No Network?

If you’re the first in your family to go to higher education, or the first in your family to start a startup, there seems to be a key issue that hits pretty early on - your network is much less developed than some of the others around you. This can mean there are less people to ask for help, less funding opportunities, less referrals and introductions and general serendipity coming your way. Or at least that is how it might seem.

Hearing stories like this inspired us to look at a way that the Canopy Community could share a core asset that we have in abundance. We are one great big network of people that support each other in startups, tech, entrepreneurship and innovation. Our reach is global. There are Canopy Co-Founders and community members on every continent and every corner of the global ecosystem.

We can find coffee and cake wherever we go. We can land and find our #tribe. Raise funds. Find opportunities. Meet customers. Oh sure it’s not always easy or straightforward, but we have always got somewhere to start from and when we get really stuck and really can’t seem to work it out we’ve got 5+ people who are smarter than us sitting there in the whatsapp group to chat to and sort it out.

I’ve heard many people talk about social mobility and what things are needed. How talented people are held back by circumstance is a “wicked problem” that speaks to society and challenges beyond a simple fix, but like every “wicked problem” if you can do one thing to make it a little less for one person, and then someone else does the same then before you know it that problem might not be quite so “wicked”.

What we are doing first is looking at two pieces of the talent agenda. Co-Founders and Interns. Always our lens is to find the best talent, the best energy and to foster the best vibe from within the notion that Diversity is Strength. The fusions of different backgrounds, experiences, attitudes, world views and perspectives is what makes for successful innovation and entrepreneurship journeys.

Let’s see where we can get to over the next 12 months with this. Want to get involved?