๐ Airtable, indiehackers, and meetups are back
Here's your Campfire for the 25th of September, 2023.
Before we begin: Fill out the Founders Survey and share your views about the investment landscape in Scotland. It's an entirely volunteer-led initiative, so we need the support of the community. You can use this link for sharing.
๐ผ This issue of Campfire is sponsored by Shepherd and Wedderburn's initiative to supercharge start-ups and scale-ups. Be sure to follow the Start to Scale LinkedIn page for useful videos and posts designed to help founders.
๐ค Cofounder Curious
New listings this week include:
Remote, global, Communication and Relationship Coach. Passionate about bringing love and laughter into leadership and life. Self-development junkie. Starting a relationship-based start-up.
Plus more!
Want to connect with any of them? Be sure to fill out your profile and join our Scottish-based Cofounder Curious list.
๐ Updates & Opinions
To be honest, there wasn't a lot of news this week locally that felt relevant for startup founders in Scotland. If we missed something, reply to this post with your news and we'll be sure to share and add more sources to our tracker.
Here are three interesting reads from the wider world:
Case-study in overhype? Airtable laid off 230 people after recently being valued at $11bn. Some think Airtable's valuation is preposterous and an example of the overhyped investment cycle of the past few years. Others point to them pivoting away from downmarket customers and refocusing on the enterprise and getting to profitability. Read a good summary from Techcrunch here.
The typical lifecycle of early-stage b2b SaaS. Continuing on the theme of the never-ending allure of the 'enterprise' customers, Benn Stancil has a great, sassy (slightly nihilistic) piece on the tropes of building a B2B SaaS business that is well worth reading.
Following your nose. Finally, as a complete pivot, Tony Dinh has a great long read about how over 2 years, he went from being unemployed to hacking around and eventually building several small but successful businesses as an Indiehacker. I love these stories because there's something everyone can take from the inventiveness of how folks approach their interests and skills that leads to business success.
๐ฃ Asks & Offers
๐ฃ We've launched the Founders Survey! Please fill it out, it takes less time than you spend making that artisanal pour-over coffee in the morning. If you have a mailing list of startup founders, and would be willing to share the survey, let us know!
๐ Cyber Security Questionnaire: Rada Cyber Security is looking for anyone working in small or medium sized businesses in Scotland to fill out a quick questionnaire about cyber security to help in their research: Answer here.
๐ญ Interested in connecting with possible co-founders? Fill in your listing on Cofounder Curious today! Connect with others for possible cofounder matching here.
๐ Looking for a mentor? A senior software engineer with a background working for early to mid stage tech startups as well as running engineering teams for NGOs providing data analytics to public health in the developing world is looking to mentor a junior developer. They have extensive experience in DevOps, API design and implementation, data analytics and cloud security. They are looking to find a junior to mid-level software engineer who would enjoy one-to-one mentoring in technical skills as well as early career development (no cost). Reply if interested.
โ๏ธ Want to write something for Campfire? Have an opinion you'd like to share? get in touch!
๐ฆธ Collaborative, not transactional.
"ShepWeddโs understanding of the unique requirements of a tech startup have been immensely helpful to AdInMo on our growth journey. At each step ShepWedd have provided robust guidance in navigating complex legal and regulatory landscapes, especially around investment and employee compensation schemes.
Their lawyers, particularly Stephen Trombala and Gavin Charlton, have consistently offered astute advice and practical solutions tailored to our unique challenges.
The AdInMo executive team have been pleased overall with the level of professionalism, attention to detail, and personalised care that ShepWedd offers. Our interactions with ShepWedd have always had the feel of collaboration rather than transactional events, and we highly recommend to any ambitious startup aiming for legal expertise." - Kristan Rivers, CEO & Co-Founder, AdinMo
Shepherd & Wedderburn's innovative and personable approach helps companies from first incorporation onwards (including through to an exit โ if thatโs the goal). Their global reach means they can scale and grow with you, like they have with clients like Epic Games, FanDuel, Parsleybox, and TVSquared.
๐ To learn more, send an email starttoscale@shepwedd.co.uk & set up a chat.
๐
Events
๐ค Series: Unplugged: Open to everyone, Unplugged is a networking event for professionals working in, or interested in, tech startups and tech innovation.
๐ 27/09, 16:00 ๐บ๏ธ Shetland MORE INFO
๐ 03/10, 16:00 ๐บ๏ธ Stonehaven MORE INFO
๐ 05/10, 16:00 ๐บ๏ธ Peterhead MORE INFO
โ Series: Unfiltered: Connect with members of the local tech community, the coffee is on us!
