The Tigers pounce on the University of Brighton
31st January 2022
Author EditorPosted on Categories Business
This January, an exciting new concept arrived at the University of Brighton with a panel of senior businesspeople taking on the role of judges as part of the ‘Tiger’s Pen’.
Organised by Sonny Cutting of the Sussex Business Show, five Tigers judged five student presentations. Each of the students were studying an entrepreneurship unit as part of the University’s School of Business and Law. Dr. Adam Jones from the University capably oversaw proceedings and organised the Tigers – not an easy feat.
I was honoured to be part of it as a lone Tigress alongside Sam Thomas, publisher of this wonderful magazine and founder of FirmBalls, as well as Paul Britton, owner of Britton and Time Solicitors, Nick Poyner, Managing Director of Rubix VT, as well as Steve Rackley, Co-Founder & Director of James Chase and Silicon Brighton & Diverse Sussex.
That’s quite the line-up. For those of you who might not know, I run an award-winning PR agency in Brighton called Midnight Communications alongside my business partner Alex Hankinson. The Tigers, therefore, represented public relations, recruitment, tech, law, telecoms and publishing, each with experience in entrepreneurship and/or running businesses.
Us Tigers were sat in a row, with the students sat in front, each group coming down in turn to pitch their idea to us. The tension was palpable. The reality of what was about to unfold hit the students who had largely been confined to their dorms of late and therefore hadn’t had much experience of physical presentations.
However, when Sonny announced that there could be actual money on the table, the lights went on in a few of the students’ eyes as they realised that their concept could become a reality. The prospect was real. Some were excited. Some looked like they were about to have a full-blown panic attack. I felt for them, I really did, but it’s moments like this that shape you as a person and, hopefully, the students will remember the experience for years to come…and hopefully our advice helped them get a better grade at the very least!
We were tasked with quizzing the students on their concepts with the aim to decide on two winning groups: best presentation and best concept. Both winning teams took away a nice bottle of wine, but the best concept winner got the biggest prize: the opportunity to pitch at the Sussex Business Show on 5th May 2022 for the chance to win actual investment.
The first group pitched ‘Bambootilicious’. A memorable name, certainly, and the group got points for their sustainable-first approach to the brand which was essentially women’s knickers made from bamboo at £20 a pop. It’s a heavily saturated market though and the Tigers suggested that a bigger marketing budget would be needed to get cut through against the competition.
How many of you reading this are tired of seeing the same stock imagery used across social media and websites? Well group number two aimed to resolve this with a new app for photographers to sell their photos and get commissions from businesses looking for something unique. Our advice included promoting the app to photography clubs first and targeting specific business sectors that would be most likely to use the service.
Next up we had the latest in smart tech, in the form of a bedside table called ‘Element’ which could charge all your devices at once whilst also delivering a lamp, a portable tray and a range of colour options to suit all style choices – yours for just £150 apiece. Whilst the group suggested this could be sold to individuals, the Tigers thought a better market for this could be hotels and student accommodation developers.
The child safety app ‘Safe Guide’ aimed to answer parents’ fears for their children with an app designed to monitor messaging via social media apps. An engaging and well-thought-out presentation earned the group ‘best pitch’.
And finally… our winners for best concept went to Night Saver. I immediately decided they had a jingle already – I was silently singing ‘night saver’ to the tune of ‘night fever’ in my head. Night Saver delivers all your clubbing needs in one app with multiple revenue streams including subscriptions, ticket sales and advertising, and a focus on making clubbing safer. The Tigers decided this idea took the crown. They had identified their target audience (students), they had considered piloting it in Brighton before launching in other cities (sensible) and they proposed a bigger marketing budget than any of the other groups – asking for £100k to start up, with £50k on developing the app and £50k to promote it. Nice work lads.
I thoroughly enjoyed being a Tiger for the night and hearing the ideas of the future generation of businesspeople. It gave me hope for the future of our great county – I hope the students stay local after graduation and I look forward to seeing some of the concepts become reality. Make sure you pop along to the Sussex Business Show on 5th May, and if you spot a group of students practicing their Night Saver pitch… wish them luck!
By Flo Powell, Joint Managing Director, Midnight Communications