Each year YCF’s annual conference takes a broad theme that gives a variety of speakers the opportunity to set out their own knowledge or experience in different ways. We have talks by industry professionals –investors, analysts, business advisers – interspersed with presentations by entrepreneurs from early stage high growth companies.
This year’s theme is teams and team building. Investors almost without exception talk about judging a company by the quality of its team before committing any funds. Entrepreneurs, who tend to be independent, strong-minded types, do not always find it easy to build a team which ticks all the boxes required for company growth.
Speakers
The conference will be chaired by Prof Laura Galloway, Professor of Business and Enterprise, Edinburgh Business School
Why teams matter to investors
Chris Wardle, Director, Foresight Group LLP, a UK private equity investment manager with approximately £2.8 billion of assets under management.
Growing a fintech company in Scotland
Ewan Anderson, Associate Marketing Director, TalentSpark, with:
- Stephen Ingledew, CEO, Fintech Scotland
- Jamie McGregor, COO, The ID Co.
Team dynamics
Bruce Douglas, founder and director of Confidas People, a consultancy which specialises in management team due diligence for mid-market private equity firms and their portfolio companies.
Scaling businesses – supporting high performance teams
Graeme Clark, Scottish Enterprise
How the team changes from start-up to exit
David Farquhar, serial entrepreneur, currently CEO of Intelligent Growth Solutions which has just raised £5.4m from US agritech investors.
The external team
Tim Hargreaves, Partner, Marks & Clerk
Incentivising the team
Gareth Magee, partner and Kirsty Murray, director at corporate finance advisers Scott-Moncrieff, together with Austin Flynn, a senior partner at legal firm Morton Fraser, will talk about how the team can be motivated, by share options and other incentives, and at what stage of a company’s development to consider these.
The do’s and don’ts of building a team
Kirsty Bathgate, of consultancy Gearing for Growth, will describe how a company’s growth depends upon creating and maintaining successful teams, and will chair a panel discussion with speakers including:
- Colin Hewitt, CEO of Float
- Dale Harris, CEO of ATL Turbine Services
- Craig Mackay, Chief Product Officer, SharkTower, a product by Mudano
- Jude Cook, CEO, ShareIn
Young Company Showcase
There will also be around a dozen early stage companies exhibiting at the conference, and featured in our Young Company Showcase brochure, whose delegates will be part of the audience.
To book your ticket please click HERE.
Conference Sponsors
Marks & Clerk is the UK’s largest firm of patent and trade mark attorneys, advising companies on their intellectual property across a full range of sectors worldwide.
LINC Scotland is the national business angel association Scotland, representing our members and promoting the development of this key source of entrepreneurial finance.
Related Posts
Presentations from the YCF Conference 2023
YCF Annual Conference 2023: Exits seen from both sides
Presentations from the YCF Conference 2022