Credit where credit is due

Jack Dorsey, Co-founder of Twitter once said 'Everyone has an idea. But it's really about executing the idea and attracting other people to help you work on the idea.' This is clearly how everyone involved in the Future of Work demo event I attended last week.

I'll say up front, that the reason for this blog is to give credit where credit is due and recognise SwiftScale (in conjunction with PWC) for building and running a great programme and for pulling together such an exciting group of companies as part of the 2016 cohort. Beyond being a mentor for a number of the companies as part of the programme, I have no other affiliation with SwiftScale, but wanted to support them and recognise their efforts

SwiftScale's focus is on working with early stage companies that already have product/services and existing customers but are ready to scale. They have a selection process that identifies the companies they want as part of the programme, and in their words, 'focusing on quality and engaging only the highest-calibre of startups delivering enterprise efficiency, regardless of sector'.  From the quality of the twelve companies in the first cohort, I would agree with this.

The programme they provide is a unique 90 day scale-up programme to identify and nurture enterprise startups driving the future of work, only focusing on B2B companies. As well as bringing together the companies and potential corporate customers, the programme helps the 'scale-up' companies address many of the barriers that can prevent successful growth, including: helping refine the value proposition, developing and delivering an investor pitch, developing routes to market etc.

The twelve companies in this programme included: Action AI, Adepto, BulbThings, Enoque, Benivo, Money Mover, Motivii, Peak, Privitar, Sedici, TalMix and Valsight , details of which can all be found on the SwiftScale website

But one of the best things to observe in the programme, hence the Jack Dorsey quote, is the interaction of all of the people on the programme. The cohort companies all helping each other, the partner organisations clearly enthusiastic about every one of the scale-ups, and the mentors and corporates openly helping the companies with contacts and opportunities.

So, the reason for this post, well, SwiftScale themselves are a Startup / Scale-up and have run a great programme, credit where credit's due. They are also just about to kick off the application process for the Spring 2017 cohort , so if you are an early stage company now looking to scale, it worth thinking about applying.

And if you are a corporate looking for interesting B2B solutions or an individual who wants to 'give something forward' to a new generation of companies, then get involved to be a mentor etc.