Angel investment gives you wiiiings

While Northern Ireland currently has one very strong angel investor network in Halo does this lack of competition actually hinder our startups chances of securing funding quickly, if at all, rather than help them?

I’m a big fan of Paul Graham‘s writing.  He knows a thing or two about startups and funding them from his own experience in setting them up and more recently by funding and supporting them through YCombinator.   For those who haven’t heard of him, he is a prolific essayist and writes regularly on subjects related to technology startups, investing and general popular enterprise culture.  We could do with a few more like him in our wee country but I digress.  What got me thinking about the need for Northern Ireland to have more business angel networks was his recent essay “High resolution fundraising”

Investors influence investors

Graham cuts to the chase pretty quickly in an essay that is short by his standards. In his view “By far the biggest influence on investors’ opinions of a startup is the opinion of other investors”.  In a funding landscape where there are a plethora of investors this actually plays into the hands of startups and those who are willing to take a punt early.  What I mean by that is that it opens up the opportunity to create hype, play one group off another, forces investors to make quicker investment decisions to gain first mover advantage and invest on better terms than those who dither.  Its pretty tough to get startup capital here in NI at the best of times but anything that speeds up the flow of early investment has got to be a good thing – right?

I was given a great overview of Halo some months ago by Richard Ferguson who manages the day to day running of the angel network when I met with him down at NISP.  He and Alan Watts have done a great job of recruiting new angel investors who now number over 100 if memory serves me right.  I have also met with many angels and founders who have taken part in the process.  All are generally supportive of the way things are run.  The run a tight ship.  Well it would be given it is based in the Titanic Quarter.  I just can’t help but think that a bit of healthy competition is now called for in terms of a new network or several new networks.

Constructive ambiguity

This would introduce a bit of scope for constructive ambiguity on the entrepreneurs behalf in terms of who may or may not be interested in investing in their businesses.  It might lead to faster investments getting capital, the lifeblood of any startup, into their hands quicker.  Sure those that are uninvestable will still be uninvestable.  The cream might rise to the top faster however and that can only be a good thing for founders, investors and the country at large.  The sooner they find their feet, the sooner they scale to a size were they start employing people, export overseas, pay taxes and help us fight our way out of the financial difficulties we find ourselves in.

Seedcorn deadline approaches

Don’t forget that the closing date for business plans to be submitted to InterTradeIreland for the Seedcorn competition is the 17th September.  Northern Ireland is generally under-represented so you could be in with a good chance to win the regional finals and get through to the all island final if you play your cards right.  Even if you don’t win, the opportunity to hone your business plan and pitching skills will stand you in good stead so what are you waiting for?

Don't kill creativity

With the Digital Circle (DC) elections now done and dusted I felt it was timely to jot down my thoughts about encouraging creativity as its is broadly linked.  Further stimulus arrived on Monday by way of a tweet from one of the newly elected members of the steering group.  While this post isn’t aimed specifically at the work of that fine institution, there are parallels to some of the ideas raised.  DC is involved in the business of supporting digital creativity in all forms after all.  I am drawing shamelessly from the work of Teresa M. Amabile as well as on my own experiences from various roles.

I have had a lot of dealings with companies and individuals recently who operate in the “creative” space.  Creative in this case covers a broad spectrum spanning web, mobile, film, animation, design, gaming etc.  Feel free to consider yourself or business as being covered if you aspire to be creative in whatever you do.

Most of those dealings have been due to a natural inquisitiveness on my part to see just what excellent work is being done in the marketplace.  Partly it has been down to my wishing to help out where others felt I could add value by tapping on my experience.  An element has been to do with volunteering to assist those who might not have had the same breaks in life as I have had.

In trying to support creativity in Northern Ireland I am constantly reminded of an article originally published in the Harvard Business Review in Sept-Oct 1998 which was brought to my attention when studying the Creativity in Management module of my Masters.  That article was called “How to kill creativity” and was written by Teresa M. Amabile who was Professor of Business Administration and senior associate dean for research at the Harvard Business School at that time.  It made a huge impact on me at the time.  I still carry a PDF copy of it with me on my memory stick and read it from time to time.  Sad I know.

