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15 Top Tools of Founders Need in The Startup World

July 22, 2020Digital, Founders, Startups, Technologyfounders, Startups, Tools

We’ve debated and considered lots of tools and put together this list of 15 top tools that founders need in the startup world.
Some are free, some have a small subscription free.

Founders can do a lot with these tools, get their website created, emails sent and prototypes designed.
They can manage their finances, get organised and communicate with their team, suppliers or customers.

Using the right tools can help founders stay ahead of the game.

What tools do you have in your startup tool box?

Design & Marketing
Canva – design anything in minutes

Subly – Subtitle your videos automatically

Figma – cloud based design and prototypng tool for digital projects

Typeform – Online form building and online surveys

Mailchimp – All in one platform to promote your business with email, social, landing pages and postcards

Finance
Xero – Accounting software giving you insights to plan for the future

Monzo – A digital bank – banking made easy

Waveapp – Award-winning cloud software and apps to manage their business finances.

Organising
Google Drive – Easy and secure access to all of your content

Calendly – Free Online Appointment Scheduling Software

Communicating
Slack – a workplace communication tool

WhatsApp – messenger app

Zoom – video conferencing tool

Loom – video recording tool

JustPark – parking made easier for going to meetings

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Next Steps for Your Start Up Idea

A Diary of UpSkill Enterprise – a NI StartUp Trip to the USA

Taking the chance with a female focused tech event in Derry

Review of Online Raise Startup Club with Mel Morrison from Bluesona

Announcing DECODE: Tech for non-Tech Founders

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Is it all ideation and innovation buzz?

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Silicon Drinkabout Belfast – See you in Silicon Alley!

Commuting is a curse…

Guest Blog by Jason Bell – So You Want To Write a Tech Book?

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Events with Raise Ventures

Tech for Non Tech - Product Management and Product Ownership

When you're building product, the product team work on bringing both internal and external products to market. This talk is perfect for anyone with an interest in Product Ownership / Product Management or if you're a startup / founder building product in-house.

Listen to a selection of experts connected to Northern Ireland. Learn how to build a product team as your startup and how to help your clients create their own products.

After the talks we will end with an open Q&A, you'll be encouraged to ask questions via chat or unmute your microphone and ask your question from the virtual audience.

Our confirmed speakers so far are:

Emma Mulholland
Emma helps organisations adopt a product mindset. Over the last 15 years she has worked across startups and large enterprises, including an agile lab which used Lean techniques and Design Thinking to solve business problems.

She is an advocate of Lean methods and passionate about Product Management, and has been active in helping build the Belfast Product community through groups such as ProductTank Belfast, LeanCoffee Belfast and Product Camp Belfast, and by working as a trainer for Mind the Product.

James Donaghy
James works as a senior product owner at Bazaarvoice in the ecommerce space. He took a non technical route into tech having studied marketing and public relations at Ulster University. Post graduation James was a founder himself and launched a website connecting students and graduates with employers for remote work experience. After a few years in that business he moved into product management.

James would describe his work today as a combination of product and project management, solving problems for our customers that also deliver success for the business.

Naily Makangu
Think of Naily Makangu as The Mary Poppins of Business. Naily is passionate about helping start-ups and small businesses sweep up challenges and design a HAPPY high-performing workplace playground.

Starting as a Software Engineer, Naily carved her own path into creating Athena Leaders, a remote-first Management and Leadership consultancy. She has experience in managing projects and product development for company such as Siemens, Featurespace and more, as well as being Interim Head of Product or Chief Product Officer for start-ups or small companies.

Naily is excited to share with you the common pitfalls that businesses make when embarking on their product development journey.Show More

active

Tech for Non Tech - Product Management and Product Ownership

When you're building product, the product team work on bringing both [...]

When you're building product, the product team work on bringing both internal and external products to market. This talk is perfect for anyone with an interest in Product Ownership / Product Management or if you're a startup / founder building product in-house.

Listen to a selection of experts connected to Northern Ireland. Learn how to build a product team as your startup and how to help your clients create their own products.

After the talks we will end with an open Q&A, you'll be encouraged to ask questions via chat or unmute your microphone and ask your question from the virtual audience.

