Jai Aenugu of Aberdeen Entrepreneurship is making entrepreneurial thinking and connections accessible to all through a series of podcasts and free events. With a background in computer networking, Jai’s focus on networking of a very different kind came from helping out his wife with her own business.
“I was looking for networking opportunities and I found out that you could pay anything between £30 and £ 400 for membership and I thought, why should we pay for this? Why can’t we just meet for a coffee and discuss our ambitions?”
So that’s how Aberdeen Entrepreneurship started; meeting in coffee shops after work, the members talking about their start-up challenges, successes, and everything in between.
Jai’s target group are those looking to start out as an entrepreneur and those facing challenges early on in their entrepreneurial journey. Evening meetings mean that members can fit them in around their day jobs, and are easier to schedule for most. In looking for a more suitable space to host the networking events, Jai approached Elevator to be an event sponsor and is delighted with the results of hosting at Elevator’s home in Aberdeen’s world-class Centre for Entrepreneurship.
“The team at Elevator have been great - numbers seem to be increasing by about 15 members every month and I have hardly promoted it!”
The events themselves are informal, friendly, and they start with a 10 second pitch from everyone in attendance, saying why they’re there and what challenges they’re facing with their start-up businesses, or what barriers they face before becoming an entrepreneur. In having these short introductions, Aberdeen Entrepreneurship aims to create a space where like-minded people can get together and learn from each other.
Jai’s multi-channel approach to Aberdeen Entrepreneurship means that you can get inspired between meet-ups with his weekly podcast, focusing on all things entrepreneurial.
Podcast episodes are also available at AskJai.com.
“Podcasts are great because not everyone is comfortable in front of the camera. From a consumer’s point of view, you can listen on the way to work and get inspired. I do this for the inspiration, to learn from entrepreneurs, to inspire myself and others in the same boat.’
Within a month of its launch Jai’s podcast has had 600 listens. It goes out every Monday morning to get your week off to a flying start. Jai says the main lesson that comes across time and time again is so positive:
“Just go for it. Stop thinking about it and go for it. This is something I have learned from everyone I’ve interviewed.
One of my interviewees worked on his own company till wee hours in the morning while he was also working as an employee and when he finally decided to do it full time he re-mortgaged his house to fund the business and generated £2.1million net profit within 24months.
It’s encouraging for budding entrepreneurs to hear from those who have been there and done that .Elevator are proud to host Aberdeen Entrepreneurship’s nextStartup Story event on the 15th October kicking off at 6:30pm at The Hub, Exploration Drive, Aberdeen, AB23 8GX
Naz Hussein, Managing Director at Breakneck comedy is speaker.
To book, please click HERE.
Aberdeen Entrepreneurship
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