Tuesday 4 September - my day as a mentor at Seedcamp did not get off to a good start. Up at 4.30am, plane to London City was late, total traffic chaos because of the Tube strike and my taxi didn’t show up on time, then took the scenic route to Imperial College … whatever happened to the famous ‘Knowledge’???
Once there, however, it all became totally worthwhile and the level of fellow mentor companies represented was amazing. (Imagine rubbing shoulders with the likes of Martin Varsawsky who made a speech that was hugely entertaining as well as inspiring.) Among the delegates I met about 10 really good companies, there was a huge buzz, some great ideas and I really enjoyed myself.
On the downside the level of presentation of the wannabe-entrepreneur companies was without exception extremely poor and lacking in structure. Despite that, I was chuffed that out of the ten companies I was asked to judge, two of the three I recommended were winners. I can’t help feeling that a bit of practice on the presentation skills could make a huge difference next year.
As a Seedcamp mentor I also felt that I myself benefited hugely from mixing with the other mentors with PR and marketing experience. All in all a really worthwhile event for mentors or mentees.
Phil Huber
September 20, 2007 at 6:10 pm |
“two of the three he recommended were winners” – which was the one that didn’t get picked?