blog – SkilledUp Life
\ \ Bootstrapped A candid chat between Manoj Ranaweera and Michael Livingstone of DustID \ \ Extract from the podcast on Spotify – words from Michael Livingstone of DustID. Michael Livingstone speaks with Manoj Ranaweera, founder of Techcelerate, Deal Lite, and SkilledUp Life, about…\ \ Jun 2026⏱ 3 min](/content/a-candid-chat-between-manoj-ranaweera-and-michael-livingstone-of-dustid/index.html) \ \ Case Studies Coachee is live thanks to SkilledUp Lifers \ \ Coach Tribe, founded by Chiraz Bensemanne, has been a tech startup customer of SkilledUp Life for several years. It was a pleasure to hear that Version 2 of…\ \ May 2026⏱ 2 min](/content/coachee-is-live-thanks-to-skilledup-lifers/index.html) \ \ General Job Boards. Courses. Internships. Freelancing. You have tried them All. So why are you still Stuck? Here is the One Move that closes All \ \ Let us start with something that most career advice refuses to say out loud. You have not been lazy. You have not been passive. You have applied, studied,…\ \ Apr 2026⏱ 10 min](/content/job-boards-courses-internships-freelancing-you-have-tried-them-all-so-why-are-you-still-stuck-here-is-the-one-move-that-closes-all/index.html) \ \ Product SkilledUp Life Recruitment Process \ \ SkilledUp Life’s recruitment process, until the release of Version 2 of our product included the following steps: Version 2 improved the process drastically. Other than removing a step,…\ \ Apr 2026⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-recruitment-process/index.html) \ \ Product Volunteer Profile Completion \ \ Your profile must be fully completed to apply for Volunteer Opportunities. This includes completing optional fields. The word “optional” is confusing and we plan to rectify this in…\ \ Apr 2026⏱ 1 min](/content/volunteer-profile-completion/index.html) \ \ CEO braindumps Re-establishing our Priorities \ \ Our business model is simple, yet we have not made it easy for ourselves due to succession planning failures. So what’s important to us? As a result of…\ \ Apr 2026⏱ 2 min](/content/re-establishing-our-priorities/index.html) \ \ General SkilledUp Life becomes the strategic career accelerator \ \ The rules of work have changed. Degrees still matter. Certificates still help. But they no longer decide who gets hired.What employers now look for is proof. Proof that…\ \ Mar 2026⏱ 4 min](/content/skilledup-life-volunteering-has-become-a-strategic-career-accelerator-see-how-this-applies-to-you/index.html) \ \ Opportunities SkilledUp Life as a Career Accelerator – Our Volunteer Opportunities \ \ SkilledUp Life is a career accelerator that helps people gain real-world experience and skills from global tech startups, build credible and referenceable proof of experience, and fast-track transition…\ \ Jan 2026⏱ 4 min](/content/skilledup-life-as-a-career-accelerator-our-volunteer-opportunities/index.html) \ \ Testimonials Testimonial with a smile – Dora Blasberg \ \ At SkilledUp Life, we are privileged to work with remarkable global talents who bring fresh energy, new perspectives, and a relentless drive for excellence. Among them Dora Blasberg has truly…\ \ Sep 2025⏱ 2 min](/content/testimonial-with-a-smile-dora-blasberg/index.html) \ \ Testimonials Testimonial with a smile – Dora Blasberg \ \ At SkilledUp Life, we are privileged to work with remarkable global talents who bring fresh energy, new perspectives, and a relentless drive for excellence. Among them Dora Blasberg…\ \ Sep 2025⏱ 1 min](/content/testimonial-with-a-smile-dora-blasberg-2/index.html) \ \ General ContentLift Hackathon – October 2025 \ \ Exciting news. SkilledUp Life has partnered with our tech startup customer, Yai Digital, to support the ContentLift Hackathon – a global initiative where SkilledUp Life’s Volunteers and AI…\ \ Sep 2025⏱ 2 min](/content/contentlift-hackathon-october-2025/index.html) \ \ General SkilledUp Life partners with Founderflow to accelerate Sri Lankan tech startups \ \ Uniting Sri Lankan Tech Founders and Tech Startups SkilledUp Life is partnering with Founderflow to accelerate the growth of Sri Lankan tech startups. This includes tech startups founders…\ \ Sep 2025⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-partners-with-founderflow-to-accelerate-sri-lankan-tech-startups/index.html) 🚀\ \ General eLearningLK and SkilledUp Life helping Sri Lankans to elevate \ \ Part 1: Empowering Growth: A Collaborative Case Study of SkilledUp Life and eLearningLK Partnership The purpose of this case study is to provide insights into the partnership between…\ \ Sep 2025⏱ 4 min \ \ Use Cases Case Study: SleepHabits – Helping the world sleep better \ \ The first step is always the hardest. It is especially true for tech startups. You may have a clear blueprint for the development of your company and a…\ \ Sep 2025⏱ 2 min](/content/case-study-sleephabits-helping-the-world-sleep-better/index.html) 🚀\ \ General Be like Michael \ \ For years, Michael struggled to get his tech startup off the ground due to a lack of capital. Since he started leveraging https://www.skilledup.life/, https://www.dustid.com/ has started to thrive.