Our confirmed speakers so far are:

Emma Mulholland
Emma helps organisations adopt a product mindset. Over the last 15 years she has worked across startups and large enterprises, including an agile lab which used Lean techniques and Design Thinking to solve business problems.

She is an advocate of Lean methods and passionate about Product Management, and has been active in helping build the Belfast Product community through groups such as ProductTank Belfast, LeanCoffee Belfast and Product Camp Belfast, and by working as a trainer for Mind the Product.

James Donaghy
James works as a senior product owner at Bazaarvoice in the ecommerce space. He took a non technical route into tech having studied marketing and public relations at Ulster University. Post graduation James was a founder himself and launched a website connecting students and graduates with employers for remote work experience. After a few years in that business he moved into product management.

James would describe his work today as a combination of product and project management, solving problems for our customers that also deliver success for the business.

Naily Makangu
Think of Naily Makangu as The Mary Poppins of Business. Naily is passionate about helping start-ups and small businesses sweep up challenges and design a HAPPY high-performing workplace playground.

Starting as a Software Engineer, Naily carved her own path into creating Athena Leaders, a remote-first Management and Leadership consultancy. She has experience in managing projects and product development for company such as Siemens, Featurespace and more, as well as being Interim Head of Product or Chief Product Officer for start-ups or small companies.

Naily is excited to share with you the common pitfalls that businesses make when embarking on their product development journey.Show More

active

Data is Business, Business is Data with Jason Bell

Jason Bell has spent over thirty years in software, data mining and [...]

Jason Bell has spent over thirty years in software, data mining and customer loyalty. In 2014 he wrote the book Machine Learning: Hands on For Developers and Technical Professionals, showing companies how to leverage data for better insight and predictions. In this Tech for Non-Tech talk Jason takes a beginners view of data, what it is and then builds on how to get information out of it and show how that would benefit the business. From metrics, to social media, to BigData to real time data and what owning data means for you, your customers and your business. It's a story, it's a journey, data is an adventure.Show More

active

Understanding languages, frameworks and MVPs with four Northern Irish Full Stack Developers.

We have four speakers talking tech and sharing stories from their [...]

We have four speakers talking tech and sharing stories from their journey within the startup eco-system.

Zoe Gadon-Thompson | @gingerzoealex
Zoe (she/her) will be talking about her experienced since joining Exizent. Zoe will focus her talk on the subject of inheriting an MVP tech stack, the challenges of delivering for a launch date, bonding with a remote team and balancing cool tech with delivering product.

Tommy Palmer | @tommypalm
Originally from Belfast. Tommy lives in London and has worked as a full stack web developer at a range of small and large organisations. Tommy has previously worked at GOV.UK and Deliveroo. He is currently working at Good Club, an online supermarket focused on sustainably and zero waste.

Chris McAtackney | @chrismcatackney
Chris is the CTO of Obbi Solutions obbisolutions.com and dad to three crazy children. He has led large engineering efforts on multiple products over the years, Chris will be talking about the dangers of trying to scale your technology too early. He will also cover some tips on how to avoid over-engineering your solutions before the product - market fit has been proven.

Darren McSorley | @darrenmcsorley
Darren is a full stack developer that works on different frameworks and stacks on a daily basis. Darren is also founder at Reflex Studios who are a local agency who build web and mobile apps that turn ideas into working products. Get the best of both worlds with a short talk from Darren McSorley who is both an entrepreneur and a developer.

https://raise-ventures.comShow More

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The Northern Irish Recruitment Roundtable.What challenges do Northern Irish startups have.

This time at Tech for Non Tech we decided to focus on The Recruitment [...]

This time at Tech for Non Tech we decided to focus on The Recruitment Challenge that startups face here in Northern Ireland.

For more info visit our website and subscribe to our mailing list.
https://raise-ventures.com

Startups grow rapidly and need to hire the right staff at the right time

However there are many challenges facing the startup such as:
Can they attract the right talent at possibly a lower salary?
Is there talent willing to take the risk and join a startup on the journey?
And is there enough of the tech talent around to service all the startups?

