Birth of a Startup

In 2006, while dealing with a relationship breakup, I started a company in my living room. To keep myself sane during that lonely, stressful, exciting time, I started a blog. I called it Birth of a Startup, and I meticulously documented all the highs, lows, and (very many) mundane moments, over the first few years of building my first company.

The blog went dormant for a while, but I managed to rescue the posts and resurrect them in this new blog. I plan to continue adding to this section of my blog as I continue to birth new startups, and make all sorts of new mistakes along the way. Enjoy (and scroll down to 2006-2008 posts to have a solid giggle at how naive I was!).

19 Apr, 2018

Busy doing not much

2019-02-11T20:43:10+00:00April 19th, 2018|Birth of a Startup, Ruminations|

I'm a few days into my London-based post-CEOship. I've been phenomenally lucky that these days have coincided with a totally unseasonal heatwave, and I'm currently sitting on my sun-drenched balcony in short shorts and a big hat, listening to the sound of a duck frolicking in the canal water below my balcony. And its mid-April.

17 Apr, 2018

The serendipity of unemployment

2019-02-04T15:06:26+00:00April 17th, 2018|Birth of a Startup|

Today was my second day of London-based "unemployment". I use quote marks, because I'm not really sure what to call this state I am in now. I am no longer full-time at Skimlinks, but I do still have work that I do for the company, and do I ever really leave my baby behind? But

29 Nov, 2010

Fire in the eyes

2018-09-28T17:55:36+01:00November 29th, 2010|Birth of a Startup, Ruminations|

This is my guide to hiring: look for the ‘fire in the eyes’. I look for someone who’s eyes twinkle when they talk about their hopes and ambitions, and when they talk about your company. Someone that has that sparkle of brightness, coupled with a personality that you warm to straight away.I have hired people

24 Nov, 2010

Coming to America!

2019-02-11T13:50:22+00:00November 24th, 2010|Birth of a Startup, Ruminations|

My team and I recently made one of the hardest decisions we have ever made. Despite being proud of being a UK-based company achieving success internationally, it was becoming obvious that to take ourselves to the level we wanted to, we needed to set up a physical base in the US. We had resisted for

1 May, 2010

Growing pains

2018-09-29T12:58:20+01:00May 1st, 2010|Birth of a Startup, Ruminations|

We always knew it would happen. The day after we closed our last funding round, I sat with my team, there were 9 of us, and we said “You know things are going to change from now on?” We knew it, that hiring more people and growing quickly was going to be fabulous but also

23 Apr, 2010

How to ask for advice from busy CEOs

2018-10-03T19:14:54+01:00April 23rd, 2010|Birth of a Startup, Ruminations|

I’m at a fascinating point in my startup journey. I am still growing my company, I don’t think of myself as a success yet. Not until I’m wildly profitable or I’ve been acquired for a suitable amount will I think of myself as ’successful’. So far, I’m doing alright, and am on a good path,

23 Apr, 2010

Kicking things off again

2019-02-11T13:50:18+00:00April 23rd, 2010|Birth of a Startup, Ruminations|

Its been a very very long time since I have written in this blog. The last post was such a fitting place to stop, that it felt almost criminal to sully such a poetic ending with a banal next post. However, much has happened in the last 14 months. My company has gone from a

25 Feb, 2009

One chapter ends, another begins…

2018-09-29T13:07:59+01:00February 25th, 2009|Birth of a Startup, Ruminations|

Boy am I glad I have separated the corporate blog from my personal blog. I have written now a very sensible and official post on the corporate blog about our funding round, which took me a very long time to write, as I kept wanting to burst into admissions of honesty. However, I restrained myself,

9 Feb, 2009

Reinvention

2018-09-29T13:14:27+01:00February 9th, 2009|Birth of a Startup, Ruminations|

When I first started this blog, I had a grand vision. I would write about the trials and tribulations of starting a web startup, imparting the wisdom I picked up along the way, and the mishaps that would no doubt trip me up as I trudged on. Part of my strategy was to keep my

1 Sep, 2008

A new way to dine

2019-02-24T19:10:56+00:00September 1st, 2008|Birth of a Startup|

Skimbit is lucky enough to have the strategic IT assistance of a friend of mine, Bernie. But Bernie is a busy boy. And besides helping us solve impossible problems and other nifty little things, he also is responsible for the innovative digital interface at brand new Soho restaurant, Inamo. Inamo is a new type of