In her view Amabile suggests that creativity gets killed much more than it gets supported but also recognises that to be creative ideas must be appropriate – both useful and actionable.  So we are not dealing with creativity for creativity’s sake.  The outcome must be deliverable, functional, sustainable and self sustaining even.

She goes on to highlight how creativity will be enhanced if problems are habitually turned upside down with knowledge combined from seemingly disparate fields.  The implication being that creative solutions don’t just come from looking for answers within ones own industry but stepping outside of the comfort zone, engaging with others from different backgrounds, fields of expertise and communities.

Creativity is a function of three components.  These are expertise, creative thinking skills and motivation.  In her research she singles out motivation as being the key driver in what people will actually do.  What they will produce, what they will achieve.  Without suitable motivation that creativity will go untapped.

The two types of motivation are extrinsic (carrot, stick, money) and intrinsic (passion, interest, challenge, enjoyment).  While it is true that money is generally seen as a poor motivator in most respects I am also of the view that severe lack of money may act as a disincentive to those hoping to plough their furrow in the creative space.

Amabile looks to the intrinsic form of motivation to encourage and drive creativity.  In a nutshell she urges the reader to find real problems that they are passionate about and fix them for the challenge and enjoyment they bring – the rewards will surely follow, be they monetary or recognition by your peers and the wider community.

In the article Amabile outlines six categories that emerged from her team’s research as being key practices which had the effect of killing creativity.  These six practices weren’t simply the work of lone managers but were systemic in the organisations where they were found.  In the first part of this two-part blog I will look at the first three – challenge, resources and work-group features – and offer up some counter suggestions as to how those might be avoided.  I do this so that we might support and nurture creativity in this wee country of ours rather than kill it.

Challenge

When forming teams those setting them up will invariably attempt to match tasks with those people who have previous experience of working on similar tasks and solving them.  Many would see this as a good thing.  If, however,  you are really trying to do something creative, to come up with new thinking, do you really want to settle for the same dependable results time and again?   This shot gun wedding is often due to limited time restraints and resources to really understand what skills and potential people are bringing to the table.  The most eligible person is wed to the most urgent and open assignment.  The results are predictably unsatisfactory for all.

Take time to understand those involved.  Understand which tasks would be challenging for them.  An amount of stretch is healthy for all involved and will yield better, more creative results all round.

Freedom

In relation to granting freedom the key is to give people autonomy concerning the means, concerning process, but not necessarily the ends.  Throughout Amabile’s research they found that people tended to be more creative if you let them decide how to climb a particular mountain themselves though not necessarily letting them choose which mountain to climb.  Setting clearly defined strategic goals can often enhance creativity rather than kill it.  These goals should also remain stable, it is harder to work towards targets if they keep changing.

This autonomy heightens intrinsic motivation.  A recent article in The Guardian talks about even once prized careers becoming McDonaldised.  Let’s try to withstand the drive to the mundane and ensure that in this corner of these isles “permission to think” is a given.  Don’t claim people are empowered if the process is already proscribed.

Resources

Time and money.  The two main resources that affect creativity.  Those charged with supporting creativity should aim to capture both and allocate them carefully.  Remember also that more money is not always the answer nor is more time.  Under many circumstances shortages of both can heighten creativity.  Don’t use it as an excuse, especially in these straightened times.  A shortage of both can also increase the levels of intrinsic motivation by increasing the sense of challenge.

Encourage creativity by allowing time for exploration and schedule incubation periods.  Those who fail to will stand in the way of creativity.  Keeping resources too tight will also push people to channel resources into finding additional resources rather than getting a job of work done in developing new solutions, products and services.