Our roundtable event was a successful evening chatting with startups, tech companies and friends who have experience in hiring, recruitment agencies.

We talked with people who help with hiring and startups that build tech tools that make the hiring process easier.

The main speakers included people

UpSkill Enterprise
ScaleUpForGrowth
VANRATH
Rapid 7
VML Technology
RealTime RecruitmentShow More

active

Cybersecurity for Northern Irish startups learn from Andrea Manning and Simon Whittaker.

Raise Ventures is back with the first 'Tech for Non Tech' of the year [...]

Raise Ventures is back with the first 'Tech for Non Tech' of the year and on Thursday 28th Jan 2021 we will be hosting an event to showcase and highlight the topic of Cybersecurity in Northern Ireland.

For more info visit our website and subscribe to our mailing list.
https://raise-ventures.com

We have two experts from the field giving short talks and taking Q&A's and we've asked them to provide a short bio. Have a read below. 🙂

Andrea Manning

I provide GDPR and Cybersecurity consulting and training for SMEs and Startups. I am currently on the Enterprise Ireland funded accelerator program New Frontiers developing CyberPie. CyberPie is a Saas product that delivers micro tasks along with a knowledge base of tools and resources to support the unique needs of the microbusiness owner to build security and compliance into their business in as little as 5 minutes a week.

My superpower is demystifying GDPR and Cybersecurity by making them personal and relevant. GDPR and Cybersecurity are essential components of every business, regardless With many years spent in both the corporate world and the entrepreneurial world, I see the great divide between the two and how the small business sometimes lacks access to the knowledge and resources that are taken for granted in larger enterprises.

Simon Whittaker

I provide security services & security training to organisations of all sizes, my strong background in both development & System/Network Administration provides a great view on how best to both compromise and secure required services & applications.

The majority of my work involves working with companies to perform penetration & security testing, test and improve secure coding practices and provide security consultancy to companies that are keen to improve their processes & procedures.

I have great experience in developing & implementing efficient and effective practices across all sections of an organisation to assist with securing and retaining external quality recognition such as ISO27001, CyberEssentials and CSA STAR.

I help your company to understand their current security posture, their future goals and outlining how to achieve those goals. This includes working with companies on a long-term basis using coaching and mentoring techniques to help drive process improvement and provide external feedback.Show More

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Northern Irish startups and the product launch at Digital DNA with Kris Jones and Tristan Neagle.

Raise Ventures Founder Jenny Ervine talks to Kris Jones and Tristan [...]

Raise Ventures Founder Jenny Ervine talks to Kris Jones and Tristan Neagle this month as Tech for Non Tech takes it to the big stage (Virtual Stage) at Digital DNA.

For more info visit: https://raise-ventures.com and subscribe to our mailing list.Show More

active

Mental Heath, Mindfulness, Business and Entrepreneurship for Northern Irish startups.

We have three speakers confirmed for this months focus on Mental [...]

We have three speakers confirmed for this months focus on Mental Health and Mindfulness. Eve McCann will be covering her 10 things series talking all things remote facilitation and water-cooler chat. Katie will be covering self care and mindfulness for entrepreneurs and Emma will be kicking things off with how the power of Pilates and how movement can be brought into your daily routines. Something we can all being doing with the move to a WFH lifestyle.

We can't wait for this months #TFNT and hope you'll join us for a session that will remind us all to take extra care as we move into winter.

As usual, bring a few friends, bring a few drinks and even a few snacks! More info on the speakers is listed below.

Eve McCann
Eve is a service, research, and UX designer who’s obsessed with bringing out the customers' voice above all else. Before joining Lloyds Banking Group to work multidisciplinary across different channels and platforms, in October 2019, Eve worked with Reward, Snook, the NHS, and others.

