A look back @TWiSTldn #2 – Teamly
Last August, at the second TWiST london meetup, Scott Allison gave a brilliant pitch of his startup Teamly. On other nights he may well have won but was unlucky enough to be on the same night as Sally Broom of Tripbod, who squeezed him into second spot.
Scott gave us an insight into the challenge of everyday businesses where it’s important to track, monitor and manage the everyday tasks of our staff. Teamly is a cloud based application that helps you get that done in a way that is visible and open. Since Scott has built up and run a successful business, abica in the past, you can sure that he has built his new venture based on real experience.
What’s great about Teamly is the simplicity with which you can organise and prioritise your tasks. As the name suggests it’s designed to make this effective for teams and in particular small businesses.
Since then Scott has worked relentlessly to build the user base and profile of his company. Indeed showing true commitment he moved from his beloved Scotland to be based in the startup scene in London. Teamly currently has over 6,000 users of the service and just recently exited from Beta status.
Teamly has had a lot of press coverage demonstrating Scott’s proactive character and the interest in Teamly. Earlier this year Teamly got selected to be part of the UK Web Mission to San Francisco and “South by South West in Texas: He writes about that here with some great tips should you be thinking of going yourself. But since he has written about his journey in detail you are are better reading about it from the horses mouth.
Teamly are currently in the process of raising a seed round and have committed investors, so if you are an investor now is the time to get in!
Here’s a look back at Scott’s pitch during TWiSTldn #2
Read MoreA look back @TWiSTldn #3 – ICONIC.fm
Iconic.fm did not fair as well with the TWiSTldn audience as I thought they might. I think they suffered in a way because of the presentation. In their case, they have a very nice product, having used it myself with a user interface that is a great example of simplicity and the use of certain well-placed jquery elements that would be very familiar to most of their users, as they are derived from similar elements on Facebook.
The concept itself? There’s something very cool about being able to find untapped local music venues, new bands and those which perhaps few people know about. It’s social, and that works.
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A look back @TWiSTldn #3 – Minutebox
Josh Liu from Minutebox impressed with his pitch for his expert advice service, to the extent that Josh also qualified to pitch live to Jason and Tyler as one of the top 3 companies. It hasn’t all been a bed of roses for Josh, who cites on his blog a particular influence the latest incarnation of the Minutebox concept. It was back in 2008, when Techcrunch Europe‘s Mike Butcher posted this article, a fairly harsh critique of the initial idea and execution.
Many entrepreneurs, especially those who are so deluded into believing coverage on Techcrunch, however significant, is the be-all and end-all of a startups existence may have thrown in the towel there and then. But Josh was resolute and like any entrepreneur worthy of the name, was able to step back, reflect and move forward decisively. Read his take on how it affected his vision and determination to build his business. As a result, Josh clearly has a much more refined and polished vision of the product and has spent some time getting the execution right.
We’ll follow up with Josh in the coming weeks to see how things are going since his attendance at TWiSTldn and his appearance live on This Week in Startups. For now, simply enjoy revisiting Josh’s introduction to Minutebox.com.
Video courtesy of Coulter Media
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TWiSTldn Volume #3 – All London Extravaganza on This Week In Startups
Well, what can I say? What a show, what an event, what a bunch of great people, companies and ideas.
And what a response. It’s fair to say that London’s selected companies did us proud, when Tripbod, YReceipts, GoingGoingBike and Minutebox truly represented a vibrant and growing tech-scene evolving in and around London. I know Jason and Tyler were blown away by the companies and their representatives, to the extent that, if it were feasible, I think Jason would have pulled his cheque book out and invested more than once live on the show. I think everyone thought that was going to happen when Tripbod stepped up first and got an immediate and extremely positive response.
Surprisingly and rather wonderfully, all 7 companies – even the ones that didn’t get to pitch live – Iconic.fm, Adavengers, and UbiCabs (which by the way were also incredibly impressive) – were invited to attend as Jason’s guests at the upcoming Launch Conference, taking place 23/24th February at the San Francisco Design Centre.
Thanks to Taylor Wessing, in particular Guy Morgan, for the AMAZING location, with beautiful views from the 10th floor across the London skyline. Thanks to Mick Coulter once again for his help with the video and still photography.
I’m going to save the full autopsy for the individual pitch videos, so for now, I’ll just leave you to enjoy one of the BEST TWiST Episodes ever!
Read MoreBlank Label offer for TWiSTldn Friends
You may have seen during recent episodes of This Week in Startups, some intense discussion about Tyler’s bespoke shirts. You know, the one with red buttons that Jason so admired, and sporting such embroidered insights as “Like Cupcakes and Carrot Sticks”.
Well, having reached out to Blank Label, the startup who makes these fine shirts, to get one for myself I am pleased to say that through the TWiSTldn connection, you can get some discount of your own shwab.
We appreciate the support from TWIST, and we’re excited about co-creating shirts with you… Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help. And, of course, we’d love to hear your feedback once you get your Blank Label shirt in the mail. Also, I can set up more coupon codes for your TWIST friends if you’d like, just let me know.
{very nice Blank Label Customer Champion email}
So, if you’re a TWiSTldn subscriber and meetup attendee, interested in getting your mits on some fine tailored and personalised shirts, just email me and I’ll hook you up.
Here’s an episode with Tyler donning his.. The shirt appears in the first few minutes.
Oh, and by the way, I found this funny Tyler Inight Generator, incase you fancied a giggle http://www.tylerinsights.com/
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TWiSTldn Meetup – 8th February – Global Meetup!
We’re back on! It’s confirmed.
!! The next TWISTldn meetup will take place on Tuesday 8th February 2011 !!
The next meetup will be a Global one. Taking place simultaneously with other European Cities, including Paris, Rome & Berlin.
So, if you’ve got a new startup and you’re looking for a soapbox and wanting to get your idea out there, look no further.
To apply, email steve {at} twistldn.com with your company details or go straight to the online video application HERE
The winning pitch on the night, as voted by the audience, will then get the opportunity to pitch LIVE to Jason Calacanis, Tyler, the shows guests, and the Global TWiST audience. You’ll be representing London against the winners of the other European Cities.
We’re working on the additional incentives for the pitching companies, but as nothing is confirmed yet, we’ll not over sell it. Even without anything else, you’ll agree this is not to be missed!
This will be a ticket only event – get yours by visiting our Eventbrite page. Hurry, there’s a limited supply.
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