Touchpaper set to Light the Spark between Corporates and Startups
by Startacus Admin
Touchpaper or touch-paper is a slow-burning paper fuse treated with solution of potassium nitrate or saltpetre used for lighting flammable or explosive devices such as fireworks - or so says 
Wikipedia anyway. But taking a punt, this may well, in fact, be a very good analogy to compare the relationship that can exist between corporates and startups.
Startups - a spark and explosion of ideas and innovation, and Corporates - a slow burning, but valued and traditional space, ideal to further shape ideas, opportunity and growth. (*sorry we needed more coffee when we wrote this!).
Put the two together and *BOOM* , Touchpaper is born!
Launched last week, Touchpaper is on a mission to make it much easier for startups and corporates to work together. The organisation has just published a free online Toolkit for companies looking to improve the way they cooperate with smaller and larger businesses.
Supported by a group of founding members, all of whom support more collaboration between startups and corporate organisations, including corporates Bristows, Capgemini UK, Google and Grant Thornton UK LLP, alongside organisations Digital Catapult, Multiple, Nesta and Tech City UK, who all work with and support SMEs across the country, this not-for-profit is the brainchild of Joe Scarboro who has a wealth of experience on both the corporate and startup side.
In addition to Touchpaper, Joe is well known within the UK startup ecosystem for co-founding 3 Beards, Unicorn Hunt and Silicon Drinkabout.
Touchpaper has researched, collated and condensed best guidance from its Founding Members and additional sources to create 10 documents, five for startups and five for corporates. The Touchpaper Toolkit covers strategy; communications andbuy in; engagement and decision making; legal and procurement. Touchpaper is recommending that startups and corporates read both sets, to get a good understanding of all the challenges that are faced.
Joe Scarboro, Founder of Touchpaper, commented:
“It’s no great surprise that there are a lot of areas to improve in the way startups and corporates work together, they are very different organisations. The level of priority and speed of movement are 
two areas that generally differ greatly between small and large businesses. Working on the startup side, I’ve been asked to revise a statement of work for a much larger client before and have encountered genuine surprise when I return it within two hours, as opposed to the two weeks that they were expecting. Which shows on a small scale the sort of difference that exists between the two.”
Scarboro continued:
“Touchpaper was created to share good practices so that each party better understands the needs of each other, to foster an environment where collaboration, innovation and value creation are enabled and where business processes are fit for purpose, delivering relationships, revenue and results.”
Touchpaper launched last week at a community event held at the Digital Catapult in London to an audience of over 100 people, and we reckon that these 10 best practice guides are just the start for Touchpaper, on its mission to make it much easier for startups and corporates to work together.
Startacus (that's us) currently works with a number of corporates partners and organisations, all whom want to reach out to startups, so we look forward to seeing how this ‘not-for-profit’ business can further add to the growing level of innovation that is now being delivered within this space.
PS - the ‘slow-burning paper fuse treated with solution of potassium nitrate or saltpetre used for lighting flammable or explosive devices such as fireworks’, startup/ corporate analogy might not be the official Touchpaper marketing angle, but either way, we think it is a good possible brand name explanation anyway!
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
The startup that is on a mission to empower cyclists everywhere by providing the world’s largest cycle route collection in its innovative app
Black Young Professional Network, aka BYP Network will hit and surpass their Seedrs £500k funding round target.
.jpeg)
Planning to hire an accountant for your startup? Here are a few of the things you should consider before you do just that...
Sustainable reward scheme Bagboard, a first-of-its-kind advertising platform for planet-friendly brands launches £600k funding round
The Manchester-based startup that's created an app to enable hospitality businesses to maintain social distancing while still taking customer orders quickly
The lowdown on Bubo AI, the Yorkshire-based startup that's using AI to create value-based pricing for wholesale and distribution businesses
The London-based startup that's disrupting the insurance industry by its collective-based model for cycling insurance
More than half of employees concerned about returning to work and majority of employees NOT comfortable using public transport
The GCHQ Innovation Co-Lab is on the hunt for companies harnessing data science, machine learning and AI techniques to create real products and solutions.
Eppik is a smart family photo sharing platform that helps families reconnect through their shared photo heritage
Published on: 13th June 2017
.png)
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- More than half of employees concerned about returning to work 2nd Jul 2020 More than half of employees concerned about returning to work and majority of employees NOT comfortable using public transport
- GCHQ Innovation Co-Lab seeks startups harnessing data science, machine learning and AI 2nd Jul 2020 The GCHQ Innovation Co-Lab is on the hunt for companies harnessing data science, machine learning and AI techniques to create real products and solutions.
- Ten Years On: 30% Club Sets New Targets 1st Jul 2020 New targets set by 30% Club aimed at achieving both gender diversity and fully inclusive cultures on FTSE Boards, Executive Committees and Chair Appointments
- Xero’s Roadmap to Recovery manifesto launched 1st Jul 2020 Xero’s Roadmap to Recovery manifesto launched as new data confirms impact of COVID-19 on UK small business revenue and employment