Katie Matthews
Katie is a 28-Year-Old, Multi-Award-Winning Entrepreneur, Educator and Speaker. She is the Founder of two businesses: The Mind Tribe UK and Excel In Education Tutoring School as well as the voluntary organisation Young Entrepreneur's Network NI. Katie was also on the judging panel for 2020’s Diana Award. She delivers Passion, Positivity & Purpose in everything she does, striving for excellence whilst simultaneously empowering and educating others. She has over 10 years lived experience mental illness, whilst battling a chronic auto-immune disease and consequently is overwhelmingly passionate about promoting Growth Mindset & life-long, positive mental health. She is passionate about inspiring, educating and leading the future generations of NI and tries to act as a role-model for other young women and entrepreneurs who overcome adversities to achieve their dreams!"

Emma Bray
Emma is a comprehensively trained & certified Pilates Teacher NCPT. Owner of The Movement Studios and Faculty for Fletcher Pilates U.K. Emma enjoys working with people from many different sectors offering practical & attainable movement goals. Be it desk based entrepreneurs to Pilates Teachers deepening their craft. Emma’s extensive study of Pilates, Gyrotonic(R), Gyrokinesis(R), Yoga, Nutrition & Counselling over the past 15 years enables her to offer a truly holistic approach. If not deep in nerding mode, Emma is usually found eating burritos & drinking good coffee by an Ocean.Show More

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UX Design, UX Development and UX Design Education in Northern Ireland.

The user experience (UX) has become critical factor in the success of [...]

The user experience (UX) has become critical factor in the success of many tech products. If a software product isn't easy to navigate, use or understand, customers easily get put off purchasing and using your product.

Last month we had Louise Laughlin, Dermot Hughes, Emma Foster and Chris Murphy showcasing best practices and practical applications for UX.

Whether you're new to Design, or you want to learn more about UX as an industry or if you are keen to get involved with the industry conversation we have got you covered. We have three excellent speakers covering UX as a Designer, UX as a Developer and UX as an Educator.

Each speaker has the virtual microphone for 15 to 20 minuets. After all the talks have finished we will open the floor to Q&A. Unmuting of the mic is encouraged and we would like you to get involved with the conversation.

Louise Laughlin
Louise is a Designer, drawer, and dog mum based in Belfast having recently worked on the UI of peer learning platform Mentorship

Dermot Hughes
Dermot is a UX Developer at Atto Partners. He has nearly a decade of experience in design and front end development working with big names like RBS, NatWest, Chain Reaction Cycles, Reward, Micro Focus and more. Nestled in between the Design and Development worlds, Dermot positions himself to see design from a developer perspective. He strives to bridge the gap between them, promoting the case for good UX to non-designers - whether it’s huge international enterprises, small local teams, or just himself as a freelancer.

Emma Foster
Emma is a UX Designer at Anaeko and has experience working across multiple projects leading UX design and implementing UX processes within the Anaeko team. Working at Anaeko for just over 4 years across UX, front-end development and design.

Christopher Murphy
Chris is a Designer + Educator + Founder. Chris has over 16 years experience as a senior lecture at Ulster University. Leading Interaction Design at the Belfast campus. Chris is the founder of #designtrack and has recently launched: The School of Design, a community for design-focused entrepreneurs, building the products of tomorrow.Show More

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Community, Culture and NI Tech. Get involved with Tech and Startups in Northern Ireland.

Join us on Thursday 23rd July at 6.30pm GMT for this months Tech for [...]

Join us on Thursday 23rd July at 6.30pm GMT for this months Tech for Non Tech event. This month we will be talking about the Community, Culture and Mentorship with a focus on the Northern Irish tech scene. The event will be streamed live on Zoom.

As startups and founders juggle work load, processes, sales funnels and building the product. There is often too much to do and not enough time or money to do it.

This interactive event will discuss community and culture in Northern Ireland to help startups and founders make life easier using marketing automation, video software and building product with no/low code.

The event will include a selection of great speakers. Our first speaker to be announced is

Claire Burn

Claire is currently a Software Engineer II in Data Engineering at the cyber-security company Rapid7. She completed an MSc in Cyber Security at QUB, passing with Distinction. She has spent 5 years in leadership roles in the Belfast branch of the global not-for-profit Women Who Code, and is currently a Global Ambassador for the organization. She is the founder of the Google-sponsored Women Techmakers Belfast conference, which has been running for 4 successful years now, and she is a co-founder of the InfoSecNI cybersecurity community group. She is a board member of the NI-based Three's Theatre Company, and is an avid fiction writer. In her (rare) moments of free time, she enjoys writing, singing, sipping tea, and playing “Dungeons & Dragons” with friends.

