This is a Guest Post by TraitPerception Co-founder and CEO, Juan Cartagena
For the original article click here.
I just attended a Q&A session with Eric Schmidt (Google´s Executive Chairman and former CEO) today at Google Campus in London. There were about 150 people, all of them young entrepreneurs who want to change the world in one way or another. I felt really humbled and honored to be there, with all those bright people, at the second row, listening to one of the main changers of our world (in my opinion to the much better), over the last 10 years.
I will write on a different post this week the key learnings I got from Eric. Today however I would rather write about how lucky I feel to have my work space at the ecosystem created by Google Campus with Seedcamp. I can condense it in 3 reasons which will lead to my thesis.
1. Environment:
Before being accepted at Seedcamp my cofounders and I worked from home and met at a Cafe in Madrid every couple of days to catchup. We met as many people the first 5 months as we can meet in 2 weeks here. But it´s more than that.
The space is brilliant. Lockers, kitchen, tablefootball, pooltable, 6 meeting rooms, full wall-size whiteboards (gotta love that)… and still spaceous and quiet. I have been to a few co-working spaces which look like contact-centres. Uncomparable. This place fosters creativity, and I am quietly and happily writing this post at 9pm knowing I can stay as long as I wish.
Moreover, the UK has made enormous efforts to foster entrepreneurship from a legal and fiscal point of view. It takes a couple of days to file a company and costs near nothing, no capital growth tax on your stock options as an entrepreneur, and the same for the SEIS program for angels investing in UK companies.
2. Being at the Google Campus
Sign up at the Startup Digest London and every week you get a list of the best startup events in London. 70% are here at Google Campus, including hackatons, drinks, presentations, workshops, pitching sessions, etc. In only 3 months this has become the heart of the Startup scene in the UK. I don´t think there is a better place in the whole of Europe to catapult your business, gain visibility and meet the right people.
Today I attended this presentation with Eric, but last week I also attended a Q&A with only 20 people with Google´s CFO Patrick Pichette (key learning from him was “VCs give you money for you to spend it, so spend it quick” which made me smile). How crazy is that.
Furthermore, being in the centre of London has opened me many doors in terms of general coverage and PR, access to decision makers of international companies and investors, and CEOs of other companies. I could not dream of having such exposure from Madrid. And inviting those people to meet at Google Campus is also cool for them which makes it even easier to get meetings. Firstly, because they can meet other startups, secondly because many have not yet seen the Google Campus and they are curious, and thirdly because it´s just in the center of the City. Is there possibly a better location?
3. People in the building:
It´s not just Google´s execs walking around, it´s everyone. The IQ per capita of the people walking into this building is ridiculous…Click here for the full post