Crawfurd Hill

John Rouda and I covered so much in our conversation on his podcast - A Geek Leader - but, as usual, it was great to have a chat about how to have better conversations. We covered listening including asking genuine questions, carefully planning interactions, and using methods like 'Say what you See' and TDD for People. Even better, this is just one of many topics we covered! Listen in full and let me know what was most useful to you. https://lnkd.in/ePqHRebg

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New Report ‘Scaling UK Regional FinTech’ Surveys Non-London Scaleups, Revealing Strategies for Growth Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, said: “We are delighted to partner with Whitecap and Streets Consulting on this important piece of research providing insightful advice from FinTech scale ups and recommendations for policy-makers. The report tells the inspiring story of FinTech innovators across the UK, showing their incredible contributions and determination to grow successful businesses and drive so much positive change for a more democratic, transparent and inclusive financial services sector that benefits both consumers and businesses alike.” https://lnkd.in/eQHeur94 Streets Consulting Julia Streets Whitecap Consulting Julian Wells #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

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As CTO of Agilebase, I'm excited about the potential of No Code to transform Bristol tech. Here's how. 1. No Code reduces development costs and time-to-market for startups and established businesses alike. 2. It democratizes software development. It puts powerful tools in the hands of non-technical founders and teams. 3. No Code enables rapid prototyping and MVP creation, crucial for startups seeking investment. 4. Flexible No Code solutions like Agilebase create scalable back-office systems. They grow with your business. Agilebase helped CH Foods in South Wales grow from a startup to a 200+ employee company. We're proud of this success and are eager to replicate it here in Bristol. To kickstart a No Code movement in Bristol, we need: 1. Regular meetups and events focused on practical No Code applications 2. A supportive community for knowledge sharing 3. Collaboration with existing tech support organizations like Techspark and SetSquared No Code isn't just about efficiency - it's about changing who gets to build and innovate. Let's work together to make Bristol a No Code hub and unlock the potential of our diverse tech community. Who's interested in joining a No Code Bristol initiative? Comment below or reach out to me. #NoCode #BristolTech #Innovation #Startups #Agilebase https://lnkd.in/epuUCcDm

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Are you contemplating AI for your business, but not sure where to start? You may want to check out our guide to harnessing AI for SME's, available via our website - https://lnkd.in/eyhRerQU This totally free download will help you learn how to use AI to your advantage. 👇 💥 Demystify the myths of AI 💥 Identify the opportunities in your business to act with impact 💥 Understand the practicalities of harnessing AI 💥 Embrace the benefits of AI #BlueLlama #AIGuide #FreeDownload #SME #BusinessTools #BusinessEssentials #JerseyCI

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❓ Is the UK Primed to Birth the Next Generation of Tech Decacorns, and if Yes, What's the Blueprint? Jody Ford, CEO of Trainline, drew attention to the UK's illustrious past in industries such as steel, oil, and banking, followed by successes in pharmaceuticals and consumer goods. However, he pointed out a glaring gap: the tech sector's underperformance compared to the US counterparts. Ford stressed the urgent need for the UK to foster an environment where tech companies get easy access to capital, a fair regulatory framework that companies can flourish, expand, and compete worldwide. But here's the exciting part: We have the potential to birth tech giants not only in traditional sectors but also in innovative areas like oral health. Take Presto Dental, for instance—a pioneering startup poised to revolutionize oral healthcare globally. Let's seize this opportunity to propel the UK's tech scene to new heights. Time to make it happen! #techEntrepreneurs #companybuilders #UKTechRevolution #Innovation #PrestoDental #Oralhealth #Dentaltech #preseed #funding

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Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) have turned ripples of finance into waves of change for businesses and social enterprises across the UK. They provided opportunity and built resilience for disadvantaged communities and those excluded from mainstream finance. In 2023, their lending hit a record high of £287 million: CDFIs now operate at 31 times the scale they did in 2003, when the sector lent £9.2 million. Their achievements reflect their ability to fill widening needs for the right finance at the right time. Here’s what CDFIs achieved in 2023: 🤝 Supported 4,546 start-ups and SMEs with £102m of loans. 💼 12,135 jobs were created or safeguarded.  ⭐️ 371 social enterprises were supported with £119m of loans. Read more about CDFIs’ impact, plus lots of customer stories in Responsible Finance's latest impact report, out today: 👇 https://lnkd.in/eWSFydQ2 #RipplesToWaves #ResponsibleFinance #CDFIs #SocInv #SocEnt #Charity #Funding #Investment #SocialInvestment #HeritageImpactFund

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Recent reports state that the UK Governments new AI plan will prioritise public sector use to cut costs, moving away from direct corporate investments. AI technology - READY! UK Public Sector Rollout - NOT READY. Appetite to change and transform will be the main barriers to implementation, the risk here is not about 'readiness' of technology to help. Change and adoption programmes will be key to success.

