An examination of the recent trend for high-profile celebrities to involve themselves in the hyper-saturated brave new world of emerging startups, specifically as evidenced by the recent actions of Leo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher.

Last month Business Insider produced a piece called  ‘no more like this or we’ll scream’ which talked about the categories of startup which are now so saturated that there’s no point in trying to penetrate them. We probably recognise these ourselves – “not another photo sharing service”, more “very similar to what I saw yesterday daily [...]

There is no shortage of advice to early stage businesses: we have our own innovate framework to help you build your business. But there’s one place where most entrepreneurs stumble: how to get the first sale. We are taught how to size the market, how to value your market potential, how to protect your IP, and more [...]

I just read a Harvard Business Review article written by Umair Haque that made me stop in my tracks. Normally I find it a load stodgy for entrepreneurs and the start-up world. Not today. The quote below sets out a series of institutions that Umair thinks are ready for re-invention.

Bernard Moon is the co-founder and CEO of XS Groupe, and an Innovatrs entrepreneur. He is also the outgoing Managing Director of the Lunsford Group, a private holding company consisting of entities in research and consulting, technology, media, healthcare and real estate.

Rob Kurver, serial entrepreneur at Innovatrs, explains how he entered into the world of Cloud Computing. He co-founded Voipro in 2005, a hosted voice (SaaS telco) leader in the Netherlands, currently expanding to other countries. Rob is also a creator of websites, interactive magazines and communities for the iPad generation.

Tim Campbell was the first winner of the BBC’s annual entrepreneurial slug-fest, The Apprentice. Since leaving his role with Lord Alan Sugar.  Tim has become the founder and CEO of Bright Ideas Trust, a charity that helps disadvantaged young people in London to start their own companies.

Last year, Co-founders Matt Calligan and Joe Stump set up Simple Geo, a start-up based in Boulder (Colorado, USA). Simple Geo provides ready-to-use location infrastructure which simplifies the addition of geo-aware features to applications. Matt previously founded Socialthing, a company that was chosen to be part of the inaugural year of TechStars.

It’s a frustrating fact of life. Some of us are tardy. Constantly late for work, late for a date, late going to bed, late for work… again. So how about this for a potential investment opportunity- the electric bicycle. It’s an environmentally friendly and health conscious mode of transport that could end the days of office workers sitting in a corner sweating [...]

Traditional venture capital is not working. Just look at the average returns of the vast majority of funds. The downturn hasn’t exactly helped. Early stage investing flew out of the pram. We asked our entrepreneurs what they would like to see as a manifesto for change. Here are some thoughts: – treat entrepreneurs like customers [...]

Paul Cash, entrepreneur at Innovatrs and founder of Hurricane tells us about his start-ups. Paul is a creative agency leader and disruptive at every opportunity. Paul’s first venture was Tidalwave. Following that he created his latest start-up, Hurricane. Hurricane is a strategy driven, COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY for the digital age, provide branding, creative and digital services to market [...]

The founder of Meetup tells his story starting up the Webs leading site for local gatherings/meetings. A great case study on using the Web to shape a global trend – and create a generic brand. Meetup’s done for meetings what Hoover did for vacuum cleaners. Do you Meetup?

Getting enough funds to start a new business sometimes feels as likely as winning the lottery! But there is a silver lining – at least in the UK. Hi-tech startups can apply for the all new UK Innovation Investment Fund. Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that life sciences, plus digital and advanced manufacturing businesses are at [...]

Rob Wirszycz is an active member of Innovatrs entrepreneur network and a rare, serial Chairman of innovative, early stage tech and Web start-ups. He shares his experiences and insights with us. Innovatrs: What made you do it? Why did you take the plunge, become an entrepreneur and give up that cosy corporate job opp? Rob: [...]

In this digital era, where intellectual property focused start-ups are the new norm, positioning is paramount. Take a recent, high profile example, Apple’s iPad. The last year or so we have been peppered with media buzz around the tablet. Then bingo, we discover Apple’s answer to this new hardware category – the iPad. Apple, behind [...]

Peter Jones, entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den dragon, shares 10 rules for entrepreneurial success. A little preachy in style but the content’s spot on!

Startup entrepreneurs need angel investors more than ever before. Not just for the advice and guidance that they can increasingly find online and at college – but for your money! Don’t get us wrong, your advice and guidance is really nice – but writing a cheque is even more important right now. The banks have [...]

Karen Hanton, founder of Toptable, talks about starting up, building a Web business and being an entrepreneur. Worth taking 10 minutes out to watch the interview – some useful tips.

Jay-z is a wild performer and a successful business man. Here are some valuable tips that he discovered on his journey. For those not aware of who Jay-z is, he stormed onto the rap music scene in the late 90′s. He’s been CEO of Def Jam and founded Roc-a-fella. He launched Rihanna and made Beyoncé [...]

The 3 P’s of Starting up are: Positioning, People and Priorities. 1. Positioning. The bridge to taking you from idea to starting up a venture is built around the term positioning. Daily ‘keep asking yourself what your business is about and reply in one sentence’ until your answer is spot on. I.e. regularly wins you customers. [...]

Cool interview with Michael Dell on starting up in tough times. Check it.

Getting PR right at your newborn startup can define its success. Here are few tips on spinning your story. Despite the illusion of a democratic environment, the Web is deeply influenced by online PR efforts. Spin doctors can make a difference. But you too can become one by getting the basics right. We stumbled upon [...]

I remember one of my venture investors, from the Valley, telling me ‘Phil, remember, a VC only ever has to do one thing for you. Write a cheque!’ He went on to add: ‘To get the deal they will promise you everything else under the sun and deliver none of it. So all that matters [...]

Every entrepreneur needs a backpack. Success comes from knowing what to put in it. Here’s a starter for 12. 1. An Apple MacBook 2. An iPhone 3. Google Wave, Gmail and Google Apps 4. A kick ass idea and approach 5. A network of early adopters to bounce your idea off (on Facebook or Twitter) 6. [...]

Less than 1% of entrepreneurs reach their goals and fulfill their dreams. That means 99% are left dissatisfied. Why bother? Yet, so many do. The world has tens of millions of entrepreneurs or wanna be entrepreneurs – and growing. The definition of entrepreneur “is a person who has possession of a new enterprise,venture or idea, and assumes significant [...]