With £100k in development services up for grabs and the deadline for entries on the 19th of June, we caught up with Julian Baladurage , who’s team at MBJ, are putting on the fantastic Launchpad competition for idea-stage startups around the world.

1) Everyone’s got a unique story. How did you land up as the managing partner at MBJ?

I actually incorporated MBJ in 2011 during my undergraduate degree. We began by offering business-consulting services to other students and SMEs as well as SEO and social media strategy advice for some larger corporate clients. Running my own company had always been a dream of mine since I was little so it just felt natural. Things really picked up when I met my business partner, Toni Horn in 2012. We both had similar visions for where we would like the company to go and we quickly realised that our skill sets complement each other very well.

2) Tell us a little bit more about the competition, and some of the inspirations behind launching it.

The competition is split into 3 rounds plus a final. During the first round, anyone from anywhere in the world can submit his or her application in the form of a one to two-minute “elevator pitch” style video. During round two the top 10 of those videos will be uploaded online for the public to vote for their favorites. The four ideas with the most votes will be announced in August. For the third round we will then fly the top four teams into London and accommodate them for 5 nights in a hotel. We have organised a sort of “startup bootcamp” for the teams whilst they are in London and we will be introducing them to a whole host of industry related figures. The final will be held at Google Campus in London and each team will have 15-20 minutes to pitch their idea in front of an independent panel and an audience of around 150 people. The winning team will be announced and we will then take them off on a three-day business-building trip to a secret location in southern England.

One of the main goals of the competition is to encourage would be entrepreneurs to follow their dreams and start their own businesses, without the risk of shark-like investors coming along and taking a big chunk of their business away before it has properly got off the ground. This is something that resonates with us as we have been through all the motions of setting up and running our own venture and we want to offer support to other people out there that also want to become entrepreneurs. We work with startups on a frequent basis (about 70% of our client base are startups) and mentor lots of aspiring entrepreneurs trying to establish their own businesses. We were also looking for ways to get the MBJ name out into the global arena and from there the idea of MBJ LaunchPad was born. It allows us to continue doing what we enjoy – helping and working with startups, whilst simultaneously getting exposure for the MBJ brand.

3) What makes this competition different? Is it the process, the prizes or the mentorship?

It is a mixture of all three of those things. The process allows applicants to submit their ideas without the need for an in-depth knowledge of business; this is something that we can help them out with later on. The second stage of the competition acts almost like a minimum viable product (MVP) as it forces the applicants to go out into the public domain and seek feedback on their idea. From there they can already begin tweaking and optimising their business model and strategies so that by the time the four finalist teams are announced they will already have a solid idea of where to take their vision and how to go about it.

The prizes are also a differentiator. We have no doubt that the finalist teams are going to have an awesome time as our guests in London. It is going to be a great mix of hard work, learning, networking, tourism and then some good old partying for those who want.

We are also really lucky to have been able to assemble such a great team of mentors and partners. They will be offering their expertise to the teams throughout the final five days and beyond. Our partners include companies like IBM, Virgin Startup, the High Growth tech team in KPMG, the startup lab within DAC Beachcroft, and of course Included!

4) Who’s involved with the judging and mentoring phases? And why them?

The mentors and judges all come from various backgrounds and each one has been carefully selected. Some run their own successful startups whilst others come from more corporate backgrounds and bring with them a wide range of knowledge and contact networks. Others work solely with startups, mentoring and advising them on every aspect of setting up and running your own business. Then there are also of course the MBJ consultants and advisory board who are also very diverse in their areas of expertise and will be getting involved. You can read all their profiles on the MBJ LaunchPad website

5) So this entire competition culminates in a big event in London, can you tell us what can be expected at the event?

This final event is going to be held at Google Campus in London on the 22nd of October. The event will be spread over the whole evening and will consist of several networking sessions, some very interesting keynote speakers as well as the final pitches themselves of course. There will be about 150 people in the audience, all of whom will have been invited by us. It will be a great blend of industry related figures including investors, CEOs, university deans, journalists, startup founders, and a whole range of others. It is going to be a fantastic networking opportunity for everyone! I’m sure there will no doubt be some heading out for a night on the town afterwards too.

6) Can you tell us a bit of the thought process behind why you invited included.co in as a partner of the MBJ Launchpad?

One of the main reasons for partnering with Included was your ethos of helping other startups and entrepreneurs to find good quality, and affordable office space; something that is of paramount importance to any early stage company. You have built your business around helping other people in the industry and offering cost saving opportunities to startups which fits right in with our passion for helping and working with startups.

Included have partners across Europe and we also work with a number of organisations that are all working towards consolidating the European startup ecosystem. Our aim is to provide more opportunities for fellow Europeans to find success with their entrepreneurial ventures. How could anybody not want to be involved with that?!

So there you have it! A massive thank you to Julian and your team for taking the time to chat with us, for inviting us to be partners of the competition and for the kind words.

So if you’ve got a startup idea, why not enter? We could be meeting you in London later in the year!