https://www.startupcornwall.co.uk/pitch-demo-or-showcase-at-cornwall-slushd-2024/

Last year I attended a new event - a new one for me, and a new one for Cornwall - in the first ever Slush'd Cornwall.  Held in a nightclub, during the day, on a sunnday in Newquay it definitely had a unique vibe and I really wasn't sure what to expect but was delightfully surprised by it being the best event I'd been to in the South West for startups, Founders and the quality of peer sharing that went on.

As a judge on the pitching competition I met some really interesting founders who did a fabulous job of getting their stories across and the winner - Rachel Malthouse - was an inspiring Founder who has since contributed to several demo nights & it's been awesome to see her journey unfold.

Watch all the pitches back here https://youtu.be/AeyK_mBsaZ4 

So here we are in 2024 and thanks to the kind invitation of Niki Davies at Tech Cornwall, we are bringing demo night to this years Slush'd Cornwall event taking place on Sep 12 in Newquay.  The night club has been replaced this year by the setting of the Cinema, so for everyone giving a demo this is gonna be a great chance to get on the big screen!   Great opportunity too for local Canopy Members and In Residence CxOs Matt Ville and Nic Eversett to take the lead on a local edition, after their massive contributions to the events in Lisbon and London over the last couple of years.

Over the last few years I've spent a lot of time in Cornwall as part of my role at Falmouth University, where I lecture part time in Entrepreneurship. I've met, and taught, quite a few Founders who still reside in Cornwall and Slush'd Cornwall is a great opportunity to meet up with many of them.  For a lot of the Canopy Community though Cornwall is not somewhere they might have spent much time and I hope us bringing demo night to the event sparks some interest to make the trip.  Be great to see you!  Interestingly, with the Ryanair flights from Newquay airport it's probably as easy (and lower cost) to get to the event from Faro as it is from London.  

If you're reading this and wondering 'Hey, this demo night, isn't it just another pitch competition?  What's so special?' I want to tell you how excited I am that Tech Cornwall have felt this is such a good fit for the event.  You see the role of demo night is not about raising funds - although that does happen - it's role is to break up the #1 reason that startups fail, specifically that as Founders we 'Build stuff that noone wants or needs'.  It's a fabulous testament to the mindset of the Cornish tech scene that the format is being embraced.  It shows how much is going on in Cornwall right now.  It shows that the ecosystem has reached the stage where Founders are asking themselves questions not just about how to start, but about how to succeed. 

You see to stand there as a Founder specifically to get feedback and [constructive] criticism from a diverse audience is pretty awesome.  It's also incredibly daunting, because it's a moment of acute vulnerability for the Founder.  But what happens from doing this, and repeatedly doing this, is that everyone gets stronger from it.  Founders built better stuff, quicker, and get traction faster.  Teams form quicker and stronger, because they have more awareness and empathy of each other and the vibe of the ecosystem grows in a more collegiate way.   How do we know this?  Well because we've been doing this since 2016 in all sorts of places and we've seen it happen.  It's a core part of our manifesto and it's the signature of the Canopy Community model.

At the heart of our community is a core tenant that is incredibly energising for me.  We believe that "Diversity is Strength", and that tenet was showcased so well just last month at the London Demo Night.  Diversity in skills, age, gender, ethnicity, backgrounds, and the very way we think about things.  Embracing these differences as a super power is where the strength comes from.

In bringing demo night to Cornwall we will be looking at how we demonstrate that tenet through the event.  Leaders like Niki know what this means, and value the strength that diversity can bring.  It's truly special for us to have the opportunity to blend our communities (online and offline) like this and I'm looking forward to seeing what magic we can make with our combined forces.

Come join Slush'd Cornwall on Sep 12.  Tickets HERE.  All Welcome.