This is aimed at startups and startup support organisations in Manchester, UK, but should be equally applicable to other cities and ecosystems.

1. Common Aims
Alan Ward – July 2014

2. Purpose of The Common Aims
Applicable to all:
Startups
Organisations that provide support to startups
Aimed at those in Manchester, but applicable to other cities
Organisations, or even projects, should be able to adopt the aims as
they’re designed to be complementary to corporate strategies
Idea is to bring together efforts under a common strategy that
organisations can share, regardless of their own corporate agenda
Based on the assumption that we can improve more by working
together
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3. Common Aims – Overview
1. Build an eco-system in
Manchester that supports
tech startups without
excluding other sectors
2. Build the eco-system in
conjunction with the
startup founders
3. Provide support
necessary for early stage
tech startups
4. Attract (or obtain and
provide) relevant financial
support to early stage tech
startups
5. Develop an offering
attractive enough to retain
growing tech startups
within Greater Manchester
6. Build a city-wide
programme to grow early
stage tech startups from
inception through to first
1000 customers
7. Build a city-wide
programme to grow tech
startups from 1000
customers through to
profitability or to first large
commercial funding round
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4. Aims – Build Ecosystem
1. Build an eco-system in
Manchester that supports tech
startups without excluding
other sectors
2. build the eco-system in
conjunction with the startup
founders
3. provide support necessary
for early stage tech startups
4. Attract (or obtain and
provide) relevant financial
support to early stage tech
startups
5. develop an offering
attractive enough to retain
growing tech startups within
Greater Manchester
6. build a city-wide programme
to grow early stage tech
startups from inception
through to first 1000
customers
7. build a city-wide programme
to grow tech startups from
1000 customers through to
profitability or to first large
commercial funding round
1. Focus on tech startups.
2. Which are potentially global from day one.
3. Are scalable once they have found and implemented their business model.
4. Should not conflict with other sectors, instead will fill in the current gaps. May foster
cross-pollenisation of ideas and support with other sectors.
5. Include EU-assisted support, UK Government-assisted support, local authority support,
commercial support, peer support, university support.
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5. Aims – Co-Production
1. build an eco-system in
Manchester that supports tech
startups without excluding
other sectors
2. Build the eco-system in
conjunction with the startup
founders
3. provide support necessary
for early stage tech startups
4. Attract (or obtain and
provide) relevant financial
support to early stage tech
startups
5. develop an offering
attractive enough to retain
growing tech startups within
Greater Manchester
6. build a city-wide programme
to grow early stage tech
startups from inception
through to first 1000
customers
7. build a city-wide programme
to grow tech startups from
1000 customers through to
profitability or to first large
commercial funding round
1. If you’re a support organisation or a landlord, listen to your customers and let them
influence your decisions.
2. Your customers are the founders of startups.
3. Ensure they have a voice on programme boards and can influence strategy.
4. c.f. Sherry Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation – not just tokenisation.
http://lithgow-schmidt.dk/sherry-arnstein/ladder-of-citizen-participation.html
5. Startup founders should be practicing customer development/coproduction, we expect
the same of the ecosystem.
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6. Aims – Provide Support
1. build an eco-system in
Manchester that supports tech
startups without excluding
other sectors
2. build the eco-system in
conjunction with the startup
founders
3. Provide support necessary
for early stage tech startups
4. Attract (or obtain and
provide) relevant financial
support to early stage tech
startups
5. develop an offering
attractive enough to retain
growing tech startups within
Greater Manchester
6. build a city-wide programme
to grow early stage tech
startups from inception
through to first 1000
customers
7. build a city-wide programme
to grow tech startups from
1000 customers through to
profitability or to first large
commercial funding round
1. Recognise the route-to-market differences of tech startups compared to other sectors.
Progress along Lean Startup and similar methodologies, e.g. Build, Measure, Learn. So
build the first release early, use it, learn from it, improve and iterate.
1. Recognise that a startup isn’t just a small business; it may pivot several times before
settling on a workable business model.
2. Recognise that tech startups can be global from day one.
3. Rate of progress is fundamental. Little point booking meetings for 2 months away
based on current situation. Have to think ahead. Also means support organisations
need to be more responsive with more timely responses including content that reflects
the speed of change.
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7. Aims – Attract Relevant Funding
1. build an eco-system in
Manchester that supports tech
startups without excluding
other sectors
2. build the eco-system in
conjunction with the startup
founders
3. provide support necessary
for early stage tech startups
4. Attract (or obtain and
provide) relevant financial
support to early stage tech
startups
5. develop an offering
attractive enough to retain
growing tech startups within
Greater Manchester
6. build a city-wide programme
to grow early stage tech
startups from inception
through to first 1000
customers
7. build a city-wide programme
to grow tech startups from
1000 customers through to
profitability or to first large
commercial funding round
1. Consider the funding implications of a tech
startup: e.g. higher-risk for shorter period of
time, quick to find out results of investment,
potentially much higher returns.
2. Building a website could be eligible for
funding, as it’s our global product.
3. Spending time to gather 3 bids for a £3k fund
is not worthwhile; can achieve more benefit
by working on startup instead.
4. Difficult to apply for funds (more so if
they’re competitions) that take months to
declare success of application; you can’t
proceed on the project until fund is agreed.
5. There is risk in early-stage tech, but should
be public funds be so risk averse?
6. Influence funding that follows Lean Startup
phases, rather than typical
manufacturing/innovation lifecycle
7. What early-stage funding is available?
8. Attract early stage funding to Manchester
from London, Europe, New York, etc –
usually requires close interaction for early
stage7

