Justo Hidalgo
Co Founder, 24 symbols
www.24symbols.com

The global aspect of any digital business and the flexibility of digital ecommerce provide unprecedented opportunities for new ventures and business models. But these same advantages also mean first comers have the opportunity of coping entire markets by themselves if they execute well enough. Finding niches becomes increasingly difficult as the bigger companies learn to manage the digital adoption life cycle. But they exist and new ones are created as user needs and technologies evolve over time!

Finland has rightfully collected heavy buzz for its gaming industry. The disruptive effects of the ever-expanding Angry Birds machine, and the groundbreaking mobile gaming attack by Supercell has suddenly, and finally, made even the skeptics realise that, yes, gaming is a real business and that the level of talent in Finland is shockingly good. It has been ignored for much too long.

Gaming is not alone in being heavily impacted by this odd, Nordic country. Linux, another Finnish creation, powers more computers (I’m including phones here) than any other operating system kernel in the world. Nokia, before its recent downfall, defined, and largely created, the explosion of mobile.

Bernadette Coleman
CEO of Advice Interactive Group
www.adviceinteractivegroup.com

Great ideas are born everyday, however, not every great idea is going to make you money. The secret to identifying a great “money-making” idea, in my opinion, is having the ability to analyze current & previous management experience to ensure the idea will utilize the lessons learned from that experience. I have found that the best and most profitable business opportunities tend to be those with a passionate owner and team. Good entrepreneurs tend to be visionaries. So, as an entrepreneur, you should devise your vision (idea) and surround yourself with the right team to bring the vision to fruition…a team of experienced entrepreneurs who can see a trend or a potential market for a product and turn a vision into a reality.

As a British chap myself, I’ve actually spent the better part of a decade building an incredible business in New York City. I felt the itch to expand internationally many times but knew that with “going global” came many unique challenges.

On top of the operational issues firmly sits the need to reach a certain scale and as an enterprise software player that’s meant helping to cultivate the SaaS ecosystem around Sailthru, carefully building and supporting each of our clients as they grow their businesses, and being a vocal advocate for the value and direction of personalized marketing communications.

The Ventures Team at Octopus Investments have invested in a diverse portfolio that has included Graze,Secret Escapes,YPlan,Zoopla and Gymbox.
Headed by Alex Macpherson, these are his ‘Five ways to get noticed by a Venture Capitalist!’

Relationships and introductions

Getting investment from a VC as an early stage company is all about relationships. The best way for an entrepreneur to get their business onto a VC’s radar is through an introduction from one of their successful portfolio companies. It’s compelling if somebody with whom we already have a working relationship suggests or insists we meet with a new entrepreneur. Our relationships are varied, so if possible, find a way in which you can be recommended to the VC in the first instance.