Start lean and grow fast – Venturefest helps small firms on climb to the top

AN entrepreneur who wants to reverse global warming has urged Yorkshire's business leaders to "start lean and make money quickly" in order to thrive as the recession lifts.

Philanthropist Bill Liao, who co-founded the business community Xing.com, made the comments at the Venturefest expo at York Racecourse, where exhibitors hoping to catch investors' eyes included a firm which helps climbers to practise at home.

The event, which acts as a showcase for fast-growing companies, attracted more than 2,000 visitors and 63 exhibitors.

Venturefest, which has attracted sponsorship from private and public sector organisations such as Yorkshire Forward, and UK Trade & Investment, aims to create jobs by attracting investment.

Mr Liao used the event to talk about his latest project – WeForest.com – which aims to plant trees in large parts of the world to stop climate change.

He said that Yorkshire businesses must have a clear message and use networking events intelligently.

He told the Yorkshire Post: "The first lesson I learned is that networking is everything. It's not just who you know, it's how people know you.

"With Xing, it was all about bringing people together. The other thing I learned at Xing, is that you need to start lean and fast and you need to make money quickly. In Xing, we were cash-flow positive within 90 days of inception.

"It all starts with a story. If somebody comes to you and gives you a very flat story about the best idea in the world, you forget it. But if you have the right inspiration and a true, well-articulated story, you'll get people working for you."

Professor Tony Hardy, Venturefest Yorkshire chairman, said the attendance was higher than last year, but stressed that he wanted to see more businesses from East and South Yorkshire taking part.

He added: "We've done very well. Registrations online are up on last year. We had 2,000 people last year and I think we are up on that.

"It's a regional expo, but we haven't got even coverage across the region. I think we need to find other ways of attracting more businesses from the eastern side of the region and we probably need to attract more people from South Yorkshire."

He said the event aimed to be self-sufficient – in other words, not heavily reliant on public-sector money – in the next few years.

"Public-sector spending support is going to be increasingly difficult. We are on the way towards that (becoming self-sufficient)... people have grabbed sponsorship this year. With a background of recession, that's really encouraging.

"We've also managed to get quite a bit of interest from the business angel community. They recognise that Venturefest is a worthwhile brand."

Alex McWhirter, assistant director of enterprise at Yorkshire Forward, said the annual event had provided a major boost for hi-tech businesses since it was launched in 2004.

He added: "This isn't just a regional event anymore – this features on the national calendar. It dispels this myth that there's nothing really happening in Yorkshire and the Humber.

"This is an opportunity to showcase as you move away from just being able to cope, to starting to thrive. For a company in growth phase, this event is unmissable."

Yorkshire Forward has provided around 50,000 to support Venturefest, said Mr McWhirter, and the value for money provided by that investment was "absolutely huge".

Relationships forged at Venturefest went on for months afterwards, he added.

The exhibitors included a team from Sheffield-based Highball Climbing, a firm which wants to nurture a new generation of world-class climbers.

Ollie Hemstock, a director of Highball Climbing, said: "More and more climbers are building their own training walls at home, often haphazardly, and these can be quite dangerous.

"We offer a free-standing wall which is effectively a flat-pack which can be put up in any domestic environment and provides a really good training facility without the danger of it falling over.

"Climbing could become an Olympic sport, the sport is going to grow, and if we get a foothold early, then we will be able to expand."

Shock tactics win

A company which makes electronically controlled shock-absorbers for mountain bikes triumphed in a Venturefest competition to find Yorkshire's top entrepreneurs.

Eight companies were in contention for the Venturefest Investment Competition, which carried a prize worth 28,000.

The winner was David Batterbee of Mr Shox (Sheffield). He wins a prize package which includes legal, accountancy, insurance, business development, PR, patent and trademark advice and support.

Mr Shox will release a brand of electronically controlled shock-absorbers for mountain bikes. His device monitors terrain conditions to ensure the shock-absorbers work effectively.