BHive’s Post

Hey folks, I run a company that's all about development and investment across various sectors. We're looking to expand our reach and dive into new opportunities, but some people in my circle think we might be overreaching, what do you think? Here's the deal: Opportunity Knocking: So, there are some booming industries out there like real estate, hospitality, and innovative products. We see these as prime areas for growth and want to jump in. But some folks are saying we should stick to what we know and not spread ourselves too thin. Campus Expansion: We've got these cool development campuses in different places, and we want to keep growing them. From Nashville to Miami to St. Lucia, we're all about offering different properties to different folks. But some friends think we're stretching ourselves too thin and should focus on just one thing at a time. Innovative Thinking: Our strategy involves shaking things up in traditional industries and embracing new tech. We're all about maximizing returns and building relationships that add value. But some folks are saying we should play it safe and stick to what's tried and true. Funding Ventures: We're also looking into managed funds and banking services to fund our projects. It's a bit of a departure from what we've done before, but we think it could pay off big time. However, some people are saying we should stick to our lane and not get too fancy with our finances. So, what do you think? AITA for wanting to expand our company's ventures, or should I listen to the naysayers and play it safe? #ExpansionDebate #RiskVersusReward #InnovationJourney #VentureDiversification #BusinessGrowth #OutofComfortZone #StrategicThinking #EntrepreneurialSpirit #OpportunityAssessment #InvestmentStrategy

Last week 93% Ventures brought together an incredible group of founders, operators, investors, and partners to discuss social mobility in UK tech with Dom Hallas and the Startup Coalition It's great to see more people talking openly about a problem the industry has faced for too long: UK tech has a huge socioeconomic representation issue. Key Takeaways are: 1️⃣ Data Collection and Data Coalitions: we need scalable methods to collect socioeconomic data of the UK tech workforce 2️⃣ Sponsorship Not Mentorship: how can we create a scalable solution to the "nepo-baby" problem of UK tech 3️⃣ Apprenticeship Levy Reform: create more pathways for enterprises to spend on hiring from underrepresented communities not just upskilling 4️⃣ Private Sector Engagement: scalable solutions for engagement with schools and academic institutions for greater awareness and access If you're interested in joining the next event, please drop me a note. David Black Gary Izunwa Raj Kaur Khaira Vinay Solanki Oli Tao Binda Patel James Turner Nicolas Cary Edwin Appiah Colin Jones Mark Sims Zoe Peden Zoe Stern Ambi Mistry Libby Dangoor Ellie Steel Francesca Arese Lucini Elinor Honigstein Stuart Mundy Thanks to Catherine Lenson and LocalGlobe for hosting!

We support businesses in every aspect of their growth and we understand that people play a major part in that journey. The UKTN Regional Tech: Liverpool report published last year stated that whilst Liverpool has amazing talent, harnessing and connecting that talent into tech companies throughout the city is an issue. The Baltic Ventures Talent Program addresses this. Since its launch last year we have placed 6 individuals into the early-stage businesses on our accelerator program, creating a new wave of paid employment opportunities across the Liverpool City Region tech sector. We sat down to understand our founders needs on an individual basis and worked at a local level to find talent to meet this. The results were amazing- we hired a diverse set of people who have now become content creators, software engineers and growth marketeers who will all play an important role in building the businesses of tomorrow…. Over the coming months, we will be sharing more about these the impact these roles have had, not just on the companies but on the individuals aswell. #tech #techjobs #liverpool #techcareers #impact #founders #startup Gaia Learning Heatio Birl Hexis Cubode - Unify & harness your data with AI Rebeca García Ben McLoughlin Kate Longworth Kirstin Coughtrie Thomas Farquhar Simon Roberts Cam McGimpsey Peter Lydon Dr Samuel Impey Dr David Dunne Rachel Siner Becca Harvey Mo Aldalou Claire Lewis

How do you build a network in a different city than where you live now? I see this come up quite a bit with folks looking to get hired by #venturecapital firms in SF/Bay Area but who live elsewhere. My two (ok, three) cents 👇 💡 Find a way to make ~3 trips to the Bay Area a year through your current gig. 💡 How? Tie as many of those trips as you can to relevant industry conferences that are at the intersection of tech/startups/VC + your industry sector (so that your boss is more likely to say "Yes" and your company will be likely to pay, or at least give you the time to attend on your own dime). 💡 Set up 1-on-1 meetings a couple weeks ahead of your arrival, and make it clear that you're in town for just a short time. Some of the folks may not remember that you're not from their neighborhood so it's always good to point this out (as it may mean the difference between you getting a meeting or not). If you've built your network in a city before you actually moved there, how did you do it?

