Case Studies: Nesta

Yesterday we received talks from Brian Carlin on his Resqroll, and Mel Woods on her company ambaba. They had both received assistance from Nesta, however I noticed that they both seemed more appreciative of the networking and exposure they received in comparison to the actual funding, although I'm pretty sure they appreciated the cash as well as they had both sacrificed their own money for their relative ideas. I thought about the stress which must be involved when you have to keep supporting your ideas with your own money. I always feel sorry for the people in Dragon's Den who have poured their life savings, various bank loans and borrowings into their product, which they believe in relentlessly, only for it to get shot down by Duncan Bannatyne.

Whilst Brian was talking I though about the notion of myself being an entrepreneur. I suppose wherever I am I will have to either sell myself, bringing back the question of trust, or sell my ideas. It's about convincing everyone else what I will already be convinced about, as Brian had had to do with the Resqroll. 

Going back to the point about networking, another thing which I picked up whilst Brian was talking was the importance of being selective with who you get to back you. If you need to convince someone about something, then there's nothing better than getting an expert to put weight behind your argument. Although I kept thinking through Brian's talk that it must be pretty difficult to argue with something which saves lives! 

The last thing I took from both of them was the fact that you have to find the motivation to keep you going. For Brian it was the fact that he knew his product could make a difference, and meeting people in the spinal fractures unit would put him back on track if he wavered.