Iconicshift Blog

100 Leaders

I set myself a challenge when I launched IconicShift in January 2012 - that is to discover and develop 100 leaders who change the world. It sounded crazy at the time - games worth playing often do - for me however it was a perfect challenge - a really exciting game to play - win or lose. After all even one leader who changed the world wouldn't be a bad outcome would it? continue reading >>

Pitching to Smart Investors

Smart investors are professionals like VCs or experienced angel investors - often part of angel networks. They buy after taking a rational view of the business prospects and a subjective view of the commitment/enthusiasm of the people concerned. continue reading >>

How to get an iconic Idea funded

In this post I'm going to look at the various sources of funding for iconic ideas. There are basically three sources of funds for iconic ideas (given that anything iconic and early stage is likely to frighten the horses in conventional lenders like banks.) The sources are smart investors, friends, family and other amateur investors (sometimes known as friends and fools in the industry given how often they lose money) and crowd funding. continue reading >>

Game Changers 2012

What intrigued me about the class of 2012 Game Changers, shown here after an intensive 2 day session in July 2012, was how a number of coherent themes emerged as the year progressed and how that turned a group of individual entrepreneurs into a powerful team who feel that they can not only build valuable individual businesses but that together they can change the world. continue reading >>

The one golden rule of pitching

There are two sorts of pitch : 1.The Perfect Pitch: This is used when you don't know what the person you are pitching to might be able to offer you that would help your business. For example you are responding to a question "what do you do" from someone you have just met. It's worth giving a great answer to this question because you never know what you might get in return - some great feedback perhaps, or maybe an introduction to exactly the sort of person you need to meet to move your business forward. 2.Pitching for Gold This is the pitch most people recognize - you use it when you want something from someone. continue reading >>