David Hulston
http://davidhulston.com
David Hulston is a seasoned Angel Investor, experienced Non-Executive Director, mentor and technology strategy consultant. His angel investments are in early-stage technology companies, mostly business-to-business software (B2B), but stretch to film production (“Panic Button”) when the intellectual property offers other platform extensions.Hey David, what have you been doing?
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20170707
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Each time I meet someone I haven’t seen for while they ask this perfectly reasonable question, to which I inadequately respond that I’ve been busy. Collating my activities over the last 12 months has reminded me of the many positives in communities, businesses and innovation and the people fuelling them.</span></p>2017-07-07T09:28:00-00:00#PitchDeckHype: Building a Startup is Hard
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20161026
<p><span style="font-size: small;">I’ve written about this before (<a href="http://www.davidhulston.com/articles/20130813">http://www.davidhulston.com/articles/20130813</a>), but it’s worth reiterating. Don’t fill your investment pitch presentation with overblown hyperbole that you have been told investors want to hear. Here are three things that you have probably been told to say, but shouldn’t.</span></p>2016-10-26T10:58:00-00:00Are Autonomous Cars really all about Silicon Valley?
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20160823
<p>We called 14 October last year as the day that drivers became obsolete. That was the day Tesla Motors sent a software update to tens of thousand of users cars, making them semi-autonomous.</p>
<p>But is it really a zero-sum game? Will the Silicon Valley upstarts Uber and Tesla, plus giants Google and Apple, really crush the existing auto industry? It’s difficult to see what the outcome will be but the patent landscape paints a different view. </p>2016-08-23T09:57:00-00:00Queensland’s Startup Community Comes of Age.
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20160502
<p><span style="font-size: small;">The inaugural Advance Queensland Innovation and Investment Summit represented a coming of age for the Startup community of my home State. It was the moment that the work of the many contributors to the community came to fruition. It wasn’t the result of a single person, group or body. It was the output of many, over a number of years. Most importantly, it was recognition that there are multiple roles to be played in building a startup ecosystem, but ultimately it must be lead by entrepreneurs.</span></p>2016-05-02T13:32:00-00:00Keeping up with compressed time. A new economic model.
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20160308
<p><span style="font-size: small;">In the early 1980’s I learnt to programme on a Perkin Elmer Interdata 8/32 computer, much like the one pictured above. We wrote code, which then took hours to compile before it could run the programme we had just written. The programming language, COBOL, was updated every decade and continued in use for over 50 years. In my first job I used VisiCalc and soon after Lotus 1-2-3. The Telex machine clunked away in the corner throughout the first decade of my work life. The most amazing piece of kit to come into the office was the fax. Careers were for life. The Government’s firm hand directed industrial policy. The welfare state made us feel safe.</span></p>2016-03-08T19:16:00-00:00Standing on the shoulders of giants
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20151109
<p><span style="font-size: small;">The edge inscription on a British £2 coin bears the quotation “standing on the shoulder of giants” from a letter written in 1676 by Isaac Newton, acknowledging how much he owed to works of others.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">I joined EMI’s Central Research Laboratories (CRL) 21 years ago and two giants lingered large over the labs: Alan Blumlein and Sir Godfrey Hounsfield.</span></p>2015-11-09T19:46:00-00:00Autonomous Vehicles eat jobs!
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20151027
<p><span style="font-size: small;">October 14, 2015, will mark the day that drivers became obsolete. It probably doesn’t seem that way today. This may have missed your attention when driving the kids to school and yourself to work.</span></p>2015-10-27T11:13:00-00:00Technology Forecast: The end of Telco’s.
