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360* Topic: Building a HighTech Company - What's it all about?

By Karen anne Krucik

HighTech Women had another successful evening. Wine and sparkling water were served in the University Women's Club while technology sector entrepreneurs of all types met with Internet service providers, venture capitalists, writers, students, and eager Internet aficionados. Much conversation was had, contacts created and many were the opportunities for networking.

After a period, the meeting was convened in a large and airy room. Lucy Marcus, founder of HighTech Women and Managing Director of Marcus Venture Consulting, began the evening and welcomed all with a lively and humorous opening. The speakers for the evening included Bernie Emery, Judith Clegg, and Rabiya Nagi. Bernie is a Personal Business Adviser with Business Link, a DTI sponsored advisory service for SMEs. Judith is a the Chief Operating Officer of Moonfruit.com a web construction firm specialising in providing tools for web design and chat group organisation. Rabiya is a partner at law firm Pettman Smith.

Bernie kicked off the discussion of the foundations for successful technology-sector companies. She suggested that companies needed a firm grasp of their targeted market, thorough knowledge of their differentiating position, and a well-developed system of corporate management. She emphasized that entrepreneurs and managers require a tremendous amount of focus, commitment, and flexibility. In part, they have to have the hallmarks of a traditional leader: the ability to inspire, direct, be pragmatic, and have a vision.

Teams

She continued by noting that successful companies require good teams. Like others before her, she was unable to define exactly what provides for the dynamics of a successful group reaction, however looking for members with complementary skills was essential. Some useful suggestions included taking the time to clarify which skills are required and particularly look for skills and approaches different than the ones of the entrepreneur or manager. "In this midst of this," she noted, "do not forget to try to find common values. These would be one of the principle foundations of a strong company."

Moonfruit.com

Judith followed Bernie with an interesting and personal evaluation of her experiences as Chief Operating Officer for Moonfruit.com. The company received £400,000 seed funding and recently received another tranche of £5,000,000 in January. Moonfruit.com has also just announced a further £1 million in funding from Macromedia. Moonfruit currently has over 40,000 registered users and a 55 person team. The company's services include a 'do-it yourself' build option for individuals or groups looking to develop their own website. She noted that Moonfruit.com has been regularly featured in the national press, in trade publications, and has just received another write up in Internet Monthly.

Judith outlined the source of revenues for Moonfruit.com and offered entrepreneurs valuable insights. One of Moonfruit's greatest assets includes a high retention rate of usership and stickiness of site. This, she emphasised, is what has propelled the company's tremendous growth. Like Bernie, she emphasised that successful founders/managers require a sense of passion and drive. "Believe in your vision," she encouraged the audience, "accept (and learn from) criticism, but do not be deterred." Judith emphasized resiliency. "If things go wrong and problems surface, persevere. Do not give up easily. Be prepared to pick yourself up, re-evaluate your position, change and alter your strategy if necessary, but don't be easily discouraged."

Personnel

Judith noted that interpersonal problems do surface, but with patience and understanding they can be surmounted. She suggested that when building the company, interview individuals who are familiar with the business - here she digressed with a humorous anecdote of one prospective employee who was not even sure what the site contained or what was the exact purpose of the company! Their company located their personnel through a mixture of mediums. These included personal networks and agencies. Judith emphasised accountability. One of the best things that a company can do is to put into a place a culture that makes individuals accountable and responsible for successfully completing their tasks on time. "Do what you say you're going to do," she concluded.

Rabiya Nagi

Rabiya, a partner at the law firm Pettman Smith, provided a terrific conclusion to the evening. She sounded a note of warning to all prospective company starters to try to reveal as little as possible of your idea. It is important to have a non-disclosure agreement in place especially if you will be revealing any technical aspects of your new venture. Remember to trademark your images and retain copyright to your proprietary work. Make sure you know who's accountable to whom, try to find individuals with expertise (beyond just enthusiasm) and do not agree terms without consulting a professional lawyer. "Retain control," she urged the audience, "for as long as possible!" both at shareholder level and board level and do not flood the board with a lot of non-executive directors who might end up with control of the board. It is important to see a professional adviser early on and before you agree on major terms determining the ownership and future of your company. Here she laughed and noted that companies did not need lawyers all the time! Times when lawyers really ought to be used included: terms and conditions, employment conditions, contracts, joint-venture/shareholders agreement and articles of association. "Try to have good working relations with your lawyer", she suggested, "as this will become exceedingly valuable and provide a strong foundation for your company." Other tips included reading the fine print - all of it and being careful and thorough in the timing and granting of share options to avoid tax pitfalls. She has seen some poor and costly examples of mismanagement of this area. She also reminded entrepreneurs to remember to register for VAT.

General Chat

Judith began the conclusion of the speakers by noting that starting a company is hard work. "It can happen," she insisted, "but you have make it." Bernie continued by encouraging individuals to not be discouraged when looking for finance. "Be creative about it," she encouraged the group. Rabiya rounded the evening off by reminding entrepreneurs that building a successful business is a big responsibility. "Don't lose sight of your vision," she said. As always, there was questions and participation throughout the presentations, and after the presentation the floor was opened for general discussion and questions. Amidst general laughter, a warm and friendly environment and intellectually stimulating questions, the evening was concluded by a lively discussion and interaction from the floor. Once again, people remained to chat until the final people left around 11:30 pm.

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