Matt Johnston

Matt is a seasoned community engineer. He's currently building community as a co-founder of Raise Ventures and has previously built communities around digital (with Digital Circle), Apple (with Mac-Sys Ltd and NiMUG), games (with Q-CON) and a dozen other projects across software, film-making, re-enactment, creative writing and getting kids coding. He walked the Camino in 2018 and came back with another community. He's written (and sold!) five books for his hobby industry and is currently collaborating on a "coffee table role playing game" with an artist and designer in Kenya. In his spare time he enjoys sailing, cooking and finding an adventure every year.

Amandine Flachs

Supporting early-stage tech entrepreneurs for the past 10 years in France, the USA and the UK, Amandine is now the CEO & co-founder of WildMeta, a young AI startup for esports & competitive video game training.

She is also an active Venture Scout for the London-based fund Backed VC, diversity advocate and mentor through accelerators & programmes as well as producer and host of Entrepreneurs Playing Games - a series of live video AMAs with founders and actors of the startup scene.Show More

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Automation, No-Code and Community. Talking tech tips for Entrepreneurs and Northern Irish startups.

Elle: 1:34 Niamh: 20:12 David: 38:25 Fajar: 58:18 As startups and [...]

Elle: 1:34
Niamh: 20:12
David: 38:25
Fajar: 58:18

As startups and founders juggle work load, processes, sales funnels and building the product. There is often too much to do and not enough time or money to do it.

This interactive event will discuss tools and techniques to help startups and founders make life easier using marketing automation, video software and building product with no/low code.

The event will include some great speakers including

Niamh McAuley: video creator and Marketing Manager for Purple Dot Media.
Niamh has delivered video workshops to over 1000 entrepreneurs, inspiring them to use video as part of their marketing strategy.

David Shawe: designer, web builder and marketer.
David runs design sprints as Invisible Building. He focuses on design for startups based here in Northern Ireland. David is currently experimenting with no code tools and in particularly how to build MVPs fast.

Ellie McBride: Productivity Consultant and virtual assistant.
Ellie has expertise in automation, content creation and scheduling. Ellie McBride runs Calibrated Concepts and is currently promoting a workshop on building a website in a day.

Fajar Siddiq: Serial Entrepreneur, Indie-Maker, Designer, Developer, Digital No-Mad, Producer and Professional Yo-Yo player. 😉

Fajar will be presenting to our virtual crowd about his experience with No-Code and the maker communities he is involved with. He'll also talk to us about his thoughts on the future of No-Code + Jamstack and why this is important right now for startups building product. Fajar will be joining us live from Singapore and we are very excited to have him and all our speakers at this event.

Get insights into automation and content creation tools and tips and techniques for how to start developing with no code.

https://raise-ventures.comShow More

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How to outsource your tech with Charlene Armour. CEO of Northern Irish Women lead Armour Global.

Watch our first video in our Tech for Non Tech series. During this [...]

Watch our first video in our Tech for Non Tech series. During this chat, we hear from one of startups and their journey through outsourcing their tech. Legal Tech Founder and CEO 'Charlene Armour' from Armour Global tells her story and answers questions live.

For more info visit: https://raise-ventures.comShow More

Tech for Non Tech - Product Manager vs Product Owner
Startups and Data with Jason Bell.
Angel Investing 101
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The Northern Irish recruitment roundtable.
It's all about the Data. Convincing an investor to write a cheque isn't as complicated as it seems.
Technology and Communities can only improve Angel Investing Odds
Interested in Angel Investing
Raise Review 2020 with Katie Matthews of Young Entrepreneur's Network NI

Latest Events

Hustling 101 - AwakenHub Female Founder Series June 2021
Tue Jun 22 2021, 17:00 GMT
How To Scale a Startup - Real Life Advice on Growing Sales, Product, Team and Finance
Wed Jun 23 2021, 14:00 GMT - 15:30 GMT
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