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20151008
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Predicting technological change and the end of a whole business type is bold and predictably wrong. In this vain, I predict the end of telecom companies, both landline and mobile based, within a very short period. In years, not decades.</span></p>2015-10-08T14:28:00-00:00The role of the entrepreneur in a world that craves success
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20150819
This an article I wrote, discussing "Success", first published on <a href="http://techdragons.wales/the-role-of-the-entrepreneur-in-a-world-that-craves-success/">TechDragons</a>.<br /><br /> <img src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/82/0e/29/820e2950796e9325c5f478aa8a2aab5e.jpg" border="0" />2015-08-19T08:53:00-00:00Jobs of the Future and how they align with my investment strategy
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20150803
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;">Thomas Frey, Senior Futurist at the U.S. think-tank, DaVinci Institute, recently wrote a blog entitled 55 jobs of the future. He pointed out that, as a rule of thumb, 60% of the jobs 10 years from now haven’t been invented yet and went on to describe trends that would create new jobs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">I reviewed this list and was pleasantly surprised to see how some my portfolio of investments align with his vision of the future. </span></span></p>
<!--EndFragment-->2015-08-03T16:50:00-00:00Alternative #DigitalDozen
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20150511
As part of Digital 2015 in Wales a list of twelve companies was published. Here's an alternative list of companies that I think are really raising the bar and setting the tone for future digital innovation in Wales. It shows there are lots of great companies out there. There is probably even a third Digital Dozen. But who's counting.2015-05-11T12:04:00-00:00SANTANDER TO COLLABORATE WITH INDYCUBE
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20150409
<p>Santander Corporate & Commercial has enhanced its support for SMEs in Wales by collaborating with Indycube and Indycube Ventures, a coworking company.</p>
<p>Santander Corporate & Commercial managers will use Indycube’s network of 18 sites in order to demonstrate their presence and build long-lasting relationships with business customers across Wales.</p>
<p>Santander will also offer further tailored support via its Breakthrough proposition to Indycube Venture businesses.</p>2015-04-09T14:46:00-00:00Brisbane's Visiting Entrepreneur Programme
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20150217
In December 2014, I returned to South-East Queensland to take part in the Brisbane's Visiting Entrepreneur Programme. This is a great initiative by Brisbane Marketing to link local startups with international role models for pitch coaching sessions, workshops and events. Read more to see some of the interviews I gave as part of the programme. You can also see more on Twitter at #visitingentrepreneur2015-02-17T16:12:00-00:00Life in the time of the Starfish: The Unplanned Obsolescence of Big Tech Companies
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20141020
<span>With IBM’s exit from silicon chip manufacturing (an industry it largely created) just announced and Hewlett-Packard and EBay/PayPal both splitting in two, you’d be right to wonder if the days of big technology companies are numbered. Here we take a look at an alternative organisational structure, the starfish organisation.</span>2014-10-20T20:38:00-00:00How can Solicitors help Entrepreneurs?
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20141014
This is the note that formed the basis of a clinic I gave to Capital Law solicitors challenging the exisitng model of legal professional services. It's a provactive challenge to lawyers to think as an entrepreneur does and recognise that all markets are ripe for disruption.2014-10-14T14:46:00-00:00To be or not to be a Tech Company.
