18.41 Cakewalk is about smoothing over the cracks in the process of mergers and acquisitions. This is, we're told, painstaking and complex and their software simplifies the process to keep everything in one place, minimising the risk of error.
Is there a risk that the managers who will be offered the software won't see the benefit? They think the software's popularity will spread quickly via word of mouth as people realise its usefulness.
18.33 Next up is the hotel app. Guests would be given a tablet computer when they checked-in to the hotel and that device would allow them to control all aspects of their stay. The tablet would control the entertainment system in the room, it would be used to order room service and it could also provide video chat with the concierge. A bit of a luxury hotel product, then.
Have they spoken to hotels about the pricepoint yet? No, they haven't. That could count against them.
18.32 Boris doing his best to look relaxed as he posed for photos earlier (via @startuplondon):
18.22 ...but could SmartWard just make doctors' lives unnecessarily complicated?
18.20 "Let's say you leave tonight and get hit by a bus," starts the next pitch. Now this is jumping in with both feet. The idea is actually a very good one - a cross-platform piece of software called SmartWard that aims to reduce human error in hospitals. What they're proposing is both obvious and ambitious - a solution to a lot of the problems caused by the current paper-based hospital system. It seems clear that at some point hospitals will go paperless, so if this team are in a position to provide this kind of software then it could be very promising.
A question from the judges: Why doesn't it exist at the moment?
18.13 Parker is next up - the mobile app that finds you a spare parking space (and allows you to pay for it). The judges are pointing out that they're going to be heavily reliant on the accuracy of geolocation software and that their business depends on partners sharing data with them. Two pretty big hurdles in the practical realisation of their dream, perhaps.
18.03 Now it's the turn of Rise: the app. This has to be the ultimate in hi-tech self-flagellation. You plug your personal goals into the app, hand over a sum of money, and every time you fail to meet a stage on your way to your personal goal it gives some of that money away (to charity). The more you fail, the more money you lose. It's both bonkers and utterly inspired.
Here's a coup - they managed to get Boris (the actual Mayor) to sign up for the beta version.
17.54 I'm pretty taken by the next pitch, which is for a project called StoreBerry. This is about creating white label mobile apps for small businesses. This would dramatically reduce the cost for small businesses like coffee shops. Their idea is to adopt a subscription model rather than an upfront cost. There are a few competitors around offering a similar service (theappbuilder.com springs to mind) but to be fair the makers acknowledge this:
Apps are still out of the reach of so many businesses that this could be a smart proposition.
17.47 One amusingly candid question from an audience member:
They're working on it.
17.44 One for news junkies now - which seems like a smart move in a building full of journalists. MiniMobb is a kind of Meetup service for people to hang out and talk about news stories they're interested in. It combines an aggregated news feed filtered to show articles of interest with the meetup so that once you find stories you're interested in you can find some strangers to chat about them to.
It connects with other people locally and allows you to arrange Minimobbs to get together and discuss news.
Do people actually want to talk about news with people outside of your social circle? According to the pitch, 70% of the people they questioned think they would use a website like MiniMobb.
17.38 Next up we have Face My Career. This seems to be a kind of online recruitment consultancy that integrates a Linked In-style network service for jobhunters to connect with professionals. The professionals would set an hourly rate for their time, as well as when they were available, and jobhunters - whether new graduates or people looking to change career - would be able to benefit from their experience and expertise.
17.25 Camerabot are the first to pitch. Their idea is to develop drones (robots) to assist in dangerous reporting, minimising the risks to journalists.
We think that there is a safer and better way for journalists to do their jobs.
They think the drones could be used in warzones or in areas where people cannot go (such as radiation rich areas, as in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster).
They plan to sell annual accounts to media organisations which will start at $300,000. For that you get 25 stories, and they need to sell five accounts to break even.
17.20 The judges are just introducing themselves on stage now. Here's what they're looking for courtesy of our own Kate Day (who is also judging):
It'll be fascinating to see how their ideas have evolved over the weekend. Some of the original concepts were relatively broad on Friday but have focused considerably as the weekend has progressed.
We will be judging on three criteria: customer validation, business model and execution. The teams have five minutes to present and then five minutes for questions.
17.05 That's it! Time up. Now the teams will pitch to our judges for a couple of hours before the winner is announced at 8pm. You can watch along with our live stream above.
16.17 Pretty much everyone is in pitch prep mode now with an hour or so to go. Some people are finished though, an one hard-working developer is sound asleep on a Telegraph sofa.
15.34 Some fraught times for our teams upstairs as their deadline approaches. We'll have all the details of their ideas when the pitches start.
15.04 The Cakewalk team, who are developing a service to make mergers and acquisitions simpler, are among those preparing for their big pitch.
... and things in general are pretty hectic.
14.26 I've just taken a quick tour of the event and there's now a real sense that we're approaching the sharp end. There are a lot of serious faces, people hunched over laptops and a couple of the teams are starting to practice their final pitches.
14.20 Here is Boris Johnson meeting some of the entrepreneurs at this weekend's event:
14.16 Just a quick reminder that later today we'll have the prize giving, when our panel of experts will decide which if the ideas cooked up in the last 48 hours is the best. Here are the contenders:
RoboLawyer: a dashboard for lawsuit updates
Memoly: remember notes from books
Mini Mobb: local meet-ups based on current events
Spacecompare.com: find a venue
Find a Home: app to compare neighbourhoods when buying a house
Digital Swear Jar: use behavioural economics to achieve goals
Interview Me: pay field specialist to mentor interviewees
13.45 And here's some of what the man himself had to say about the event:
It is vital we do everything we can to support developers, nurturing the growth of London as a hi tech leader to deliver high quality jobs and drive growth. The bright minds on show this weekend proves to me we've got what it takes.
Right on, Boris.
13.26 The Mayor seems to have injected a bit of his unique energy to some tired teams today.
13.15 More from Boris shortly. But while some participants took the opportunity to get some rest at after the first day of the Telegraph-hosted Startup Weekend, the team working on a loyalty card app coded into the night.
13.01 The Mayor of London (also a Telegraph columnist), Boris Johnson, has just visited the event to talk to some of the teams.
Here he is, via @kate_day:
12.00 Hello and welcome to the second day of our coverage of the London Startup Weekend, hosted right here at Telegraph HQ. I'll be bringing you updates throughout the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment