

Startup Britain - robin_reala
http://www.startupbritain.org/

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jasonkester
AAAAAHH! Everything is a Headline! TOO MUCH EXCITEMENT!!! Can't parse any
words. back Back BACK!!!!

At least, that was my four seconds on the site. Any survivors who managed to
parse some content? Were there articles behind those links? Did those articles
have any text in non-bolded, non-48px, non-shadowed text on a non-red
background?

~~~
ErrantX
No. Most of it is trivial advice (for example; under "ideas" it links to
TechCrunch) with links to other websites and lots of partner offers.

On one hand, it is a useful collection of links for entrepreneurs in the UK,
and the offers, while not exactly brilliant, are worth looking at.

On the other it's not revolutionary.

According to the media there is going to be £1,500 of funding/incentives for
startups as part of this project, but I haven't quite figured out if that is
launched yet, or whether it means those offers and the other bits on the page
(which is not very impressive if so).

I was talking to someone who is involved in this at some level and he said
they are developing a mentoring scheme, events/tutorials and some
awards/grants etc. But we will see.

Without the latter it's mostly a collection of "government backed" links and
bluster.

~~~
omh
_According to the media there is going to be £1,500 of funding/incentives for
startups as part of this project, but I haven't quite figured out if that is
launched yet, or whether it means those offers and the other bits on the page
(which is not very impressive if so)_

From the news reports I've seen this is just the offers (e.g. the BBC say "New
enterprises will be offered help worth about £1,500 in areas such as IT
training and internet advertising."), so it's really not too impressive.

------
alexlawford
I'm surprised this is from the government. It comes across as very spammy -
like an affiliate marketing site. The copy reads like a content farm and most
of the links are basically ads for different services. Surely the government
can't be that strapped for cash?! Good idea, horrible execution.. (Though the
site design is quite nice).

~~~
ErrantX
It has govt. backing (maybe funding, not sure), but this is from the private
sector.

I am slightly suspicious of the fact that the people listed on the "About Us"
page appear to have things to sell in this field. For example a link to a
"startup kit" with a book by Emma Jones is linked from the first page.

It's fine if this is killer material and good stuff, and I hope it is, but it
gives me pause for thought.

~~~
flannell
You remind me of the early 2000 Business Link companies. You rang up looking
for advice, thinking it's a government initiative, but spend 70% of the time
getting a hard sell for their web development sideline.

~~~
ErrantX
I met a BL person once with my then business partner to discuss bis-
development ideas/options, and, yep, it was a total hard sell of the services;
they couldn't "get" that our total capital was about £1,000 of our own money
and there was simply no way I was going to pay £250 for X useless service ;P

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thingsinjars
My favourite part is Top Tip 4: Create a logo.

It doesn't matter if the band can play as long as they have a cool name.

~~~
arethuza
I wish they had a step 5: "Profit"

~~~
CallMeV
The Lib Dems wanted one, but they decided to scrap that if the Tories scrapped
their "Starve On The Streets" alternative as well.

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kgutteridge
In the starting tab "Getting Inpspiration", I am certainly inspired

Still at least our lords and masters have taken the time to collate what 20
minutes with Google would have uncovered, as at the moment this just looks
like big companies giving away freebies to get business.

Still any focus on enterprise has to be a good thing!

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tarkin2
It's good they're trying, but it doesn't instill confidence, somehow,
especially that picture of Cameron. Perhaps I'm being too cynical, but I'd put
more confidence in the weekly pub meeting they have in Brighton than this.

That said, there definitely does need to be something. The US definitely has a
better start-up culture. And culture is definitely the right word here. I'd
say pg did have a point when he advised moving to the US. Not that I think any
Brits should, but that a dedicated area/culture would be really useful in the
UK, and something we lack now.

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sherr
Not very "NoScript" friendly ... basically, nothing works (navigation, links)
unless I disable it.

This always makes me pause to wonder if there's a compelling reason I should
"temporarily" disable NoScript (which often then cascades to more sites I need
to "temporarily" unblock), or just walk away. I often do the latter.

