The Tech Bros

“This was such an informative session-I found myself inspired by all I learned.” “Really great intro to creating a successful startup and getting investors.” “I feel more confident, it helped me define the next steps to take” We had an amazing time hosting our Startup Workshop series at The Glasshouse in Cambridge last night! A huge thank you to Ahana Banerjee for sharing her inspiring journey to founding Clear, and to Shelley Brown for providing valuable insights into the VC landscape and pitching strategies. We’re also grateful to our partners at IE Cambridge (Innovation & Entrepreneurship), Innovate Cambridge, and ideaSpace for their support! ????

We had a very fun and VERY busy February at COLONY Fabrica!?As it was my first official month in the space,?I thought I'd give a little snapshot of what we got up to, for anyone curious as to what 'community events'?really?means when you're eyeing up a co-working space????? ???? First up,?we had a visit from the incredible team behind The Tech Bros, bringing a wonderful group of young women together from around Manchester to host a 'no bad ideas' build day. ?? Now, this was the beginning of a theme that I really embraced this month (of course! I love a theme ??♀?) To celebrate love of alllll kinds, we had a gorgeous Valentine's Day brunch which featured some very cute food - I really put the heart-shaped cookie cutter to good use that day - and a lovely chance to catch up with our teams in the building over a coffee and a?bite to eat. ?? Next up for Valentine's Day was a bit of Cupid matchmaking, corporate style - I wanted to give a bit of love to our freelancers and side hustlers in the building, and give them a chance to shout about their skills and what they get up to! So, throughout the month our tree was beautifully decked out by our members with their skills or work they need doing - great for a bit of an IRL match-up! ?? My final and cutest nod to Valentine's Day was our very sweet (and popular!) paint & sip - the Community Lead in me was very proud of my best-attended event of my entire time in co-working, and seeing everyone's artworks was the icing?on the cake ?? ?? Olive had her 15 minutes of fame when she became the official mascot of our newly opened COLONY Community Library,?which has gone from strength to strength since opening - special shoutout to our members for filling it with some of their favourite reads! ??? Sofar Sounds rounded out our month perfectly with their evening of Hip Hop and RnB, highlighting some really cool local artists to a full house in our Presentation Space - definitely worth keeping an eye out for tickets for the next one over at Jactin House. Charlotte Tabor and I are already full steam ahead with our March events - I'll let you know what we get up to!

I'm so excited to be celebrating International Women's Week as part of the amazing team at Patch. In the past two months of working here, it's been so inspiring to see such a big focus on women's wellbeing and entrepreneurship, and witness the community and support across sites ?? I've loved speaking to so many women and non-binary folks these past weeks about events we will be hosting for our members and York community, both next week and throughout the year. As part of this, I'm thrilled to unveil our Events Roundup for the next week featuring some incredibly cool organisers, members and local businesses ?? Some highlights coming this week are: The Tech Bros x York: Bad Ideas Build Day??? Fri 28th Feb - 9:30am - 6:30pm Happening today in Patch Academy, this event is a day for women with a background in STEM, and an interest in entrepreneurship. Focussed on deliberately developing bad ideas, collaborating within teams, and bringing ideas to life through coding, this is a great day to celebrate women in tech at all levels. Confidently You Taster Session with Karen McMillan Tues 4th March - 1pm-1:45pm A mini taster session of Karen's 'Confidently You' workshop series, giving you a glimpse into how small shifts in mindset and body awareness can have a big impact on your confidence and capacity to deal with challenges you might face in life and in business. Springtime Social and Bulb Basket Making Workshop with Alice (The Outside In)? Tues 4th March - 5:30-7:30pm Alice from York's plant studio -?The Outside In?- will guide you step-by-step through how to create a beautiful spring basket arrangement of various seasonal flowering bulbs. This is a chance to connect to nature and the seasons, and enjoy a cuppa and chat after work. Rest and Recharge - Meditation/Yoga Nidra with Kimberley Topham Wed 5th March - 1:30pm-2pm A post-lunch meditation to reset and refocus, connect with your body, and calm your mind to prepare for the latter half of the week. More events below! ??