…\ \ Aug 2025⏱ 1 min ⚡\ \ CEO Rants Wrapping SkilledUp Life as a Service \ \ SkilledUp Life helps anyone with an idea for a tech startup to build a team to validate the idea systematically. Once it’s validated, tech founders can proceed to…\ \ Aug 2025⏱ 1 min \ \ Marketing Deputy Head of Marketing \ \ We are rebuilding the marketing team to help us: There are two approaches:\ \ May 2025⏱ 1 min](/content/deputy-head-of-marketing/index.html) \ \ Companies Manchester based Logistics Tech Startup, Afrilish joins SkilledUp Life \ \ Manchester-based Logistics Tech Startup, Afrilish joins SkilledUp Life in May 2025 to grow their tech startup. Founded by Daniel Eze, Afrilish is the go-to app for African food…\ \ May 2025⏱ 1 min](/content/manchester-based-logistics-tech-startup-afrilish-joins-skilledup-life/index.html) \ \ Product Build your product team with SkilledUp Life \ \ SkilledUp Life is a gold mine for bootstrapped tech founders who want to build scalable digital products and achieve traction without needing to raise equity finance. In this…\ \ Apr 2025⏱ 4 min](/content/build-your-product-team-with-skilledup-life/index.html) \ \ General SkilledUp Life partners with Accelerate ME, University of Manchester’s Accelerator \ \ I’m thrilled to announce our latest partnership, this time with a Manchester-based Accelerator, Accelerate ME. Before 2025, if my memory serves me right, I have spoken at two…\ \ Apr 2025⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-partners-with-accelerate-me-university-of-manchesters-accelerator/index.html) \ \ Volunteers How Volunteering at SkilledUp Life Helped Ye Wang Secure an Opportunity at Lenovo \ \ Ye Wang, a talented UI/UX Designer, recently leveraged her volunteer experience at SkilledUp Life to land a job as a Web Designer at Lenovo in Beijing, China. Ye…\ \ Mar 2025⏱ 2 min](/content/how-volunteering-at-skilledup-life-helped-ye-wang-secure-an-opportunity-at-lenovo/index.html) 📝\ \ Volunteers From Volunteer to Global SEO Expert: Emmanuel Akyeam’s Journey with SkilledUp Life \ \ In today’s competitive digital world, breaking into remote work or even securing long-term employment without prior experience can seem like an uphill battle. After the pandemic, when businesses…\ \ Mar 2025⏱ 4 min ⭐\ \ Events Recap: Build Your Tech Startups with 55,000 Skilled Volunteers (February 28, 2025) \ \ The SkilledUp Life X Space event takes place every Friday at 12 PM GMT, providing a platform for tech founders to learn how to build and scale their…\ \ Mar 2025⏱ 2 min 📝\ \ Volunteers How to Use SkilledUp Life Volunteering to Build Your Personal Brand \ \ Everyone talks about how building a personal brand can help you to not just stand out alone, but also get jobs as a beginner, but they don’t really…\ \ Feb 2025⏱ 4 min 🚀\ \ General How WasteDump is set to Achieve its Recycling Goals with SkilledUp Life’s Support \ \ Running a Tech Startup is already hard enough, the least you can do is to find ways to reduce your company’s expenses and maximize the skilled support team…\ \ Feb 2025⏱ 2 min 🚀\ \ General How the CEO of LocaeRise Juggles Through Entrepreneurship with SkilledUp Life Volunteers \ \ The life of a serial entrepreneur juggling so many businesses can feel like juggling fireballs; it feels exciting, yet risky as hell. Yvonne Buluma-Samba, the founder and CEO…\ \ Feb 2025⏱ 3 min \ \ Partnerships SkilledUp Life and Eko Institute: A Partnership forged to empower Tech Talent and Startups \ \ At SkilledUp Life, our mission is clear: to provide individuals with hands-on experience in the tech ecosystem while helping startups access talented individuals who can drive their visions…\ \ Dec 2024⏱ 2 min](/content/skilledup-life-and-eko-institute-a-partnership-forged-to-empower-tech-talent-and-startups/index.html) \ \ General Case Study: E-Spaces to LocaeRise by Yvonne Buluma-Samba \ \ Background to the story Yvonne Buluma-Samba, Tech Founder of E-Spaces Marketplace running LocaeRise and BuildLocalGrowGlobal, first engaged with SkilledUp Life in August 2022. Her engagement with SkilledUp Life has been dynamic and…\ \ Dec 2024⏱ 4 min](/content/case-study-e-spaces-to-locaerise-by-yvonne-buluma-samba/index.html) \ \ Testimonials Testimonial from Angie Huang from China \ \ Hello everyone, my name is Angie. I am a student from China and I am currently studying for a master’s degree at UCL in the UK. During my…\ \ Nov 2024⏱ 2 min](/content/testimonial-from-angie-huang-from-china/index.html) \ \ General SkilledUp Life Weekly Knowledgeshare \ \ Today, we had a lively discussion with several tech startup customers and prospects during our weekly LinkedIn session. Customers who took part included: Prospects took part included:\ \ Nov 2024⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-weekly-knowledgeshare/index.html) \ \ Events SkilledUp Life weekly knowledge share 8th Nov 2024 \ \ Today, we were joined by two customers: They joined during the last 15 mins.\ \ Nov 2024⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-weekly-knowledge-share-8th-nov-2024/index.html) \ \ General From 136 applications to rapid results, the Grow For Me story with SkilledUp Life \ \ Grow For Me is an AgriTech startup from Accra, Ghana. It uses an online crowdfunding platform to support local farming efforts. This allows anyone, no matter where they…\ \ Nov 2024⏱ 2 min](/content/from-136-applications-to-rapid-results-the-grow-for-me-story-with-skilledup-life/index.html) \ \ Events Post Exit Founders Virtual Conference \ \ I used the mindmap below to present my talk during today’s Post Exit Founders Virtual Conference organised by Max Pog and the team. If you attended my talk,…\ \ Nov 2024⏱ 1 min](/content/post-exit-founders-virtual-conference/index.html) ⭐\ \ Events Supporting AcceleratorCON, New York \ \ SkilledUp Life is teaming up with AcceleratorCON to support their conference on 8th November 2024 at Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City, USA. Win a Free Ticket…\ \ Nov 2024⏱ 1 min ⭐\ \ Events Weekly LinkedIn knowledge share 1st Nov 2024 \ \ Discussion on 1st November 2024 focused on building tech startups with 51,000 skilled volunteers from SkilledUp Life. We were joined by: The event was hosted by me (Manoj)…\ \ Nov 2024⏱ 1 min \ \ Events Building impactful communities and products Post-Exit \ \ For the third time, I will join Max Pog and the crew to make his conference series successful. As expected, our SkilledUp Life community will also be invited…\ \ Oct 2024⏱ 1 min](/content/building-impactful-communities-and-products-post-exit/index.html) \ \ Product Beautiful Products \ \ Since I started my tech entrepreneur journey back in 2004, I never had brilliant designers to bring justice to my ideas. I envied products designed by amazing teams.