Founders Meetup Edinburgh - November 2026

The November edition of Edinburgh's monthly founders meetup, hosted in the offices of Shepherd and Wedderburn at 9 Haymarket Square. The last fireside chat of 2026 is with Valentin Hinov, who bootstrapped ThankBox from a side project into a team-gifting platform used by more than 10,000 companies and sending over $1 million in gifts a month, interviewed by Laura Bernal. 18:00 arrival and open networking. Welcome at 19:00, then community shoutouts where attendees say what they are working on and what they want help with, the fireside 19:20 to 20:00, drinks until 20:30, and the pub afterwards at The Jolly Botanist. The GBP 5 ticket covers drinks. General admission is request-to-join, with a separate ticket for investors and approved partners. Attendee details are passed to the host firm for building security. Why go: a bootstrapper who took on much larger competitors with a small team, in a room of people building companies rather than an audience. Best for early-stage founders, and anyone weighing raising against staying bootstrapped.