ICON66
Volume 3
Contents
15 Seconds in Hell – Mastering The Elevator Pitch
ICON Profile – Catalyst's Alice Chapman
Technology Profile – Photonics
Photonics Profile – Optical Micro Devices
Funding Strategy – CDC Solutions
Slipstream – Marketing Fundamentals to Sharpen Your Edge
ICON Book Review – Funky Business
The Last Mile – Enabling Broadband
After The Goldrush – A Tale of The Glory Days
Lost In Space – The Bleeding Edge of Imagery
15 Seconds in Hell
Mastering The Elevator Pitch
How can you avoid this nightmare? The words "elevator pitch" strike fear into the heart of many entrepreneurs, but there are several steps you can take to master the process.
ICON Profile
Catalyst's Alice Chapman
A graduate of Cambridge University, Alice joined 3i in 1990, was promoted to Investment Director in 1996. She left in 1997 to pursue ideas, which at that stage were merely scrawled in pencil on a piece of file paper. These ideas are now being put to work at Catalyst.
Technology Profile
Photonics
The high bandwidth demands from the Internet and multimedia applications are driving the broadband revolution. The old all electronic phone networks many of them digital systems less than five years old, are moaning under the strain of transmitting vast amount of data across the Internet. Photonics technology enables the new fibre optic networks to carry a million times more data than the traditional networks.
Photonics Profile
Optical Micro Devices
UK start-up Optical Micro Devices (OMD) was founded in December 1999 by semiconductor professionals. ICON helped them secure £14.8 million funding to establish the world's first 8" wafer fab for opto-electronic components, with a focus on the manufacture of passive optical devices.
Funding Strategy
CDC Solutions
Dave Cornwell founder and CEO of CDC first went to the VCs in 1998 and closed a £1 million round; this was followed by £2 million in November 1999 and finally £8 million in October 2000. His approach provides many useful lessons for early stage companies and provides a blueprint for a successful funding strategy.
Slipstream
Marketing Fundamentals to Sharpen Your Edge
As a new player with limited resources and bandwidth, creating enough noise in the market to ensure you get noticed is extremely difficult. Having great technology simply isn't enough, and whilst significant funding obviously assists, it provides no divine right of passage to success.
ICON Book Review
Funky Business
Oh dear. A book called Funky Business by two Swedish academics. At first glance, it has all the allure of Benny and Bjorn's (from abba) sadly never-released concept album about life as a middle manager in a multinational conglomerate.
The Last Mile
Enabling Broadband
Broadband, or high speed access, refers to the higher data rates required to deliver a wide range of multimedia services, such as broadcast quality tv, video on demand (e.g. Blockbuster in your home), interactive gaming and very high speed internet access.
After The Goldrush
A Tale of The Glory Days
I was standing on the bridge of the good ship SS Internet on a cold November night, when I saw down below me Entrepreneur Jones standing there in nothing but his night-shirt. I shouted down to Entrepreneur Jones and said, and I quote, "Entrepreneur Jones, how come you are standing there on this cold November night in nothing but your night-shirt?"
Lost In Space
The Bleeding Edge of Imagery
Lost In Space is a design, effects and animation boutique producing high-end commercials, titles and idents work for tv, film, print and nu-media. Clients range from Island, Guinness, MTV and FIFA, to film credits including Terminator 2, Judge Dredd, Mission Impossible and Goldeneye. Other credits include pop promos and concert projections for Bjork and Garbage and animation for the acclaimed BBC series 'X-Creatures'.
