Research: TechWeek Readers Give Thumbs Up To Startups

Are startups helping IT people do their jobs, or are they a glamorous distraction from the real work of making technology work in organisations? That’s what we asked members of TechWeekEurope’s Tech Club members  – and you gave us a positive answer.

We sometimes feel that startups inhabit a rarefied zone, immune to the normal rules of business. They also seem to chase consumers and follow fashion. Are they ignoring the needs of business? What have they ever done for working IT managers? This was the reasoning behind some research, in which we asked members of the Tech Club networking group of IT professionals what they thought about startups.

Your startup for ten

The  answers left us repentant of our cold cynical outlook. Of the Tech Club members who answered our poll, 40 percent already work in startups. The remaininder of you, it seems would be very happy to move to one if the opportunity arose.

Of the people who currently don’t work in a startup, nearly nine-tenths (85 percent) would be happy to move to one.

Tech  Club members  believe that startup culture gets results – an overwhelming 69 percent of you thought that startups were more likely to produce successful innovative projects, than conventional firms. A further 22 percent thought that IT people are the same wherever you find them – so they succeed about as often in startups as they do in conventional outfits.

Only nine percent of you thought that startups were actually less likely to foster good projects.

A big majority (80 percent) of you think that startups should get tax breaks, in recognition of their role in developing  new approaches in new markets – perhaps ensuring that Britain gets a foothold in emerging areas and boosting the overall economy.

And finally, Tech Club members see a lot of ways in which startups actually help them. Nearly half (43 percent) believe that startups provide new business tools that they want to use. Ten percent of you want to invest your money in them. And again, large numbers of you want to work at startups, citing a better work environment.

As well as the options we offered, members suggested that startups are attractive because they are “disruptive”, “faster” and “more focused.

As one member put it, at a startup you get to “build the future”. We promise never to be cynical about them again.

Today, we take Tech Club to Old Street to enjoy London’s start-up culture – we’ll tell you how that went later…

London’s startups hang out in Tech City. Try our quiz!