Year: 2022

TECH CITY LONDON VISIT" "" "This last week, Glenda Hogg, Karen Reith, myself, and Oliver Rothschild from ADVentura, and Montse Vendrell from Biocat visited four accelerators (Rainmaking Loft, The Bakery, Google Campus, and Innovation Warehouse), and participated in Pitch Day at Innovation Warehouse, as Judges. We also met with senior UK government officials to assess the state of UK biotech funding, and were pleasantly surprised. Earlier this month I was on my regular quarterly visit to Silicon Valley CA, which remains the most developed ecosystem, followed by London, and then Barcelona. View in LinkedIn

TECH CITY LONDON VISIT" "" "We participated in Pitch Day at Innovation Warehouse, as Judges. We also met with senior UK government officials to assess the state of UK biotech funding, and were pleasantly surprised. Earlier this month I was on my regular quarterly visit to Silicon Valley CA. View in LinkedIn

SILICON VALLEY VISITS" "" "Every quarter I visit Silicon Valley CA, to keep abreast of developments there, and continue to make bridges. On a recent trip I closed the loop on an introduction of a Catalan company to a strategic partner, and signed the agreement. View in LinkedIn

INNOVATION WAREHOUSE, LONDON" "" "Oliver Rothschild, the Chairman of ADVentura, is also Chairman of the Innovation Warehouse, a bustling accelerator with 73 funding successes under its belt, and a full deck of busy entrepreneurs crowded into very classy space. View in LinkedIn

SCALE OF LONDON ACCELERATORS" "" "Tech City Accelerators are a new phenomenon, starting about 2006. Now there are quite a number, housing hundreds of entrepreneurs, with a tangible energy and critical mass. Particularly impressive is the low cost, starting about €400 per month, and the scale, with some having hundreds of clients. View in LinkedIn

LONDON ACCELERATORS" "" "Some of the UK accelerators are quite impressively large, with hundreds of entrepreneurs working together, sharing lectures and activities. The critical mass gives a real buzz to the atmosphere. View in LinkedIn

UK GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES" "" "The UK government has devised a number of schemes to attract, and retain, entrepreneurs who will drive their future economy. These include tax breaks, visa fast track, and others. Worth emulating. View in LinkedIn

TECH CITY'S STARTLING SIMPLICITY" "" "Tech City contracts, at least at accelerators are designed to be clean and simple, all inclusive and no hidden costs. We could learn from Clinton: "Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS)". Catalan institutions need to smell the coffee and KISS. View in LinkedIn

LONDON'S BUZZ IS RECENT" "" "Tech city is proof that things can change fast when the infrastructure is right. Barcelona has the hospitals, science parks, entrepreneurs, and creativity. It too could reinvent itself and transform into the GoTo place for entrepreneurs. View in LinkedIn

A CLEAN BROOM TO WIPE OUT BS" "" "We could benefit from some radical clean thinking in Barcelona, to bust out of the straight-jacket of old ways of thinking that have held this great city back for too long. London and the US offer great models. View in LinkedIn