FEBRUARY 2001 BROADSHEET - Generating New Ideas
Our AGM on 25th January took time to gather pace but the 10 members who attended managed to get all the business done. Chairman, Roy Cuthbert and Secretary, Nigel Wallace remain as before and we were able to confirm our new Treasurer, Markus Keller. Alasdair Poole took on Publicity and five further committee members were elected; Dorcas Doolan, Simon Goodman, Giovanni Bisutti, Simon Kite and Guy Mulley. If possible we would like one or two more to come forward to help with our programme next year. The reports gave a rosy picture of sound finance, 100% membership growth and increased attendances at meetings. The meeting that followed kept up that trend and was described by one of the speakers afterwards as a really 'high energy' event.
We had three speakers coming from very different stables to talk about generating new ideas to a full gathering of about 30 members and visitors. Shai Vyakarnam, MD of Transitions, shortly to become director of the Cambridge University new entrepreneurship teaching programme, Jeremy Klein of Scientific Generics and Professor Chris Winter of the BT Brightstar project, all the way from Martlesham. Shai emphasised the team work required for new ventures, no longer the lone mad inventor! The problem was that as the new company grew the inner group that started it remained exclusive, not letting newcomers in. Consequently innovation was choked and spin offs resulted as bright individuals became frustrated. This was related to the New Venture Ideation concept demonstrated by Jeremy, where in the 1950's ideas came from large companies, completely reversing to very small companies in the 1980's. The reason; large companies became so much better managed and good organizations love certainty. They ignore the disruptive and explain anything new as serendipitous.
Shai introduced a new vocabulary with words such as administasis and procesias. There was also the 'bagel break' of at least 45 minutes with strict ground rules to enable people to think together. Chris, from BT, was paid to be an anarchist and certainly dressed the part. Who could be more disruptive than his Brightstar Adastral Park incubator of 40 engineers and scientists with an enviable record of spin-outs. Patents are rewarded at £1000 a time with some of the equity of a successful venture. It now attracts very good graduates, who enjoy quite revolutionary employment contracts and conditions and this has resulted in the generation of some 8 companies a year. In answer to a question he declared that one must have pressure to innovate, in BT's case declining profits. So, necessity is still the mother of invention in spite of all the hype!
Here are their e-mails if you wish to contact them: Shai Vyakarnam - svyakarnam@transitions.co uk, Jeremy Klein - jklein@scigen.co.uk, Chris Winter - chris.winter@bt.com
Why is everybody singing Bluetooth….. We put this ancient Scandinavian king into our programme for February 2001 months and months ago and now we find that everybody else is doing the same. We thought of abandoning the crusty monarch due to such over exposure and turning to a company visit for a quiet life, but he won't go away! People have been clamouring at the door, and better still, our overworked experts are so proud of their achievements that they want to proclaim him from the house tops. So if you haven't come across our sovereign flavour of the month and want to know what all the fuss is about, here's your chance on 22nd February - see over.
Members have continued to receive our e-mails about various events announced by similar organizations, eg. the Cambridge Enterprise Agency and the Cambridge Business Community Network. Six members have responded quick enough to get free places on Cambridge Network's Open Meeting on 16th February to meet the President of MIT and Sir Alec Broers.
The Club is very fortunate in benefiting from the sponsorship of the following organisations:-
There are also other companies who give us generous help with specific meetings and services.
Calendar
© 2004 - Cambridge Europe & Technology Club