More than 150 entrepreneurs and business leaders looking to grow their companies in 2014 received a boost from TechAlliance on Tuesday at the fifth annual Gearing Up for Growth Conference.
“This conference is about supporting London tech businesses at all stages of their growth,” said Marilyn Sinclair, President and CEO of TechAlliance. “I know that everyone from startups to established industry leaders will take away new ideas for continuing to grow their businesses and overcome any growth challenges they may be facing.”
The conference featured internationally renowned speaker and TED talk presenter Tom Wujec who explained how companies can use drawn images to depict complex ideas to innovate and develop business strategies. Wujec is a fellow at Autodesk, the company behind the popular 3D imaging software AutoCAD.
Wujec also demonstrated the Marshmallow Challenge with the audience. The simple team-building exercise involves dry spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string and a marshmallow. It asks teams to build the tallest tower with these ingredients and encourages the groups to work collaboratively and visually to achieve innovative results.
The half-day conference offered unique breakout sessions for participants centred around key growth challenges many of the companies in attendance are currently facing. Leaders from the business community offered advice in each breakout for how they overcame these challenges during the growth of their own companies. Breakout topics included Entering New Markets, Growing your Team, and Engaging your Customers.
The day capped off by welcoming a group of funding experts to the stage in a panel titled “Show Me the Money!” The interactive panel discussion highlighted investment opportunities that are commonly considered by small-medium sized enterprises.
