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Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters

bethnalgreenventures.com

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Re: Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters

#21

Post by alinajaf »

mattmanser wrote: post #17
rellimluap wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually the first time we've run the programme properly. We did a test run about 12 months ago but at that stage didn't have the money to invest. Even so the teams got a lot out of it I hope. Good Gym (www.goodgym.org) has probably progressed the most but it was a different set up then - they're a not-for-profit. The value for teams will definitely come from our network which we're still adding to the site t…

So this: Can I apply as an individual? You can try but it’s very unlikely that we’ll fund you. We’ve found that a startup is much more likely to succeed when it’s started by a small team rather than just by one individual. Is a big load of bollocks then? You're passing yourself off as experienced when you're anything but.

+1 to this. I accept that the pg-anointed wisdom is that single-founders are less likely to be successful, but I wouldn't take advice like that as dogma. Assuming it's true 'because Paul said so' is a little weak.

Re: Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters

#22

Post by unicron »

ukthrowaway314 wrote: post #7

This just looks like a typical UK 'jobs for the boys' venture - draw a salary for three years, wrap it up, move onto the next one. Little surprise to see NESTA throwing money at it: Bethnal Green Ventures is co-ordinated by Paul Miller. Paul has spent the last seven years learning how to start new organisations that use technology to solve social and environmental problems, primarily through School of Everything and…

Ha nicely described. I think you hit the nail on the head.

On a side note: I fucking hate Shoreditch hipsters - you are a disgraceful parasite to the industry in the UK.

Re: Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters

#23

Post by rellimluap »

mattmanser wrote: post #17
rellimluap wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually the first time we've run the programme properly. We did a test run about 12 months ago but at that stage didn't have the money to invest. Even so the teams got a lot out of it I hope. Good Gym (www.goodgym.org) has probably progressed the most but it was a different set up then - they're a not-for-profit. The value for teams will definitely come from our network which we're still adding to the site t…

So this: Can I apply as an individual? You can try but it’s very unlikely that we’ll fund you. We’ve found that a startup is much more likely to succeed when it’s started by a small team rather than just by one individual. Is a big load of bollocks then? You're passing yourself off as experienced when you're anything but.

To be honest that comes from our experience from Social Innovation Camp. We've watched a lot of people trying to get ideas of the ground struggle if they don't have a team around them. It can be a pretty lonely business.

Re: Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters

#24

Post by urbanjunkie »

rellimluap wrote: post #10
justincormack wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes my thoughts exactly. They are not selling themselves at all. Anyone here been through the programme?

This is actually the first time we've run the programme properly. We did a test run about 12 months ago but at that stage didn't have the money to invest. Even so the teams got a lot out of it I hope. Good Gym (www.goodgym.org) has probably progressed the most but it was a different set up then - they're a not-for-profit. The value for teams will definitely come from our network which we're still adding to the site t…

Oh come on - how can you possibly expect to be mentoring startups when it seems as if you don't particularly have a clue?

Sorry if that's harsh, but what are you providing for your 6% beyond "your network"?

Re: Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters

#25

Post by buro9 »

6% for £12.5k isn't going to be enticing enough for what they're offering.

6% if you're YCombinator is one thing, there's track record, location, address book, mentors, who you get to pitch to, etc... and you can easily come to the conclusion that you've had value-for-equity.

But I read BGV's site carefully as I would consider my startup to be exactly what they are looking for, and I meet all of their requirements (we're even London based), but... I couldn't find on their site the value to my startup, and how the 6% translated into anything of substance to me.

If it's not the people (experienced, with contacts, track record, etc), then I'm looking at the money, and the money isn't enough to justify the equity given the weakness of the rest of the offering.

It feels like someone has tried to emulate YC without understand what the value of YC is.

