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News, opinions and advice on starting and building companies.

Three-week-old Joe Button receives national awards nom

Aussie start-up Joe Button had only been in the online retail game for three weeks when it was shortlisted as a finalist in the Online Retail Industry Awards, up against the likes of Sportsgirl in categories Best New Online Retailer and Most Innovating Online Retailer.

Lachlan Blackhall, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Honourable Mention

Education and business are not separate worlds for Lachlan Blackhall. Out in Canberra, he's proving how intricately they can weave together. While his background is technical -- he has a PhD in Engineering -- he feels just as at home in the domain of the consumer. "I am passionate about the beneficial and long-term impact that education and engineering can have on the world," says Blackhall, founder of 17Dynamics.

Your 5-minute pitch could mean $5,000 at the Sydney MyBiz Expo

Ambitious Australian business owners are being given the opportunity this October to receive fiscal and networking support to help meet their goals – all in a five-minute pitch!

Why own when you can share? Are we entering the era of collaborative consumption?

The concept of collaborative consumption takes a very, very old idea in economics and gives it a new shine in our era of electronic social networking. It's all about sharing, trading or renting products or services as opposed to owning them. Listen as consultant Rachel Botsman describes it.

Codengo revives pioneering mobile platform Javaground

Unless you’re a nerdy boffin whose speciality is mid-noughties mobile companies, you may not have heard of Javaground. Back in the day (well, mid-last decade, which is the mobile equivalent of BC times) Javaground was *the* leading provider of mobile app development tools. The company’s client list included Sony Online Entertainment, Capcom, Namco and Indiagames. It's now Australia bound, following its acquisition by Codengo.

Steve McLeod, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Honourable Mention

When we met Steve McLeod last year, he was steadily ascending the ladder to full-scale market domination with his training company, Fire and Safety Australia. Cut to the present, and he's still pretty much right on track. He's doubled his staff (whom he calls "team members") and annual revenues, now estimated at $2 million. Plus, his organisation has a full-time presence in every mainland state.

How to blow up the cubicle culture and start gamestorming your creativity

Dave Gray, co-author of "Gamestorming," the 2010 book about collaboration for innovators, says the cubicle layout of your average business office is great for efficiency, but the worst possible design for creativity. In this video, Gray lays out the basics of gamestorming. It's worth a look for anyone hoping to spawn the Next Big Thing.

Looking back on a 2005 speech by Steve Jobs: Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

When Steve Jobs stepped aside in August as CEO of Apple, one pundit said the computing pioneer had the greatest second act in business history. But we wonder if Jobs sees it that way. But based on what we hear in this 2005 commencement address for Stanford University, Jobs' life has been one continuous push.

goCatch brings the ratings game to cabbies (and smiles to passengers?)

It’s not for nothing that goCatch last month won the $50,000 top prize at Tech23, a program sponsored in part by the New South Wales government and run by Slattery IT Consulting. Its iPhone app – which allows passengers to directly find and hire cabs in their vicinity – has been disruptive of the market. The app, launched in June, enables a cabbie to become a free agent, posing an evident threat to cabbie networks. The Taxi Council of Queensland has hit back, saying goCatch passengers could be compromising on their safety, and perhaps service as well, by hiring cabbies directly.

Owen Bowling, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Up-and-Comer

Owen Bowling wants to make exercise easy, affordable and portable. His solution, CrankIt Fitness and its signature product -- specially designed straps that combine resistance training, gravity and the user's body weight to make available hundreds of different exercises.

Peter Bradd, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Up-and-Comer

Peter Bradd wants you to send a postcard. Not to him, of course. He's the creator and founder of Scribble Pics, an online service that combines our current world of smartphones and laptops with the old-world jolt of getting something fun in the mail.

Kym Huynh, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Honourable Mention

Kym Huynh believes firmly in the idea of the Renaissance Man. He's a lawyer and a professional singer. He hosts three podcasts and manages several more. He's also behind a chain of humourous photo blogs. Of course, that's when he isn't promoting his startup ventures. For all of his accomplishments, he's taken to knocking himself: "I lead goofily and still appear to be legit."

Wyngle goes toe-to-toe with online discounting

Brand-spanking new Aussie start-up Wyngle is getting all up in online group discounting's business.

Aha, There-it-is! Visual search engine picks up $250,000 grant

The Holy Grail of internet search could soon be in the sites of an Adelaide upstart. For years, technologists seeking to go one up...

Brent Quill, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Honourable Mention

Brent Quill is the founder of Training for Work, an RTO that provides a variety of programmes -- traineeship, apprenticeship, certificate, diploma and advanced diploma -- to business staff and students in their places of employment. The success of the company stems from two factors on Quill's part: timing and flexibility.

James Griffin, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Honourable Mention

James Griffin, 27, sensed that risk management in social media would grow in importance. So sure was he that he quit his job in 2008, amidst less than favourable (read: risky) economic conditions, and founded SR7 Social Media Intelligence. "I knew my idea had legs," says Griffin -- an idea that has since become an essential service.

Ben Carroll, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Honourable Mention

The next time you tune in to the Cup to cheer on the Wallabies this month, take a careful look at what the players on the pitch are wearing. That way you can better appreciate what Ben Carroll of Velflex does for a living. Velflex specialises in using heat transfer technology to print numbers, lettering, and digital images on garments for the sportswear and promotional industries.

Kate Stewart, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Honourable Mention

In this age of Doom and Gloom made possible by the letters G, F, and C, Kate Stewart wants us all to engage in a little decadence. Call it retro, anachronistic, even subversive, but Melbourne has taken her up on it. Bright Young Things, Stewart's boutique catering company, has decorated venues and dished up gourmet delights over a thousand times in its two-year history.

Submit your nominations now for the 2011 NSW ICT Entrepreneur Awards!

Last year, the Pearcey NSW ICT and Digital Media Entrepreneur awards celebrated much talent, including that of Lars and Jens Rasmussen for the pinnacle award. The awards are back and the committee needs some nominees!

Flic Manning, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Up-and-Comer

Flic Manning started preparing for her current venture when she was three years old. That's when she first started to dance and perform. Today, she's the kinetic force behind Evixa dance studios, where pupils learn Manning's eclectic, athletic mix of hip hop and Latin styles.
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