Startup Grind is the largest independent startup community, actively educating, inspiring, and connecting more than 1,200,000 entrepreneurs in 400 cities. Startup Grind nurtures startup ecosystems in 150 countries through events, media, and partnerships with organisations like Google for Entrepreneurs. The cornerstone of our global community are monthly events featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Founded in Silicon Valley, Startup Grind has helped millions of entrepreneurs build their businesses, connect with strategic partners, and secure funding.

October sees Startup Grind Birmingham host their monthly Fireside Chat at iHub Birmingham, bringing two incredible, local entrepreneurs to share their stories - Mike Bandar and Simon Washbrook.

Mike is a Founding Partner at Turn Partners, a Startup Studio which acquires and creates digital startups. He has had various successes in a variety of areas from the first Instagram scheduling tool - Hopper HQ - to an online dating platform for older women looking for younger men - Toyboy Warehouse. Mike commits a lot of time supporting young entrepreneurs which has seen him become one of the youngest Honorary Doctorates from Aston University and the receiver of the British Empire Medal in the Queen's 2017 Birthday Honours List.

Simon is Founder of email marketing platform Popcorn. After years working in marketing roles for large corporations Simon set out to develop Popcorn after being frustrated with the solutions that existed. Simon wanted to build something that would help businesses to do more than simply monitor click and open rates. Popcorn is able to give businesses a lot more information about the individuals that they send email to to allow them to increase their understanding and provide content that is relevant and, thus, more likely to drive sales!

Come along on Wednesday 24th October at 6pm and hear from these two inspiring individuals and gain insight on how they have created their businesses and grown as entrepreneurs. This is also a great opportunity to network with like-minded individuals and learn more about the Startup Grind community.