The survey of over 100 founders of London-based tech business reported finding over half found it took longer than they thought to launch a business and 15% found it more expensive than they had thought. The tech entrepreneurs seemed to have no understanding about the business world, with 22% finding the experience “more emotionally draining” than they had expected and 20% saying they felt isolated when starting the business. Another surprise for the tech start-up community appears to be the need for people keen to invest in their idea, with a third saying that acquiring customers after launch was the biggest obstacle. The survey doesn’t report if these seemingly obvious struggles came as a surprise to any of the respondents.

Struggling to obtain funding to develop an initial proof of concept was recorded by 22% of respondents, and 15% said they struggled to find support to build the technology itself and a similar number (12%) said they could not hire the employees need to get the business up and running, although the survey does not report if this covers financial directors or accountants to help the tech start-up enter the ‘real world’.

Currently London is home to nearly 190,000 tech companies, earning it the title of Europe’s ‘digital capital’, with one new tech business starting every hour.

Commenting on the survey, Dominic Pollard, director of City Road Communications said: “Evidently, as well as building an amazing product, tech entrepreneurs . . . . must have an effective strategy to secure positive exposure for their brand in front of the right audience – the need to stand out is greater than ever.”
Is this a case for more business development and finance courses to accompany the focus on STEM learning in the UK?

The survey was conducted in April and May 2018 in partnership with City Road Communications.