A Roundup of SUS19

It’s been an incredibly busy few weeks for the AAB People team but now that things have calmed down just a little, we wanted to reflect on last month’s Startup Summit (SUS19). Held in Edinburgh on October 30th, business leaders came together to discuss the wealth of opportunities and talent available to entrepreneurs in Scotland under this year’s themes of People, Process and Performance.

Recognised as one of the UK’s leading events for entrepreneurship, the breath of content and energy throughout the day was inspiring.

We were delighted to participate both as an exhibitor in the buzzing marketplace and as a workshop host, running a session on ‘Embedding Values, Mission & Culture in a Start-up’, giving an overview of the key considerations and skills required in successfully leading an early-stage and high-growth business by embedding values, mission and culture at every step.

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Nigel Rochford, Founder & MD of New Verve Consulting, shared with us what he got from the session:

“Values are really important to New Verve as they let our people, customers and partners know what we’re all about and what we value as a collective. Having just recently published our values, it was great to attend this workshop by AAB People and refresh why values and culture are so crucial for every growing business in order to pursue and achieve their mission.”

We enjoyed immersing ourselves in the insightful talks and interviews happening across the various stages at SUS19, as well as the range of other workshops on offer.

Our HR Consultant, Marina Horner, attended a workshop by Johnston Carmichael – “A piece of the pie: incentivising your people & their performance via share schemes”. It was interesting to see how share options as part of individual compensation packages can help establish and push towards a long-term vision. They can also support building a sense of responsibility and positively influence retention. Marina’s key takeaway was that start-ups should consider share options as early as possible when the share value is quite low so that the potential for development is realised. This might be helpful in the early stages, as share options can be used for staff remuneration when cashflow is low.

FutureX Co-founder Bruce Walker hosted an insightful interview with Head of Google for Startups UK, Marta Krupińska, in which she spoke about the ways they are supporting the next generation of startups and how looking outside global hubs to rising entrepreneurial hubs like Scotland is fundamental for growth. Marta discussed how access is key to startup success, how profit is not the only marker of success in our changing geopolitical environment, and the importance of finding a team aligned with your business values which, despite many other factors changing, remain the same.

Our Managing Director, Lisa Thomson, attended “Don’t get hustled”, led by Peter Reilly, Commercial Director of STV. This session showcased how to develop your commercial business skills and how to raise your performance to help drive your organisation forward. The workshop was very informal and informative with great content and Lisa picked up top tips and pointers, including negotiation skills, building influence and rapport, importance of continual learning and development and how to win in business (with a fab interactive gambling exercise and even an arm-wrestling session!).

Congratulations to Healthcare data startup Talking Medicines who were announced as the winner of FutureX’s Startup Summit Competition, following a live pitch battle in front of 1,000 delegates securing a business support package worth more than £220,000.

Another fantastic Startup Summit and hats off to the brilliant FutureX team for their organisation and delivery of SUS19. We’re already excited for what next year’s event will bring!