Re: Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters

#26

Post by [deleted] »

andrewmcdonough wrote: post #20
ukthrowaway314 wrote: post #7

This just looks like a typical UK 'jobs for the boys' venture - draw a salary for three years, wrap it up, move onto the next one. Little surprise to see NESTA throwing money at it: Bethnal Green Ventures is co-ordinated by Paul Miller. Paul has spent the last seven years learning how to start new organisations that use technology to solve social and environmental problems, primarily through School of Everything and…

Wow, such a negative comment. Some great organisations have been spun out of this, and it's predecessor, Social Innovation Camp (look up the Good Gym, Enabled by Design, My Police etc). Many of the people working on these social ventures do so for no money, in their spare time, trying to use their skills to change the world. This is absolutely the opposite of 'jobs for the boys', and the small amount of money that NE…

[deleted]

Re: Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters

#27

Post by citricsquid »

buro9 wrote: post #25

6% for £12.5k isn't going to be enticing enough for what they're offering. 6% if you're YCombinator is one thing, there's track record, location, address book, mentors, who you get to pitch to, etc... and you can easily come to the conclusion that you've had value-for-equity. But I read BGV's site carefully as I would consider my startup to be exactly what they are looking for, and I meet all of their requirements (w…

I think you make a great point. People like Justin Kan going back through the YC process with a new startup (when the funding isn't a concern) just shows how much the people of YC and the YC brand matter, the money is only a part of it. Although YC didn't start in this position, the brand has built up over many years and I don't think the lack of people at the start will cause problems for BGV, but it will give them a hard time when being compared to the likes of YC.

Re: Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters

#28

Post by ktizo »

Up to £15,000.

To be absolutely fair, it often seems that in the UK you'd be better off disguising your startup idea as a work of performance art and making an application to the Arts Council for a grant.

For an added bonus, you wouldn't have to give any of it back at the end, and if you can show that you did anything that was in the slightest bit similar to your original proposal and didn't just drink the money, then they are mightily impressed and offer you more free cash.

[edit] Just thought of the "Dada Tech Startup Incubator";

We dress startup founders in octopus costumes and teach them about semiotic forms and stuff, in order to get given money from the kind of well-heeled philanthropists who spend more on things like opera than they are willing to lend to small businesses.

We charge a compelling rate of 4% equity and a broken window full of the lost dreams of a hungry sparrow.

Re: Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters

#29

Post by pmjordan »

rellimluap wrote: post #19
DanBC wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish you the best of luck if it's a real programme and not just grant & subsidy milking. That sounds really offensive, but it's not meant to be. Do any of the alumni have a web-presence? Perhaps you could either link to their websites; or you could host small "about" pages for them? You're going to get people thinking that this is just another quango product - something created to use a budget from some government…

I've popped links into our alumni page but with the caveat that the first test run was very different. I guess I understand the concern that I'm just a quango/think tank guy but most of the useful stuff I've learned was as co-founder and CEO of School of Everything (www.schoolofeverything.com). We built a product, were finalists in the first round of Seedcamp, raised seed investment from angels including Esther Dyson…

Putting the info about your startup experience from the above comment on your part of the 'people' page would help. The reason people trusted YC early on was because everyone knew pg, rtm and tlb did Viaweb together, so they'd been through the whole of the startup process themselves.

So if you consider advice and mentoring a major part of the investment into the startups you fund in exchange for a lower cash valuation, you'll have to be very convincing that it really will add that much value.

Re: Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters

#30

Post by rellimluap »

buro9 wrote: post #25

6% for £12.5k isn't going to be enticing enough for what they're offering. 6% if you're YCombinator is one thing, there's track record, location, address book, mentors, who you get to pitch to, etc... and you can easily come to the conclusion that you've had value-for-equity. But I read BGV's site carefully as I would consider my startup to be exactly what they are looking for, and I meet all of their requirements (w…

Well we had to start somewhere.

I'm pretty sure I understand the value of YC - I know quite a few people who've been through the programme and I've visited the space and met with Harj who taught me a lot.

We're different though and I think different startups are looking for different things. If you have time, I'd certainly be up for meeting to see if there is a fit. My email is on the site.

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