Last month the Australian Space Agency announced plans to send an Australian-made rover to the Moon by as early as 2026, under a deal with NASA. The rover will collect lunar soil containing oxygen, which could eventually be used to support human life in space. Although the deal with NASA made headlines, a separate mission… Read more »
With officials from nearly 200 countries having gathered for COP26, the well-known annual United Nations Climate Change Summit, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues are top of mind for business leaders. In a world that is rife with division as humanity grapples with changes and challenges caused by an ongoing global pandemic, ecosystem collapse, supply… Read more »
Welcome to Giant Leap’s Small Steps, a newsletter offering global insights and news on the impact startups landscape. We share an edited version with Startup Daily readers every fortnight. Giant Leap is Australia’s first impact venture fund, and they use this newsletter to surface the ideas and businesses that intrigue and inspire them and broaden… Read more »
In the 2012 book Why Nations Fail, James A. Robinson and Daron Acemoglu look at why some great nations are destined to fail and some to succeed. One major theme amongst failures is leaders that aren’t prepared to share the success of a nation, and keep all the glory for themselves, eventually leading to revolt.… Read more »
Since its inception, cryptocurrency has largely been left to its own devices. Investors have made money, and communities have been built through a shared passion for the innovative sector. So when I was assigned the role of chair of the Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre, I assumed there would… Read more »
In the wake of a jump in the proportion of workers quitting jobs in the United States – dubbed the “Great Resignation” – Australia’s media has been warning of a surge in resignations here. “Here comes the Great Resignation,” reads one headline; “Millions of Aussies predicted to leave jobs” reads another. In fact: there is… Read more »
You may have read recently that TikTok allegedly “serves up” sex and drug videos to minors. Media reports have described the video-sharing platform, which is designed predominantly for young people, as an “addiction machine” that promotes harmful content. In an investigation, reporters at the Wall Street Journal created 31 bot accounts on TikTok, each programmed… Read more »
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has announced the company will change its name to Meta, saying the move reflects the fact the company is now much broader than just the social media platform (which will still be called Facebook). The rebrand follows several months of intensifying discourse by Zuckerberg and the company more broadly on… Read more »
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) wants to end Google’s reign as the default search engine for Australians, saying its dominance has likely “stifled innovation and reduced consumer choice”. The consumer watchdog released the interim report of its Digital Platform Services Inquiry on Thursday and has taken aim at Google for penning deals to ensure its Search… Read more »
I was reminded of an important analogy in a first mentoring session with prototype-stage startup. They’re building a two-sided marketplace in a smartphone app. They couldn’t wait to show me the app and were surprised and initially a little miffed that I wasn’t interested in seeing a demo. From my background notes I could guess… Read more »
The federal government has been asking the public for feedback on proposed legislation to create a “trusted digital identity” system. The aim is for Australians to use it to prove their identity when accessing public services. I first found out about the draft Trusted Digital Identity Bill not through my research at the intersection of… Read more »
The government is getting ready to hand out $10 million fines for companies mismanaging user information with new legislation targeting social media companies. A draft of the Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enhancing Online Privacy and Other Measures) Bill 2021 – or the Online Privacy Bill for short – was circulated on Monday. The bill aims to… Read more »
We often hear witty comparisons being made between startups and babies. A recent, timely paper titled ‘Exit to community’ does the same. A startup is your (brain) child, a long-term commitment that needs constant love and attention. You’re going to experience significant growing pains and that ‘baby’ will cry at any hour of the day… Read more »
Spark Festival – Australia’s biggest event for founders, business owners and anyone looking to hustle their way out of Covid, hits its third and final week this week. The full program is massive, so to help you out we asked Spark Festival director Maxine Sherrin to pick out 5 things worth putting in the diary for the week ahead.… Read more »
It’s been quite a year for us at Mr Yum. Some would call it crazy, but in the vein of our company mantra “think 10x”, we launched into the US and UK simultaneously earlier this year. I remember getting on what was essentially a one-way plane from Australia to Los Angeles in late February. I… Read more »
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