Dan Webb

In case you missed it while prepping for Flag Day 🇺🇸 Happy State of Engineering Management Report Day happened this week! The annual thought leadership piece from Jellyfish has dropped. Hear from Engineering leaders, managers and frontline ICs .... we cover a range of topics that matter to great R&D leaders. Key Points: 1️⃣ Engineers are now strategic partners! 🙌 2️⃣ Burnout continues to be a challenge 😱 3️⃣ The talent shortage is spiking back up. 4️⃣ Many teams have embraced #AI 🧠 5️⃣ Others have legit concerns about AI ⁉ If #developerproductivity #genAI #engineeringexcellence are important to you .... have a read! (link in the Comments)

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Highly recommend this course for anyone who wants to wrangle, ahem I mean develop, people brilliantly!

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A couple of recent improvements to Konquest for us to shout about. Our flexible yet accessible calculation engine is already our pride and joy, but we just keep making it better. Firstly, we recently added support for bi-monthly and semi-annual schemes, ideal for those kicker schemes where you want to close out the year strong and have consultants make up for a shaky start to the year. https://lnkd.in/emeMvYUP Then today, we have just shipped support for schemes which are calculated into any number of weeks from (and back from) a specified start date. Want to run three week schemes starting on the 2nd Wednesday of the year - now you can with Konquest 🦍 https://lnkd.in/eeC_KM9G We're currently hard at work on the next set of enhancements, this time looking at ways you can penalise blank months and missed thresholds in a variety of different ways. Feel your current commission structure is not getting the best out of your teams? There's never been a better time to speak to us. #commissionaccomplished

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trumpet 🎺, the platform putting buyers at the heart of the sales journey, has secured $6.35 million in seed funding, led by us at AlbionVC, with participation from existing investors such as Lightbird Ventures, Anamcara Capital, and Triple Point Ventures to fuel its expansion in the US market and the development of AI-driven revenue intelligence tools. Trumpet's innovative approach centralises the entire sales process into collaborative digital sales rooms called 'Pods,' which replace outdated tools like emails and PDFs. This allows sales teams to create personalised microsites for each prospect, streamlining sales, increasing conversion rates, and shortening deal cycles. “Rory, Nick and Andrew have built one of the most exciting B2B platforms we have seen recently. Trumpet is elegantly designed and extremely easy to use and it’s already proving its effectiveness with global teams. There is so much potential for Pods to not only own the conversations between buyers and sellers but also other areas of B2B communications and I’m looking forward to working with the team as they expand and grow.” said Paul Lehair, Partner AlbionVC. Paul has more on why we invested in trumpet here: https://lnkd.in/eiRmwPbd Congratulations to co-founders 🎺 Rory Sadler, Nick Telson-Sillett and Andrew Webster and the whole team at trumpet 🎺! Read more on City AM here: https://lnkd.in/dWG3XTyN Robert Whitby-Smith, Kibriya Rahman. #StartupFunding #SalesTech #BuyerEnablement #Trumpet #B2B #SalesInnovation #digitalsalesrooms #founders #vc #venturecapital #software #ai #entrepreneurs

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A new Angel Investment Network (AIN) survey of 223 UK startups reveals the knowledge gap founders face: only 44% feel confident navigating the fundraising process. With tougher market conditions, bridging this gap is more crucial than ever.💪 We've highlighted some standout startup stats below for all founders 👇

