Cambridge Cluster

Image by Farruska via FlickrA bit of a rant: watching the TV, I was interested to learn that someone from the other side of the pond, no doubt vice-executive director, has “updated” Postman Pat to an urban modern character to cater for the tastes of the urban kids.  Why not “update” Postman Pat (if he needs updating) to help educate the urban kids about the ways of the country instead of reinforcing all the urban stereotypes?We can all see how the “luvvies” will update the 2012 Olympic Games to reflect their love of the urbanites. 

The previous post lists the Tigers who gave elevator pitches so here is the list of the remaining Tigers in the Streak or Ambush (collective noun for a group of tigers).

Oops! At last I have found the set of links for the companies – they are on the Cambridge Network site of the PR firm which organises CEC9.  Silly me, the first place I should have looked!  They were put up the day before the event. I must have missed the link page on the CEC9 site.

Not all the companies have websites but they are all technology companies as you would expect in the Cambridge Cluster.

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeIt is hard work blogging about the Cambridge Enterprise Conference as there is so little information on-line unlike TechCrunch and Demo.  At TechCrunch, which I could join on the video feed, I could see that many people had there laptops switched on.  At CEC9 there were few laptops and the only person with a laptop, a professional blogger who sells his posts to news sites, was asked to sit at the back and not disturb the peace and quiet with his clicking.  I guess either everyone clicks or no one!  It is suprising that so many delegates at CEC9 could be out of touch with their business for the day.

The companies giving elevator pitches, billed as the “Tigers of tomorrow”were:

- Axon Automotive. Could not find their website but try the article on the Eden Project site

- Camfridge; the future of refrigeration

- Eco-Mats; a natural base for the future

- E-Stack: the website could not be found so look here

- Northwood Implants; under their trade name of EarScaffold, reduces prominent ears

- Sonar Link; is invisible on the Norfolk Network site

- The Intelligent Book; a Cambridge University research project

I am not sure how Scoble would react to  these websites.  But they do show that they are very early stage companies, really no more than ideas, and that they are all technology companies; no social network ideas here.

Do they all have a business plan or are they not at that stage?  Are there teams all rowing together?

Image by nedward.org via Flickr The opening of the Cambridge Enterprise Conference 9 got off to a sticky start when Walter Herriott announced that the main speaker had double booked and was otherwise engaged.  Walter entertained us with a talk from the trenches over the last thirty years – it sounded like he built the Cambridge Cluster single-handedly!  We must make sure that the entrepreneurs who build up the companies get the glory as well as the cash.

One of the founders of RedGate Software provided a Google type talk saying how he provided such an exciting and supportive working environmnet.  I guess if you have graduated from Cambridge, worked a bit and your first start-up takes off so you rapidly employ 100 people you are entitled to think you are special.

Talking to a member of staff and a former member of staff it became apparent that there was a fairly basic option scheme in place.  When you leave, the directors or founders buy back your options.  So that is fairly restrictive and also means that the options are not very valuable.  I guess that the two founders are worth in excess of one hundred million each (no profit figures, only sales) and the 98 other people share a few pennies.

No wonder that they have to advertise for staff by sponsoring a roundabout on the Milton Road.  I remember the late , great Stephen Thomas saying that he spent £500k a year on recruitment fees when he was building Geneva Technology.  He recruited great people and many got good options and were handsomely rewarded when Geneva was sold.

It is vital for the growth of the Cambridge Cluster that all employees share in a generous options scheme which benefits the company, the employees and helps fund the next generation of companies.

I wonder if RedGate has prepared an Equity Fingerprint in their business plan.

It was good to see The Chilli at CEC9.

Just add this comment to save you clicking. Great comment but why are options so important in Silicon Valley?:

Simon Galbraith | simon.galbraith@red-gate.com | red-gate.com | IP: 212.44.26.236

Philip,
Thanks for commenting on the talk I gave, it is always interesting (if disappointing in this case) how well your messages get across. I don’t know if you noticed but I didn’t say anything about myself and what I said about Red Gate were direct quotes from others.
We’ve given out both stock (to very early employees) and options (to many) but we’ve really gone off them as part of a compensation package. Options are extremely onerous to administer, can provide perverse incentives, are hideously expensive and may offer a false promise to many.
My view is that the Cambridge Cluster will grow if it produces great companies and that whether those companies use options is of minor interest.
Simon Galbraith

Image via Wikipedia I have been searching the CEC9 website for a list of the “Tiger” companies which will be on show but could not find any details.

TechCrunch had a list and so did Demo.  Scoble got into trouble for commenting on their websites.

Yammer won at TechCruch.

But then Scoble makes the point that some companies just concentrate on getting customers and miss out on the shows.  iLike (30millin users) and  PosiMotion (50,000 downloads a day to iPhones, most of which earn a fee) are tigers which just concentrate on customer engagement and keep their Equity Fingerprint’s and business plan, nice and simple.

So where will the Tigers at CEC9 go?  Hope that they not extinct by next year!