~~~
regularfry
It's not just unfriendly, it's downright unpleasant. I first tried opening it
on my phone, and Firefox basically locked up.

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JonnieCache
Some more marks against this embarrassment to my homeland:

* Lots of text rendered in low-quality jpegs full of artifacts (yet it still downloads a bunch of fonts)

* Stolen artwork (the MSN messenger and iCal icons are in there with no modification except they're grayscaled. And is that the old download.com logo I can see?)

* No expires headers

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iuguy
I haven't heard of any of the people behind this, although it is referenced on
the Prime Minister's number 10 website[1]. It does look like a lot of the
people involved have stuff to sell. Still, anything having a decent bash on
encouraging entrepreneurship in the UK can only be a good thing(tm), for
various values of good thing.

[1] -
[http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/topstorynews/2011/03/startup...](http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/topstorynews/2011/03/startup-
britain-62546)

~~~
JonnieCache
Agreed. Putting Cameron's rubbery, mock-serious face right there up front was
not the best decision. Putting it in front of searing beams of light
penetrating dark clouds is just taking the piss.

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chrisdew
Slightly more informal version:

[http://www.barricane.com/2011/03/05/uk-internet-startup-
week...](http://www.barricane.com/2011/03/05/uk-internet-startup-week.html)

<http://groups.google.com/group/long-week-startups>

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tudorw
As owner of a web design company in the UK, I am so thrilled that one of their
top tips is to suggest start-ups outsource that kind of thing, thanks UK Gov!

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asb
I'm disappointed not to see Business Link (<http://www.businesslink.gov.uk>)
linked under the "best resources" section. As far as I can see it's a better,
more thorough source of advice - certainly for issues such as taxes, company
registration etc.

~~~
tunaslut
could have something to do with the "scandal" last year where the businesslink
website was found to have cost some £100 million pounds to run for three
years, making it something of an embarrassment (dare I say white elephant) to
the government.

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dansingerman
They link 'find an accountant' to <http://www.find-uk-accountant.co.uk/>

Where you can search for an accountant as an 'Individual' or 'Buisness' [sic]

The whole thing is largely just a bunch of links. I'd love to know how much it
cost

~~~
CallMeV
Less than useless if you already know of several accountants in the area,
including one which happens to be a former employer on your own curriculum
vitae, and whom you already hire to do your books.

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bryanwb
I wish the US govt did more to reach out to startups. This may be over the top
but if I was young techie in Europe this would be extremely appealing to me.
Is this tied into their startup visa thing?

~~~
bugsy
Is the US a hostile environment for startups? It seems the US is the most
friendly environment in the world for startups.

~~~
bryanwb
excepting its immigration policy for skilled persons

~~~
bugsy
Great, let me know what countries I can immigrate to as a highly skilled
person with a profitable company. I've applied to Australia/New Zealand and
Canada and been denied from all three. I keep hearing about how the US is
unfair to not let immigrants in yet it seems clear our immigration policy is
far more wide open than any other country in the world, and meanwhile it is
very difficult for Americans to immigrate to the countries that are doing all
the complaining. Name for me the country you are from so that I may read of
your immigration policies that are more generous than those of America. I look
forward to learning all about it. Thanks in advance.

~~~
bryanwb
Most countries are far worse than the US in terms of immigration policy for
skilled workers. However, the US should make it stupid simple for talented
techies to get work visas.

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bnastic
That look... Cameron is the new Jimmy Wales.

~~~
CallMeV
Or the new Jim Jones.

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callumjones
Why is Richard Branson flying?

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chrisjsmith
Looks like your average quango set up to provide branded packaged partner junk
to businesses for no real benefit.

~~~
user24
actually some of it looks pretty handy, like the 'startup kit' for £20
including £30 in adwords

~~~
asb
It's easy to get adwords credit - Google regularly send out coupons and last
time I looked HSBC were offering £75 adwords credit for opening a business
account.

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bugsy
It's just the thing for those who want to continue living in a police state!

~~~
beck5
Probably the most evil picture of cameron i've seen. On that grey background
of death......o dear.

~~~
adaml_623
That's the sun coming out from behind a cloud :-) It just looks like the
Apocalypse

