Enable Common Men to do Uncommon Things

5 Great Startup Founders with entrepreneurial gurus and sponsors at Opportunity Knocks

Opportunity Knocks, Edinburgh 29 May 2014

I had expected to spend 29 May attending another “event”, hearing platitudes mouthed by some familiar faces and trying to extract some value from the networking scrum during the breaks. Instead, Opportunity Knocks turned out to be the most passionate, thought provoking and inspiring business conference in my memory. 

I could write a long and not at all boring post expounding all the great ideas I heard and picking out the funny, frank and fantastic bits from the day’s presenters. But let me just concentrate on the handful of things that made this standout so much from the run of the mill.

• RBS were the headline sponsors of the event. They have received plenty of criticism for their attitude to business in general and SMEs especially and no doubt the media will continue to throw stones for years to come. In this event, the support and attitude they brought was superb. The day was designed around the needs of entrepreneurs and investors. There was not attempt to pitch the bank’s agenda or to hide from past failings. A senior team led the event and Ross McEwan the CEO was present and active all day. No-one could doubt the authenticity of their commitment and this underpinned the whole show.
  
• There was not attempt to create an outcome or align to an agenda. Opportunity Knocks was about ethos not objectives. Everyone participated in a spirit of collaboration, networking and learning from each other  - the key elements of what is called an ecosystem nowadays. RBS played a big part in setting this tone.
  
• Nothing becomes authentic without organisation, preparation and foresight. The quality of speakers was excellent and the order, style and mix were also carefully balanced. Sessions were intense and long enough but not too long. No-one was jammed in just because another sponsor needed a slot. everyone knew their stuff and was able to talk about naturally and easily.  The team that put this together did a great job.
  
• Although there was not fixed set of goals (or worse “takeaways”), the event did not lack focus. Having set the broad aim of encouraging the ecosystem, everything supported that theme. However, the topics and styles were set widely enough to avoid repetition. 
  
• Maybe because they were carefully selected or possibly because the day was so well set up, every speaker was straight talking, pragmatic and where necessary courageous. On several occasions, panel members clearly had very different views and these were aired without rancour or any attempts at point scoring, just plain and clear for the audience to choose. Brian Aitken’s answer on the downsides risks of Scottish independence (which I completely agree with) was the stand out example.
  

I must also mention the beating heart of the day, the five brilliant pitches from a stand out group of early stage Scottish businesses - Zapcoder, Angelic, Hectares, Diary Doll and Fisheries Enhance. Fisheries Enhance was voted the best pitch but it was a near impossible choice.  I am sure all five will be hearing from many of the presenters and audience in the near future with offers of support.

Support and help was the ultimate message of the day. It is working together that allows us to rise above our individual limitations and achieve great things. I left with lots of ideas for mentoring and collaborating with startups running around my head. Please use the comment box below to share your own best ideas about how we can help each other and leverage the passion and commitment of the whole community.

By Kenny Fraser

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