🚀 It's been nearly three months since I began leading the Focus: Atlanta 2024 publication, and I am thrilled to be immersed in such a dynamic and innovative business community. Atlanta truly stands out as one of the premier cities for business and innovation in the United States. Check out our latest article, written by Eleana Terán Tassinari: 🌟 Five reasons Atlanta is the premier city for business and innovation 🌟 1. A business hub: Atlanta ranks as the second largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies nationwide 2. Unmatched business incentives: LinkedIn named Atlanta the best place to start your own business in 2023, highlighting the city’s business-friendly environment. 3. Quality of life: Known for its temperate climate and green spaces, Atlanta offers a vibrant living environment, complemented by its diverse dining and entertainment options. 4. A magnet for future talent: Atlanta has been recognized among the top 10 best U.S. cities for single young professionals by RentHop, thanks to its relatively high median non family household income of $62,223 and a range of factors that underscore its career-friendliness. 5. A city of innovation with a thriving Startup scene: The startup ecosystem in Atlanta is vibrant and continues to expand, earning recognition as one of the top 15 best cities for startups in the United States by both TRUiC and crowdspring. Capital Analytics #Atlanta

❤️🔥 5 reasons why New York is the right place for me right now as a Founder from London. ↓ I never fully understood the hype about NYC. But I get it now - after spending a significant amount of time here over the past year. Just as there are 'seasons of work'—times of working obsessively and resting relentlessly — I believe there are also 'places' that fit perfectly with different stages of our lives, supporting our growth when we need it most. When I was 18-26 y/o - the 'world' was the place. I didn’t have a specific location because I was young and just wanted to travel and experience it all. So, I went solo travelling for 9 months across multiple countries. But now I'm building a business and focused on personal growth - New York feels right. 5 reasons why I love New York as a Founder from London: 🌶️ Endless Networking Events: There's something happening every single day for Founders and builders. I mean every. single. day. Countless opportunities to connect with people to collaborat or learn something along the way. 🌶️ A City of Dreamers: Here, no dream is too small or too big. It's a community that fosters and nurtures big ambitiouns and growth mindset. 🌶️ People are Connectors: People here are proactive about making helpful introductions. 🌶️ Exposure to Forward thinkings and Innovators: Particularly strong in fields like AI, tech, fashion, and beauty, New York is perfect for testing product market fit, refining and selling your offering. 🌶️ Varied Founder Events: Beyond typical events, there are founder-run clubs, pickleball games, park walks, and rooftop gatherings. It makes networking feel more organic and enjoyable by facilitating it in a more fun and relax environment rather than strictly serious / business. Find places that fuel you and get you out of your comfort zone. What 'place' is the right for you at this stage of your life right now and why? 📸 featuring: Early morning run and coffee with Founder's Run Club Founders Common #nyc #nycstartup #founderjourney #startupjourney #wellness #nycfounders #londonfounders

Last week, we celebrated the final week of our Venture Creator programme for our Future Industries Demonstrator Challenge: Natural Cities with delivery partners SHIFT and Hackney Wick & Fish Island Community Development Trust at our Stratford workspace 🌱 Over the last eight weeks we’ve supported five London-based SMEs to find new partnerships, stress-test their go-to-market strategy and devise a plan to trial their innovative solutions in East London. We heard presentations from each SME on how they how they'll test their solution and generate local impact. Joined by strategic testbed partners across academia, local authorities and industry, constructive feedback on the trial plans was provided including how they can support our SMEs going forward. Congratulations to our first cohort for graduating: 🎓 Yomodo, Sophie Dhaliwal 🎓 LEAP Micro AD, Rokiah Yaman 🎓 FibreLab, Kaela Katz and Claudia Gandhi 🎓 GoodMine, Nikki Gaddo FRSA, Inês Liberato and Kath Mora 🎓 Alive Labs, Nik Naidu and Will Hunt We're excited to see these ventures grow and help build natural cities! This comes alongside the launch of our second Future Industries Demonstrator Challenge: Sustainable Structures, for which applications are now open. We're looking to support solutions that accelerate positive change in both the structures that define our skylines and the systems that power our homes and workplaces. If you'd like to learn more, visit: https://lnkd.in/eYAiHvS9 Tom Horner | Holly Smith | Rose Fitzgerald | Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park | London Legacy Development Corporation | ReLondon | London Borough of Tower Hamlets | London Borough of Newham | London Borough of Waltham Forest | London Borough of Hackney | #FutureIndustriesDemonstrator | #NaturalCities | #SustainableStructures |#InnovationChallenge | #Cohort | #ProgrammeGraduation | #Ventures | #SMEs | #Innovation | #Solutions | #EastLondon

