Today's Entrepreneur: Sinead Mac Manus

Kristin Karaoglu · November 21, 2013 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/335c

No. 1 mistake: Thinking they are right

Today's Entrepreneur is Sinead Mac Manus, CEO of Fluency Digital Ltd. According to her VEQ, Sinead is a thought leader and is good at fund raising and networking.

Fluency is a learning platform and marketplace that helps young people get into work. We help them unlock their latent digital skills and connect them with businesses who need them.

The company aims to address a common problem for early- and mid-stage businesses: their owners are experts in their fields but not experts in digital marketing even though it is an essential part of every business today. These businesses need help and are willing to pay for it, but are not in a position to hire staff.

Fluency connects these businesses to Fluency graduates - young people aged 18 to 25 with skills in web, social media and digital marketing - to tackle discrete pieces of work that the business is not equipped to handle in-house.

I am a(n):
Entrepreneur

Companies I've founded or co-founded:
Project Arts, 8fold

Startups I worked for:
None

If you are an entrepreneur, why?
I want to change the world.

My favorite startups:
AirBnb, Evernote, 37Signals

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?
The best thing about entrepreneurship is being able to make a difference in the world - and the speed in which you can have an idea and test it out.

The most frustrating thing is when everyone else is not moving as fast as you!

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make?
Easy! Thinking they are right. I actively seek feedback from customers, partners and team members for everything we do. I never pesume that I know all the answers.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?
1. Work hard, work fast.
2. Keep asking your customers what they need - and listen to their answers.
3. Keep the faith - even when it's hard.

(Want to be profiled? Just fill out your Vator profile and we'll find you! Or you can email newsroom@vator.tv)

Kristin Karaoglu

Woman of many skills: Database System Engineer; SplashX event producer; Author of Startup Teams

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Related Companies, Investors, and Entrepreneurs

Fluency

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on October 22, 2013

Fluency is a learning platform that helps young people aged 18 to 25 get into work. Our intuitive learning platform, teaches skills that small businesses, agencies and startups need and allows learners to put their skills to the test with real-world digital challenges. Insight from our platform allows us to match-make young people to employers and freelance opportunities effectively.

As a startup with a social mission, we want to help some of the 1 million unemployed young people in the UK (and the 5.6 million in Europe and 75 million worldwide) into work. We think our young people have a killer app that businesses need - they get digital. Fluency solves youth unemployment and the lack of digital capability in businesses by bringing them together.

Website: http://www.fluency.io/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/getfluency

Our Demo Day pitch from Bethnal Green Ventures: