Techcelerate – Manoj Ranaweera

The art of building a tech startup

Published by Manoj Ranaweera on October 14, 2023

Building a tech startup and perhaps any business is all about having a vision, being able to articulate it, assembling a team and executing it. It helps execution if the know-how is there to start with. You know what needs to be done, how to do it and when to do it. You may not need to be a specialist in each area but you need to have the ability to find individuals who can be. You would need constant supervision to ensure the team does not divert from the path and this is where the knowledge and experiences come…

Catching up with Lisa Layzell

Catching up with Lisa Layzell

Published by Manoj Ranaweera on August 21, 2019

Caught up with Lisa Layzell who seems to be getting prettier unlike me as we both age! Lisa and I both started out from Sci-Tech Daresbury in 2006 and she was one of the first female Tech Founders of old #Techcelerate and also an Alum of #Alliance Manchester Business School. We are both back at Daresbury and met to discuss Techcelerate China team. Lisa exited in 2013 from Thinspace, the same year I stopped old Techcelerate when Hugh Campbell of #GPBullhound acquired #NorthernTechAwards. Thinspace introduced Thinclient technology to UK. Working with public sector was hard those days for SMEs. I…

Networks of Manchester’s Tech Ecosystem

Networks of Manchester’s Tech Ecosystem

Published by Manoj Ranaweera on August 30, 2017

Once upon a time (2006 to 2013), Techcelerate pioneered in building the Manchester’s Tech Ecosystem, when public sector could not care less about scalable technology businesses. Today, it’s a different story. Both public as well as the private sectors have come together to build the ecosystem from where Techcelerate had left off. Referred to as Northern Startup 2.0 in 2006, a tech gathering supported by KPMG and initiated by TechCrunch grew into a network of 2,300 tech entrepreneurs, senior managers of tech companies, investors and deal-makers over a period of 7 years. Techcelerate ran over 100+ tech entrepreneur events with…

The life of tech entrepreneur, Chris Leigh

The life of tech entrepreneur, Chris Leigh

Published by Manoj Ranaweera on December 30, 2016

Stuart Scott-Goldstone and I paid our last respects yesterday to fellow Manchester Business School (MBS) MBA Alum and Greater Manchester tech entrepreneur Chris Leigh, after he took his life just over a week before Christmas. The funeral was also attended by current and past Sci-Tech Daresbury community including John Leake, Paul Treloar, Robert Wakeling (Wadaro), Michael Thomas (Peak42), John McGuire (ex-FreshTL) and Angus Matheson (ex-FreshTL). According to Samaritans, men between 45 to 59 years are the most vulnerable to suicides in the UK and Republic of Ireland. When Chris took his life, he was 48 years old (same age as me). About…

#NorthernStars – A celebration of Tech Entrepreneurship

#NorthernStars – A celebration of Tech Entrepreneurship

Published by Manoj Ranaweera on November 25, 2015

I was late attending the finals of NorthernStars pitch event last night at UKFast organised by TechNorth missing all the 23 pitches, as a result of attending CommissioningLive, a healthcare event, but the feedback I got suggested that the quality of pitching in the North is now in par with London. This was perhaps the strongest criticism I had (other than called a talking shop, which was exactly the point of Techcelerate at the time) from numerous VCs who took part in Techcelerate’s Dragons’ Lair pitching events for investment. Out of the 100 or so applications received, according to Matt…

Thoughts from #TechNorth launch in #Leeds today

Thoughts from #TechNorth launch in #Leeds today

Published by Manoj Ranaweera on September 9, 2015

The Launch Until 8:00 am this morning, I couldn’t justify a reason to attend the launch of much hyped TechNorth in Leeds. By 8:15 am, I regretted my decision, and by 10:15 I was listening to TechCity CEO launching the event. Yes in Leeds! In 2006, except for few of us, tech entrepreneurship was not fashionable like today. Those naysayers then have become champions of the sector today. And it has been a pleasure for me to watch the transition. In early days, the effort of building the tech ecosystem rested with number of passionate individuals. In Sheffield you had Lee…

My first exit (asset sale) – Northern Tech Awards

Published by ManojRanaweera on October 10, 2013

This post should have been written on 1st August 2013 when I sold Northern Tech Awards to GP Bullhound, a boutique investment bank, as I was emotionally fired up on that great scorching day in Manchester. Since 2004, I founded few businesses, some have gone horribly wrong and others have thrived. Northern Tech Awards was not a business, but a key asset that emerged from Techcelerate. It was setup as the highlight of the year, when I used to run over 20 events a year, and our strong community of 2,300 tech entrepreneurs, senior managers of tech companies, investors, deal makers…

Mini Seedcamp London – Where are the northerners?

Published by ManojRanaweera on July 26, 2010

I will be attending my third Seedcamp event tomorrow as a mentor. Seedcamp is without a doubt the main event for any budding tech entrepreneur team in Europe, and it is getting bigger each year attracting companies from all over the world. For those who are not familiar with Seedcamp, it was first introduced in 2007 by none other than Saul Klien. Reshma Sohoni joined from 3i to run the day to day operations. In 2008, Mini Seedcamps were introduced in four cities to short list companies. The number of Mini Seedcamp events have gradually increased to 9 with Johannesburg…

Videos of DC-KTN Next Generation Broadband Access – Building the Case for Regional Investment

Published by ManojRanaweera on March 7, 2010

Next Generation Broadband Access – Building the Case for Regional Investment took place on 22nd Feb 2010 in Manchester, co-hosted by Techcelerate on behalf of DC-KTN. Click on the thumbnail to access event leaflet. Event was chaired by Philip Hargrave, CEO DC-KTN Speaker 1: How to deliver 10Gbit/s…or perhaps not? by Ian Vance, Amazing Communications; Chair of the UK Government’s Photonics Leadership Group Speaker 2: United Digital City by Shaun Fensom, Chairman Manchester Digital and Consultant to Manchester City Council Speaker 3: “Rising the Alert” losing and making money, the opportunity for Next Generation Networks and the region by NWIX…

Strategy for maintaining multiple calendars

Published by ManojRanaweera on February 20, 2010

Life was easier when you had only one calendar to deal with. If you are like me, then you have made your life difficult by having too many unconnected calendars, causing misery! Here are a list of my calendars: iCal (MacBook) Google iPhone Salesforce.com Tungle.com I have added Tungle.com today, so that others who want to schedule a meeting with me could do so by finding out my availability. My tungle account is at http://tungle.me/manojranaweera The trick to all this is being able to sync. Tungle failed to sync with my iCal after many attempts even after Tungle crew came…

Category: Techcelerate