Post by Rose Tran MBA

What a fantastic day 1 at #ClimbUK with my colleague Tom Wolfenden The day kicked off with a train journey to Leeds alongside our Cooper founders Luisa Maria Bautista de Deus Ponces de Carvalho Nicola Towse and ecosystem friends Dr. Patience Amos, MD, MPH Nick Dytczak Midworth, which was a great opportunity to catch up outside the usual working environment. The day was packed with many insightful sessions, honest conversations, and inspiring speakers, but here are a few key takeaways that I'll be bringing back to support our founders at Cooper Project: 🗣️Recurring theme - Talk to your users from day one and Stay “Focused” This message came through loud and clear. The key thing to get “idea to evidence to gain product market pull” is talking to your users to build your business proposition from day 1. It’s okay to “fail fast” and normalise “failure” as part of the startup process. We also discussed the importance of distinguishing between proof of the concept and proof of the market. Sometimes founders move too quickly and skip one of these crucial stages. One of the biggest challenges for early-stage founders is trying to do too much: “building too many features”, “managing too many stakeholders”, or “becoming passionate about solving the wrong problem”…. That’s why many of them fail. Instead, focus on finding the niche and the problems they want to solve, and building a strong “moat” – this will help create a business that people genuinely want. 🫶Supporting women in tech – my favourite topic! ☺️ I really enjoyed the roundtable discussion with the #TechSY team on "From Equity to Equality." It was an honest and collaborative conversation about the barriers women still face in the tech startup ecosystem. It was encouraging to see so many people coming together to share ideas on how we can better support women to access opportunities, build confidence to help grow their ventures. 🖥️Using AI with purpose: AI can feel overwhelming, especially with so many tools available. I loved hearing how different people are using AI in practical ways. My biggest takeaway was to start simple: use tools like Claude for repetitive or time-consuming tasks, focus on one challenge at a time, and let AI support you rather than trying to do everything at once. The day ended on a high with a brilliant football match, the awards ceremony, and some great conversations with ecosystem peers. I'm also incredibly grateful to have been recognised as a finalist for the Excellence in Business Support award. It was an honour to be nominated alongside so many inspiring individuals and organisations. It was wonderful to catch up with friends, Cooper alumni and partners from across the region (that we don’t usually meet often 😊)Tracey Johnson Matthew Snowden Richard Brown Emi B. Giles Moore Samantha Deakin Dr Laura IH Bennett Dr Rachel Smith Rowan Hall Fran Ferris Brad Scott David R. White Nancy Bakhaty Chris Dalrymple Chris Wheater Carolyn Pearson (nee Carr) MBA