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20140927
<p>There is a big difference between “technology-enabled” and “technology” company. All businesses today can be described as technology-enabled. Unique software is written for their individual needs to allow the business to operate in our society. If not, you’re still probably a cottage industry.</p>2014-09-27T16:35:00-00:00How to impress a potential investor: Tips from a seasoned business angel
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20140919
<strong>With more than 30 years of international business experience, seasoned angel investor, The Pitch 2014 judge and business mentor <a href="http://www.twitter.com/davidhulston1">David Hulston</a> shares his wisdom on attracting potential investors with Becky Bradburn, brand manager for the <a href="http://www.thepitchuk.com/supporter/uk">UK Domain Portfolio at Nominet</a>.</strong>2014-09-19T13:43:00-00:0030 Years of building businesses
http://davidhulston.com/articles/30-years-building-business
<p>It has never been easier and cheaper to create a new business, challenge the status quo and disrupt entire industries.</p>
<p>For 30 years I’ve been involved in developing businesses, the past 20 years in the UK technology industry.</p>
<p>I’ve been through a couple of recessions, the destructive years of Britain’s conglomerates selling off unwanted assets, the Asian crash, the dotcom bubble, global financial crises and the rapid rise of technology into everyday lives. I’ve learnt many lessons on the way. </p>2014-08-07T11:21:00-00:00Helping Wales’ Entrepreneurs flourish
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20140706
<p>In his recent column in WalesOnline, Prof. Dylan Jones-Evans asked: “So, what must we do to help entrepreneurs flourish in Wales?”</p>
<p>At Indycube Ventures we are demonstrating how entrepreneurs can flourish. </p>2014-07-06T09:13:00-00:00Community-based Accelerators
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20140623
<p>Community based Accelerators: The Grassroots of a Sustainable Economy</p>
<p>The grassroots of a sustainable economy is nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit. It is not the multi-national corporations that bind and build a society, but fast growth small enterprises.</p>
<div></div>2014-06-23T12:04:00-00:00Why building a startup business shouldn’t rely on the Government.
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20140211
<p><a href="http://www.startupbritain.co/startupfigures2013">Startup Britain</a> figures show that there were 5,974 startups in the Cardiff CF postcodes last year. That’s an impressive number of new businesses for the size of Cardiff, despite the debate about lack of access to finance and support. As is normal, some of these businesses will fail. <br /><br />There is funding for startups in Wales. Funding is hard to get. It will always be hard to get and so it should be. Some feel they are entitled to funding simply by virtue of having started a business.</p>
<p>This simply shouldn’t be the case.</p>2014-02-11T14:02:00-00:00“Australians have the world’s highest rate of gambling, but need protection when investing in startups via crowd funding.”
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20131206
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>In a year that has been called shocking for venture capital in Australia, the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committe (CAMAC) state that Australia has 'fared reasonably well post the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in comparison to the USA and Europe and therefore it is less certain that CSEF (crowd sourced equity funding) will ever have an equivalent influence in Australia".</strong></span></p>
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http://davidhulston.com/articles/20131014
<p>Having spent the last month cruising aboard my yacht with family through the Greek Islands from Turkey to Sicily, I noted many parallels between business and sailing.</p>
<p>Our journey began in Didim, Turkey, site of the temple of Apollo and of the Medusa. Cruising through the Dodecanese and Cyclades islands we reached the Greek mainland at the site of the temple of Poseidon, close to Athens. Transiting the Saronic Gulf, the Corinth Canal and Gulfs of Corinth and Patras, our Greek voyage ended at the island of Zakynthos. We then crossed the Ionian to Sicily, where this journey ended. </p>
<p>Here are ten lessons sailing can teach you about running a business.</p>2013-10-14T10:16:00-00:00Pricing the deal
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20130822_1
<p>One of the hardest discussions in the negotiation of an investment is “what is a fair value of a very early stage business?” Traditional valuation techniques are of little use when there are no meaningful numbers and outrageously optimistic projections.</p>
<p>The business valuation will determine the share of the business relinquished in return for funding. This can be a classic deal-killer if a balance can’t be struck between the interests and risk profiles of the entrepreneur and investor.</p>2013-09-16T09:31:00-00:00Dragons Den Episode 4: Prepare to escape “Business Narnia”
http://davidhulston.com/articles/20130901
<p>Dragons Den Episode 4: Prepare to escape “Business Narnia”</p>
<p>1 September 2013</p>
<p>Episode 4 of Dragons Den showed an easy lifting drain cover, a bra measurement system, modern craft takeaways, a sawhorse and a pregnancy yoga franchise. The Dragons spat fire at the poor preparation of the investment pitches. Chainsaws ripped and the Dragons thought they were in “business Narnia”.</p>2013-09-01T22:22:00-00:00