Totem launched its own hybrid events platform in 2020 with the aim of reimagining virtual events in the wake of COVID-19. Totem allows clients to take control of their event landscape, allowing them to create bespoke white label events for anything from ten people to ten thousand people.

Totem was founded by Christopher Bo Shields and Alex Hughes, who have 20 years of experience of developing tech for the events business. They saw the problems that brands were experiencing due to COVID-19 and decided to put their efforts into building something that would solve the problem for the industry that they love.

What’s the most common problem your customers approach you with?

Our customers went into flux when COVID happened – all of the hard work they’d put into making their events unique had come to nothing because everyone had to have a virtual event that looked and felt exactly the same as everything else. By developing Totem, we’re allowing clients to create unique branded event experiences in a way that isn’t possible with any other platform.

What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?

We are inspired by making tech that is relevant and that people need to use.

How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry? 

We’re not just a tech company that builds platforms for the sake of it. We’re passionate about the events industry. The best gift for us is seeing events people use the platform in a way that helps them to transform their businesses.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?

Listen to your gut. If something feels good, do it and do it quickly. If you have a good idea, your biggest job and challenge is to make everyone else believe in it.

With all the success stories around entrepreneurship and how innovative people have to be to take the leap. How do you think you’ve innovated your sector and why?

We’ve taken rapid prototyping to the next level, which we use to power our creativity. We hold ideas clinics where we can apply a sprint mentality to the creative process, which helps us to quickly decide if an idea is good or not. It’s an effective way of being creative that quickly shows us when an idea deserves to live or die. Sometimes you’ve just got to know when to kill an idea!

What are your top tips for entrepreneurs wanting to get their business out there?

You have to keep in mind what you’re trying to achieve. If you want to create something that is scalable and that makes money, keep focused on that and do the maths. You might find that it’s a nice idea but it’s not going to make money.

How important is company culture and what is your top tip to get it right?

It is crucial – empowering people and giving them responsibility is essential. Let them fail quickly so they can learn and move on, and therefore help you in the future.

Any new product launches we should know about?

We are launching a new product name Sci+Med, a version of Totem for the science, pharma and medical sectors. These businesses have to hold hundreds and even thousands of meetings every year to get drugs approved. And these events are unique to that world. Sci+Med will allow these meetings to take place in a hybrid world.

How do you believe the evolution of tech will affect your industry over the next 10 years?

It’s not the evolution of tech that will drive it. It will be Generation Z coming into the workplace, along with their experiences of being digital natives who’ve never known any other kind of life. That’s what will be driving the evolution of the market – the digital expectations of the next generation of workers.

Is word of mouth working to your advantage?

It’s the only way that we market ourselves. If you work in the events industry, your clients have to have trust in you. They have to believe that suppliers will deliver their baby.

What social media channel would you say has worked the best for your business and why?

LinkedIn used to be great but it has become a place of noise. Nothing is tailored and nothing is right for the audience anymore. I think there’s a massive opportunity for someone to develop another platform that has laser precision on people’s work-life needs.