The project is not quite in stealth mode though I can’t say too much yet.  A private Beta is planned soon so in the meantime I can hopefully whet your appetite.  From the very moment he fired up his Macbook Pro and launched the app in a browser the user interface alone told me that I was seeing something special.  First impressions last.  This app is still impregnated on my eyeballs.

So what is it really about?  Well the teaser text on the Showcase site gives some clues:

Planzai is a web app aimed initially at the music industry, which intends to make musicians’ lives easier. Planzai helps them achieve their business goals by providing expert content, broken down step-by-step. Each step becomes a task in the user’s calender, and our content helps them understand the ‘how, when and who’ of achieving their goals. The concept is also applicable to other sectors where people need to become experts quickly, avoiding trial and error.

Before seeing it I was concerned that it might be too niche to make a real impact.  Niche isn’t necessarily a bad thing mind you but my view is that when you are bringing a new product or service to market it’s best to have as broad a spectrum of customers and potential applications as possible.  Believe me this solution has applications across numerous sectors, countries, market and demographic segments.

That is what really excited me and spurred me into naming Rich Dale as my first Project Athene Geek to God nominee.  In my post on Project Athene I talked about elevating our geeks to rock star status.  Rich has a head start; he already plays bass.  He also has Planzai.  When you have a solution that can have applications in areas as diverse as music, marriage, property development and new venture creation to name but a few as well as the potential to go viral it is going to go far.  Couple that with its potential for numerous revenue streams, price differentiation, white labelling and ecosystem development that is a recipe for some serious figures.

I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on the Beta so I can see if my hunch is justified.  I have a feeling it will.  It will certainly be one of the highlights in Derry on the 16th September.

The discussion was quite simply this:

Mark Nagurski

I agree completely David … but … I also think we (ie. people involved in startups and tech) need to get better at promoting ourselves too. Events like Showcase only work if people are willing to stand up and say, “hey, look at us, look at the great stuff we’re doing” and we’re often not the best at doing that.

David Crozier

Good point Mark. Maybe the NI tech community needs its very own Gok Wan for a “Geeks to Gods” makeover.

I guess this post is about how the startup and tech community can do just that.  Go mainstream, breakout, bring that geekery out of the bedrooms, incubators, rented office space and university labs of Northern Ireland to the attention of the wider world.

Why Project Athene?

All great innovation projects need a snappy name right?  Names like Project Apollo, the Manhattan Project, The X Prize and Project Kelvin (OK, maybe not that one).

Like any self respecting blogger with a degree in Computing instead of English or the Classics I checked out Wikipedia for a list of Greek Gods to see if something would fit.

I had considered Project Ananke after the Goddess of inevitability, compulsion and necessity. After all necessity is the mother of all invention.  She just didn’t fit the bill however.  This project had to be about ambition too and she just wasn’t high enough up the Greek God league table to justify naming this particular project after her.

After what seemed like 15 minutes, though it might have been 20, I settled on Project Athene (Athena).  Athene is the goddess of war, civilization, wisdom, strength, strategy, crafts, justice and skill. Though Athene was a goddess of war strategy, she disliked fighting without a purpose and preferred using wisdom to settle predicaments – something that could be said of many geeks in my view.  Why not Athena?  Those smarty pants at MIT, Digital Equipment Corporation, and IBM had already snaffled Project Athena so I chose the Athene variant of the name instead.

Why do we need Project Athene?

I deal with startups and SMEs everyday.  I must admit that tech, web and mobile startups are a personal favourite of mine coming from a tech background myself.  The number one thing I hear from most of them is that funding is a big issue.  Two is the tendency in the media to focus on Silicon Valley startups rather than indigenous ones.  Three is probably gaining traction in the market place which is brought about by issue two and issue one.

So how do we solve those issues?

Media
No offence to local business reporters (are there any tech knowledgable ones outside of James Scott’s excellent SyncNI?), they are great at regurgitating press releases and puff pieces, telling us if the Footsie is up or down and how many Euros we get to the pound.  Heck they’ll even let us know when companies are making huge redundancies or when a large utility falls foul of the regulator.  All pretty regular stuff but when was the last time they got down and dirty with some tech startups?