…\ \ Oct 2024⏱ 1 min](/content/beautiful-products/index.html) \ \ Partnerships New Partnership Announcement: Eko Institute of Technology \ \ I’m glad to announce the new partnership with Eko Institute of Technology of Nigeria, which educates individuals in gaining knowledge on: In addition to the above, Eko runs…\ \ Oct 2024⏱ 1 min](/content/new-partnership-announcement-eko-institute-of-technology/index.html) \ \ Partnerships Digital Witch partners with SkilledUp Life \ \ The Digital Witch Support Community, led by Ekwutosi Cynthia Okeh, equips individuals with the essential digital skills to thrive in remote work environments. With a background in customer…\ \ Oct 2024⏱ 3 min](/content/digital-witch-partners-with-skilledup-life/index.html) ⭐\ \ Events LinkedIn Event Coverage 25th Oct 2024 \ \ Recording of SkilledUp Life weekly discussion on Linkedin which took place on the 25th October 2024. Attended by Tech Founders: Hosts:\ \ Oct 2024⏱ 1 min \ \ General WasteDump innovates recycling in South Africa with SkilledUp Life’s Volunteer Talent \ \ WasteDump, a South African tech startup founded in 2022 is on a mission to transform recycling through an innovative e-hailing mobile application. The app enables households to separate recyclable…\ \ Oct 2024⏱ 3 min](/content/wastedump-innovates-recycling-in-south-africa-with-skilledup-lifes-volunteer-talent/index.html) \ \ Use Cases Career Transition through SkilledUp Life \ \ Want to transition your career? Have you been in the same industry for over 10 years? Fancy a transition? No idea how to go about it? If so,…\ \ Oct 2024⏱ 2 min](/content/career-transition-through-skilledup-life/index.html) \ \ Press Press Release: Past SkilledUp Life Customer Raises £1.6M Investment \ \ 1st October 2024 Manchester, UK — Cytix, a tech startup from Manchester and a past customer of SkilledUp Life has secured £1.6 million in seed funding. The backing…\ \ Oct 2024⏱ 2 min](/content/press-release-past-skilledup-life-customer-raises-1-6m-investment/index.html) \ \ General SkilledUp Life past customer secures £1.6 million investment \ \ Manchester-based past SkilledUp Life tech startup customer Cytix raises £1.6 million Seed investment from Manchester-based Praetura Ventures founded by David Foreman and investment managed by Michael Rees. In…\ \ Sep 2024⏱ 3 min](/content/skilledup-life-past-customer-secures-1-6-million-investment/index.html) \ \ Use Cases How SkilledUp Life has impacted my growth as a professional: a case study on Ms. Saloni Arora \ \ When one considers growth, one may imagine it to be something that must come from the outside to change the inside. Something they must wait for to impact…\ \ Aug 2024⏱ 4 min](/content/how-skilledup-life-has-impacted-my-growth-as-a-professional-a-case-study-on-ms-saloni-arora/index.html) \ \ General Event: Strategies for Tech Startup Growth \ \ Today, we discussed about potential strategies for Tech Startup growth on LinkedIn with two Tech Founders from Nigeria. The event was hosted by our Country Leader – Nigeria,…\ \ Jun 2024⏱ 1 min](/content/event-strategies-for-tech-startup-growth/index.html) 🚀\ \ General Cost of making the wrong call \ \ We have many issues at SkilledUp Life (similar to all bootstrapped tech startups). One of those is that our product has not evolved since Jul 2020. This has…\ \ Apr 2024⏱ 1 min \ \ CEO Rants The mob, the scapegoat and refocus on the UK \ \ The beginning During the first year of furloughed life in the UK (2020), people needed ways to vent out their frustrations. When we launched Furloughed Life on 7th…\ \ Apr 2024⏱ 2 min](/content/the-mob-the-scapegoat-and-refocus-on-the-uk/index.html) \ \ Building Tech Companies Structuring your tech startup team \ \ Some of us start our journey as a solo tech entrepreneur. Others start with several co-founders. Here is one way to start and grow your team in the…\ \ Mar 2024⏱ 2 min](/content/structuring-your-tech-startup-team/index.html) ⚡\ \ CEO Rants Vanity Metrics – Jan 2024 \ \ No one gets excited about vanity metrics in the tech startup world. Nonetheless, when you are building a community-driven tech startup, traffic does matter. We are still miles…\ \ Feb 2024⏱ 1 min \ \ Building Tech Companies 6 ways to leverage SkilledUp Life \ \ Here are 6 ways tech startups can leverage SkilledUp Life:\ \ May 2023⏱ 1 min](/content/6-ways-to-leverage-skilledup-life/index.html) \ \ CEO Rants SkilledUp Life website upgrade \ \ Due to various reasons, SkilledUp Life ended up building significant technical debt, which resulted in the introduction of a number of bugs. I’m glad to report, I just…\ \ May 2023⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-website-upgrade/index.html) \ \ General Want to gain HR Experience? \ \ Since Elise created our HR Team back in August to Oct 2021, we have continued to thrive and increase our knowledge on the subject of recruitment and performance.…\ \ May 2023⏱ 2 min](/content/want-to-gain-hr-experience/index.html) \ \ General Want to gain Sales Experience? \ \ If you want to gain more Sales Experience, do consider joining our team. If you have social selling skills, then this would be an advantage.\ \ Mar 2023⏱ 1 min](/content/want-to-gain-sales-experience/index.html) \ \ Process Customer groups \ \ Based on our interactions with our tech startup customers, we now have enough evidence to group them into three categories: We are yet to announce the full details…\ \ Feb 2023⏱ 1 min](/content/customer-groups/index.html) \ \ General Is SkilledUp Life right for your TECH FOUNDER JOURNEY? \ \ Are you building or want to build a tech company? If you like to join SkilledUp Life, consider the following: All the best with your founder journey.