Mark Zwinderman's Linkedin Analytics

There is a good reason to run your business the way the US Navy Seals do things. No one seriously said. Ever. Could we drop the idea that running a team is like being in the Navy Seals? I mean, my 12 year old self is still in my head as well. Boys and all that. Managing a team of folks working together to build a business is not the same as leading a team of Navy Seals into a dark building while being shot at. Sometimes may feel like that 😀 If you can/must/want then do join the Navy Seals and lead them as needed to complete the mission. I have insane respect for those folks. For the rest of us, just be a decent human, stay focused on the business needs and have the difficult conversations early.

Indeed. I can't think of anyone more qualified in this space and we would do well to take action in the UK. "The UK needs a deeper pool of diverse capital, a stronger appetite for risk among investors, and more operators who’ve scaled companies before." We need serial entrepreneurs.

The UK is an incubator economy. There is no silver bullet here. Much of the differences are cultural. A major UK problem is Brexit but we can’t talk about that. Another is a dependence on government funding in the innovation ecosystem. This comes with “it’s public money” monitoring and caution. We need more desire to fail. We need founding teams to form, dissolve and form new teams. We need university spinouts to be run as real businesses. Not extensions of the research teams. There’s a lot of talk about having great innovation in the UK and head scratching about what we need to do. We need to do something. And if it doesn’t work we change it. Try something else.

Redesign the machine. I like that very much. It is something to keep assessing as the business grows. There will be another point to consider the next design update. Maybe at £20M, maybe at £50M. It often takes courage and some difficult steps. .

Four steps you can take to turn that tricanter in to an oil waste treatment revenue earner.

Leading effectively is asking the right questions. Now we have a Co-Intelligence to support our thinking and how we ask the right questions. You must use it in these three ways. Ethan Mollick’s book “Co-Intelligence” sets out how to incorporate the capabilities of AI to work with you. 1. Always be in the Loop and don’t outsource your thinking Use AI as a collaborator, not a replacement. Mollick emphasises that AI is most powerful when humans remain engaged. For CEOs, that means using AI to explore options, generate drafts, or test assumptions, but keeping yourself firmly in the decision making seat. Rule: Never take the first answer. Use AI to expand your thinking, not replace it. 2. Make AI a default business partner Treat AI as part of your executive team. Mollick advises integrating AI into your daily workstream. As a CEO, this means using it for everything from brainstorming strategy and market analysis to drafting communications, testing scenarios, or prepping board decks. Rule: If you’re facing a challenge or decision, ask: “Have I spoken to the AI about this yet?” 3. Ask better questions (and ask AI what to ask) The quality of the AI’s output depends on the quality of your input. One of Mollick’s most practical takeaways is that AI can help you become a better question asker. CEOs often don’t know exactly what to ask at early stages of a problem, and AI can help uncover what’s missing. Rule: If you don’t know where to start, ask AI: “What should I be asking to solve this problem?” These three rules are grounded in Mollick’s central belief that AI is co-intelligence, not automation. For CEOs, it’s about being curious and strategic in how you interact with AI. You need to treat it not as a threat or a gimmick, but as a thinking partner.

Do things. Good way to learn and you may get somewhere.

I often find myself saying “time flies”. I guess I’m a lucky guy.

Signs you work with academic teams on spin-out projects; part 34. You start noticing when species' names are not in italics AND this now actually bothers you.

Universities and commercialising innovation. As a MP said to me “fixing potholes wins you votes, innovation wins the economy”. Today at Strathclyde University in Glasgow for the Inspire Summit. I am lucky to have worked with many great projects and a number of universities. Strathclyde stands out for the quality of the support they provide. There are so many great projects coming out of Scotland’s universities. We need the patience and consistency of support to grow these into new successful businesses. I setup a spinout myself 25 years ago this year. There was virtually no support at the time (the opposite of support would be?) It’s great to see the commitment and hard work to constantly work to improve the spinout support and process. Also nice to be back in Scotland for a day 😄. Nothing beats haggis with an Irn Bru. #StrathclydeInspireSummit #ReachingBeyond #StrathEntrepreneurialCampus

Meetings should be to the point, sharp and last not a second longer than absolutely necessary. This is an interesting new approach and I for one am considering implementing this 😊

What is feels like to run a business on most days. The only thing missing is the crowd of folks chucking tomatoes at you for doing the fundraising wrong, doing your sales wrong, doing your marketing wrong, not having the right business plan, and any other of five hundred things someone else will claim you are failing at. Make a good product. Provide the best service you can to your customers. Create a positive environment for people to work in. Be a decent human being. That’s it really. Happy juggling.

Last minute revision by Pika ahead of a few days of Converge Challenge training in Edinburgh. Converge remains the gold standard for training and spinout/startup competitions. There’s no other program out there that has developed so well and provides such an amazing route to commercialisation. Academics in Scotland rejoice with this beautiful program 🙂

Here's an idea for a new startup accelerator aimed at supporting experienced entrepreneurs. £50k of funding to help those early stage activities including customer engagement. No workshops. No training. No days of whiteboards & strategy. Some clear KPIs on agreed activities (customer conversations) An experienced mentor available for 1-2 hours each month to ensure support where it is needed and accountability. Then let them get on with it for 6 months. Low overheads, low cost, more money available for entrepreneur support, and no days lost. A major issue in the UK and EU is the level of government funding flowing into startup support. In each case this leads to further "support". We need more experienced entrepreneurs and people with industry background to startup. They don't always need a workshop.

Converge Challenge last day. Engaging customers! Should be fun. Such great business ideas here. Just love being a tiny part of this programme.