Many kids have to listen to Radio Ulster every morning on their way to work.  If they aren’t hearing inspiring business stories in that 7:45 business slot how can we ever expect them to aspire to be entrepreneurs when they grow up?

Write to your favourite media outlet.  I don’t mean tweeting or emailing them neither.  Actually put pen to paper and write to them demanding more coverage of Northern Irish tech startups instead of the steady stream of Apple stories.  Demand that Paul Clark off UTV interviews some local entrepreneurs instead of the arts, music and cinema reviews that currently pass for news on his late show.  Demand that Jamie Delargy blog about them on the UTV website.  Get the Bel Tel to do some legwork and feature them rather than those puff pieces placed by PR companies.  You get the message.

Traction

We should sign up to as many local tech startup’s beta programmes, play with their stuff if only to tell them directly and constructively how it should be improved.  When we have played with it we should tweet about it, blog about it, tell people about it, show those outside of the community even if they aren’t necessarily interested.  You never know when they might tell someone else or it might crop up at dinner as a conversation piece.  All of us are connected to people all over the world.  Tell them, tell them to tell their friends.

Remember to judge applications fairly.  For example it may not look as polished as an app developed by Apple or Facebook but then they have a gazillion developers.  If it does what it says on the tin and has been produced on a shoe string try to look for the positives.  Encouragement means a lot.  I’m not suggesting for one minute that we should give false praise to crap apps.  You can’t polish a turd.  Just be considered in your support and criticism in equal measure.  When its good enough we should buy it with our own hard cash.

Update: As Laura Parkhill from @MATRIX_NI has rightly pointed out tonight collaboration is an excellent way of gaining traction and critical mass.  Two heads are better than one, and ten heads are better than two (except maybe in a committee).  Starting up can be a pretty lonely experience.  Working with others certainly mean the outcomes are greater than the sum of all parts.

Funding

Good projects + Lots of buzz  =  raised media profile + users + traction + attention from business angels and VCs = funding.

What would Project Athene entail?

We have to start promoting some of our geeks to rock star status. Not my idea, but something I picked up from David Kirk at dinner one night. I’m sure he’ll not mind me stealing that particular one.   Now I’m not talking about some cult of hero worship here but I am suggesting that we have to elevate some to a higher plain in the public consciousness.

More launch parties; more Ferraris

When my now wife and I lived in Dublin back in the heyday of the dot com era everyone knew about tech startups from their launch parties.  They were the hottest ticket in town.  The founders of the firm Fiona worked for all bought matching Black AMG Mercedes when they closed their first big funding round.  Now I’m not suggesting the same level of extravagance that resulted in the bonfire of VC money back then but there has got to be a happy medium.

If you are part of the NI technology establishment who has recently had a successful exit where you made a shit load of money then buy a Ferrari, or better still something more refined like an Aston Martin Vanquish and drive it around the colleges and universities of Northern Ireland to talk to students about how you made the money to buy it.  If you are feeling generous I wouldn’t say no to a Jaguar XK. I’m not greedy.

Local golfer Rory McIlroy has recently bought himself a white Lamborghini with his winnings and he’s only 21.  This is probably why my brother-in-law has just bought his two and a half year old son a set of his very own clubs instead of a laptop.  A few tech car nuts could have the same effect.

Simple?  Maybe.  We should try it to find out.

If you found this article constructive please comment below and retweet using the #projectathene hashtag.

David Crozier

I have been broadly aware of the group for a number of months but shied away from attending for fear of being found out as a non-coder.  I needn’t have worried.  I was warmly welcomed for just wanting to show my support and chip in ideas.

We saw a great demo of an Android application which was put together by a unassuming guy who is an accountant (and no not THAT accountant) with no software development skills prior to getting involved in the group. 

