After a successful launch of the Durham Alumni Entrepreneurs Network in April this year, we are delighted to announce an exciting panel discussion
How to Successfully Exit Your Business: Tales from those who have survived and prospered. The event will take place from 6.30 until 9pm on Thursday 22 September 2022 in
The Kitchen at Wallacespace Clerkenwell Green.
Event Details
Date: Thursday 22 September 2022
Time: 6.30-9pm
Venue: The Kitchen, Wallacespace Clerkenwell Green
Price: Free!
Dresscode: Business Casual
Expert Panellists
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Chris Gilman (Chair), Enterprise Manager, Durham Venture Lab
I commenced my working life climbing the (very) greasy pole in the expansionist era of the corporate wild west that was the nascent mobile phone sector. To atone for my sins, I spent several years in the third sector working in marketing & communication for Barnardo’s before forming my own business in the healthcare sector.
We provided integrated therapy solutions for those with neurological conditions, and I eventually sold in a PE deal to a surprisingly good home. I subsequently spent ten years as an angel investor member of several North syndicates, making, primarily bad, investment decisions.
This dubious past apparently qualified me to work as an enterprise educator at Durham Uni, living proof that those who can’t do, teach.
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Ben Medlock, BSc Computer Science, St John's College, 2002
Ben Medlock has had a varied career as a teacher, researcher, entrepreneur, investor and advisor. In 2008 he co-founded SwiftKey, the company behind the intelligent typing system for smartphones, which became the global best-selling app on Android and is in use on hundreds of millions of mobile devices worldwide. He developed his expertise in NLP and machine learning during eight years of computer science research at the universities of Durham and Cambridge. SwiftKey was acquired by Microsoft in 2016, and since then Ben has worked in the big tech, biotech and clean tech sectors in a range of advisory and executive roles.
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Oli Marlow-Thomas, BA Arts Combined, Collingwood College, 2009
Oli Marlow Thomas (BA History and Politics, 2009) is the founder of Ad-Lib.io. His company has built the next-generation Creative Management Platform, using intelligent automation to bring creative and media teams closer together. It was acquired earlier this year by Smartly.io the leading social advertising SaaS platform for creative and performance marketers.
Oli was at Google for 6 years prior to launching Ad-Lib.io, appeared on the tv show First Dates and drove a motorcycle solo from Bombay to London.
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Steve Jackson - Applied Physics & Electronics, Grey College, 1989
Steve is an entrepreneur and business strategist, and has over 22 years’ experience starting, building and selling companies. His businesses have spanned consulting, outsourcing, recruitment technology, on-line games and health supplements.
He is currently Co-Founder and Group COO of Xoomworks, part of Accenture – a niche technology consulting and outsourcing business based in the UK, France, Germany, Romania and Bulgaria. Xoomworks works with high growth, tech driven companies and FTSE 100 businesses, to launch innovative digital products that people love to use and to implement core digital systems.
Prior to setting up his first company, Steve worked as a strategy consultant and IT project manager. Steve holds an MBA from INSEAD and a degree in Applied Physics from Durham University. He is an Honorary Professor of Entrepreneurship at Durham University; a Fellow of the Global Sourcing Association and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.
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