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Welcome to the 82nd episode of Decode Quantum, this time, with Chris Ballance, the cofounder and CEO of Oxford Ionics. This time, I am alone, without Fanny who is seemingly busy at OVHcloud for whatever reason and couldn’t be with us today. She’s like a Minister nowadays.
So, Chris, to introduce you, you are the cofounder and CEO of Oxford Ionics since its inception in 2019. Your cofounder is Tom Harty who is the company’s CTO. Before that, you were a senior researcher at Oxford University, where you did your PhD between 2010 and 2015. And by the way, just yesterday, you just inaugurated your new global headquarters in the Oxford Technology Park, 2,800 square meters, along with UK Science Minister Lord Patrick Vallance.
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This is my late and last post covering Leweb 2009. Like every other year (2006, 2007, 2008), I will make a roundup of the presenting startups in the conference.
This year, startups didn’t have to pay to present, like in previous years. As a result, the competition seemed opened to more early stage companies and it did show. Only two had already got some VC funding and less than half had significant business angel back-up. There were fewer startups presenting: 16 instead of 30 last year.
The selection included many ecommerce tools, various social network tools, and other stuff. Many of these had some pieces of “real time web”, mostly through connecting somewhat with Twitter and the likes. In the social networking space, most of the innovations are about integrating the various social networking platforms around. Many many startups want to play this game, but only a few may survive.
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Since 2006, I’m playing the photoreporter role at Leweb, on top of blogging and networking.
This year, I took with me my two Canon reflex cameras (DSLR) with a wide angle lense and a zoom lense. Every year, I learn the way to improve my shootings. This year, I got very nice results with using a mix of high ISO sensors (5D II), wide apperture lenses (2.8), fast speed (1/400s) and with caring about good focusing. My pictures are not retouched at all beyond basic RAW files processing using Adobe Lightroom, with some color balance and lighting adjustments. Despite the gear, I’m NOT a professional photographer. It’s just a hobby!
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