Update (11/08/10): The unassuming accountant in question is called Mark Breen aka @markvader.  He might let you play with his app if you ask him nicely and have an Android phone.

Mark’s application draws together a dataset released by Translink which displays timetable information for bus routes.  Anyone who has used Translink’s website knows that it generally sucks.  As a regular bus user he had, and thought he could do better.  The application rocks.  If he can do it why can’t you?

Projects in the pipeline include multiple Translink related ones, OpenLiveNet for Mencap and something for the RNLI.  Heck if you have a good idea for improving public/voluntary sector service and can get access to the data it might be your app they work on someday.

I urge you to go along to the next meeting and get involved.  Find out more here.

Regards,

David Crozier

The discussions focused on two extremes of the democratic process.  Some related to elections to the steering group of a hyperlocal (to NI), highly specialised association; the others ultimately lead all the way to Westminster.  The discussions for both democratic processes were equally passionate and engaging and were equally relevant to the future success of this wee country.

They focussed on areas such as galvanising a community, setting out a vision for the future, enabling entrepreneurship, economic policy, inclusion, politics with a small p, politics with a big P, personalities and the like.

I have spent this evening reflecting on what we should demand and expect from those who would seek our X on a ballot paper or click in a radio button/check box on an electronic poll.

In the past I have had the fortune (or misfortune depending on your viewpoint) of being in the position to observe both local and national politicians at the highest level in their working environment.  During that time I was able to see past the mask of the election posters and manifestos; it enabled me to form an opinion of many which wouldn’t necessarily reflect the persona they present in the media interview, election hustings or on the doorstep.  Some pleasantly surprised me, others not so.

So what do I feel you should look out for in a representative of your choice?  Here are a few thoughts;

Passion

First and foremost the candidate will be passionate about the cause, industry, their beliefs, their policies.  That passion manifests itself in truly believing they can make a difference for the people they serve rather than raising their own profile and making personal gain.  This passion should be infectious in that it attracts both people and resources to a cause.  That passion should have been evidenced three, six, twelve months ago and not just on the hustings.

Pragmatism, consensus

Passion is all well and good but if someone is over zealous in an angry shouty way they’ll never be able to deliver diddley squat.  Remember it is easier to oppose something than it is to come up with solutions and deliver them.

Your representative needs to be able to build constructive relationships with others both within the body elect and with other stakeholder groups.  They should be able to go into meetings with not just one option but two, three or four others up their sleeve.  They shouldn’t just roll over however.  Everyone needs a red line.

In putting forward their views they should have the ability and a willingness to re-prioritise those views as others give theirs.  They will show that they value other peoples views by making use of them to develop their own arguments.  Ultimately they should have the ability to respond positively to challenges with good humour, to maintain relationships and gain the support of others.  They will not monopolise a discussion but encourage others to take part.

Consensus means getting another step on the road to where you want to go.

Decision making

A perfect candidate will be able to draw on experience and information from various sources and various viewpoints, assimilate it and be able to make decisions quickly.  They should be able to communicate the reasons for those decisions clearly and in a way that supports their arguments.  Quick wins are not a basis for fruitful representation nor are they in the long term interests of the electorate.

Ability to deliver

Achievements are important.  They show that a candidate is more than just a list of empty promises as they have a history of delivering.  What has the candidate achieved in their professional life? If their role hasn’t afforded them the scope to deliver tangible achievements have they taken steps to deliver in their personal life which are equally important?  Do they have the stamina to deliver for you?

Learning and improving

Everyone has skills gaps, everyone lacks experience and everyone has failings.  A perfect candidate will recognise that and take steps to address it.  Remember that good decision making comes from learning from bad ones.  I would rather have someone represent me who had made a few mistakes than someone who professes to have made none.

Communication skills

Does the candidate communicate with impact in language that is appropriate for the audience concerned?  Do they make clear arguments based on evidence rather than hearsay and innuendo?  In rejecting others viewpoints do they alienate people or persuade them to consider theirs?

