Start-Up Diaries: Pitching, Partnerships & Panels

TableCrowd is a social dining network where like-minded people can meet and eat. Kate Jackson is Founder.

Been a busy two weeks at TableCrowd HQ, with much achieved.

Week 1. Took part in The Next Women Pitch competition. Competed against four other startups for a panel of five investors, with a few minutes to pitch the business before facing some tough questioning. Happy to leave the building victorious, bottle of champagne in hand!

Secured a partnership with Time Out in respect of the newly launched Time Out Card. The ball is now rolling on a number of other partnerships.

Presented at the The House of Genius London debut. Three startups explain their business and recall a problem they faced to the 'anonymous' audience of 30 (no one revealed their background or expertise). Everyone proposed an answer to the problem at hand and only at the end did people introduce themselves. An interesting format designed to ensure that everyone’s proposed solution carried the same weight.

Week 2. Finalised the plans for the first in a series of TableCrowd industry dinners. TableCrowd’s Food Startups “Meet & Eat” took place at Google Campus. Organised by a food startup, for 18 other food startups, with catering by a food startup! Each startup invited a food or tech blogger or journalist as their guest. Repeating the format for fashion startups on 17th July in partnership with fashion startup, SilkFred.

Invited to speak, in my ex-lawyer capacity, on a panel by Escape The City, to help professionals considering escaping the 9-5 city life and entering the 24/7 startup world. 

After months of hard work and only a few weeks behind schedule, we launched our platform using responsive web design. Over the moon with v1, which is a much more mobile friendly version. Big pats on the back all round!