After a year of shoehorning generative AI into its flagship products, Microsoft is trying to recoup the costs by raising prices, putting ads in products, and cancelling data centre leases. Google is making similar moves, adding unavoidable AI features to its Workspace service while increasing prices. Is the tide finally turning on investments into generative… Read more »
The truth is, a lot of the startups undertaking a capital raise don’t meet the minimum investor expectations for their chosen funding pathway. Rather than reflecting on their readiness or taking responsibility for this, many founders blame investors instead (I wrote an article on it here). But here’s the reality: raising capital is a process,… Read more »
Netflix’s latest drama series, Apple Cider Vinegar, has everyone talking, and not just because of its jaw-dropping plot twists. The show dives into the murky world of health scams and influencer deception, exposing how people can be so easily duped by slick marketing and a good sob story. But for small business owners, there’s a… Read more »
Imagine having a groundbreaking business idea that could change lives, but every time you seek funding, you hear: “It’s too early,” “Come back when you have traction,” or worse, “Prove yourself first.” This is the reality for countless women entrepreneurs across Australia and Asia. Women have different financial needs to men, however most financial products… Read more »
Imagine presenting in a pitch meeting and your audience is stifling yawns, checking their devices as you talk, and finally they walk out of the meeting with deafening silence. It is in these meetings that the power of storytelling has often been overlooked. I speak from experience having been in the audience of these presentations.… Read more »
The tech and innovation ecosystems are dynamic and interconnected networks fuelled by startups, investors, institutions, corporates, individuals and other entities. Startup Genome suggests that ecosystems are often defined within a 100km radius from a central city, providing governments with data-driven insights to benchmark success and focus their efforts. But what really happens inside an ecosystem?… Read more »
In April 2024, I started my eighth business, CapXcentric, a pre-seed to Series A capital raising coaching business. And I made a deliberate decision: I’m not scaling it. I know, it sounds ironic. CapXcentric exists to guide founders through the capital raise process, often for high-growth, hyper-scale startups. But despite working in a space that’s… Read more »
Commiserations – you haven’t been selected for Startmate or Techstars or Y Combinator or Antler, and you’re not sure what to do next with your startup after slogging your guts out. BrandHook founder Pip Stocks knows the feeling and wants to do something about it. So she’s launching the 48 Hour Startup Accelerator, a two-day… Read more »
Former Skins CEO Jaimie Fuller knows a thing or two about success and failure, after building a booming company that then folded due to a series of poor decisions. Jamie joined Cec Busby and Adam Bub on the First Act podcast and opened up about the mistakes that led to the epic demise of his sportswear company,… Read more »
With a new year, ripe with possibilities, underway, Swinburne entrepreneurship expert Bridgette Engeler is urging small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs to think beyond 2025 to set themselves up for future success. “Everyone is probably thinking about the coming 12 months,” she says. “But what’s on the radar beyond that? Is your business future-fit? You should… Read more »
Back in the good old days, when you didn’t want to see someone, change plans, cancel a meeting, pick a vendor to work with, or had an issue with another person, you’d pick up the phone and communicate with them. It was called good manners. Treating people with respect and consideration, even if you didn’t… Read more »
This time last year, Chaz and I were in the closing stages of our $7m Seed round. From the outside, raising capital may seem… exciting and sexy? That’s the Instagram version, you know it well. The reality is it’s an all-consuming and exhausting grind with zero margin for failure and the potential of changing an… Read more »
The Sydney Startup Hub above Wynyard Station in the heart of the CBD will be relocated to an undetermined site somewhere across the six square kilometres around Central Station known as Tech Central by the NSW government in October next year. In a rare announcement involving tech and startups from NSW innovation, science and technology… Read more »
Founders by their very nature see things others have yet to realise. Their challenge is to then get others to see that vision, believe in and back it. And then convince their customers to use a solution they didn’t know they need. Seven years ago, Dr Elliot Smith’s Maxwell Plus was just such a startup.… Read more »
Building a successful and sustainable business as a startup or scaleup goes beyond developing great products or services. Your people are arguably the most critical success factor for growth, and having strong HR strategies in place is essential. Overlooking HR can lead to significant long-term issues, including high employee turnover, misaligned team goals, legal and… Read more »
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