The democratic process

The democratic process is vital to ensure that all views are represented.  It should not be taken for granted.  Remember to use your vote and use it wisely as you only get the representation you vote for.

I am a son of the country.  Born and raised in rolling countryside outside Armagh, a techie at heart but I haven’t forgotten my roots.   I am still partial to reading the Farming Life or the farming section in the Impartial Reporter when I visit the folks back there or my in laws in Fermanagh.  An article in one of those on the EU Nitrates Directive is the first part of the jigsaw.  The second is a chance remark from a fellow tweeter some months ago regarding my decision to opt for a HTC Hero rather than following the crowd and going for an iPhone.  These two unremarkable occurrences passed without leaving any real lasting mark on my brain until a third event today tied the two together while my conscious brain allowed thoughts to bubble up from the unconscious to become the top idea in my mind.  That event was simply mowing my grass, a task which relaxes my brain in a similar way to a morning shower allowing thoughts to collect themselves in a way they wouldn’t normally do.

Back to that Nitrates Directive.  For the uninitiated:

The Nitrates Directive (1991) aims to protect water quality across Europe by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources polluting ground and surface waters and by promoting the use of good farming practices.

The gist of the article I read was this.  As the implementation of this directive began to bite farmers could no longer depend on liberally using artificial fertilizers to the same extent to feed their pastures to ensure a heavy grass crop due to the damage that nitrate run-off was causing to the waterways of this land.  So what were farmers to do to maintain crop yields?

Previously they had removed all other plant species from their fields to ensure they didn’t compete for nutritional resources with the grass.  This had the effect of creating a wasteland colonised only by grass which was OK provided farmers continued to apply liberal amounts of nitrogen in the form of fertiliser.  Unfortunately some of those species are actually vital in a healthy pasture ecosystem.  One of the key species is clover.

Clover is a genus of about 300 species of plants, a member of the leguminous pea family Fabaceae. Legumes are the farmers friend in that they fix nitrogen into the soil.  Clover is particularly good at doing this and had the added benefit of being particularly palatable to cattle.  Grass has a symbiotic relationship with clover.  It helps the grass grow producing a thick leafy sward.  The article was re-educating farmers regarding the merits of planting clover with grass to replace the nitrogen in fertilizer.

Gardens like billiard tables

Clover and grass

I, like many, like my garden to look lush and green and healthy.  For many years I bought into the ‘weed and feed’ mentality.  I liberally sprinkling my lawns with chemicals after every mowing so it resembled a putting green trying to keep up with the neighbours who had even more impressive patches.  This had the effect of making my garden a monopolised wasteland with only grass remaining.  The more I weeded, the more I had to feed.  I was caught in a downward spiral, reliant on the fertilizer manufacturer rather than mother nature.

Over recent years I have began to grow some fruit and vegetables in a small patch in my back garden.  As I have aimed to produce more organic produce I began to make my own compost.  Chemicals and fertilizer are the organic gardeners enemy however as the grass produced breaks down into a green slime as it is just water and chemicals so I had to cut those out.  It also means that the compost is pretty useless due to the level of weed killer residue which means that nothing will germinate.

Unfortunately my lush lawn paid a heavy price for this removal of chemical subsidy and has spent the last couple of years looking scalded and patchy.  My neighbours probably thought I was mad.  Turning my back on the aesthetically pleasing coat of glossy grass for this mangy lawn that resembled the coat on a flea eaten dog.

This year the tide has turned however.  Those chemicals are finally leeching down far enough to let other species recolonise.  One of those is clover, both the white and red varieties.  Where it grows the grass is taller, more lush and greener.  That symbiotic relationship has returned as the clover dies and releases its nitrogen rich bounty back into the soil.  See the picture to the right which I took this morning prior to mowing as evidence. Notice how the grass is lusher where there is clover to the right of the picture.  The grass to the left just isn’t as impressive even after almost a full month of summer rain.

Clover has other fringe benefits too.  Pollinators such as bumblebees just love it and those little guys need all the help they can get at the minute as they have declined due to agricultural intensification.

Lessons for technology consumers

In my introduction I mentioned two sources of inspiration for this post – newspapers and micro-blogging.  I have covered, I hope, the newspaper element.  So what of the micro-blogging?

Well that relates to a debate I had with prominent NI blogger Matt Johnston and lover of all things Apple regarding opting for the Android toting HTC Hero over the iPhone.  Matt just couldn’t comprehend why I would chose the less polished Hero when the iPhone was taking over the world.

Why had I settled for second or even third best?  In my view the iPhone was beginning to create a smartphone wasteland to the exclusion of other varieties.  It was sucking customers into an expensive spiral of buying from a closed system and wielding ever increasing power over developers.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking I a am anti-Apple.  I am writing this on a Macbook after all.

I opted for clover in the form of Android, as have increasing numbers of others.  This has been a good thing.  Not only for the variety of Android based phones available in the marketplace but also for fans of the iPhone though they sometimes don’t realise it.  Like the grass in my garden the iPhone has benefited from this symbiotic relationship in the form of increased functionality on their handsets not just now but for many increments to come as competition has forced Apple to up its gain further.  Like the honeybees there will be other fringe benefits to the growth of Android for the tech consuming community too.

Do yourself a favour.  Don’t just follow the herd, choose pastures new – choose clover.

Spark your entrepreneurial spirit

No idea

The current downturn has had the effect of leaving a heck of a lot of very bright people either out of work or underemployed just to pay the bills.  My hunch is that the tough times are here for a while yet.  A fair few of these people think so too and are putting their minds towards creating their own employment.  If they are successful they’ll create employment for others and we will start to grind our way out of the age of austerity.

What is a person to do if they are oozing with energy but just can’t think of a viable business to ‘keep the rust off the pan’?  Do excuse the shameless plug for the 9-5 but they could do worse than look in the Business idea profiles tool on nibusinessinfo.co.uk.  Its got some great ideas from Alpaca wool producer to Water buffalo milk producer and quite a few in between.  That’s the infomercial out of the way, no lets get to the beef.

The little reported event I referred to in my intro was the launch of the new Ulster Institutional Repository on the 3rd August by my alma mater, the University of Ulster.

The idea factory

The press release heralds access to almost 8,000 published pieces of research available in the archive.  This goldmine of information published by the idea factory that is the largest university on the island of Ireland has to have a panoply of uncommercialised gems just waiting to be exploited.

The repository dates back to 1960 with the years 2008 and 2009 having over one thousand items of research published in each year alone.  This isn’t some fusty, stale old research here hogging space on a library shelf.  Its bang up to date and has the relevancy and currency required to make an impact on the world stage.

Fag packet calculations

So just how much of this research is primed for the average Jonny Entrepreneur to capitalise on?  I have had a really quick trawl through the repository and have come up with the following figures on the back of a fag packet so please no trolling or challenging the academic rigour of my research methodology.

Out of the 8,000 items let’s assume that about half are completely out of date or have been superseded by more up to date research.  That’s not a criticism.  The newer stuff is standing on the shoulders of giants.

That leaves 4,000.  Now lets also assume that half of that again is either so theoretical or way out there to you and me that it currently has no application in the real world.  Again, not a criticism its just ahead of its time.

Now we are down to 2,000.  They don’t hand out academic qualifications like sweeties so lets assume again that those bright people at the university have already commercialised some of that research either through spin outs, KTPs or consultancy etc.

Now we are down to 1,000 ideas.  Still a fair amount.  Whilst trawling through the research a lot of the more recent stuff is hidden behind paywalls of some shape or form and is not actually freely available yet.  I stand to be corrected on that and its probably not to hard to get access to an Athens account to gain access.  Still that rules out another half, especially some of the more recent papers.

So that leaves us with 500 to work with.  If a group of people with commercialisation experience reviewed those they might see potential in 250 of them.

