The incubator for grown-ups finally opens it’s waiting-list to the next wave of ambitious middle-aged entrepreneurs after initially selling-out. Created by Hugo Pickford-Wardle and Dan Roe operating globally. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PRURGENT
LONDON - 9 October, 2019 – Startup Sherpa today announced the launch of the 2nd wave of the 'Bodacious Business Incubator’ - The first and only startup support designed especially for the Michael J. Fox Generation. Designed as a truly 'entrepreneur-first incubator' from its inception, it is a response to the dearth of support for middle-aged entrepreneurs.
“You get 22 year olds the VCs support because they are cheap labour with good ideas. You get the 55 year olds who are willing to self-fund their labour costs to create a legacy. There’s nothing for the highly successful, highly ambitious 35-55yr olds who want to create their own bodacious business.” Says Hugo Pickford-Wardle Founder of Startup Sherpa.
The remote incubator provides the step-by-step guidance on how to launch your business without risking everything. It is only 25 minutes a day, making it possible for anyone to start their startup.
"Because we’re entreprepreneur first we can do things other incubators can’t - like challenging our Sherpees to quit at the end of every expedition. The best thing for the entrepreneur might be to kill the business." Say’s Dan Roe who founded Startup Sherpa after undertaking his own journey from the corporate world into the thorny world of startups.
People from Dallas to Dubai are benefiting from the Startup Sherpa experience.
“Startup Sherpa got me from 'I have no idea how to do this' to 'It’s real!'. The programme has given me confidence and the tasks they give, while challenging at the time, provide a real blueprint to taking your ideas out into the real world.” Say's Anne, a Sherpee from Dubai who’s making it easier for women to speak about the menopause.
Launched as '100 gnarly daily missions to create 1 bodacious business’ Sherpees share their journey with fellow entrepreneurs. This community is founded on the simple values we learnt in the 80s from Bill and Ted - “Be awesome to each other.” That means providing accountability, a shoulder to cry on when things are tough and someone to high-five at the moments of pure delight.
Startup Sherpa is not just about 80’s puns. For both Dan and Hugo, there was an additional, and more personal connection that drove them to create Startup Sherpa. While starting from different places (Hugo coming from a purely entrepreneurial background, and Dan from a corporate one) they both experienced the personal impact that starting a business brings.
“It’s taken me 2 years to recover. I lost my mental health, my financial wellbeing and very nearly my family. I’m lucky, I’ve survived but the idea of other people who have built their family, their life and their future over the years and are now going to go into change strategy and gamble everything on a startup, blind. That fills me with dread. They are the people we want to support to make the best possible choices.” - said Hugo.
“Having lost the passion for the corporate world, I left with a vision of creating my own Startup to give me more time with my family and more financial freedom. However, anxiety crept up on me without me realising it, with the very real and looming prospect of my financial wellbeing disappearing, and it affected not just me, but the whole of my family. The worst thing about it was not seeing it coming, and realising (nearly too late) that it affected my confidence and my happiness. It’s the mental side-effects that people don’t think about, and one that deeply affects relationships with friends and family.” - said Dan.
Resilience support is at the very foundations of the incubator because when you look at the statistics on mental health in startup founders, it’s just unacceptable.
The waiting list for the next wave of Sherpees is now open to people who are at the start of their entrepreneurial journey. Be quick, we expect it to fill up in the next couple of days. It’s free to sign up, you only pay what you think it’s worth and we only ask you to do that at the end of the first expedition.
Website: www.startupsherpas.org
Telephone enquiries: 07869412356
Press Enquiries: hugo starupsherpas.org
“There are so many sharkey programmes out there. We want to really separate ourselves from them. The feedback we get is as bodacious as the businesses we’re helping build so we’re confident it’s a model that’s going to work for us.” Say’s Dan.
About Hugo Pickford-Wardle
Hugo is no stranger to startup life. He’s appeared on the front page of the FT for trying to start a private airline flying skiers to the Alps, He’s become Mister Truffle, a leading expert in London’s food community selling Fresh Truffles by the gram and most recently helped the iconic magazine Vogue move into the business-to-business space with the launch of Vogue Business.
About Dan Roe
Dan has been running education businesses for long enough that he had hair when he started. Recently he’s been traversing the globe educating and coaching innovators for people like Startupbootcamp and Rainmaking Innovation. His realisation working at Pearson was the kindling for Startup Sherpa - There are 100s of tools, but none of them are glued together. | 
