There’s no time to waste

Will it be calmer under Starmer?

“There’s no time to waste.”

Several members of the Cabinet have used this phrase since Friday including the PM himself…

It’s a simple, subtle message you may have missed, but the fact it’s been repeated so many times means it’s been planned by some smart brand positioning, strategy people.

It’s clever because it serves a number of purposes:

1 – The public has already seen so many wasted opportunities

Labour could have used the word ‘lost’, but the verb ‘waste’ is also a common noun, which conjures negative visual images of rubbish. Something people want to get away from and leave others to deal with.

2 – It’s an apple-pie statement

This is one that’s hard to disagree with. I.e – everyone loves apple pie.

For example:

“People need love.”
“It’s important to make progress.”
“We need to look after our families.”

It sounds impressive, but actually, you’re just getting people to nod.

3 – It’s philosophical, factual and assertive without being another weak opinion 

“We don’t have any time to waste,” or “We can’t waste any more time” puts the burden of the cause on the subject or the speaker.

But “there’s no time” removes responsibility. It’s a fact. Everyone knows time is short.

4 – It’s punchy and monkey-brain friendly

Solid, little words like this are easier to tap into the monkey brain with.

For example, “Take back control”. Even though I loathe the leave movement, this was a genius phrase.

“There’s no time to waste,” would get a nod from the primate side of the brain.

5 – It suggests the cause of the fault is something else. I.e – the last government 

6 – It paints a picture of a practical, emergency government rolling up its sleeves to unclog the drains 

It’s the type of phrase you’d expect from an emergency surgeon or plumber. It’s objective and professional.

It implies no one else wants to or can do this job.

“We’re professionals, we’ll get it sorted, but we have to move fast.”

7 – Interestingly, Starmer didn’t say “we have to move fast,” though

In fact, the opposite. While saying “there’s no time to waste”, within the same few minutes, he also said “it will take time to make changes”.

In other words, he’s bought time to work out what’s really going on while showing he’s assertive and confident.

Dull messages destroy deals. If you’re not being bold, you’re going to be seen as average, beige, vanilla and boring.

Get your go-to-market going. Bust the big bids. Create the content.

Make your messaging stand out with Tollejo. DM me if you want to talk.

The UK – no place for incubators

I had a great meeting with an international accelerator soon to launch in the City of London.

Their premise: a London-centric focus limits growth. You need to be international from day one. While you often hear the UK is an easy place to do business, the reality for a start-ups is that it’s not.

The assumption is that the London ecosystem will help you – but this is false.

True – the funding, network, talent and infrastructure are in London. But for tech companies, the entire funding and buying mentality is based on proof of what you’ve done rather than seeing the opportunity of what you could do.

In other words, as Sir Martin Sorrell says, London prefers construction and financial services because they are proven. The markets here don’t like tech.

Why?

In a brilliant podcast – The Difference Engine – Jonathan Simnett and Paul Maher interview brand positioning legend Andi Cunningham. She says East Coast-based Harvard University prioritises teaching what has happened in the past. West Coast-based Stanford teaches what could happen in the future. And the Silicon Valley tech companies are founded on that basis.

Move that further east to London, which is even more focused on proof of what happened, it’s unlikely the City of London will spawn a tech giant without making some serious changes.

Instead said accelerator guys are planning to use London for its talent, but ensure their companies are exposed to the US and Middle Eastern markets for sales, funding and growth. This will ensure they don’t go down the rabbit hole so many UK start-ups do in believing the UK will deliver fast returns.

I like it. It resonates and anyone you know who has run a start-up will tell you – the UK is not an easy place to do it.

Read this and see who backed it

If you want to boost the start-up economy, look again at the employee share scheme rules. Read this LinkedIn post from Tom Leathes, CEO of Motorway.

Stand by

The Q2 Growth Blockers Survey may be coming your way this week…

Reach out.

Tell us what you’d like to see in the Executive Summary for Q3.

Have a great week

Dan