Much of life is about pedigree. It’s why parents pay insane amounts of money for private schools (aka the old school tie), why VCs back founders 2nd time around (even after previous failures), royals marry other royals, and why a co-owner of champion racehorse Winx paid $10 million for her filly at auction this week.… Read more »
Over the past five years, accelerator and incubator programs in Australia have had their ups and downs. Some have opened, while others have closed, and through it all thousands of startups have applied for a chance to increase their odds of survival and growth. Having now completed three corporate run accelerator programs (with KPMG, PepsiCo,… Read more »
With overseas markets such as America, Europe and Asia providing substantial growth opportunities for Australian startups, overseas government tender opportunities are becoming a popular choice for founders to penetrate new markets and grow. There have been many stories of mixed success – from big contract wins to proposals being binned from the outset. In each… Read more »
Victoria’s (and Australia’s) future prosperity is dependent on knowledge-intensive companies that collaborate, innovate, and commercialise successful products globally. But to survive and reach commercial success, these companies must be able to access funding at key stages of their development. Without this, they will fail. In turn, we will fail to create a self-sustaining human healthcare… Read more »
(Note: the following are general observations only and do not constitute tax advice) News this week of Macquarie Bank writing off its $46 million investment into software company Plutora has once again brought to light the devastating impact that denied R&D tax incentive claims can have on a startup. Whilst the exact circumstances of Plutora’s… Read more »
I often hear founders say “Australian VCs are so conservative, they all want traction before they’ll invest! You have to go to the US!”. While the idea that you must go to the US for funding merits a longer write-up, let’s talk about VCs asking for traction. VCs, like most people, can be bad communicators.… Read more »
In our journey through the business world, we often encounter hurdles that test our resolve, creativity, and strategic thinking. Transitioning from corporate burnout to building a six-figure business within a year, I learnt the indispensable role of essential systems in achieving scalability and profitability. I want to take some time to share with you the… Read more »
The tech sector was one of the only industries in Australia which saw the number of job ads increase over the last month but was also the only sector that saw wages go backwards, according to reports. New data from Seek showed the number of jobs ads posted in the information and communications technology sector… Read more »
More than three-quarters of work meetings in Australia are ineffective and are stopping people getting their actual work done, according to new research. The Workplace Woes: Meeting Edition report, released by Atlassian, involves a survey of 5,000 knowledge workers across four continents, including 1,000 employees in Australia, in partnership with Wakefield Research. The research found… Read more »
How I became a customer of, and then an ex-customer, of a password/security startup, PassCamp What happened (or didn’t happen) at PassCamp that lead to their demise What they could have done differently to (potentially) avoid their fate Lessons to takeaway in what they did well for sunsetting a product Most businesses fail. Of the… Read more »
Australia’s startup world glorifies venture capital as the holy grail—the insider’s ticket to fast scaling and billion-dollar valuations. FOMO sets in when headlines splash record-breaking funding rounds, fuelling a culture that views VC backing as the singular metric for success. As an ecosystem, we fixate on spinning the VC roulette wheel. Even founders who don’t… Read more »
Are you too trusting or too sceptical? Launching and running small businesses and startups have many moving parts to stay in the game and be successful. So many decisions are at play and risk minimisation is a key. Being too trusting or too sceptical will cause angst. Reaching a beneficial middle requires strong discernment muscles.… Read more »
2023 was a tough funding year across the market, so many founders are looking hopefully ahead to the promise of 2024. While I believe there is going to be some recovery this year for startups seeking funding, this will be gradual and geared towards the larger end of the market, as mergers and acquisitions and… Read more »
As someone who has always been a minority in an industry, it was, embarrassingly, only in my 30s that I genuinely began to properly clock how tilted the stage is. Up until then, I was that person who said cringey things like “I genuinely don’t think I have ever experienced sexism or harassment”. Lol. Oh,… Read more »
The Startup Playbook Podcast, hosted by Rohit Bhargava, is a weekly must-listen for anyone who wants to know more about how founders and investors think and execute. As the 2024 season gets underway, we’ve asked Bhargava to share the highlights from his conversations. To know more and dig deeper click on this link. He kicks off… Read more »
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