When: Thursday, November 6, 2025
5:45 PM to 8:45 PM BST
Where: Clockwise Edinburgh Leith, Commercial Quay, 84 Commercial St, EH6 6LX
Why you’ll want to be there
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De-Risk Your Dream: A Founder’s Guide to Building & Testing an MVP by Yana Varankova and Nadia McKay – learn how to validate ideas early, uncover what users truly need, and align UX with QA to build the right product faster and with confidence. You’ll walk away with practical tools to de-risk your roadmap and make smarter testing decisions.
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Pizza, pints & people – mix with Edinburgh’s Tech People, enjoy cold drinks, have fun.
Agenda
| Time | What’s happening |
|---|---|
| 17:45-18:30 | Welcome • grab a drink • take some pizza • have a quick chat |
| 18:30-19:15 | Yana Varankova – De-Risk Your Dream: A Founder’s Guide to Building & Testing an MVP (Part 1) |
| 19:15-19:30 | q&a • chat break |
| 19:30-20:15 | Nadia McKay – De-Risk Your Dream: A Founder’s Guide to Building & Testing an MVP (Part 2) |
| 20:15-20:45 | q&a • beverages • networking |
| 20:45 | Official close (but the bar next door awaits) |
Speaker spotlight
Yana Varankova – UX Strategist & Founder – https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-varankova-ux-research/
Yana helps ambitious founders in tech and games de-risk their roadmap by
architecting the entire customer ecosystem. She uses practical frameworks like User Story Mapping to translate deep user insights into a clear product strategy. With her background in Psychology, Yana ensures teams build the right thing, right – from a user’s first click to becoming a loyal fan.
Nadia McKay – QA Expert & Founder of Nexa IQ – https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadia-mckay-a441796/
With over 30 years of experience in Information Technology, Nadia is a specialist in leading high-performing teams and helping organisations build quality software with confidence. As the founder of Nexa IQ, she advises startups and scaleups on quality strategy, delivery, and risk reduction, ensuring her clients not only ‘build the thing right’ but also build the right thing.
Partners:
Location:
Clockwise Edinburgh Leith – Coworking & Office Space, Commercial Quay, 84 Commercial St, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6LX