Cranfied School of Management will host the annual Venture Day, a one-day conference, on 13th May. Venture day is a networking event for entrepreneurs that would address the issues faced by entrepreneurs. Karen Peterson will be the keynote speaker for the event. With Patersons Global HR & Payroll, Karen successfully built a business in a mature market.VentureDay is hosted by Cranfield’s Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurial Performance and Economics.
Director of the Centre, Professor Andrew Burke, said: “One of the key themes for this year’s conference is how entrepreneurs thrive in mature markets and the importance of timing when it comes to innovation. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs are those who solve the last 10% rather than the first 90% of the innovation problem. European low-cost airlines, Microsoft’s Windows, Apple’s iTunes and Facebook are all ventures, which involved using other businesses’ innovation platforms to add their own final twist with dramatic commercial effects. In fact, the most successful entrepreneurs are rarely the first to introduce an innovation to the market. Their contribution is usually marginal compared to the totality of the final innovation. These entrepreneurs are so successful because their marginal contribution to innovation solves the last remaining part of the consumer problem and as a result has a dramatic commercial impact.”
Other VentureDay speakers and panellists include Steve Jolliffe, Founder of Top Golf David Molian, Director of the Business Growth & Development Programme at Cranfield Richard Salvage, Group Managing Director at Medsa Group Emeritus Professor Malcolm McDonald Rebecca Mayhew, Co-Founder of GoApe! Angus Thirlwell, Co-Founder of Hotel Chocolat and Nick Jenkins, Founder and Chairman of Moonpig.com.
To register your interest in participating, visit www.ventureday.co.uk or contact somventureday@cranfield.ac.uk.
Cranfield School of Management is one of Europe’s leading university management schools renowned for its strong links with industry and business. It is committed to providing practical management solutions through a range of activities including postgraduate degree programmes, management development, research and consultancy. www.som.cranfield.ac.uk
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Marie McCormack, Media Relations, Cranfield School of Management on: T: +44 (0) 1234 754348 or E: marie.mccormack@cranfield.ac.uk