An opportunity to experience the remarkable story of one of the most innovative startups in the history of technology, as Women4Technology and St John’s Innovation Centre welcome you to special screening of the multi-award-winning documentary General Magic and a conversation with film-makers, Emmy-nominated Sarah Kerruish and Matt Maude.
The event will take place on Wednesday 18th March from 5pm – 8pm at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse.
In 1990 a visionary group of innovators at a secretive Silicon Valley startup formed to build a magical device that would enable everyone to connect to anyone, everywhere. Whilst the business of General Magic ultimately did not succeed, the groundbreaking technologies developed by its pioneering team – featuring trailblazers like Tony Fadell (co-creator of the iPod and iPhone, founder of Nest) and Megan Smith (former White House CTO) – laid the foundation for many of the 21st century’s most transformative communication and digital technologies.
Today, General Magic is taught as a case study on the Masters programme at Harvard Business School and with companies and innovation programmes around the globe. Above all, the story of General Magic shows how great vision and great failure can change the world as we know it.
After the screening, film-makers Sarah Kerruish and Matt Maude will lead a discussion drawing on the extraordinary legacy of General Magic, on the topic Don’t be afraid to fail.
The event is open to founders, leaders, CXOs, innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, technologists, and anyone brave enough to build what doesn’t yet exist.
Tickets are priced at £20 plus booking fee.
Please contact Helen Poole or Ann Fisher at helen@women4technology.com or ann@women4technology.com for further information or to request the booking link.
Ann Fisher, Founder Women4Technology, “I am excited to welcome Sarah Kerruish and Matt Maude to Cambridge with their award-winning film, General Magic. Sarah and I have been planning this for several years. It is an opportunity to hear the story from the two award-winning film producers and to understand that when you dare to try, you don’t truly fail, you learn, you grow and sometimes you change the world!”
Sarah Kerruish, Award-winning Film Director and former Strategy Officer at Kheiron Medical, “Bringing General Magic to Cambridge is a thank you to Ann Fisher and Helen Poole and Women4Technology. On returning to London, after time working in Silicon Valley, I was recommended to join their London community. This is where I met my ecosystem of female movers and shakers who helped me transition to my new career. General Magic was an all-consuming, life changing experience. The company was full of the smartest and most creative people I have ever known. It was a story that cried out to be told.”
Thank you to our co-hosts for this event, TTP; and our sponsors, FieldHouse Associates, Mills & Reeve, RSM and Saranac Partners.