Business models: adapting to change
06 October 2009
YCF 8th annual conference will be held at the Stirling Management Centre on Thursday 16th September 2010. Go to the Conferences page for further details and online booking.
This year's theme covers the ways in which young companies need to adapt their original business models to meet changes and new trends in their chosen markets. Several sectors have been subject in recent years to particularly far-reaching changes in structure – think of online games, and the newspaper industry – and the current economic climate means that all young companies must be flexible, and alert to new threats and opportunities.
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PROGRAMME
Chair:
Gavin Gemmell, CBE, Archangels
Gavin Gemmell is chairman of Archangels, Scotland’s largest business angel syndicate, and director of three Archangel investments. He retired as joint senior partner of fund managers Baillie Gifford in 2001, after 37 years. He was chairman of Scottish Widows and a director of Lloyds TSB Group until October 2007, and Chairman of Court of Heriot-Watt University from 2002-2008, where he was awarded an honorary degree in 2009.
Keynote speaker:
Alex Macpherson, Octopus Ventures
Alex Macpherson is managing director of Octopus Ventures, a division of Octopus Investments, which manages circa £300 million in VCT and EIS funds as well as the £30 million Octopus Capital for Enterprise (OCfE) Fund. Alex joined Octopus following the sale of the business he founded, Katalyst Ventures, to Octopus in 2007. He was originally an investment banker with SG Warburg.
A level playing field at last?
Kyle MacRae, Blether Media
We all know the mantra that Scottish companies are fabulous at innovating but less strong at commercialising innovation. Why? Often it's because we don't have the budgets to market our products and services. But social media blows that barrier, and that excuse, out of the water. Today, you don't need cash to reach a worldwide audience. You just need an idea - and a successful social media marketing strategy.
How to re-invent your business model
Alastair Balfour and Elie Chilton, Company Creators
Company Creators will give an overview of how markets are changing rapidly in every business sector. This will include examples from Scotland of how companies have successfully designed a winning business model, or reinvented their existing one to stay competitive. Delegates will be shown how to change or create a business model, including how to develop a compelling customer value proposition, and how to create a robust profit formula.
Presentations by young companies
Simon Grey, Chief Executive, AWS Ocean Energy
Like others in the industry AWS set out thinking that it could raise VC type investment to fund the full development process from R & D to full product demonstration. It found that the commercialisation phase is better suited to larger companies who understand and can therefore manage the risks. These companies typically have lower costs of finance than VCs so the NPV available to the original investors is improved. This finding prompted an adjustment to AWS's view of where it sits in the supply chain and also an adjustment to funding strategy.
David Hamilton, Chief Executive, ATEEDA Ltd
ATEEDA’s original strategy was to create EDA (software) tools for the testing of analog mixed signal chips. Having done this, the company realised that, although the market had been correctly identified this business model could not be scaled to provide the growth the company was looking for. Taking advantage of the global recession, founder and CEO David Hamilton completely restructured the company as principally an IP business, offering circuit IP and software addressing the same pain point in the industry but with a scalable business model . David will explain this evolution step by step, and describe the assistance the company had from its board members and investors during this process.
Afternoon session:
The afternoon session will comprise four presentations by emerging technology companies, followed by a panel discussion covering the issues raised by these companies, as well as picking up themes from the morning speakers.
The ventures making presentations in this session are:
DestiNA (life sciences), Hugh Ilyne, Juanjo Diaz-Mochon
Current technologies for DNA sequencing and SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) analysis use enzymes and other reagents, which are highly expensive. DestiNA aims to offer an enzyme-free approach to genetic analysis which will make rival technologies redundant.
GOLD Bioscience (life sciences), Gerry McGettigan
GOLD aims to track tissue metabolic activity with MRI scanners, by using an existing class of pharmaceuticals as metabolic biotracers, and oxygen for its magnetic properties. This technology would make it possible to measure metabolic activity for the first time in a number of major clinical conditions, and significantly advance patient care.
Inquisitive Systems (software), Dr Jamie Graves
This company’s digital fingerprinting technology combats financial fraud. Installed in the IT systems of major financial institutions, it gives security teams an automatic real-time view of who, what, where, when, and why a malicious incident occurred, and enables them to avoid the embarrassing and expensive losses arising from rogue traders, theft of customer data, and similar frauds.
Theia BioSciences (bioinformatics), Dr Steve Ewing
Theia’s software BioMedCAD has the potential to make a step change in the way that biological and medical researchers visualise, understand, and present biological information, in the same way that Computer Aided Design (CAD) revolutionised processes within architecture and engineering.
SPONSORS
Legal Firm of the Year 2010
We emphasise our entrepreneurial and innovative approach in everything we do
Marks & Clerk is the UK’s largest firm of patent and trade mark attorneys and advises companies on acquiring, securing and registering IP rights and managing IP portfolios across a full range of sectors worldwide.
EXHIBITORS
Transform your ideas into reality
“promoting innovation and collaboration in the life sciences and beyond” Genecom Orphans Fund
HIE Innovation & Skills
SMART: SCOTLAND programme
To book a place at this year's conference click here