8. Aims – Retain Startups
1. build an eco-system in
Manchester that supports tech
startups without excluding
other sectors
2. build the eco-system in
conjunction with the startup
founders
3. provide support necessary
for early stage tech startups
4. Attract (or obtain and
provide) relevant financial
support to early stage tech
startups
5. Develop an offering
attractive enough to retain
growing tech startups within
Greater Manchester
6. build a city-wide programme
to grow early stage tech
startups from inception
through to first 1000
customers
7. build a city-wide programme
to grow tech startups from
1000 customers through to
profitability or to first large
commercial funding round
1. Consider MIDAS as the showroom of
a car dealership, however once
you’ve bought a car, you spend more
time with the service side of a
dealership. What’s Manchester’s
offering to keep tech startups in
Manchester and not be poached by
MIDAS equivalents of other cities?
2. What differences can we make from
a local authority perspective and
responsibility?
3. What difference can startup
founders make?
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9. Aims – Grow to 1000
1. build an eco-system in
Manchester that supports tech
startups without excluding
other sectors
2. build the eco-system in
conjunction with the startup
founders
3. provide support necessary
for early stage tech startups
4. Attract (or obtain and
provide) relevant financial
support to early stage tech
startups
5. develop an offering
attractive enough to retain
growing tech startups within
Greater Manchester
6. Build a city-wide programme
to grow early stage tech
startups from inception
through to first 1000
customers
7. build a city-wide programme
to grow tech startups from
1000 customers through to
profitability or to first large
commercial funding round
1. Could be through accelerators so could only cater for a limited numbers of companies or
2. Could be through better flow and provision of timely and appropriate mentoring,
funding, etc and assist more companies
3. This is most likely pre-funding, pre-revenue
4. Think differently about accommodation, funding, mentoring, on-demand services, etc
5. Who will share the risk with the founders rather than the founders taking all the risk?
6. Where will Greater Manchester obtain appropriate mentors from?
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10. Aims – Grow beyond 1000
1. build an eco-system in
Manchester that supports tech
startups without excluding
other sectors
2. build the eco-system in
conjunction with the startup
founders
3. provide support necessary
for early stage tech startups
4. Attract (or obtain and
provide) relevant financial
support to early stage tech
startups
5. develop an offering
attractive enough to retain
growing tech startups within
Greater Manchester
6. build a city-wide programme
to grow early stage tech
startups from inception
through to first 1000
customers
7. Build a city-wide programme
to grow tech startups from
1000 customers through to
profitability or to first large
commercial funding round
1. Should this be sector-specific? Not just tech, but tech & health, tech & education, etc?
2. Combination of accelerators, incubators, public funds, commercial funds?
3. Where would Greater Manchester obtain mentors of sufficient calibre?
4. How could we influence positive exits from these programmes? E.g. line-up commercial
investment for further growth, retain in Greater Manchester.
5. What can startup founders do themselves without official support? And how could this
be improved with official support?
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11. Aims – Agreement
1. Build an eco-system in
Manchester that supports tech
startups without excluding
other sectors
2. Build the eco-system in
conjunction with the startup
founders
3. Provide support necessary
for early stage tech startups
4. Attract (or obtain and
provide) relevant financial
support to early stage tech
startups
5. Develop an offering
attractive enough to retain
growing tech startups within
Greater Manchester
6. Build a city-wide programme
to grow early stage tech
startups from inception
through to first 1000 customers
7. Build a city-wide programme
to grow tech startups from
1000 customers through to
profitability or to first large
commercial funding round
1. Which words would you like to change?
2. Which of these aims do you agree with and vocally support?
3. Which of these aims will you actively contribute to?
4. Which will you not be able to support?
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12. Comments
These aims are a first draft. If you have any thoughts, send
them to me at:
Alan Ward
@alanward
alan@alancward.co.uk
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