Advice

Sydney opinion polling startup Metapoll aims to be the most accurate predictor of the federal election

- February 25, 2016 4 MIN READ

Over the course of the 18 months I worked at Newspoll, the market research organisation behind The Australian newspaper’s fortnightly political opinion poll, I saw three different Prime Ministers in office, with those very opinion polls I was helping to conduct leading to the demise of two of them. But while opinion polls have developed an extraordinary power in Australian politics, their accuracy is questionable.

Advice

Sydney startup Found Careers is the first fully mobile recruitment app

- January 29, 2016 4 MIN READ

Sydney startup Found Careers brings that much needed spark in the recruitment process. The app is a fully mobile recruitment platform, designed with photos and questions that are actually interesting, which transforms the whole job finding process into a fun and addictive activity. No filling in form or sending through resumes and countless CVs. Once a person’s profile is completed, applying for jobs is as simple as ticking the roles that appeal to you and crossing those that don’t.

Topic

Expedia announces partnership with Aussie startup Booking Boss

- January 8, 2016 2 MIN READ

Sydney based startup Booking Boss announced they have secured a partnership deal with online travel giant Expedia. The partnership will help connect tour operators and trade distributors in a more efficient way. This is a great milestone for the Aussie startup and has proved their commitment to global expansion.

Other

Sydney FoodTech startup HowAboutEat wants to stop office workers from skipping lunch

- November 3, 2015 3 MIN READ

The thing about working in an office is that you can spend all morning daydreaming about what you’re going to eat for lunch, only to then get swept up in work and forget to eat until 3pm and then just eat a small, sad snack at your desk, or forget about eating altogether. The team behind HowAboutEat, the latest startup to join the ranks of Sydney’s FoodTech army, know they can’t stop people eating at their desk, so they want to make sure people are at least eating well.

Advice

Will Sydney startup MoneyBrilliant be the winner in the personal finance management space?

- September 24, 2015 7 MIN READ

We’ve seen a number of startups emerge in the last few years that help people manage their personal finances via their smartphones – a few notable examples include Mint, Pocketbook and Digit. Although Sydney-based startup MoneyBrilliant isn’t a new market entrant, it has undergone many iterations and is now one of best available because of its UI/UX as well as the volume and type of financial services accounts that can be integrated into the application.

Advice

SMS-based on-demand service ASAP merges with former rival Ketings, says it’s better to join forces than compete

- September 17, 2015 4 MIN READ

SMS-based on-demand service ASAP, which gives you whatever you want as soon as possible, was founded by two Sydney-based university students Dylan Samra and Kelvin Nguyen earlier this year, with Daniel Cunningham joining as a co-founder shortly after. Six months following its launch, ASAP has raised capital and merged with former rival Ketings.

Advice

FinTech startup Simply Wall St prepares to commercialise its offering following $600,000 funding round

- August 19, 2015 5 MIN READ

Sydney-based startup Simply Wall St, which makes the stock market easier to navigate, has just announced the closing of a $600,000 funding round led by Mike Quinn from Innovation Capital, with participation from Sydney Angels and their Sidecar Fund. This brings the total amount raised by the startup to $700,000, including the original investment from AWI ventures.

Advice

Bidz Direct ended up raising $400,000 in seed funding despite bad taste left behind in the sector by Alphatise

- June 26, 2015 3 MIN READ

In March, I wrote an article about Bidz Direct, in which I stated that the startup’s biggest challenge was going to be the bad press surrounding another startup playing in the same space Alphatise. I also said that co-founders Phil Tran and Zaven Matevosian would face some tough questions as they prepared to launch their platform and raise funds.