We're really excited to have Startups Magazine as our media partner for our upcoming events ?? Sign up for WMN <> AI on Friday here: https://lu.ma/6z91v5d7

"I really enjoyed the activity. My main barrier currently isn't motivation or capacity but rather perfectionism and waiting for the right idea. So having a bad idea day for focus on building confidence literally is something I would do again!" "Absolutely feel more informed and more likely to look into start up possibilities. Thank you so happy we were able to make this happen!" "Truly a one-of-a-kind experience for me. I really enjoyed the challenge of going from zero to an MVP in just one day - it pushed us beyond our limits and forced us to deliver a pitch by the end. The event required a wide range of skills, from creativity and innovation to collaboration and public speaking. I think it all came together really well, and I’m incredibly grateful to have been a part of it." "The atmosphere was great and loved how non-serious it was, made it all feel very comfortable. It was a first time for me attending such an event and it definitely has opened my mind up to possibilities!" "It has been a lovely day and I met lots of wonderful people at the event. I'm definitely more interested in founding my own startup after the event, and feel more confident about doing so:)" We had such a good time in York on Friday hosting our last Bad Ideas Build of the season ?? Thanks so much once again to Patch for hosting us; to Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at York University (& especially Zara Weadock) for making this event a reality; to Codecademy for being our educational partner; and to Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) for powering the hack ???? Hope to see you all again soon, & can't wait to follow along your journeys ??

So grateful to have been part of The Tech Bros bad idea build day in York yesterday, where I had the chance to meet and work with some amazing women! Our team built a system that syncs to your calendar and plays annoying music at inappropriate times, and you have to complete a sliding picture puzzle to shut the music off. We won the best build prize! I loved the time pressure of the project, forcing us to learn on the fly and cobble together a working, beautiful (if seriously annoying) product in a matter of hours. I learned so much from everyone involved and increased my own confidence to go and start something new.

This brilliant initiative is set to do wonders for #FemaleFounders, #WomenInTech and #WomenInSTEM, not to mention the savvy Angels and #VentureCapital investors who recognize their potential – here’s your future pipeline! I’ve been to The Tech Bros events and the atmosphere is electric – so much passion, so much technical talent, and they just build, build, build ?? Good news: two more events next week in Cambridge and London: ?? Cambridge, March 4th, ???????????????? ?????????????????? in partnership with IE Cambridge (Innovation & Entrepreneurship) and Innovate Cambridge – more info: https://lu.ma/jurr0nxh ?? London, March 7th, ?????? <> ???? at Google – more info: https://lu.ma/6z91v5d7 Friends in the UK community – feel free to share with your #entrepreneurship, #innovation, #startups, investor and talent-seeking networks – they’ll thank you for it???

Obsessing over 'good ideas' is killing your innovation potential. Yesterday, I learned why deliberately pursuing 'bad ideas' unlocked more creativity than any brainstorming session. The counterintuitive framework I discovered challenges everything we're taught about innovation. Profound gratitude to Milette Gillow & Sedinam Simpson from The Tech Bros for orchestrating an event that challenged conventional thinking. The innovation framework you shared will impact far beyond yesterday's session. Privileged to innovate alongside the brilliant Himanshi Gupta & Tomi Fabamigbe-proving that diverse perspectives are the ultimate competitive advantage in tech. Kerly Mantilla #CreasloqueCrees #women #tech #womenintech

"I have wanted to found a startup and I really enjoyed seeing how much we could build in such a short time" "I loved how open the event was. No coding experience required! I also love a women’s space. Feels less daunting and much more comfortable!" "At the beginning of this event I had no idea [how to code] but in less than one hour I built a website by myself. I am so glad about it because it helped to understand that I am able to work and do whatever I want with the right support" "Such a fun way to spend the evening and I would love to do more interactive, hands on, and personal events like this in the future" "Enjoyed how creative it is, and how working with the right people really makes things work out much better. With the right person I’m more likely to build a startup." A few quotes from our Bad Ideas Speed Build last night with Women In STEM @ IC, where teams took their ideas from concept to demo in less than ?two hours? We were beyond impressed with the creativity and execution of every team - massive congratulations to everyone once again ?? 93% of participants left feeling more likely to start a company - we can’t wait to see where your journeys take you! ??

Looking forward to bringing our startup workshop series to Cambridge ?? There are still a few spots left - register below & come join us if you're in the area! https://lu.ma/jurr0nxh