๐ 04/10, 08:30 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh MORE INFO
๐ 04/10, 08:30 ๐บ๏ธ Glasgow MORE INFO
๐ 04/10, 08:30 ๐บ๏ธ Dundee MORE INFO
๐ 04/10, 08:30 ๐บ๏ธ Aberdeen MORE INFO
๐ 04/10, 08:30 ๐บ๏ธ Inverness MORE INFO
๐ 04/10, 08:30 ๐บ๏ธ Stirling MORE INFO
๐ 25/09, 12:00 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: Setting Up For Success (Series): Whether you are still at idea โvalidationโ stage and looking to launch soon; just started with some early traction; or are ready to scale - then this event series will help you Set Up For Success. MORE INFO
โ๏ธ 25/09, 16:00 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: Build reliable financial systems with decentralized identity on blockchain: Join us for an immersive workshop, led by industry experts Jonathan Else and Maciej Zurawski. Bring a laptop to code with if there's time. MORE INFO
๐ค 26/09, 09:30 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: Networking Skills: Join Communication expert Greg Summers for a unique networking skills session to explore and present ideas to make your next networking event more enjoyable. MORE INFO
๐ป 26/09, 17:30 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: ProductTank September Pub Night: Join ProductTank Edinburgh for an exciting evening of networking and camaraderie at our casual pub meetup! MORE INFO
๐ค 26/09, 18:00 ๐บ๏ธ Aberdeen: Nordic Scot Business Network: Nordic Scot Business Networking event to coincide with an in-bound NORWEP delegation. Come and meet with visiting delegates from Norway. MORE INFO
๐ฝ 26/09, 18:00 ๐บ๏ธ Dundee: Dundee Data Meetup: September's spotlight: Dive into Open Data Scotland! MORE INFO
๐ค 27/09, 12:30 ๐บ๏ธ Kilmarnock: Selling on Global Platforms: Shopify: Shopify is a leading global commerce company. It provides tools to help you start, grow, market, and manage, a retail business of any size. MORE INFO
๐ค 27/09, 18:30 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: Entrepreneurs Social Club (ESC): The social club for founders and aspiring entrepreneurs - skip the talks, presentations and lectures - and go straight to networking! MORE INFO
๐ 27/09, 17:15 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: Barclays and CodeBase, Edinburgh's monthly quiz!! Join us for this month's pub quiz - bringing together the CodeBase and Edinburgh community for a bit of fun! MORE INFO
โป๏ธ 28/09, 08:30 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: GreenTech Meetup: A chance for those in the sustainability space, or those who want to become more sustainable, to get together and learn from each other. MORE INFO
๐ค 28/09, 12:00 ๐บ๏ธ Dundee: AccelerateHER + Techscaler Meetup: Dundee and Tayside: For women and non-binary folk in the tech startup world, whether you're working on an idea or in the thick of scaling your tech venture. MORE INFO
๐ณ๏ธโ๐ 28/09, 12:30 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: LGBTQ+ Meetup: This group is for people to discuss issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community and creating queer-inclusive spaces. Open to everyone. MORE INFO
โ 28/09, 17:00 ๐บ๏ธ Stirling: The Social: CodeBase Quiz: Are you a master of trivia? Do you have a thirst for knowledge? Or maybe you just love a good challenge!! No matter your motivation, The CodeBase Quiz Night is the social event you've been waiting for! MORE INFO
๐ค 28/09, 17:30 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: Startup Huddle: Edinburgh: Connect with fellow entrepreneurs in Edinburgh to network, learn and share expertise. MORE INFO
๐ 29/09, 12:00 ๐บ๏ธ Inverness: Highland Business Awards 2023: Join us at the Highland Business Awards 2023 as we celebrate the success of outstanding businesses and individuals from across the region. MORE INFO
๐ค 29/09, 17:30 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: TouchBase: An informal social event to give people in the CodeBase Edinburgh building and wider community the chance to touch base with one another. MORE INFO
โ 03/10, 09:30 ๐บ๏ธ Glasgow: October Coffee Meetup (Scottish Women in Business): These meetups are to Connect, Communicate and Collaborate with other smart, successful women in business. MORE INFO
๐ 03/10, 09:30 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: Preparing your Digital Assets for Investment - copyright and data protection: Join us at this free half-day workshop to learn how to how to protect and commercialise your IP. MORE INFO
๐ค 03/10, 17:30 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: Tech Meetup - Edinburgh: We have some interesting speakers, talks and games lined up with lots of time for networking. MORE INFO
๐ก 04/10, 10:00 ๐บ๏ธ Online: An Introduction to Innovation: Introduction to the tools & techniques you need to start or move to the next stage of your innovation journey. MORE INFO
๐ฉบ 04/10, 15:00 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: Edinburgh Medtech Forum: Join us for the first Edinburgh Medtech Forum where we bring together healthcare, medtech and healthtech professionals from around Edinburgh. MORE INFO
๐ค 04/10, 18:00 ๐บ๏ธ Glasgow: Tech Meetup October: How I build a full-stack application using Tensorflow and Firebase by Lewis Shearer and Why your monolithic application doesn't need moving to microservices by Arran Edwards. MORE INFO
๐ค 07/10, 14:00 ๐บ๏ธ Edinburgh: Founders meetup: We are a group of founders who meet up once a month to talk about the ups and downs of your startups in a casual setting. MORE INFO
๐ฏ Deadlines
๐ฏ 01/10 โป๏ธ TechX Accelerator: Cleantech at a tech readiness level of 2-6, up to ยฃ100k in grant or SAFE note, 15 week programme with 3 weeks expected in Aberdeen. Looking for "diverse, innovative start-ups that will pave the way in clean energy." MORE INFO
๐ฌ๐ง Upcoming Innovate UK deadlines:
Innovate UK Smart grants: June 2023 Applications close 27 September 2023
SSPP: Liquid food and beverages in refillable packaging Applications close 25 October
Collaborative AI Solutions to improve productivity in key sectors Applications close 8 November
MyWorld Collaborative Research and Development: Round 2 Applications close 23 November
Are we missing your event or deadline? ๐ Submit it here!
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Thatโs all for this week - have a great one!
Team ๐ฅCampfire