TechTalk 2007

TechTalk 2007, held in conjunction with the Connect Yorkshire Investment Forum, saw speakers focus on what is the recipe for high-tech success. Gwyn Humphreys emphasised that customers can often be your cheapest source of money and if you can cut a deal with early adopters where they help fund development of the technology, then that is a great way to avoid giving away too much equity too early on. At the other end of the spectrum, Stephen Allott emphasised that if you have a developed product, the secret to world domination is a motivated and well incentivised sales force. Steve Garnet from Salesforce.com evangelised about software as a service and the rise of utility software. This goes hand-in hand with a 'pay as you go' subscription model, rather than upfront licencing. My experience is that this is a win-win if software companies can adapt to this model from a cash-flow perspective as it is a lot easier sell product and the revenue stream is annuitised, which is highly valued by an investor. Graham Bowland from Surgical Innovations spoke about the challenges and rewards of entering the US market. Overall a great afternoon of inspirational talks!