Hindsight : VIRGIN HOTELS

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Thursday, August 20, 2015

VIRGIN CHICAGO STARTUP SUMMIT EVENT IN CHICAGO FOR ENTREPRENEURS

Entrepreneurship Associate

20 August 2015

As part of our mission to help entrepreneurs be the best they can be, we’re teaming up with Virgin Hotels Room 72, Virgin America and We Are The Future to host our very first StartUp Summit in Chicago on August 26th at the new Virgin Hotel.

We want to give those at the start of their entrepreneurial journey practical takeaways to increase their confidence and skills, as well as to encourage businesses to consider people and planet, as well as profit.

The day includes guest talks, interactive workshops and a showcase where entrepreneurs will pitch in front of an audience and recieve feedback from our expert panel. The jam packed schedule will teach entrepreneurs how to create a red hot brand, how to speed networking and what to do when the bank says no.

We’ve secured a pretty impressive bunch to lead these sessions, including:

Howard Tullman - whose entrepreneurial career spans five decades - having built both a candy racket and a magic performance business at only aged 10. Howard is now the CEO of 1871 - Chicago’s entrepreneurial hub for digital start-ups - which helps 325 entrepreneurs build their businesses. He’ll be sharing his Startup 101 essentials, which has everything you need to know to get started.
Amy Kaherl - director of Detroit SOUP, a place where local residents pay an entrance fee to eat, meet new people and listen to entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas. After everyone has pitched, the residents vote for their favourite and the winner walks away with the night’s takings. Over the last five years, SOUP has held almost 100 dinners and raised over $85,000 for creative projects in Detroit. Amy will be showing us an alternative way if the bank says no to finance your business.
Wendy Abrams - an environmental activist and the founder of Cool Globes - a nonprofit organization with the goal to raise awareness of global warming. Wendy has always been tenacious in getting her initiatives off the ground, she even convinced Barack Obama to be on her Board! She’ll be helping entrepreneurs get over their fears and turn ideas into businesses.
Gayle Northrop - President of Northrop Nonprofit Consulting, a firm specializing in development for nonprofits, social enterprises and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide. Gayle is an advocate for creating positive change in the world and will explain why it’s good business to be a good business.
Bill Starkey and Stephen Snyder – branding experts from 1 Trick Pony - an innovative branding agency with clients such as Turner Classic Movies and Virgin Mobile. They’ll be leading a workshop on how to create a red hot brand so entrepreneurs can get off on the right foot when launching their businesses.
Mats Lederhausen - former Managing Director of McDonald’s Ventures, managing several of McDonald’s investments including Chipotle Mexican Grill and Pret A Manger. Realising his true calling, Mats created BE-CAUSE in early 2007, a platform for investing and building businesses with a “purpose bigger than their products®”. We’re very lucky to have him join us as the Key Note.

If you are aged 18-35, have a business idea or early-stage startup, and live in Chicago, there are a few tickets left, sign up to the event here.
For those not attending, you can follow the event on Twitter by searching for #chicagosummit - we’ll be sharing all the best hints and tips from our amazing experts. We’ll also be sharing guest speaker blogs after the event. Stay tuned...

Monday, June 01, 2015

VIRGIN HOTELS SHARES 1871 CEO HOWARD TULLMAN'S ADVICE

Monday, April 27, 2015

Richard Branson: How crowdfunding could change the world.

By Richard Branson

@richardbranson

27 April 2015

Is crowdfunding going to change the world? I was delighted to take part in the first event at the opening of Virgin Hotels Chicago, where I joined a fascinating panel to discuss the nuances of crowdsourcing. It is an area that is transforming the way entrepreneurs can do business, and one I’m taking a keen interest in.

Crowdfunding isn’t as new as we think it is. One of the first examples of crowdfunding was when Paris gifted New York the Statue of Liberty, but did not provide anything to put it on. The people of New York ran ads in the newspapers to raise money to build a base for the statue. Crowdfunding has come a long way since then, but the principles remain the same.

The benefits of crowdfunding go way beyond the money. It brings market validation, access to new investors, promotion, community exposure, and real-time feedback. As well as the funds to start your business, it provides real connection with people who care about your business.

I met the founder of Indiegogo on Necker in its early days, and learned about his vision for crowdfunding. I particularly liked its non-profit element, as well as its commitment to creating positive change in the world. I decided to make a small investment in the company, and since then have enjoyed watching it and the crowdfunding sector grow. Since then I’ve come across dozens of projects on Indiegogo that have really excited me.

There are lots of wonderful ideas that are now getting the exposure they need to secure bigger investments, which is tremendous for the new generation of entrepreneurs. Like most things in life, crowdfunding success is much more related to how willing you are to pour yourself into the project with your heart and soul. You’ve got to have a great product, and then you’ve got to stand out from the crowd.

Back in the UK, Virgin StartUp has partnered with Crowdfunder to invite entrepreneurs to raise money for their projects, with Virgin StartUp then matching any money raised with one of their loans. If this is approved the entrepreneurs will then be matched with a Virgin StartUp mentor, giving their business the best chance possible to succeed. Three quarters of a million pounds are up for grabs as part of this innovative funding initiative – I can’t wait to see what new businesses come out of it.

The crowd is very good at ensuring the best projects rise to the top. It is also excellent at self-regulating so that the odd questionable project gets found out. Because you have to ask your loved ones, friends, co-workers – everyone you have ever met – to support your project, if it turns into a scam, you will not be very popular.

We were asked an interesting question about investing in emerging markets. They are growing much quicker than established markets, and people would be mad not to invest in emerging markets. Crowdfunding seems a smart way to do so. What’s more, you will be offering a chance to lots of exciting new entrepreneurs in emerging markets who may otherwise not get the exposure and funding they need.

How wonderful it would have been if Indiegogo had existed when I was 15 struggling to start a magazine, – I certainly would have used it. It is still early days, but I do believe crowdfunding could absolutely transform the world. Have you invested in a crowdfunded project, or started one yourself? I’d love to hear about it.