by
Rachael Hesno
Tech founders from across the North came together at an event last week to hear all the scars and stories from industry leaders.
Hosted by Prolific North, Exchange at Department, Praetura Ventures and thestartupfactory.tech at a busy ABC Buildings in Manchester, it was an evening full of brutally honest stories, pearls of wisdom and witty quips from tech founders who’ve tried to find funding and grow their business.
Chaired by Tania Rahman, Investment manager at Praetura, a number of leaders took to the stage including: Jennie Johnson MBE, founder and CEO at edtech My First Five Years; Patience Tucker, CEO of mobile ordering platform wi-Q Technologies; Guy Remond, co-founder and partner at EHE Capital and Sam Royle, founder of influencer marketing platform SoSquared.
Rahman kicked off the event asking one simple question: “What was your favourite f*ck up?”
From accidental flashing on a video call while breastfeeding, alcohol-fuelled stories after golf, making a job offer to the wrong person and even new hires having brushes with the law – the four founders been through it all.
But from some of those f*ck ups, there have been learnings too through often “dicey periods”.
Whether it’s taking control of spending, creating a culture where people love to work for your company and strive for excellence or not taking on clients where you can’t deliver – there are lots of learnings you have to make when growing a business.
One founder said one of the biggest mistakes is when you lose really good employees – if you give “100% of nothing, you will get f*ck all” – so you need to make sure you have the right people around you and give those staff the benefits they need.
From navigating imposter syndrome, burnout to the extent of having to sell a business and juggling a work/life balance as a tech founder, there’s no “magic pill” to tackle it and finding balance can be a “tricky thing”.
The panel said things that have worked for them include making the most out of task management tools, delegating when you need to and having a supportive network in place.
Despite the f*ck ups, all founders agreed it’s about becoming comfortable with making mistakes inevitably along the way, learning from them and remaining humble.