250 potential businesses.  That probably sounds a bit high.  But with a bit of hard graft there are real business opportunities.  Business opportunities that might just attract a bit of angel investment.  The oft mooted success rate of angel investments is some 10%.

25 rock star businesses

10% of 250 gives us 25 successful businesses.  Those have the potential to be superstar businesses started in our own back yard.  They have the potential to generate jobs and wealth for our wee country so what are you waiting for?  Get trawling through those archives.

Prize

For a bit of fun I’m offering a prize of a used copy of The Long Tail by Chris Anderson bought using my own hard earned to the best business idea based on a piece of research published in this repository.  Outline a quick overview of your idea and provide a link to the relevant piece of research in the comments section below.  I’ll see how things go and I’ll pull together a poll in the coming weeks for people to vote on if I get any interest.  Please share, retweet, whatever with your friends.  The more the merrier.

The research must not be currently commercialised in a similar way or be currently in pre-production.  I’ll pay postage and packaging within the UK and Ireland.

Android has come in from left field in the last two years and it is starting to erode Blackberry market share.  Blackberry has also been coming under sustained pressure from the iPhone for a number of years which is no secret.  Whilst both Android and iPhone are generally a big noise in consumer sales the corporate space has, up until now, been owned by Blackberry.

That corporate space has begun to look a little shaky from RIM’s perspective of late as Apple fanboi executives have begun to demand that their iPhones be hooked up to the corporate network. High profile corporate defections to Apple such as Standard Chartered will have caused a few sleepless nights in the suburbs of Waterloo, Ontario where RIM are based.

Malcolm Tucker loves his Blackberry

That is why the blocking of Blackberry services in the Gulf States is PR manna from heaven for RIM.  It helps them remind those corporate, and to a large extent government customers why they chose Blackberry in the first place.  That reason is security.  All traffic between the Blackberry and Blackberry Enterprise Server is encrypted, including over the mobile operators network.

It is so secure in fact that its one of a very few mobile devices accredited by CESG.  The iPhone on the other hand is not, which is why you won’t be seeing Malcolm Tucker’s replacement with one glued to his face as he tells someone they have “laid a big fat egg of solid fuck”, or words to that effect.

In this world of internet security paranoia those large corporate and government customers won’t be getting rid of Blackberry anytime soon.  The Arabs have just reminded them why that would be a bad decision.

We fail to support and nurture that talent and believe that it is good enough to play on the national stage, never mind the global one.  Couple that with the penchant for feigning over things thought up in other countries and you have well and truly got on my goat.

Rory Cellan-Jones blog “Attention, please, for UK startups” hit a bit of a raw nerve when I read it.  To say I was incandescent with rage is a huge overstatement.  I was certainly remotely perturbed at what he was saying to say the least.

Rory’s role at the mighty Beeb is, in my view anyway, to bring technology news to the masses.  As it is UK licence fee payers money that pays his wages, that technology should primarily be British.  His argument that UK web businesses should make something journalists like then pack their bags for Silicon Valley to get noticed by prominent tech writers just doesn’t cut the mustard I’m afraid.

Big tech businesses monopolise the coverage afforded to technology on the BBC by lavishing large amounts of money on junkets for journalists.  I don’t have an issue with journalists from private sector titles attending these but as public service broadcasters those in the BBC have a duty to cover those who can’t pay to get the attention themselves.

It is time we started to recognise the talent, ingenuity and bloody minded entrepreneurial spirit that is oozing out of every pore of this country.  Let’s treat them like rock stars.  Events like SHOWCASE being organised by Mark Nagurski up in Derry~Londonderry in September are showing that there is a huge appetite for web startups of all sorts to show their wares.   SHOWCASE is a free one-day conference showcasing fresh ideas in cloud, mobile and web-based apps.

Lets hope this is the start of a new revolution.  Its time we made a big noise about Northern Ireland startups and demanded attention rather than pleading for it.

That will get their attention won’t it!