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I had a brilliant morning spent with an interesting mix of people who brought their unique experiences and insight into tackling the challenge of testing a new product idea. It helped crystallise a few key points from my own experience. Thanks, Gemma Coles and co! 🚀 𝗡𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁-𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝘁 (𝗣𝗠𝗙) 🎯 As a startup founder, achieving PMF efficiently is the #1 priority. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲? Here are a few principles I've found essential to help navigate the early messy phase of finding PMF.: ✅ 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 ‘𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀’  Before embarking on any new initiative or experiment, ensure all stakeholders are crystal clear on the definition of success. What are the key metrics you need to hit? What milestones will unlock further investment? Spell it out. 🚫 𝗡𝗢 𝗚𝗢 As important as defining success is, it’s equally important to clearly define and document what must be true to satisfy that definition. Reality can be distorted to fit the winning narrative if you don't validate these truisms. 💰 𝗗𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 Interviewing potential customers should be done using the lens of: Will this person be willing to pay for the product? How will they pay? Is there a budget to solve this problem already? Would you pay less or more to solve this problem? 🧪 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Run multiple tests simultaneously to gather data while efficiently avoiding confirmation bias. If you have the budget, instruct different teams/agencies/contractors to try to solve the problem in isolation. Be disciplined about cutting failed experiments and doubling down on promising ones. 💡 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴  Continuously communicate learnings, risks, and failures to your team and investors. Building this muscle enables faster, informed decision-making. 🧭 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗲  Pre-launch, hypothesise how the value (North Star metric) you deliver to your customer impacts revenue (a KPI). If you have paying customers, ensure you prioritise customer needs by your North Star, with the knowledge that it drives your revenue KPI. Check out Itamar Gilad for more. 🔀 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁 If an experiment fails to yield results, use the 4Ps framework to identify where to pivot—person, product, problem, or promise. Fail fast and be willing to change course based on market feedback. Are you speaking to the right person but trying to solve the wrong problem? Or do you have the right person, product, or problem but are positioning it badly? What principles or tactics have you found most useful in your PMF journey? Let me know in the comments! I've learned this lesson the hard way over my career as a startup product leader and 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 founder. Yes, you read right folks - failed!

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The secrets of how experienced engineering leaders accelerating growth of new Tech Leads... 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵 + 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 + 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 + 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 = 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 Individual focus → 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 I love Andy Grove's definition 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. Although I prefer to use the term 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀. It's possible for a team to product a lot of output but not much value! 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱? A team scoped Tech Lead can have many flavours. Is team leadership included? What about line management? What about delivery? Clarity is key 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 Engineer → Tech Lead is a tricky transition. Holding more frequent 1:1's initially Seek feedback from team Stay close 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 We all make mistakes when taking on new responsibilities  Provide both reenforcing and corrective feedback Observations + Impact = Actionable feedback Learn from mistakes Celebrate the wins P.S How do you support new Tech Leads?

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Hire Tech & Engineering talent that make waves... Navigating the Tech & Engineering hiring market to attract the very best talent can be a real challenge: - Are you offering competitive rates and packages - Is the talent you want readily available? - Can you secure candidates in the timescales you need? - Is you offer / project compelling? - Is you hiring process setup to win the best talent? - How can you outshine your competition? - Are you leveraging the right channels to access the best? Our consultants live and breathe their areas of expertise, operating exclusively for the German market. Don't settle for just a match, attract the best. Alexander Perret: Co-Founder & Director Munich Susi Krieg : Co-Founder & Director Berlin Nina Schwenk : Leader Engineering Project Solutions Domenico Labrianidis : Leader Engineering Project Solutions Michael van der Piepen: Leader Engineering Permanent Solutions Adrian Sammer : Leader Tech Project Solutions Vahdettin Bülbüloglu : Leader Tech Permanent Solutions Barbara Birkner : Leader MedTech Project Solutions

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Lemon Raises £500K in Pre Seed Funding Round to Enable SMBs to Save Thousands on SaaS Spending Co-Founder and CEO of Lemon Matt Bird commented: “It’s clear that we’re going through a really interesting period for SMBs at the moment,. Taking into consideration the challenging economic landscape with funding drying up everywhere you turn, SMBs now need the tools and services to help them build better businesses as cost-efficiently as possible. With software being the third largest spend for an SMB, we really think Lemon can become a core part of how an SMB uses SaaS. https://lnkd.in/eHzkqN5v Koen Christiaens Edward Stevenson #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

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After reaching a huge milestone, 200% overfunding, we will be closing our Crowdcube round early tomorrow. Thanks to all the new investors who have joined our journey - it's fantastic to have you onboard. If you had forgotten, and want to jump in before it closes, then you can still do so until 23:59 tomorrow: https://lnkd.in/ecqDfu65 Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more: https://lnkd.in/evf943Fk

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🎉APPLICATIONS FOR BRITAIN'S GOT STARTUPS ARE OPEN!🎉 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/eggWiY7y We're thrilled to announce the launch of the next series of Britain's Got Startups. And we're even happier to announce that Novus Capital is an event sponsor.🤝 If you're an innovative start-up or scale-up business, this is an incredible pitching opportunity.👇 💡What is Britain’s Got Startups? It’s a national event series that spotlights the top start-ups and scale-ups nationwide. This series brings together investors, business leaders, and local stakeholders, offering an active platform for pitching. The standout businesses from the regional finals will be invited to London for the grand finale on an international stage. 💡What’s the goal? Many regional businesses don’t get the recognition they deserve. We aim to boost investment in start-ups and scale-ups, improving the flow of early-stage capital across the UK. 👀Keep an eye out for more details, and in the meantime, don’t forget to apply: https://lnkd.in/eggWiY7y

