Cambridge Cluster

Image via WikipediaSerial entrepreneur, Steve Ives, is up and running again with taptu.com which is a search engine for mobile phones.  His previous backers, 3i and Sofinnova, stumped up $10million dollars and he has already built a team of thirty people.

In Jenny Chapman’s article in the Cambridge Evening News, Steve Ives gives little away but does say that “everyone involved has share options, so everyone involved has a good chance of making a nice pile of cash”.  At least someone in the Cambrige Cluster has learnt from Silicon Valley.

But like Bill Gates, Steve Ives suffers from paranoia.  “it is a good state of mind to be insecure about your position in the market and to always be looking at ways to improve, and always looking at the adverse scenario”.

Taptu.com is in beta at present.

Steve Ives sold Trigenix to Qualcomm for $40million in 2004, after just four years, so if you want to join the option winnes, get in quick!

Image via WikipediaAnother lord, Lord Kirkham shows how to run a business.  You may, or may not like his sofas but he looks after number one!  DFS was founded in 1969, floated it on the stock market and in 2004 bought it back for £496million.  The funding required will be repaid over the next five to nine years.  The Equity Fingerprint is simple with Lord Kirkham having the lions share (83%) and his daughter and a family trust the remaing 17%.

Perhaps he does not have to provide any options to motivate his 2,714 employees now that the company is “only” opening two new stores this year. Lord Kirkham is the adopted son of a miner and started DFS with £400 of his own savings.  No university education to muddle his mind!

I wonder whether he is a good speaker or just a brilliant motivator?  Let us hope he enjoys his latest little earner – dividends of £46.3million.

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeIt is the end of the first year without my Father. You all know how I feel so no need to add – just time to think and reflect. And the best place to be is in the Lake District so I am on my way.

The papers are full of Lord Karim Bilimora of Chelsea, founder of Cobra Beer, about his plans to raise £13million to fund expansion in India. LKB gives one of the most inspiring talk on entrepreneurship and the crowd always leaves with a buzz. He talks about the importance of teams but we never hear any names.

Cobra is like Innocent Drinks but without the margins although they are both run by Cambridge graduates. Cobra is in the very competitive beer market whilst Innocent has carved out a new market and able to charge a premium. Both operate as marketing companies with production sub-contracted and the product probably sent direct to the customers. Innocent also talk about teams but in recent accounts there is no sign of any options for the team they rate so highly.

As LKB says, he has managed to retain a controlling interest in the company which has been funded by angels who seem to have no exit in sight; it is always in the next couple of years. LKB’s major pre-occupation must be how to raise the £13million without losing control. If he does he might find that his long suffering investors to sell out. To quote from the article “Cobra has previously outlined exit plans to shareholders. A flotation was pencilled in for 2006 but was mothballed after Cobra raised £27.5m from Och-Ziff Capital Management, the US hedge fund. It raised further funds from Och-Ziff in 2007 and at the start of this year.”

In his talks, he is always quoting his sales after adding in a quick aside, retail, which roughly doubles his turnover. The newspaper reports give the proper figures. His accounts are interesting as the first accounts show a large revaluation for the value of the Cobra brand which is not allowed in audited accounts. So at the back of the accounts, you find the proper audited accounts which show the problem of building a business on fine margins.

Cobra is currently brewed in the UK by independent Charles Wells brewery.

And as for the so important team at Cobra, if the business is sold, Bilimoria, who retains a controlling stake in Cobra, said “this did not necessarily mean staff would lose their jobs. “I would do my best to protect all the people,” he said”. Perhaps they would prefer some options for their years of service, 20%.

I hope that this is not another example of someone saying the team is so important but not so important to share in the value they have created.

That is why it is so much better to be in the Cambridge Cluster and Silicon Valley where companies include options in their Equity Fingerprint, the business plan resource. Teams want to share in the glory and in the value – we all do! It is a pity that neither Cobra nor Innocent Drink will benefit the Cambridge Cluster directly.

Come on Cobra – shares for all!

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeIn the last few days I have experienced three different types of silence: walking on my own in the hills; a thirty six hour silent retreat and visiting an old lady in a nursing home.

Walking on the hills can be a solitary affair but you are always busy watching your step, thinking of your route and there is always the sound of the wind. On the top of the hill you have the reward of the view and the feeling of achievement. However no picture can “bottle” the experience and help you share it with your friends. Walking with John Morrell of WalkingWays was different -someone to talk to, someone to guide you on the way but so difficult to stay silent when you are walking with such a knowledgeable person.

St Francis House at Hemingford Grey offers retreats to groups of people from various churches. I went with 14 people from St Bene’t’s Church in Cambridge, UK for a thirty six hour silent retreat. We arrived on Friday afternoon and stayed until after lunch on the Sunday. The time is organised and the retreat was led by the Rev’d Dr James Gardom of Pembroke College, Cambridge. It is a very special experience sitting either in the house or in the wonderful garden with people you know and being silent. A very special type of silence and different from sitting in silence in a church with other people.

The third type of silence is the type that falls on us as we age; moved from our homes with most of our friends and family no longer alive into a home for old people. Sitting in a room alone, just sitting. Here I go to break the silence of a very special person but all she really wants is to be back with her friends. Perhaps the first two silences will help me when my time comes to experience the third – I can only hope so.

So reach out and visit someone on their own and break their silence if only for a short time. I suppose the Internet helps as people can communicate. I know someone who is ill and the Internet has given them a new role in their community so technology and the products of the Cambridge Cluster can and do help.

Or play Bingo!