world, whilst having richer relationships, and keeping up with ALL the Netflix. Let's find out how Lizzie gets the work-life balance right. 

What’s your idea of the ideal workspace?  Clemence Billoud, oversees Second Home, a collection of super-cool workspaces spanning London, Lisbon and LA. Second Home endorse the “creative friction” that occurs when diverse startups rub shoulders.  Clemence tells Dan and Nana about her personal journey from relief projects in Haiti, to nurturing the community at Second Home, via splurges into improvised comedy. 

Ill mental health costs the UK more than £94bn every year, equating to something like £3,000 per employee of the age to work. Away from the financial consequences, the truth is bleaker still. People are unhappy: overworked, undervalued and stressed out. But things are changing. Sanctus is a startup on a mission to change the perception of mental health. They put professional coaches in businesses to do something novel: talk to staff members on a 1-2-1 basis, in complete privacy, without any judgement or disclosure to their bosses or peers.  Vic Lloyd is Sanctus’ first employee and Operations Manager. As advocates of discussions on mental health, Vic, Dan and Nana talk frankly about what affects them and how they overcome challenges to succeed in the hectic startup world.

Ever find yourself nodding along to conversations about blockchain and not really knowing what it’s all about? That’s because blockchain is the most misunderstood development in tech. Advocates say it’s going to renew democracy and create a safer internet. While naysayers argue that it’s slow, corruptible and over-hyped. Rhian Lewis is an expert developer and an eloquent speaker on all things blockchain.  She’s also the co-host of London Women in Bitcoin group and co-founder of the popular countmycrypto.com website.  If you need a concise introduction into blockchain, this is for you.

Savena has just been named The Drum’s Future 50 influential marketers. She’s the brand strategist for Detective Dot: a multi-award-winning children’s book and gaming experience that teaches code and computer skills through creative storytelling. Savena brings an amazing sense of fun to everything she does, including her brand strategy and especially this conversation. She even ends up turning the tables on Dan and Nana and asking them the questions! 

In an age when someone can google your name and find pictures of you at a party ten years ago, managing your online persona is more important than ever. That's why Victoria Pearson and her co-founders came up with Sonder Associates: A PR startup who specialise in getting business leaders higher on google search ratings. Sonder has the connections to gets founders covered by the right kind of media, talking at events that matter and on podcasts that people actually listen too ;) Anyone who interested in having a successful career can benefit from Victoria’s sound advice on how to enhance your online reputation.

In 2017, out of the $84 Billion in Venture Capital handed out to startups globally, only 2% went to women, 1% went to black founders, and 0.2% went to black women.  Backstage Capital developed out of a belief that this is not only unfair but a wasted business opportunity. So beginning in LA in 2015, then Detroit and Philadelphia more recently, Backstage began investing in startup founders who identify as Women, Person of Colour, and/or LGBTQ. Now, Backstage has arrived in London with Anisah Osman Britton and Andy Ayim leading the UK accelerator program. Reach out: Anisah is @anisah_ob  Andy's on @AndysHVC We are Metier Digital on LinkedIn and @MetierLDN on Instagram and Twitter.