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As the Chief Technology Officer at a Health startup using AI, I see the introduction of the "Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill" as a critical juncture for the technology sector. This proposed legislation offers a chance to establish a regulatory framework that not only protects the public and maintains ethical standards but also encourages innovation. The creation of an AI Authority could serve as a centralised body to ensure consistency and coherence across various sectors, effectively addressing the current regulatory fragmentation. Such regulation is crucial to balance rapid technological advancements with the need for transparency and accountability, ultimately fostering a more trustworthy AI ecosystem. This bill could set a precedent for global AI governance, positioning the UK as a leader in this vital area. Lord Holmes #aibill #ArtificialIntelligence #startups #ai #ukai #aijobs

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A busy few months at Sift HQ, as we've been working hard to reset and align plans for the next 3/5 years. Having been Sift for over 20-years, the importance of bringing in fresh thinking, ideas, challenge (and support) is crucial. At times, it's been pretty tough, we've asked some really honest questions of ourselves, the business and what/how we can realise our vision: ❇ To be the leading marketing revenue platform for the accounting sector. There's a lot to unpack in that one statement, put simply; it's about providing always-on marketing that delivers results (sales) and ROI, on a consistent basis, to accounting vendors. The foundations have been laid over the last few years and with our digital channel (AccountingWEB.co.uk) thriving and growing events business, we've built an incredible first party data set, that will help us deep-dive into the intent of our audiences and provide laser-focused programmes, that create real opportunities for our clients, across the full marketing funnel. With the Festival of Accounting & Bookkeeping and the Accounting Excellence Awards, we have an opportunity to bring those digital engagements to life via F2F experiences, connections and meetings; joining the dots between digital engagement and in-person relationships. As part of our reset, we've made some important changes in the SLT, bringing in some fresh faces, combined with experience from within: Louise White - NEW Chief Strategy Officer Erik Meert - NEW Fractional CFO Fiona Tully - Group Managing Director. Chris Wood - Chief Technology Officer. Joanne Birtwistle - Editorial Director. Michelle Wood - Fractional People Director. I'm excited about a return to my roots, playing a dual role as CEO/Sales Director. With a stronger SLT it allows me to lead from the front and spend more time supporting our amazing sales and client success team to drive our efforts across the sector with a focus on making revenue for our clients! The final piece of the jigsaw is to engage Collingwood - one of the best advisory firms in the B2B media and events sector. Working with Fergus Gregory and Piers Bearne who will help us both shortcut success, keep our eyes on the prize and hold the SLT to account! As part of this reset, Mike Goldsmith leaves the business after 6 successful years working across content, creative and more recently our events division. I'd like to thank Mike for everything he has done for Sift, it's been a lot of fun and we'll all miss his energy, creativity and incredible work ethic. So, a lot has been happening and I think the term reset is understating it a little. We’ll be a lot less quiet in the months ahead. We’re all really excited about the next stage of the journey and if you work with us, you should be too! If you'd don't and you'd like to learn more, please reach out and grab a coffee! I’ll be out and about a fair bit over the next few months, drop me a DM. Onwards and upwards. #accounting #sift

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Update live: https://tyne.ai • Homepage algorithm rework • New finance category • Fixed image studio configuration issues • New browsing Tab styling • Fixed mobile UI issues • Added new editor code blocks for chats • Fixed mathematical chat UI styling • New animations for chat titles #innovation #digitalmarketing #technology #creativity #Future #futurism #Entrepreneurship #Markets #Startups #Marketing #SocialMedia #VentureCapital #SocialNetworking #LeanStartups #Economy #Economics #sustainability #healthcare #education #design #sales #supplychain #retail #data #top #recent #best #LinkedIn #AI #Automation #Intelligence #Analytics #Artificial #Machine #startup

