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Startups and Standups
Start Up Blog
Jerry Seinfeld said something about standup comedy recently that Anthillian Steve Sammartino thought was an equally apt observation for startup companies...
Why India Loves Facebook
The Daily Beast
The social-networking giant has opened its first-ever office in Asia-in the country where being all up in one another's business is practically a birthright.
Your high IQ will kill your startup
Cube Of M
"People who are born intelligent start off life with everything easy for them. They don't have to work hard to get good grades, they never really have to do much to get ahead."
If Odysseus Had GPS
The Wall Street Journal
Today, Robinson Crusoe's dad would probably just check his son's Facebook page — unless Crusoe had used his iPhone to send his GPS coordinates to his various Twitter followers...
If You Want to See Entrepreneurs, Go to China
Business Week
According to MIT political scientist and China expert Ed Steinfeld, "China [is] one of the most entrepreneurial places on earth."
Finance ministers want 3% R&D target ditched
EurActiv
EU finance ministers are fighting against the European Commission's target of spending 3% of GDP on research and development (R&D), demanding a new "outcome-oriented" measure of success.
Why PR is a pointless waste of time
Anthill Magazine
"I love your article – it's a fantastic example of crap writing. It shows exactly why the PR industry needs to exist to give people like you fodder." The debate heats up.
Family and friends more important than angels' help
The Nelson Mail
US veteran "angel" investor Bill Payne has put US$1.5 million (NZ$2m) into about 50 technology start-ups during the past 30 years. Now he is spending five months in New Zealand as "entrepreneur in residence" at Auckland University.
The Case for Early Stage Funds
The Wall Street Journal
"In India, it is easier to raise two million dollars than it is to raise $200,000." That kind of sounds like Australia.
This should hang on every entrepreneur's wall
Anthill Magazine
While outsiders may view this and think satire, entrepreneurs will know that McLeod’s piece taps into the peculiar brand of optimism and energy that resides in every bootstrapper who ever built something up from nothing while everyone around them was telling them it was impossible.

Steve Sherlock

author

Steve Sherlock is co-founder of Oodles.com, one of Australia’s leading online car rental aggregators.

Latest Posts

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March 22, 2010 | Blogs

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: Hasta la vista, baby!

With his capital raising process fast approaching its climax, Steve Sherlock offers up what he think he did right and wrong over the past three-months of capital seeking (and writing about it in this series).

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February 24, 2010 | Articles

Diary of an Entrepreneur Raising Capital: Naked Bungie Jumping

“If ever my optimism or motivation wains slightly, I try to picture it all working out in the end, just as planned. And if that doesn’t work, I just imagine how lucky I am not to have to get up each morning and do something really challenging, such as naked bungie jumping. Suddenly, seeking capital, staying motivated, etc., seems relatively simple, not to mention a lot less embarrassing.”

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February 16, 2010 | Blogs

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: Money for nothing

I can never figure out if that Dire Straits song goes “money for nothing and your chicks for free” or “money for nothing and your cheques for free”.

Let’s stick with cheques for this post, because everyone knows you don’t get chicks for free unless you play the guitar on the MTV. Plus, getting cheques for free is in context with what I want to talk about.

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February 2, 2010 | Blogs

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: The ‘Claytons’ Stock Market

When I embarked on my current search for new funding, I thought I was familiar with most of the likely sources: friends (relatives and fools), angels, angels with teeth – Venture Capital (VC), strategic investors (the Holy Grail), an IPO or Lotto.

But it turned out there was one I wasn’t aware of…

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January 19, 2010 | Blogs

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: Once bitten, twice shy

I realise the aim of this column is to be as open and honest as possible about my experiences raising capital, but at this point I’m eager not to do anything that might jeopardise our chances of success.

If you think I’m being a little too prudent then let me tell you a painful story about how I learnt not to count chickens, the hard way…

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December 8, 2009 | Blogs

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: Life’s a pitch

Week 6: For me, whether it’s speed dating or a business proposition, a great pitch should help others understand your vision and get them excited about it as quickly as possible. For some reason my spiel has never generated that much enthusiasm in the speed-dating world, but the business environment is different (I hope).

Generally speaking, my pitches usually follow a formula, which explains (in order) the following…

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November 26, 2009 | Articles

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: The dark art of valuations

This week I’ve been attempting to work out the value of our company, which means I’ve been taking the business world’s equivalent of a Dark Arts class at Hogwarts.

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November 16, 2009 | Articles

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: Enter the Dragon

Oodles.com founder Steve Sherlock has been documenting his efforts to raise a multimillion dollar Series A funding round by the end of January 2010. In the fifth instalment of this series, Sherlock has just returned from a trip to London where he gathered advice from several people who’ve been around the investment block a few times.

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November 4, 2009 | Articles

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: I think, therefore IM

My focus this week has been on drawing up the first draft of our Information Memorandum (IM). Unlike the business plan, I haven’t found this particularly easy at all.

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October 26, 2009 | Articles

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: Dealing with rejection

Oodles.com founder Steve Sherlock has set himself the goal of raising a multimillion dollar Series A funding round by the end of January 2010. He is documenting his trials and tribulations and seeking feedback from readers on AnthillOnline.com. This is the third post in his series.

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Oracle’s Larry Ellison rains on the ‘cloud’

As founder of Oracle, one of the pre-internet powerhouse technology companies, you might expect Larry Ellison to be cynical of all this talk about cloud computing. He is.

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Startup & Entrepreneurship

Sponsored by “Free ‘health check’ for businesses entering Australia’s top awards”

The 2010 Telstra Business Awards have opened for nominations. This year, have been entrants offered a ‘free Business Health Check’ to help identify opportunities to grow and expand.

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“Does your website make you money or cost you money?”

There is a purpose to design that many developers (and even some marketers) simply don’t want to know about. Online marketing means creating a sales process that builds credibility, attracts new customers and becomes an extension of your business.

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CAPITAL RAISING CONFERENCE 2010

Are you seeking venture capital? Do you have what it takes to raise private equity? Are you familiar with the value of angel finance? The CAPITAL RAISING CONFERENCE 2010 is for entrepreneurs, innovators and business builders wanting to learn and acquire skills and tools for raising capital.

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