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🤖🇬🇧London-based startup Vente AI has raised £500K in pre-seed funding just six months after its inception. Vente AI’s innovative approach leverages artificial intelligence to automate the most time-consuming and costly parts of recruitment: lead identification, analysis, and prioritisation. 📈 The funding round was led by Antler, Europe’s most active early-stage VC, and included contributions from seasoned recruitment and rectech angels, including Thomas Vose, whose startup HireAra was recently acquired by the Access Group. 🤖 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eBUQS7nx Cameron Briggs Jed Rose #HRtech #tech #funding #news #UKtech #UKstartup #VC #investment #technology

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22nd April is Earth Day, a few months ago we launched our Go Green Software guide equips you with the knowledge and strategies to build a more sustainable tech stack. From energy-efficient coding practices and green cloud infrastructure to lifecycle assessments and carbon-aware design, these guides are a deep dive into the world of sustainable software development. It's not just about doing the right thing for the planet (though that's a huge part of it). It's about future-proofing the industry, driving innovation, and building solutions that are both high-performing AND eco-friendly. Ready to level up your skills and make a real difference? Download your copy of Google Cloud’s Go Green Software guides today and be part of the solution. #EarthDay #GreenSoftware #SustainableIT #TechForGood

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It was interesting speaking on a #TechUK panel yesterday for SMEs looking at government grant funding. Key messages: 1. It's a good option given how hard it is to raise from VCs in the UK at the moment 2. It's incredibly competitive, time consuming, 70% reimbursement only so think hard about going down this road 3. The process forces you to think in detail about your product so, at the least, you are future proofing your business Good luck to all the #founders out there. As Ed Bevan says, it's the journey not the arrival Research Innovate and Emerge (RIEm) at Brunel, techUK, Michael Joseph PhD, Geoff Rodgers

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Hot off the press 🔥 - here's a series of my reforge artefacts that showcase how I take a customer problem from discovery to delivery at Octopus Deploy. As a PM its rare to have the autonomy to shape how you work and I'm so grateful to have that at Octopus. I hope you find these artefacts useful. Part 1️⃣ - 🧠 Mindmap for new feature scoping - https://lnkd.in/g5Nuvzcm Part 2️⃣ - 👱🏼 User research snapshots - https://lnkd.in/gKigq-wV Part 3️⃣ - ⚽️ Kickoff workshop - https://lnkd.in/gq8DYpWz Part 4️⃣ - 📝 Pitch document - https://lnkd.in/gbAZtv8u We are always hiring at Octopus. Check out our careers page and get in touch if you'd like to find out more. https://lnkd.in/gkavnwPK Credits: I used Teresa Torres' Interview snapshot template in Part 2 to create the Runbook specific snapshots. See https://lnkd.in/gReyTarg. Our Pitch documents are originally inspired by the Shape Up Pitches. I have changed it to suit my needs. See https://lnkd.in/giACV-yT.

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Welcome to our new quickfire Q&A series, Meet the Managers. Our first interview is with Reece Chowdhry of Concept Ventures. Concept Ventures is a dedicated pre-seed VC fund that invests in software companies with a people-centric approach. The first question we asked Reece was which individuals helped him the most in his journey, and he answered: Sam Ettelaie (we promise we did not influence his choice!), Matt Penneycard and Dr Arjun Patel. Find out more about Reece's journey below 👇

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Each week, we host the CTO Lunch Club for focused discussions and professional networking. This week (23rd August), the Lunch Club will be hosted by Iago M., covering the topic: Effective Team Structures for Product Engineering—at Any Size. It’s been 5 years since Team Topologies was published, and these ideas are now common in the software industry. This roundtable will discuss how engineering leaders organise their teams for alignment, effectiveness, and growth, and how these practices have evolved. Register below to attend. This event is organised and sponsored by RecWorks Ltd. #LCTOs #TechLeadership #TeamTopologies #EngineeringLeadership #ProductEngineering #ByRecWorks

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