STARTUP SPOTLIGHT: MEET SHARESY FOUNDER, FELIX ATKIN

As a leading PR agency for startups, we work with the world’s most exciting founders as they build, scale and exit their businesses, but what makes a great Founder? What inspires them? What challenges them and what advice would they give to others in their position? 

Our Startup Spotlight series features interviews with some of the most exciting young founders in the UK today, and this month we talk to Felix Atkin, founder of Sharesy, the venue hire platform that helps community hubs to thrive.

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What inspired you to start the business?

Sharesy was incorporated in June 2020, when COVID-19 first hit, and we were all locked in our homes. There was a zeitgeist emerging around community and togetherness, with people meeting their neighbours for the first time, helping with shopping and checking on one another. It inspired me to find ways to encourage human connection.

My wife, Vicki, was a deputy head teacher in a local state primary school and we had primary aged kids. Seeing local schools operating under financial constraints, with many operating in deficit, inspired me to find a solution to generate a sustainable income.

I started formulating the concept of Sharesy with a view to making local venues the vibrant hubs of the community that they were in times gone by.

Tell us about the business?

Sharesy is a venue hire platform for community spaces. Our mission is to equip community venues with the tools and knowledge they need to thrive.

Through Sharesy, venues gain control of their earning potential, with a hassle-free solution that consolidates listing, booking, payment, and reporting in one secure platform. Meanwhile, bookers can seamlessly discover and book local, affordable venues whilst giving back to their community.

How did you come up with the name?

The concept of Sharesy revolves around bringing people together in real life and enabling human connection. I wanted to find a name which referred to shared spaces, togetherness, giving and receiving, and supporting locals. I ended up with sheets of paper stuck on walls and windows all over my house, with names, logos, domain ideas and just mulled them over as I walked past them several times per day.

Ultimately, the decision came down to finding a domain which was available. In fact, sharesy.com wasn’t available, so we started out as Sharesy.io, but I found the owner of the .com domain in Florida, USA. I managed to track him down, picked up the phone and convinced him to sell it to me. He loved the concept of venue hire for community events and we’ve stayed in touch ever since.

What was your previous job / role?

Prior to starting Sharesy, I worked in big corporations in strategy and partnership roles. I always felt like a fish out of water in big companies, so I’ve steadily worked in smaller and smaller businesses, until I started my own business alone in my kitchen!

Earlier in my career, I was Head of Strategy for BT Consumer, generating new revenue opportunities for internet-based products and services. Throughout my career, I wrote video game and technology reviews for The Observer and The Guardian newspapers, for free and just for fun. I was invited as a guest of Sony PlayStation to the Champions League Final in Wembley in 2013. I arrived early and found the most senior person I could find – who turned out to be Jim Ryan, President of PlayStation Europe. I pitched an idea for partnership gaming with internet service providers and I was invited to a job interview there and then.

I spent the next 4 years in business development and partnership roles at PlayStation, building video content partnerships with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, HBO and Sky across 100+ EMEA territories.

From Sony, I moved to a health tech business, Spoon Guru, helping people to find foods to meet their dietary and wellbeing needs. I helped build Spoon Guru from an early-stage startup to delivering multinational innovation partnerships with some of the world’s biggest grocery retailers.

What has been your biggest challenge working in startups?

As a sole founder, I am responsible for strategy, people, legal, finance, whilst also being actively involved in sales. Context switching between mid to long term planning vs implementation day to day has been exhausting.

I now have an amazing team around me, who lead the day-to-day with our bookers and venues, but I still need to wear multiple hats. For me, that has been energising and exciting, but it’s been a steep learning curve.

What’s the best advice you have ever received?

Lean into your strengths. It’s great to be an all-rounder. In fact, it’s necessary in a startup environment! But it can be stressful to always be pushing the boundaries of your capabilities and to take ownership for responsibilities that you could delegate to someone with more direct knowledge or appropriate skillset.

I discovered that my strength is in storytelling and conveying my passion for an idea. That has benefited me throughout my career in strategy and business development, but particularly as a founder in selling the idea of Sharesy to my investors, early customers and to my employees. It has been liberating for me to delegate more to my team and it’s also been great for them to take on more accountability.

What’s your best tip for those currently seeking funding?

Treat the investment process like a business development exercise. The reality is that investors will have their own investment thesis and will already have an idea of the types of business they’ll invest in.  Expect lots of quick no’s, so you can hone in on your ideal investor profile. Hearing ‘no’ is empowering.

Once you’ve identified who you’re looking for, utilise your network to find introduction opportunities and be bold to get yourself in front of those people. When you get your first ‘yes’, use that connection to find more similar investors through their network and your own.

You only get one opportunity to make a first impression, so when you get that all important meeting or call, keep your pitch simple and just make sure your passion comes through.

What is your favourite book?

The Road by Cormac McCarthy, for taking me out my own reality and to allow my imagination to take over.

What entrepreneurs / leader or role model has inspired you the most?

My mum, Professor Wendy Atkin, was an incredible role model and inspiration for me. She was a world renowned cancer researcher and was awarded an OBE for her work in the early identification and treatment of bowel cancer. Her work has saved millions of lives and I am so proud of her. She lost her own battle with cancer in 2018 and she never got to see my work at Sharesy, but I know she’d be proud of what I’m trying to achieve.

What would be your anthem / song that would represent your business?

We’re going to be friends by The White Stripes.

Looking to the future, what award would you love Sharesy to win? 

The Community Heroes Award!

If you would like to work with a leading PR agency for startups, get in touch with us at info@cherishpr.com.