\ \ Feb 2023⏱ 2 min](/content/is-skilledup-life-right-for-your-tech-founder-journey/index.html) \ \ Building Tech Companies No code made it faster to build products \ \ No code made it faster to build products. SkilledUp Life makes it faster to build startup teams for those who do not have the cash to hire talent. We…\ \ Jan 2023⏱ 1 min](/content/no-code-made-it-faster-to-build-products/index.html) \ \ CEO Rants 2022 Year End Results \ \ Jan 2023⏱ 1 min](/content/2022-year-end-results/index.html) 🚀\ \ General SkilledUp Life Customer Hub is live now \ \ Jan 2023⏱ 1 min \ \ General 18,000 SkilledUp Lifers and counting \ \ Dec 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/18000-skilledup-lifers-and-counting/index.html) \ \ Marketing New Partnership with Hatch Works to accelerate Sri Lankan tech startups \ \ I’m more than thrilled to announce our second accelerator partnership, this time with Hatch Works from Sri Lanka. I had the pleasure to run an event at Hatch…\ \ Dec 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/new-partnership-with-hatch-works-to-accelerate-sri-lankan-tech-startups/index.html) \ \ Marketing SkilledUp Life bridging the global talent and skills gap \ \ To conceive and readily opt to go on a journey of building a tech startup is no small decision. You should be prepared – resources, talents, grit and…\ \ Dec 2022⏱ 3 min](/content/skilledup-life-bridging-the-global-talent-and-skills-gap/index.html) \ \ General Building a tech startup with free talent by ChatGPT \ \ The only change injected by me is adding SkilledUp Life into the essay and crossing out certain words. The rest is 100% written by ChatGPT Building a tech…\ \ Dec 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/building-a-tech-startup-with-free-talent-by-chatgpt/index.html) 🎓\ \ Statistics Our numbers are down and I am gutted about it \ \ Irrespective of the good work our team has done, we have performed very poorly over the last several months. Let’s take a look at reality vs spin. Volunteer…\ \ Dec 2022⏱ 2 min ⚡\ \ Marketing How SkilledUp Life plans to enroll 100,000 Volunteers by the end of the third year \ \ Say you have an idea for a tech startup and need to validate it. Or have gone ahead to create a digital product, or want to achieve successful…\ \ Nov 2022⏱ 3 min 🚀\ \ General My changing role within SkilledUp Life \ \ I went live with SkilledUp Life on 1st Aug 2020. There was only me at the beginning until Mithun joined me as first employee in November 2022. By…\ \ Nov 2022⏱ 1 min ⚡\ \ Marketing Four ways Volunteer talent is changing how tech startups scale \ \ Over the past 28 months, SkilledUp Life has been able to grow its volunteer base from 0 to 16,477 (at the time of writing this post). Our passion-driven…\ \ Nov 2022⏱ 3 min ⚡\ \ Marketing Build your tech startup with SkilledUp Life Volunteers \ \ Got an idea for a tech startup? Chances are you likely do not have the funds to get things going. This is a very familiar road and many…\ \ Nov 2022⏱ 3 min ⚡\ \ Marketing How do you build a successful Tech Startup if you do not have The Capital to pay for Talent \ \ A great idea is just a third of the battle when you are starting a tech startup. You also need to fund it, and you may need to…\ \ Nov 2022⏱ 5 min \ \ Use Cases Two Volunteers become Employees today \ \ SkilledUp Life started by trying to solve a fundamental problem – how do you build a successful tech startup, if you do not have the capital to pay…\ \ Oct 2022⏱ 3 min](/content/two-volunteers-become-employees-today/index.html) \ \ News What could this mean? \ \ Stay tuned!\ \ Oct 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/what-could-this-mean/index.html) \ \ Process Re-designing SkilledUp Life Organisation \ \ When you have 14,000+ free talent at your disposal, it’s not hard to go crazy with redesigning your organisation. That’s exactly what I did yesterday. In the past,…\ \ Oct 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/re-designing-skilledup-life-organisation/index.html) \ \ Statistics October 1st CEO Rant – Plan for this month \ \ Whilst we have an amazing team at SkilledUp Life and I appreciate everything they do (except Mithun and me, all others are Volunteers), I am really annoyed at myself for the slow…\ \ Oct 2022⏱ 3 min](/content/october-1st-ceo-rant-plan-for-this-month/index.html) \ \ Volunteers The new breed of Experience Seekers \ \ There is a new breed of experience seekers on SkilledUp Life. A Volunteer Term is typically 3 months long with a 1 to 3-hour commitment per day. This…\ \ Sep 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/the-new-breed-of-experience-seekers/index.html) \ \ Volunteers Growth via country-specific strategies \ \ Hypothesis Country-specific teams will speed up the growth of SkilledUp Life. Country Chosen I am selecting the Philippines to test this hypothesis. However, there is no scientific reason for…\ \ Sep 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/growth-via-country-specific-strategies/index.html) 🚀\ \ General 12,008 Volunteers ready to help bootstrapped tech startups \ \ I’m happy to announce that we went past the 12,000 total Volunteers mini milestone early this morning. August has turned out to be a slow month for SkilledUp…\ \ Aug 2022⏱ 1 min 🚀\ \ General SkilledUp Life Customer Workshop #5 – Introductory session for new customers \ \ Attended by Tech Founders & CEOs of Kitchen Cottage Academy Valorise StudentTeachStudent\ \ Aug 2022⏱ 1 min \ \ Statistics Having to do the impossible \ \ At the start of the 2nd year (1st Aug 2021), we set a target of achieving 10x growth on the supply side of SkilledUp Life. In the first 12…\ \ Jul 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/having-to-do-the-impossible/index.html) \ \ Partnerships Founder Institute and SkilledUp Life for tech startup success \ \ We are proud to announce our first Accelerator Partnership with none other than the globally renowned Founder Institute, starting with their South African chapter. Founded in 2009 by…\ \ Jul 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/founder-institute-and-skilledup-life-for-tech-startup-success/index.html) \ \ Statistics 8,000 Volunteers ready to help build your tech startup \ \ Life is becoming tense as each day in July goes by as we march towards achieving the