Cambridge Tech Podcast

From a skateboard to millions of downloads, in this episode John Doherty, founder of OrcaSan - a no-code barcode application - talks us through is journey. He shares with us the business need that started the first app, how to commercialise a free download, how to build customer success (versus ‘sales’), defining product development through customers’ needs, growing through revenue vs investment, not ignoring ‘the legals’, and the role Cambridge has had in his learnings.A great lesson in building tech that is needed over something that is just ‘cool’.Produced by Carl Homer

This episode is with Ilyas Khan, Founder of Cambridge Quantum and Chief Product Officer of Quantinuum. It covers a range of topics starting with how Stephen Hawking led Ilyas on a mission to making quantum accessible and understandable resulting in a book published in February 2023 (already a best seller).With country after country committing to a programme to commercialise and industrialise Quantum computing, no one wants to get left behind, and this Cambridge-born company has a huge part to play.Ilyas talks about profound and significant uses of quantum in areas such as material/ pharmaceutical discovery, cyber security and natural language processing that will make ChatGPT look like an abacus.Tune in to hear about Quantinuum’s journey and Ilyas’s view on how founders should remain significant shareholders of their business, and how the investment community needs to embrace this.Link to the book Quantum in Pictures Produced by Carl Homer

#21toWatch is the annual celebration of the up-and-coming people, companies and ‘things’ that they create across Cambridge and the East of England. Now in its fifth year, the programme has recognised businesses that have since raised over £304 million including SATAVIA, Colorifix, Paragraf, Riverlane, Flusso, Sook, Better Origin, Porotech, Cambridge Gan Devices and DiosVax.James talks to Faye about the #21toWatch programme and who this year’s winners are, and then this episode features two of the winners – Ama Frimpong, 52 North Health, and Simon Jones, Helio Display Materials.Click here for the full list of the Top21.2023 winners.We also talk to Tabitha Goldstaub about Innovate Cambridge.Produce by Carl Homer.