📚My grades were all over the place; I never had a perfect GPA. (I know, bringing great shame to my Asian heritage.) I left high school early by taking an exam equivalent to the GED. (I didn’t feel like I “fitted in.”) 🏫I went straight to community college and got acquainted with the wrong crowd. Dropped out and focused on part-time work. No real college experience, no 9-5 salary job. 👩🏻🎓I saw my friends have an amazing senior year and great college experiences. I was a bit jealous. But, oh well, there was no turning back. At 22, I got my real estate license. Literally started the first month of COVID lockdowns. 🏘️I would find myself in conversations filled with people older than me. Like, way older. Wiser and wealthier. Real estate is where I laid my foundation. I gained a lot of expertise: Strengthened my negotiation skills, interpersonal communication skills, and expanded my community. 💰I earned my multi-million-dollar producer title in San Diego. And I left it all. I visited Austin once in 2021, and in that same year, I moved. Just me and my dog. (2018 picture of us is shown😂.) If I stayed in California, I would never have evolved to be this version of me. I’ve done a lot of crazy and adventurous things, but this: was the smartest thing I ever did. ✨I'm also now a cofounder of an amazing startup. We've been raising and I have the best people on my side. We're just getting started: Take the leap of faith and do the thing. Trust that everything will work out 🙏🏻Because it will! **This "just do it and figure it out" tactic I've learned will be super helpful in the startup world.. Want to know what we're doing? 😉 #personalgrowth #motivation #storytime #grit #patience #startup #innovation #founder

Should you join NEXT Canada as a founder? Short answer, yes Long answer, decide for yourself and what stage you are at, but here is all they have offered to us at Toothpod: We joined having an existing company, but you can join as a completely later stage company, or as someone who has no company and an idea. Their acceptance rate is more about who you are as a human. Next is very founder focused, it’s to develop you as a person, which helps your company. 1. COMMUNITY - super hard to be a founder already, so community is needed and they resemble the definition of community. The right mentors, right people, the right founders, just overall, good people, with good values, working on meaningful problems who you can relate to, learn from, and feel more fulfilled. You can even find your co-founder here if you’re coming in with an idea. 2. QUALITY EDUCATION - Next brings professors from all over the world to educate you, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and Imperial College London. You will learn so much, especially about the founder mindset, proper financial literacy, and how to approach negotiations. 3. EXPOSURE - Next exposed us and put us in front of amazing smart founders, investors, and LEADERS including Shivon Zilis from Neurolink, Janet Bannister, Allen Lau, Matt Golden, Lauren Arnold, Suzanne Gildert, Daniel Benin, Janice Sousa, Mike Murchison founder of Ada, Hussein Fazal founder of Super.com and SO MANY MORE. Being exposed to, being able to meet and ask questions from successful founders and leaders is critical to thinking big, making impact, moving the world in a positive way. 4. INVESTORS - investor week at next gives start-ups the opportunity to meet at LEAST 30 investors in a week, and access (emails and warm intros) to 90 investors in their eco-system. We had our lead investor from NEXT and the wonderful network. There is a lot more!! If you have questions about the pros and cons, shoot me or Mischa Hamara a message. The next open house is Aug 27 at the Next office. I’ll be there with my honest thoughts :) —- Kyle J Winters #nextcanada #incubators #startup #founder #investors #innovation

This Small Business Week, we are happy to take a moment to recognize the role small businesses play in both our local communities and the wider economy. Small businesses, from local bookstores and breweries to tech startups, not only provide diverse and personalized services, but also help maintain the unique character and tradition of our towns and neighborhoods. Employing nearly half of the American workforce, small businesses are a major source of employment in the U.S., creating two out of every three new jobs annually. They account for around 44% of U.S. economic activity, which highlights their role not just in job creation, but also in economic resilience and growth. This week, and every week, let’s do our part to support our local small business community. By choosing to shop local or using services provided by small businesses, we can help sustain the health and vibrancy of our local cities and towns, as well our neighbors who call these places home! #smallbusiness #smallbusinessweek #local #community #employment #growth