Who are we? Business Venturing aims to support the business start-up community by providing an environment for seeking advice and for having discussions with like-minded individuals. We seek to bridge the gap between academic thinking and “real-life” practice, and offer our members the chance to discuss and seek advice from academics and experienced practitioners. We also offer a networking platform that allows our members to have discussions of issues and experiences with other business start-ups. It is also a great place to network with a wider audience of potential business acquaintences. What do we want? To build the premier networked community that supports business venturing through academic and practitioner knowledge and experience. What are our values? Dynamic and entrepreneurial Supportive but realistic, where businesses are nurtured Empathetic & Secure, it’s a safe environment for our members Why Business Venturing? Business Venturing is founded by Andrew Read and Shu Hau Lai. They met whilst studying an MSc in Business Venturing, where they found a good synergy between their working styles and experiences. While developing their business plans they often needed a wider network for advice that was supporting and capable of mentoring them through the early stages of start-up. Hence, Business Venturing was born. Who are behind Business Venturing? Andrew Read   Andrew has over 15 years software industry experience in high tech start-ups in many aspects of business from engineering through to marketing. Andrew has also been through acquisitions, high profile venture capital backed start-ups and has worked for two of the worlds largest international software companies. Andrew has already started one successful small business and is also the founder of Cenetrix Systems which is in its early stages. He holds a BSc Computer Science from Greenwich University and an MSc Business Venturing from Southampton University.   Shu Hau Lai   Shu is currently completing his PhD in Engineering. He is qualified to BEng Mechanical Engineering and MSc Business Venturing from the University of Southampton, and is an Associate Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and a Member of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia. His understanding of technology and his research interests has led to the formation of his current business idea. Shu is originally from Malaysia, and has lived in Europe for 7 years (living in the UK and Germany) as well as having travelled extensively to other parts of the world, including the US, China, Australia, amongst others.