XPinnovates were key to the pivotal early stages of our company strategy. Their help with developing and articulating our central value proposition remains a foundation to our success.

Diane focused on delivering excellence - her approach to change is not to rest on her laurels but to continuously develop and stretch her team and mentors to deliver the best results and support for the start-up companies. She displays a careful balance of challenge and stretch and support in order to ensure the participants dig deep and stretch themselves. She is very abundant…More →

Without their help, it is very unlikely our business would have grown as quickly as it did. The XPinnovates team was absolutely fundamental to me developing our core business proposition, and in particular, understanding how to approach fundraising.

Mark is an extremely knowledgeable consultant, entrepreneur, and business adviser to start-up companies. He is a pleasure to work with as he understands his client’s needs and vision. I would recommend Mark's services at any time

XPinnovates provided me with new confidence in my business and my ability to pitch to buyers and potential funders. I would highly recommend them.’

When we were facing a very challenging time, XPinnovates were there for us, and provided amazing support and guidance.

Working with XPinnovates on our pitch was a game changer. They guided us from the initial formulation of our idea through to developing our storyline, core value proposition, and key messages. The use of GrowthSprint was instrumental in keeping the process focused, structured, and highly effective.

XPinnovates were pivotal in our early commercial stage of development and planning for international growth.

Diane and Mark were our first business mentors as an early-stage university spin-out. We were accepted onto their excellent start-up program which gave us invaluable insights into company foundation, legals, IP, fundraising, business planning and so much more. They challenged us every week to go out and talk to our customers and helped synthesise the data to form our USP. The startup program culminated…More →

Diane was instrumental in setting up some key meetings for us during a business trip to San Francisco and it is clear to us that she is well respected in both the local and international business community. As a mentor, Diane has a rare blend of IT, business, and social skills that have definitely impressed both of us and hopefully rubbed off on us!…More →

The GrowthSprint canvas has become my favourite framework for understanding your startup, users, and market as well as potential threats.

Mark was fantastic from start to finish and even after the programme he was more than willing to mentor and assist whenever I asked. His knowledge of start-up business and pitching is second to none and I hope I get the chance to work with him again soon. An asset to any organisation, I would recommend Mark in a heartbeat.

Diane approaches problems and solutions in an efficient and intelligent manner. She is a driven contributor always striving to exceed the business’ stated goals. Her proactive approach to clients and their customers is always professional, courteous, and solution-focused. Diane’s knowledge, experience and insight ensures successful mandates and compelling strategies that produce measurable results for any business. I highly recommend Diane.

XPinnovates have great knowledge, advice and direction. Having their support and guidance got us manufacturing and to market much quicker than would otherwise would have been possible.

I’ve worked with Diane on several projects over the years, and believe that she is one of the most organized and well-connected people around. She’s been helping other entrepreneurs develop customers, contacts, and funding — and she’s got the brains and judgement to help them win.

Diane and her team at XPinnovates were a perfect partner at the start of our journey.

Feedback from an online webinar on pitching for investment. 'Excellent webinar' 'Loved this I am nervous as this is my 1st pitch so this has been great for my confidence' 'Not over doing it/keep it short & simple' 'Very insightful. Mark is so knowledgeable and easy to listen to' 'Great information and take aways to help me with my pitch' 'Know your audience, keep…More →

Mark has long been a sound business growth advisor and has assisted us to build focussed and practical plans, to help us with our continued growth plans.

I was fortunate enough to have Diane as my Business Advisor on the International Selling Programme. Her knowledge, guidance and support throughout the course was brilliant and she was able to offer a lot to each of us in our cohort group through her in-depth knowledge of business and market intelligence and we were constantly challenged to think outside the box yet she guided…More →

Diane has been a trusted advisor to Openet and helped us establish some key relationships. She is very commercially focused.

The XPinnovates team was great to work with. They helped us nail our core business pitch which is so important when you’re looking for funding.

Diane Roberts, we were delighted to have you as our first speaker of the year. Your knowledge is unquestionable, and your ease of delivery brings a much-needed calm to the sometimes chaos of business.

Diane helped me see business planning as design in both structure and purpose; Mark showed me that pitching is performance in clarity and courage. Together, they transformed how I think, plan, and present.

I had the pleasure of having Mark as a business mentor in 2015. Although I had no previous experience in business, Mark was very adaptive in his approach and guided me through almost an entire year of coaching & business progression. He was instrumental in developing the skills I needed to progress my business in these crucial early days. When developing the business plan,…More →

What a fantastic day working on the GrowthSprint framework. Highly recommend this framework – a real game changer, motivational and inspiring. It challenged me and my business. A definite for any business.

We built Gatsot’s full GrowthSprint Blueprint from the ground up, defining our purpose, goals, actions, and risks in one clear roadmap. It gave real structure to how we plan, grow, and execute.

The XPinnovates team and the GrowthSprint framework gave me clarity, structure, and a clear roadmap, making planning and pitching my start-up easier. With their help, I built a compelling business case with confidence.

Proud to announce that I have completed the GrowthSprint® Navigator Programme. This was a powerful programme focused on business strategy, growth planning, and execution.

I have had the great pleasure of working with Mark on a number of startup programmes in Belfast. Mark is a super guy and it is always good fun to work with. He is an excellent mentor and is very considerate and always comes up with some fantastic insights to help entrepreneurs move their business forward. He does an excellent job and I have…More →

Mark was a great mentor and advisor during my time on Northern Ireland's premier business start up programme - Propel. He is knowledgeable, supportive and challenging and a fully appreciates the time and effort one has to put in, to both start and build a business. Even now, as our company enters the growth phase, I will occasionally lift the phone for a piece…More →

For anyone in my network who is in a startup, considering one, or has a friend or family member considering a startup, I recommend this book. Diane Roberts has a wealth of experience and when this is combined with her communication skills you have the recipe for accelerated learning.

The team at XPinnovates showed an incredible depth of experience and insight, when they worked with us on a new cross-border sales project and supported us with their bid tender management expertise.

XPinnovates are an expert team with extensive business knowledge. Their practical advice helped The Present Tree define and focus on a strong, clear business strategy. Their advice enabled The Present Tree to focus on its ambitious vision and achieve high sales growth since launching 5 years ago. I would highly recommend their services. Thank you Mark, Diane and the team!

As advisors XPinnovates helped us drive our business to a different level. Their strategic advice and support were fundamental to our success.

Diane and her team were of great assistance in our founding days, to today, where we face challenges of growth. We are grateful for this continued support to our business.

We used XP Innovates through the Intertrade E-Merge scheme and can’t praise them enough for their fantastic work. Instead of writing just another plan or strategy they worked with us through each challenge. Their vast commercial experience mean’t they had seen and addressed many of our challenges before. So instead of ‘You could try this….’ we got ‘no problem this is what to do…More →

Not only did Diane provide excellent advice and direction during our initial US market analysis but she gave us outstanding strategic support and network reach as we developed our Americas business. The result was a multi-million dollar US presence within 18 months.

XPinnovates session on how to best pitch your business for funding was brilliant. It was simply the best session on how to pitch I have seen, and I have seen a lot!

We received a world-class service, knowledgeable advice, expert implementation, and meaningful insights and guidance. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend XPinnovates. They know exactly what they are at.

Diane changed my life and my business. She has been a consultant to me and my company, The Alignment Collective, for the past year with incredible results. She has guided me through contract negotiations, creating the business architecture, putting fee structures and incentive bonuses in place, and she has helped me define the kind of business leader I am and how to leverage my…More →