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Tag: northern startup 2.0

Northern StartUp 2.0 Website is Under Attack!

For the last five weeks, Northern StartUp 2.0 website has been under attack by spammers. The spamming was related to opening accounts, about 5 every hour, which has resulted in over 1000 new accounts. Less than 1% of these accounts have actually added any comments, but if they all did, the site will be overwhelmed by spammed comments. Here are some facts about the site: Drupal 5.3 Accounts are needed to comment Based on various suggestions via Twitter and from Ixis IT (previous website development team) and CTISN (current website development team), following changes were made: Captcha Recaptcha Mollow Akismet…

Microsoft Sponsored Innovation Academy Workshop For Start-Up Software Businesses

As you are probably be aware, Northern StartUp 2.0 has been a Microsoft BizSpark Network Partner since we launched the programme at Cloud Computing event held in April 2009 when Bindi Karia visited us. For the first time in the UK, Microsoft is running an Innovation Academy Workshop For Start-Up Software Businesses on the 10th of Dec 2009, and I am honoured to inform you that this event will be run out of Daresbury Innovation Centre, where both of my companies are head quartered. The course takes the form of one-day interactive instructor-led workshop covering: – Introduction to the software…

Startup of the Week 3 – TheWeddingVine.com – Make you arrange your wedding easily

This week, I caught up with Mark Strefford, CEO of TheWeddingVine.com he runs with his wife, Vicki. I remember the days when Mark was thinking of how to take the first step of developing the site. I pushed him towards Drupal. TheWeddingVine.com has come a long way since then. Manoj: What made you launch your company? Tell us about the company history and the management team. Given that your wife, Vicky is also involved in the day-to-day operations, do you consider your business as a family business, life-style business or high growth business? Mark: This may sound like a story…

Is the environment right for venture capital in the north west?

Michael Taylor, the Editor of the Insider Magazine, just ran another successful Deal Makers 2009 Award ceremony, which  clashed with my own, Managing Growth – Tech Entrepreneur Series held at eOffice on 12th November 2009. Michael in his weekly column argues that private equity needs to get back to its venture capital roots. The Good news is that LDC is making a change in their investment criteria by wanting to invest into early stage businesses. So Michael thinks this is a good ground for celebration, especially as LDC won one of the awards he gave them. Disclaimer 1: I am…

How important are Northern Stars for the region?

Please read page 6 and 7 of: The headline is “leaders of the region’s £16 billion digital and creative industries are intensifying their efforts to establish the North West as one of the world’s most innovative production centre’s for digital entertainment and new media”. As part of the initiative to grow regional output by £1bn from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by 2015, the North West Development Agency (NWDA) is in the process of establishing a number of Media Enterprise Centres (MECs) where production companies, broadcasters, small digital companies and universities can collaborate. Phase 1 includes opening of the MediaCityUK in…

North-South Dividing Line – Your thoughts please!

An issue that I have not successfully resolved is the dividing line between the North and South of United Kingdom, from the perception of Northern StartUp 2.0. The services provided by Northern Startup 2.0 is for the digital startups in the North of England. At present it excludes Midlands and South Wales due to the perception that companies in these regions may well be aligning themselves with the South instead of the North. Danny Dorling of the Sheffield University argues that drawing a line is near impossible. You can read his article here. Click on the image for a detailed…

Serving Northern Digital Entrepreneurs – Best event ever!

I am happy to report that we had the best Northern StartUp 2.0 event ever on the 15th of July at KPMG Manchester. In case you missed it, here is a teaser: At the core of Northern StartUp 2.0 is the Northern Digital Entrepreneurs, that is people like me (Founder of edocr), Anish Kapoor (Founder of Yuuguu) and other Northern Stars. The purpose is to serve their needs, mostly in the areas of: 1. Capital injection 2. Exposure 3. Reduce loneliness – You are never alone in your journey to hit that massive Vision We address Item 1 above by…