Entrepreneurs Evening | Marketing, Health and Climate Change
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The now biannual Keble Entrepreneurs Evening returned this June for another fantastic evening of innovation, ideas and discussion around the entrepreneurial and startup space. Over forty Keble alumni gathered at the Osborne Clarke offices in the City of London, generously hosted by Sunjay Malhotra (2000 Classics and Modern Languages). The sunny evening began with drinks and nibbles on the terrace with magnificent views of the St Paul’s Cathedral, before three presentations from Keble entrepreneurs across a range of fields.
Matt Edwards (1991 Philosophy, Politics and Economics), founder of New Brand Futures, discussed the power of ideas and that, in today’s world, every company can have a world-class energising idea. Having worked on the conception of taglines such as Sky’s ‘Believe in Better’ or WaterAid’s ‘Change Starts with Water’ to having Sylvester Stallone feature in a Warburtons advertisement, Matt’s expertise and experience in the marketing space proved to be insightful for all in attendance. Now running his own business, New Brand Futures, he has worked on campaigns for HBO Max, Amazon, and Wise, to name a few, and looks forward to supporting more organisations to unlock growth.
Next, CEO and Co-founder of PocDoc Steve Roest (2001 Modern Languages, German) shared his secrets in the life of a busy entrepreneur, from his 4am wake-ups and jetting back and forth between work (UK) and home (Switzerland), to taking on Brazilian Jiujitsu championships and building a social media brand. His company PocDoc revolutionises the way people access diagnosis and treatment for major cardio, renal and metabolic diseases, in a holistic approach that circumvents the needs for ‘bricks and mortar’ GP visits.
Pushing aside traditional corporate approaches, Issey Gladston (2020 MSc Nature, Society and Environmental Governance) pioneers a different way of thinking about climate change. Taking inspiration from the marketing and fashion industries, she founded Sexy Climate Change as a new method to engage people with complex sociopolitical issues, delivering informative events alongside drinks, music and contemporary art. This feeds directly into her environmental consultancy work which in turn funds her events, in what she describes as a “figure of eight” loop.
Discussions and networking continued over more refreshments, making the evening another wonderful example of the Keble spirit, bringing curiosity, innovation, and problem solving together across subjects, careers and ages.
We want to continue to hold the immensely popular Entrepreneurs Evenings, but finding appropriate venues in central London is always a challenge and relies on the generosity of our alumni to lend their offices for the evening. If you might be able to host us, or to find out more, email jazz.mccall@keble.ox.ac.uk.