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Bit of a business and fund raising update....(for those that care) 😂 So, as we enter Q4 (How did that happen by the way) The Hub is flying and the positivity and developments just keep on coming. The partnerships with ScalaCode & Shift ONE Digital are in full flow and we are fully integrated and working in complete harmony and unison, which is great to see, with new campaigns and products and features being released at speed, which is such a breath of fresh air. As we enter the 4th quarter, we have revised our pricing to cater for the masses and to make our services more affordable and accessible to all. So, now, we have the follow pricing models available: 👉Forever Free 👉$1 - 48hr Trial 👉$9.99 Per month Premium 👉$24.99 for 3 months Premium 👉$49.99 for 6 months Premium This change had given more people the support they require, whilst also giving them the opportunity to get hired quicker and easier. Price should never be a barrier and now we are able to service everyone around the world, regardless of circumstance. We are soon also going to be releasing our Job Board, where we will be promoting jobs from our Partners and 3rd Party organisations, to give our members more opportunity to search jobs and also utilise our tools and features on one platform. With these changes, we are expecting to see a huge increase in member traffic to our platform, with projections looking at 300k-500k job searchers a month, which makes us one of the fastest growing Job Search platforms globally. For our investors, this means a big increase in revenue, but also opportunity to create B2B streams, given the member size and audience we have created, alongside advertising and partnerships. So investment and fund raising is still flying and we are closing our Seed round, with some great investors on board and £1m raised in total. We are already 4 x what our Pre Seed investors initially put in and we anticipate this continuing to grow, with projections looking at 20 x from Seed in 3 years. Our objective is to become the No.1 Job Search Support Platform on the planet, helping Job Searchers all over the world and building an ecosystem that provides everything Job Searchers need to get a job, survive and thrive. We are going to continue to build, continue to develop and continue to Innovate and ultimately get as many people hired as we possibly can. Thank you all who have contributed and keep watching this space for our world domination😂 Mahabir P. Dylan Kohlstädt Stacey Wood Amy R. Jack Graves #job #jobs #jobsearch #hiring #Recruitment #opentowork

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Advance your startup journey with Series A funding! 🚀 This crucial stage in venture capital financing drives growth, expands market reach, and lays the groundwork for future funding rounds.  Read our Series A funding guide for more information: https://lnkd.in/ecr3jf54 #seriesafunding  #startups  #businessstartups  #ukstartups  #startupfinancing  #accountingservices

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Attracting Gen Z consumers is emerging as a critical challenge for UK banks, with over half of banking executives identifying it as a top priority for the coming year. https://buff.ly/3SW2wZE #digitalbanking #ecosystems #banking

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In the latest episode of The Difference Engine tech Category podcast, with a new UK Government in place, Jonathan Simnett and I thought it was a good time to put a stake in the ground about overblown political promises. Not least the major fallacy that highly paid tech jobs will somehow save the economy. We show how politicians are looking for the upside of tech and Category impact in the wrong places. We also ask is the modern-day SaaS playbook the route to sustained Category leadership? We’ve seen SaaS companies come out of nowhere and create brand new Categories, but the current playbook appears to have its own Category destruction mechanism built in with customers being reduced to little more than bit parts in this recurring tech and finance drama. We also look at the B2B and B2C Category collision that resulted when Cisco bought Linksys and the reasons why value was destroyed, rather than created. But, first, we ask has Category creator par excellence Elon Musk gone too far this time? Click the link in the comments to listen to Episode 29 of The Difference Engine and all previous episodes 👇 #elonmusk #x #twitter #categorydesign #categorycreation #saas #tech #government #policy #cisco #linksys #thedifferencenegine #b2b #b2c #podcast #thedifferenceengine #techcategory #strategy #techstrategy #tesla #spacex

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Read the latest Trust Impact newsletter here!

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🚀 Empowering communities, unlocking potential Our Community ENABLE Funding programme will drive change for underserved businesses across the UK, unlocking up to £150m of additional funding in the next two years. The programme is aimed at social impact lenders like Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) 💡 Why CDFIs matter: These non-for-profit lenders play a crucial role in the social impact sector, providing finance to businesses that mainstream lenders overlook. In 2023, they lent £102m to 4,546 businesses, with 98% of lending going to businesses outside London and 60% supporting disadvantaged areas. The Community ENABLE Funding Programme will enable CDFIs to reach more small businesses, especially those led by underrepresented groups, fuelling local growth, creating jobs, and strengthening communities. Read more about the programme here: https://lnkd.in/dAymWRZ7

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Tomorrow I’ll be hosting the first of a series of webinars to explain why the Flexible AI Upskilling Fund is for you 🫵 If you are a professional, based in the UK working for an SME, you may be eligible for up to £10k in grant funding to train your people in AI. In this webinar I'll cover: • What AI could do for your business • What is UK government's 'Flexible AI Upskilling Fund' • Eligibility and funding details • The application process & how to apply • How to select the right AI training I'll also be releasing exclusive content, to help you make a successful application. If you don’t think AI is for you, think again. You don’t need to be able to BUILD AI systems to USE AI systems. AI is for everybody and I’ll show you why. Register for the webinar here: https://lnkd.in/egTtwDuT

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