end of year target of 11,000 total Volunteers by end of…\ \ Jul 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/8000-volunteers-ready-to-help-build-your-tech-startup/index.html) \ \ General I’m 54 today \ \ I’ve turned 54 today. A hell of a lot to achieve by 55! Before that, we need to onboard 3,283 Volunteers and 75 tech startups before the end…\ \ Jul 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/im-54-today/index.html) \ \ General Reducing the risk rate of bootstrapped SaaS \ \ My response to a post that appeared on Hacker News and was promoted on Indie Hackers. For your typical solo founder in their 30s, their odds of dying…\ \ Jul 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/reducing-the-risk-rate-of-bootstrapped-saas/index.html) \ \ Marketing SkilledUp Life supports the underdog \ \ The world is organised to support winners. Everyone loves a winner. Every investor is looking for the next unicorn. Less than 1% of tech startups get funded. Who…\ \ Jun 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-supports-the-underdog/index.html) \ \ Statistics SkilledUp Life Progress Update at end of Week 98 \ \ Here’s a quick progress update of SkilledUp Life at the end of Week 98, i.e. end of 19th June 2022: Volunteers: 6,861 (behind by 239 – need 775…\ \ Jun 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-progress-update-at-end-of-week-98/index.html) \ \ Use Cases Introducing Open Makers, Bingewell, Bluu Kazi and Texkoop \ \ We are ending the week by adding 4 more tech startups to SkilledUp Life taking the total to 22 tech startup Founder Customers. Let me quickly introduce them.…\ \ Jun 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/introducing-open-makers-bingewell-bluu-kazi-and-texkoop/index.html) \ \ General The unfair advantage gained by Michael Hoeft and Learnhall \ \ I’m watching with fascination when our Tech Startup Customers leverage SkilledUp Life to the maximum. Such is the case of Michael Hoeft and his Learnhall. The story before…\ \ Jun 2022⏱ 4 min](/content/the-unfair-advantage-gained-by-michael-hoeft-and-learnhall/index.html) \ \ General The long road to the magical £10k MRR by end of Oct 2022 \ \ We have two targets to hit on our way to £10k MRR by 31st Oct 2022. The first is to get to 100 paying customers by end of…\ \ Jun 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/the-long-road-to-the-magical-10k-mrr-by-end-of-oct-2022/index.html) \ \ General Case Study – Michael Hoeft and Learnhall \ \ I had the privilege to catch up with Michael Hoeft recently, whose tech startup has been transformed since joining SkilledUp Life. Prior to joining SkilledUp Life, Michael focused…\ \ Jun 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/case-study-michael-hoeft-and-learnhall/index.html) \ \ Marketing When was the last time you acquired 100 users in a day? \ \ I have forgotten what it feels like to score a century. I acquired 200,000 users for edocr.com single-handedly but it took many years, from 2007 to 2015. But this time,…\ \ May 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/when-was-the-last-time-you-acquired-100-users-in-a-day/index.html) \ \ Thought Leadership Why we won’t offer free trials \ \ Many tech startups ask for free trials and we will continue to refuse. I would like to explain why we have taken such a stance. Tech Startups in…\ \ May 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/why-we-wont-offer-free-trials/index.html) \ \ Building Tech Companies What I want for Christmas… Now, please! \ \ I am always strategising about how to improve my function within SkilledUp Life. Xmind Mindmap captures my current thinking, which might also help you prioritise your in building…\ \ May 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/what-i-want-for-christmas-now-please/index.html) \ \ News Esin joins SkilledUp Life to steer the team forward and bring professionalism \ \ I’m delighted to welcome Esin Eyüpoğlu Akşener to the role of Head of HR at SkilledUp Life. She brings significant HR experience from PepsiCo and Colgate-Palmolive. She will Volunteer for us over…\ \ Apr 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/esin-joins-skilledup-life-to-steer-the-team/index.html) \ \ Opportunities Rebuilding SkilledUp Life Human Resources (HR) Team \ \ The Human Resources (HR) team sits at the heart of SkilledUp Life. I’m currently in the process of rebuilding the HR Team from scratch with the support of…\ \ Apr 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/rebuilding-skilledup-life-human-resources-hr-team/index.html) \ \ Process Active Support for Volunteers \ \ We are constantly looking at ways to improve how we support Volunteers through Tawk Chat leveraging the Knowledge Base. The role of our support team starts with: Sign…\ \ Mar 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/active-support-for-volunteers/index.html) \ \ Support The modes of Support for our Customers \ \ Some of our customers do not want any support from us as they treat SkilledUp Life as a Product. Others are requesting significant support including hand-holding as we…\ \ Mar 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/the-modes-of-support-for-our-customers/index.html) \ \ Opportunities You can’t job hunt 24/7 without going mad \ \ This is based on a response I provided to a person on Indie Hackers. The strange thing with the job market is that on one end, companies complain…\ \ Mar 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/you-cant-job-hunt-24-7-without-going-mad/index.html) \ \ Use Cases I’m Collins – Being promoted to Head of HR \ \ My name is Collins Were Ong’eta. I reside in Nairobi, Kenya. I am a graduate from The University of Nairobi where I studied Bachelor of Commerce-Human Resource (HR) Management…\ \ Mar 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/im-collins-being-promoted-to-head-of-hr/index.html) \ \ General Forbidden 403 – we are deeply sorry – India & Russia \ \ During the last