On Tuesday 21st March, four University of Birmingham alumni visited the Business School, for an exclusive panel event; The Secret to Start-up Success.

The panel event was well attended by students, staff and alumni all looking for advice and guidance on where to take their start-up idea.

The panel consisted of; Daniel Bridgewater (Business Management with Communications, 2014), Sean Henry (Executive MBA - International Business, 1996), John Powell (Biological Sciences and Geography, 1977) and Joycelyn Mate (Sociology, 2012).

The panel, which was hosted by Mohammed Ali, the Business Start-up Manager for the University, shared their background and personal experience of starting a business. They discussed their biggest challenge, biggest success and biggest mistake, and offered personal and practical advice for those looking to start a business, or take their start-up to a full-time venture.

Both Sean and John, who are more experienced entrepreneurs, shared their breadth of knowledge of taking a business from start-up status to a highly lucrative and successful stage, while Joycelyn and Daniel had a younger, fresher approach, both being relatively early in their business careers. The diversity of the panel made for a dynamic and exciting discussion, with interesting and challenging questions from the audience.

This event was the pilot in a new Start-up Series launched by Alumni Relations, which will continue to run each spring.