

Pete Smith on Silicon Milkroundabout: Startups team up to take on the banks - postdesk
http://postdesk.com/blog/pete-smith-songkick-interview-silicon-milkroundabout-startup

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untog
Having grown up in the UK, owning my own company was never something that even
occurred to me- I wasn't until I moved to NYC that I saw just how great it can
be. I'm sure that there are some cultural reasons for that, but I think one of
the most important factors is simply being surrounded by people doing their
own startup thing and picking up on their enthusiasm.

Given that my visa restrictions here in the US forbid me from easily working
for my own company, I'm always thinking of returning to London. So, this sort
of event is great to see- the creation of Tech City and an obvious growth in
startup culture means that London could be a great place to do business.

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petenixey
Kudos to Pete, Ian, Michelle and the rest of the team. It is incredible to see
how much change has happened in the last four years in London and impressive
to see how deep YC is into it.

I wondered round and saw James from WebMynd, Hiroki from GroupPay, Devin onto
his new company Lyst and other YC's as part of the attendees.

I can't emphasise enough what a different place London it is now to where it
was four years ago and while part of that is the passage of time, a chunk of
it is definitely the efforts of the SK team. Well done guys.

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petesmithy
cheers peter

the event brought so many great London tech start-ups together..

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mattslight
I looked at a number of cites to base my new company and chose London for it's
mix of diversity, access to talent and strong business culture.

For a tech heavy startup SF was the only other serious competitor.

I must disclaim I am English.

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xedarius
I was there on Sunday and I have never been to anything like it before. It was
so well organised, fantastic companies working on some brilliant projects. Big
thanks to SK guys.

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petesmithy
great to hear it!

do you think you'll find a new job as a result?

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xedarius
If I was actively seeking a new job, I can say with 99% certainty that I would
have left with one. However I'm in a place where the startup movement has
inspired me to try something on my own. If things don't work out I've got some
great companies to contact.

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ebaysucks
Ranking startup jobs by runway is a great idea.

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petesmithy
i agree that that kind of transparency would be amazing for candidates. tough
to get all startups to sign up to a public declaration of their runways,
however!

but it's usually possible to get a straight answer if you ask as part of the
interview process

at songkick we've always been honest about runway, certainly with later-stage
interviewees

if a startup who is making you a job offer refuses to answer the runway
question, that says something about their general attitude to transparency
across the whole team

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mattslight
Trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes; employers, customers, investors
etc is only ever a stupid idea longterm.

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petesmithy
i had great fun doing this interview -- we were all on a real high at the end
of the event, and sam asked some great questions

the event goes from strength to strength!

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moonboots
Go easy on the ellipses and em dashes.

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mattslight
I think it's been typed in Word!