Friday’s Clubhouse Weekly event, through two attendees, to my horror, I discovered that SkilledUp Life has been banned for traffic from India by our hosting…\ \ Mar 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/forbidden-403-we-are-deeply-sorry-india-russia/index.html) \ \ General SkilledUp Life is a Human Platform \ \ SkilledUp Life is all about people. People do not behave like a product. Products do not have feelings. People do! This suddenly dawned on me. Dah! Did you…\ \ Mar 2022⏱ 5 min](/content/skilledup-life-is-a-human-platform/index.html) \ \ Volunteers Solving South Africa’s high unemployment rate through stimulating the labour market \ \ Original discussion As we grow SkilledUp Life, I am discovering problems around the world. One of them is the 34.9% high unemployment rate in South Africa. Some people…\ \ Feb 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/solving-south-africas-high-unemployment-rate-through-stimulating-the-labour-market/index.html) \ \ Use Cases I’m Benjamin – this is my Volunteer Experience \ \ My name is Benjamin Precious and I’m based in Nigeria. I recently concluded my undergraduate studies in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management, and a few months ago…\ \ Feb 2022⏱ 3 min](/content/im-benjamin-this-is-my-volunteer-experience/index.html) \ \ Statistics 4,000 Volunteers to build the next wave of tech startups \ \ After Mithun spoke to Homero Gheorghe on Linkedin, he signed up to gain further Experience and Skills by volunteering through SkilledUp Life. In the process, he became our…\ \ Feb 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/4000-volunteers-to-build-the-next-wave-of-tech-startups/index.html) \ \ General Shortcast Volunteer Stories \ \ Some of our team have been sharing their experience through Shortcasts. Here they are: Sakhile – https://ui.short-cast.club/post-details/96 Godwin – https://ui.short-cast.club/post-details/98\\ \ Feb 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/shortcast-volunteer-stories/index.html) ⭐\ \ Events Volunteer Stories #1 \ \ How do you land your dream job, if you don’t have relevant experience? We had a 40 mins discussion today at 7 pm GMT. Speakers: Ayonike and Godwin shared why they are…\ \ Feb 2022⏱ 1 min \ \ Use Cases Josué secures employment after volunteering \ \ I am Josué PIERRE LOUIS, a young Haitian student/professional full of dreams and projects for my country. I was born in a very poor country, ranked among the…\ \ Jan 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/josue-secures-employment-after-volunteering/index.html) \ \ Use Cases I’m Chinte – Volunteered for Deal Lite \ \ I’m Chinthake Mallawaarachchi. I had a tremendous volunteering experience over 6 months. The company I volunteered for gave extra attention to training and monitoring to make sure I…\ \ Jan 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/im-chinte-volunteering-for-deal-lite/index.html) \ \ Statistics Time to acquire 1,000 Volunteers \ \ We managed to half the time to acquire 1,000 Volunteers from 109 days to 52 days, all thanks to my awesome team. # Volunteers Days took to reach…\ \ Jan 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/time-to-acquire-1000-volunteers/index.html) \ \ Volunteers Breaking records \ \ We were working extremely hard to break a record yesterday and we failed by 1 volunteer sign-up. Our previous record of welcoming 100 Volunteers in the shortest time…\ \ Jan 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/breaking-records/index.html) \ \ Use Cases Congratulations Isaac! Secures job after Volunteering \ \ Congratulations Isaac Lekgothoane Isaac who volunteered for us started a new job with Compaira today. Isaac was fundamental in increasing total Volunteers from 1,000 to 2,000 over his 3-month volunteer term…\ \ Jan 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/congratulations-isaac/index.html) \ \ General We want more Nigerian partners \ \ The first time I jokingly mentioned Nigeria was on 5th Nov 2020. On this day, SkilledUp Life team was just me and had a total Volunteer base of…\ \ Jan 2022⏱ 2 min](/content/we-want-more-nigerian-partners/index.html) \ \ Volunteers Why is SkilledUp Life so popular in Nigeria? \ \ Image Credits: Utiva – a SkilledUp Life Education Partner from Nigeria. Over the last three months, Nigeria has emerged as the number one market for Volunteers. As a…\ \ Jan 2022⏱ 3 min](/content/why-is-skilledup-life-so-popular-in-nigeria/index.html) \ \ Building Tech Companies Transformative or just another meh! \ \ Would you consider the following as transformative or just another meh? You bring an idea/concept for a tech startup to us at SkilledUp Life. Our growing volunteer pool…\ \ Jan 2022⏱ 1 min](/content/transformative-or-just-another-meh/index.html) \ \ General Wishing you all a happy 2022 \ \ Wishing all of our community a great 2022. Our community now includes: 2,849 Volunteers from 71 countries. 52 companies. 8 partners. 10 subcribers. Our plans for 2022 revolves…\ \ Dec 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/wishing-you-all-a-happy-2022/index.html) \ \ Building Tech Companies Procrastinating with setting up your first tech startup \ \ Over the last 6 months or so, at family gatherings, I kept meeting a guy who has been dreaming of setting up a tech startup but has not…\ \ Dec 2021⏱ 8 min](/content/procrastinating-with-setting-up-your-first-tech-startup/index.html) ⭐\ \ Process The Volunteer Process \ \ We recommend that all our Customers onboard an HR Volunteer first, who could effectively reduce the Tech CEO’s time spent on building a strong Volunteer team. Let’s take…\ \ Dec 2021⏱ 2 min \ \ Use Cases I’m Isaac – I helped acquire 1,000 Volunteers in 3 months \ \ Hi everyone. It’s Isaac Lekgothoane from Johannesburg South Africa here, originally from Limpopo province Ga-Mothapo. I write this blog post to let you know I have completed my…\ \ Dec 2021⏱ 2 min](/content/im-isaac/index.html) \ \ Use Cases I’m Ayonike \ \ The desire to provide legal services to small companies shaped my career early on and informed my interest in Corporate and Commercial practice. Things took a new turn…\ \ Nov 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/im-ayonike/index.html) \ \ Use Cases I’m Deimante \ \ I am Deimante, an expat Lithuanian living in Denmark. I have graduated with a master’s studies in Strategy, Organisation and Leadership this year with the main focus on…\ \ Nov 2021⏱ 3 min](/content/im-deimante/index.html) \ \ Use Cases Elise builds HR function and team in 3 months \ \ Hey Everyone, it’s Elise here! I’m writing this little post to let you know that my adventure with SkilledUp Life has come to an end. It’s already been…\ \ Nov 2021⏱ 3 min](/content/elise-ends-her-3-months-with-us/index.html) \ \ General 2,000+ talent ready to help you free of charge \ \ We achieved another milestone today when the 2000th person signed up to SkilledUp Life to gain Experience and Skills to improve their lives through career progression. If you…\ \ Nov 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/2000-talent-ready-to-help-you-free-of-charge/index.html) 📝\ \ Use Cases I’m Yumnah! \ \ Hello, my name is Yumnah. I’m a 23-year-old Sri Lankan, whose passion is working in Human Resource since my schooling. And that’s why I choose to be part…\ \ Nov 2021⏱ 3 min \ \ Use Cases I’m Wishma \ \ Hello, my name is Wishma. I am keen to share my experience of SkilledUp Life with you! Let me begin by introducing myself. I’m currently a business administration…\ \ Nov 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/im-wishma/index.html) \ \ General Company Presentation #1 to Volunteers \ \ Many apologies for messing up with multiple event links which caused confusion. But it was a good exercise to go ahead with it. We desperately need an Event…\ \ Nov 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/company-presentation-1-to-volunteers/index.html) \ \ Marketing SkilledUp Life helping you to go from £0 to £10k MRR \ \ Setting up a tech startup is easy, but building a scalable tech company is harder. It’s especially harder if you have to bootstrap the business. Some founders are…\ \ Oct 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-helping-you-to-go-from-0-to-10k-mrr/index.html) \ \ Statistics SkilledUp Life Weekly Report 63 \ \ I’ve been mucking about tonight and used the information from the Weekly Report I submitted to Pioneer to create a progress update. We went live on 1st Aug…\ \ Oct 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-weekly-report-63/index.html) \ \ Use Cases I am Elise – I’m building the HR function and team from scratch \ \ My name is Elise Singleton. I am English/French and currently living in Germany. I studied a foreign languages degree with a major in International Business. I worked as…\ \ Oct 2021⏱ 3 min](/content/i-am-elise/index.html) \ \ General SkilledUp Life HR Volunteer Introductory Training \ \ Today, Deimante Semcisinas and I supported by Collins Were Ong’eta held the first-ever SkilledUp Life training session for aspiring HR professionals. Whilst the audience was limited to 3,…\ \ Oct 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-hr-volunteer-introductory-training/index.html) \ \ General Partnering with StudiHub Digital Academy from Nigeria \ \ I am thrilled to announce another partnership, this time with a private education provider from Nigeria. StudiHUB Digital Academy provides a number of training courses, notably in: Product…\ \ Oct 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/partnering-with-studihub-digital-academy-from-nigeria/index.html) 🚀\ \ General Why most tech startups fail \ \ There are many reasons for tech startup failures. Among them is the lack of human resources to turn their ideas into successful businesses. After all, people build businesses,…\ \ Sep 2021⏱ 1 min \ \ General A chat with Neusa Rosa \ \ When we knew that Mithun and I along could not hit our first-year target of onboarding 1,000 volunteers, we went looking for Volunteers on SkilledUp Life who could…\ \ Sep 2021⏱ 4 min](/content/a-chat-with-neusa-rosa/index.html) \ \ General Building our own HR Team \ \ We have now completed building our HR team which includes the following three members: Elise – Head of HR and the first to join. No previous education or…\ \ Sep 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/building-our-own-hr-team/index.html) 🚀\ \ General Drawing inspiration from Arnie \ \ Sep 2021⏱ 1 min \ \ General Building our HR team \ \ At SkilledUp Life, we are starting to build teams for tech startups, starting first for Techcelerate Member Companies. But before we can show others how to, we need to practice this…\ \ Aug 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/building-our-hr-team/index.html) 🚀\ \ General 3 Questions to Ask from Volunteers \ \ Based on our experience to date, these are the three most important questions to ask from each of your volunteers and get the answers in writing via email…\ \ Aug 2021⏱ 1 min \ \ General Press Release: Partnering with XpressJ0bs \ \ Sri Lanka’s premier Job Board, XpressJ0bs teams up with UK’s SkilledUp Life to improve the experiences and skills of Candidates applying for Jobs Colombo (Sri Lanka) & Manchester…\ \ Jun 2021⏱ 5 min](/content/press-release-partnering-with-xpressj0bs/index.html) 🚀\ \ General World around us matters \ \ Our role within SkilledUp Life is two fold: Find Volunteers to fill skill gaps in bootstrapped tech companies, so that they can survive and compete with well funded…\ \ May 2021⏱ 2 min 🚀\ \ General Importance of Company Vision \ \ We have three types of Volunteers: Those who need experience and skills to land their first or dream job. Those who are testing a new industry, sector or…\ \ May 2021⏱ 1 min 🚀\ \ General Your professionalism matter \ \ Many companies are reluctant to work with volunteers due to a lack of commitment and