2024 Startup Survival Guide: Master Your Fundraising, Mindset & Growth

It's been quite a few years for all of us and at Startup Grind Scotland we’ve loved using our platform to bring people together to share ideas, spark conversation, and bring a sense of familiarity since we started way back in 2014. It's our 10th anniversary this year, so plenty of reasons to make it extra special.

Since 2014 we've hosted 100s of events with some of the most entertaining and inspiring speakers/startups from Skyscanner to Current Health, taken 30 startup founders and leaders to Silicon Valley and Helsinki on funded immersive trips, and done what we can to showcase the incredible things going on in the Scottish entrepreneurial ecosystem.

According to Sifted, 2024 is already shaping up to be the year of the 'RIP' LinkedIn post. More startups than ever are shutting up shop due to the challenging investment landscape, tightening customer purses, and shorter runways. Join us as we look at how both you and your business can be more resilient in 2024.

📅 Date: February 7th, 2024

🕔 Time: 17:30 - 20:00

📍 Location: CodeBase Edinburgh

Are you ready to supercharge your startup journey in 2024? Whether you're an aspiring founder or a seasoned entrepreneur, this is your opportunity to unlock the secrets to success. Our event is not just another gathering – it's a powerhouse of practical, tactical advice that will set your startup on a trajectory toward greatness.

🗣 Speakers

Rob Gelb is an Edinburgh-based founder who has built technology, impact, and media startups for the past 10 years. In 2016 he started Kindaba, a private social network for families serving 10k+ users. Following Kindaba, he ran HeySummit, an online events platform serving 2.5m+ attendees a year. 

He's currently in the early stages of a new startup serving the games industry, Organic Suspension. Aside from directly building companies, he is the managing editor of Campfire, a weekly news publication focused on the startup founder community. He has also led the Founders Survey for Scottish Founders and is a Visiting Fellow at the University of St Andrews.

Amy Kelly has extensive experience working in B2B marketing roles, spanning from top agencies to big brands (Publicis, ITV, YouTube, Meta, and UserTesting to name a few).

While working at UserTesting, she became passionate about implementing a ‘customer-first’ methodology approach across all of her marketing, which helped grow the revenue of the European business substantially in 3 years.

She is now sharing this approach with start-up and scale-up leaders who are looking to have their marketing drive revenue, which their customers also love.

Amy Wallace is a leadership coach and facilitator who partners with founders, leaders and leadership teams to build grounded, aligned, and resilient teams.

Beyond coaching, she has a decade of experience working in startups, including 8 years at Slack. She has built, led and grown globally distributed teams, most notably Slack's App Directory team. She understands firsthand the challenges of growing and scaling teams and operations, as well as working with partners across a fast-growing and ever-changing organisation.

🔑 Key Topics:

1️⃣ Investment Insights: Secure Funding for Your Vision

- Fundraising in 2024 will be more competitive than ever. How do you stand out from the crowd and get in front of the right potential investors/funders?

- Learn from a multiple-time founder who has successfully raised significant capital on multiple occasions.

2️⃣ Mastering your Founder's Mindset/Team Culture: Cultivate Resilience and Growth

- Develop the mental resilience required to navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship.

- How do you maintain a tight-knit culture as you start to grow?

3️⃣ Marketing Mastery for 2024: Amplify Your Brand's Reach

- Stay ahead of the ever-evolving marketing landscape with cutting-edge tactics.

- Hear from a local industry expert on how to effectively market your startup to the right paying customers.

🤝 Ecosystem Mixer:

Connect with fellow founders, investors, and industry experts in a relaxed but vibrant networking environment. Build valuable connections and explore opportunities to collaborate and propel your startup to new heights.

We are limited to 75 people in the room, so save your spot now, share with a friend, and get ready to learn from the experts.

Why attend?

- Share reflections from 2023, and 2024 aspirations

- Learn from 3x of Scotland's leading startup experts

- Catch up with friends and make new ones

- Free drinks and delicious food

- Share an ask with the community via our community open-mic

What you need to know:

What: 2024 Startup Survival Guide: Master Your Fundraising, Mindset & Growth

When: Wed 7th Feb 2024

Time: 5.30pm - 8:00pm

Where: CodeBase, Edinburgh, 37a Castle Terrace, EH1 2EL

Bonus Extras: Free Food, Drink & Open Mic