At the inaugural Venturefest South Luke Thomas spoke to Fred Jones Uber’s head of cities for UK and Ireland, as well as to the event’s other keynote speakers Nicole Yershon, one of the founders of Olgilvy Labs and Kevin Baughn chief development officer of Innovate UK.
Carswell Gould has a passion for innovation, and helped to bring Venturefest to the south as one of its founding partners.
The showpiece exhibition, brought together innovators, entrepreneurs and investors to demonstrate tech innovations in the south, pitch for funding and discuss ideas collaboratively to shape business growth – something Uber knows plenty about.
Connecting people looking for a lift with individuals wanting to earn money is a simple concept yet one that has revolutionised the logistical fabric of cities across the world.
This straightforward idea of tapping a button to catch a ride resulted in the formation of Uber in 2008 – one of the fastest growing companies of all time that now operates in 570 countries and was valued at $66billion (USD) in 2016.
The company is clearly at the forefront of innovation but, according to Fred Jones it is constantly looking to adapt its own method to deliver the best value and service to customers.
“Uber is about solving big problems and getting around our cities in a cheap and safe way, as well as understanding what the future may be and disrupting our business model before someone else does it,” Fred told Luke during Carswell Gould’s Marketing on the Couch podcast.
Uber’s thirst for evolution and embedding itself into the cities it operates in was a prime motivation for attending the event that saw over 500 innovators, entrepreneurs and investors descend upon Winchester Guildhall.
“When we started we were just a luxury service but realised, with our popularity, that we could provide great value and service at the touch of a button and make it a mass market product,” Fred explained. “So we delivered our vision of faster urban mobility for maximum value by disrupting ourselves and launching UberX (the most popular car hire service the company offers).”
Fred continued: “We then saw the opportunity to provide a service that was just as convenient but cheaper where you could share your car. So we launched UberPOOL. This shows we’re at the forefront of disrupting and innovating with our own business model. We’re now investing heavily in the future of self-driving cars.”
Despite Uber’s rapid ascent, Fred says the company still sees itself as a start-up that has a lot in common with innovators and entrepreneurs, like those who attended Venturefest South. “It has been great to attend such an event, meet some of the firms and see what role Uber can play. We still feel like a start-up ourselves.
“We’re probably the fastest growing company and the most valuable private company ever so it’s great to be able to connect with others and offer advice.”
Engaging with the innovation landscape and making sure it’s vibrant and relevant is something Innovate UK knows all about. The organisation’s mission - to accelerate economic growth through business led innovation - means it focuses on markets of the future that businesses don’t yet have the confidence to get involved with, due to their infancy.
“The breakthroughs to address the markets of the future can come in all sorts of ways,” Kevin Baughan, chief development officer of Innovate UK told the Marketing on the Couch podcast. “They could be young innovators or more experienced but what sits at the heart is interesting new collaborations that create new solutions to the challenges people face. It’s those investments that Innovate UK is involved in.”
Getting involved with new collaborations was Innovate UK’s prime motivation for attending Venturefest South, as Kevin explained: “Venturefest South has been great. The fact it has been inundated shows you the wealth of activity and creativity there is in the south. It is brilliant because you have the opportunity to make new contacts and different types of engagements, which is critical to the rich diversity that feeds and inspires innovation.”
Nicole Yershon, one of the founders of Olgilvy Labs the London-based digital innovation lab that has worked with high profile clients including American Express, BP, Ford and IBM, told Marketing on the Couch that Venturefest South shows the strength of innovation in the region.
“Innovation for me is doing things that haven’t been done before,” Nicole said. “I’ve always believed there is a lot of talent outside London. There are really interesting geographical hubs of innovative people doing things and I like to know about that. Speaking to others and connecting is really important.”