professionalism. This is an ongoing concern for us, and we want to work…\ \ May 2021⏱ 2 min 🚀\ \ General Changing of priorities once we reach 1000 Volunteers \ \ We are on target to reach 1000 volunteers by 26th July 2021 if we could maintain the current rate of growth. We reached 500 volunteer signups a few…\ \ May 2021⏱ 1 min 🚀\ \ General Want to build a tech startup but no cash to hire developers? \ \ Are you an early-stage tech startup struggling to build your product and no cash to pay for developers? We have 62 Javascript developers. They are looking for experience and…\ \ May 2021⏱ 1 min 🚀\ \ General Nailed the Bootcamp but can’t land the dream job? \ \ Just wonder whether you fit the above situation? If so, any ideas what might be causing this? Could it be due to a lack of relevant experience and…\ \ May 2021⏱ 1 min \ \ Statistics 400+ Volunteers are ready to help you \ \ 404 Volunteers from all walks of life and discipline are now ready to help early-stage tech startups. In terms of where they come from (32 countries): UK 42 India 24 Sri Lanka 19…\ \ Apr 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/400-volunteers-are-ready-to-help-you/index.html) \ \ General Tech Career Discussion on Clubhouse \ \ We are hosting our first ever discussion on Clubhouse tomorrow noon with three of our partners. Partners taking part are: Ismail Sadurdeen, CEO of Univiser (A peer to…\ \ Apr 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/tech-career-discussion-on-clubhouse/index.html) \ \ Statistics 300 Volunteers ready to help bootstrapped tech startups \ \ Yesterday we reached the pivotal point when the 300th Volunteer signed up to gain new experiences and skills through us. We started our service on 1st August 2020…\ \ Mar 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/300-volunteers-ready-to-help-bootstrapped-tech-startups/index.html) \ \ General Get Startup Experience before you start your own startup Journey \ \ Quite a number of you out there are hacking away with your side hustle which you think might become successful. And there are others who are dreaming of…\ \ Mar 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/get-startup-experience-before-you-start-your-own-startup-journey/index.html) \ \ General Skilledup Life signs up 250th volunteer \ \ Big thank you to our team for working hard over the last few months to accelerate the growth of our global free talent base. I built and soft…\ \ Mar 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-signs-up-250th-volunteer/index.html) \ \ General SkilledUp Life partners with Women AI Academy of Germany \ \ I am thrilled to announce that we have signed our first partnership with Women AI Academy from Germany, who provides AI bootcamps dedicated to women. Founded by Naz,…\ \ Mar 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/skilledup-life-partners-with-women-ai-academy-of-germany/index.html) \ \ General Building a tech startup (Step 1) – getting the idea \ \ All tech startups or any business for that matter starts with an idea in someone’s head. Where do you get ideas from? Ideas come to our heads day…\ \ Feb 2021⏱ 9 min](/content/building-a-tech-startup-step-1-getting-the-idea/index.html) ⭐\ \ Resources Opportunities Template for getting great responses \ \ Here is our suggested template for getting the best results, i.e. getting volunteers excited about your opportunity. Opportunity Title: Make it a Volunteer position instead of a single…\ \ Feb 2021⏱ 2 min \ \ Thought Leadership How to return redundant back to employment \ \ People who have been made redundant or have taken voluntary redundancy have skyrocketed to 14.2 to 1000 employees, according to the Office for National Statistics data. BBC News…\ \ Jan 2021⏱ 2 min](/content/how-to-return-redundant-back-to-employment/index.html) \ \ Thought Leadership When would Universities treat students like customers? \ \ This blog is inspired by a recent Guardian post. The image on this post is taken from Guardian, all associated image credits go to them.. Do you know…\ \ Jan 2021⏱ 1 min](/content/universities-treating-students-like-customers/index.html) \ \ Thought Leadership The new world of WORK-LIFE MIX \ \ When I conceived the predecessor of SkilledUp Life in April 2020, I came up with two concepts. Some said I was crazy. Some were very angry with me. But now…\ \ Nov 2020⏱ 4 min](/content/the-new-world-of-work-life-mix/index.html) \ \ General £411.40 Donation to NHS Charities \ \ Last week, I donated £411.40 to NHS Charities. This was all the proceeds we received after payment fees for operating predecessor of SkilledUp Life from April to July…\ \ Aug 2020⏱ 1 min](/content/411-40-donation-to-nhs-charities/index.html) \ \ Resources A must use Volunteer Agreement \ \ THIS IS A LEGACY ARTICLE. PLEASE LOG INTO CUSTOMER HUB TO ACCESS THE LATEST VOLUNTEER AGREEMENT TEMPLATE. Before you start working with a Volunteer, we suggest both parties,…\ \ Aug 2020⏱ 5 min](/content/volunteer-agreement/index.html) \ \ General Day 1 of a long road ahead \ \ Today is Day 1 of SkilledUp Life. We are live and kicking without any fanfare. As explained in our inaugural blog post, the concept is now exactly 4…\ \ Aug 2020⏱ 1 min](/content/day-1-of-a-long-road-ahead/index.html) \ \ Use Cases A little appreciation goes a long way \ \ One of the other projects I am working on is Deal Lite, where we capture investment data, refine and enrich them, and share with Techcelerate community and subscribers…\ \ Aug 2020⏱ 2 min](/content/a-little-appreciation-goes-a-long-way/index.html) \ \ General SkilledUp Life: How this all started \ \ The journey of SkilledUp Life started on 1st of April when a conversation between Manoj Ranaweera (me) of Techcelerate and Anthony Chisnall of Driver Net gave me an…\ \ Jul 2020⏱ 9 min](/content/background-to-skilledup-life/index.html)
🔍
No articles found
Try a different keyword or clear your filters.
Clear search & filters
Opens ChatThis icon Opens the chat window.