Launching, growing and selling media businesses

HYBRID Meetup 29 June 2021

Our Key Takeaways from our hybrid Meetup on Post-Covid Business Models:

1. The events industry has to move from an annual product design / refresh model to an insights and data-led approach
2. Thinking about exit plan: it’s not whether your business is attractive, it’s thinking through whom it will be attractive to
3. In your core markets, go deep. Otherwise keep your model simple and standardised


Speakers

Star Guest Q&As

Startup Meetup and Meet the Changemakers

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Meetup

Q & A Speakers

Bill Carter Bill Carter, President and CEO, ALM

Bill took leadership of ALM as president and chief executive officer in March 2012. Carter has championed various acquisition strategies advancing the growth and expansion of markets ALM serves. 

He joined ALM from Thompson Reuters where he was senior vice president of the Small Law Business Unit since 2010 and led its successful reorganization and growth. An accomplished expert in the digital and legal services industry, he has also driven significant value creation as a senior executive at LexisNexis, Epiq Systems, Gerson Lehrman Group and GES Exposition Services. 

Lisa Hannant Clarion Lisa Hannant, Group Managing Director, Clarion

Lisa has 30 years’ experience in the exhibition and live events sector working across a broad range of products, sectors and international markets.

Since joining Clarion in 2008, Lisa has been responsible for the strategic development and growth of Clarion’s portfolios internationally.  She has extensive experience of building market leading brands and positions both organically and through acquisition. Lisa was appointed Group Managing Director and joined the board in 2013.

Prior to joining Clarion, Lisa held a number of senior management positions within the exhibition and conference industry and was integral to the success of two start-up businesses that were later successfully acquired by major UK organisers.

Rakhi Williams Rakhi Williams, CEO of Verdict and Global Data Marketing Solutions

Rakhi has 25 years experience working in global blue-chip organisations and 12+ years leading transformation and growth in the media sector.  She previously worked for Hyve Group plc, where she led the three transformation of Hyve (formerly known as ITE Group) to become the fastest growing events business in the world.  Before Hyve, Rakhi worked for UBM Tech, where she led the Communities business which included leading B2B brands such Information Week.

Rakhi has worked globally for companies at all stages of development, from start-up founder to private equity portfolio company to FTSE 100 executive.  She has also experience working in professional services, in both corporate finance and strategy consulting. 

Startup Meetup – The Experts

James Mayes Mind The Product BWJames Mayes, Founder, MindTheProduct

James has been with Mind the Product since the first conference in London in 2012. Initially focussing on commercial sponsorships, he’s taken on an ever increasing number of challenges as the company has grown, leading to his appointment as CEO in 2017. He still owns many of the partnership discussions and spends much of his time travelling to maintain and develop these relationships. Before joining Mind the Product, James had two other careers. He started as a tech recruiter in 1996 (first project: building Europe’s first Java development team for IBM’s research lab) and continued in this industry for 12 years, focusing on building niche technology teams for startups and enterprise alike. He embarked on a startup journey of his own in 2009 in a commercial/product role, selling TweetJobs in 2011 to continue his learning for a year with another of London’s hottest firms in the social talent/community space.

Annabelle Mayhew Annabelle Mayhew, Senior Adviser, Collingwood Advisory

As Co-Founder and CCO of TowerXchange, Annabelle took on full commercial responsibility, helping to strategise and grow the business from a start-up company through to acquisition by Euromoney Institutional Investor. Following the sale, Annabelle continued to support and guide the business through its integration period.

Annabelle has over 14 years sales leadership experience, of both B2B and B2C sales. Prior to TowerXchange she worked extensively with young companies and was integral to their growth, specialising in sales strategy, creating structure and processes, sales reporting and identifying training and development needs. She works with Collingwood’s clients on sales strategy and development, and uses Collingwood’s diagnostic tools to recommend scaleup programmes and priorities to media entrepreneurs.

Startup Meetup – the Changemakers

Aysha Tegally

Aysha Tegally, Co-Founder, Future Females Invest

 

 

 

 

Tori AbiolaTori Abiola, Co-Founder, Future Females Invest

 

 

 

 

Carl Pratt Carl Pratt, Founder, FuturePlanet