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News, opinions and advice on starting and building companies.

Legal: Business method patents

One of the great misconceptions about patents is that they can only be obtained on an invention of a tangible item. However, patents can also be obtained for how a business function is performed, provided certain criteria are met. These patents are known as "business method patents".

Online: How to stand out from the online pack

It's not news that the number of eyeballs searching for products and services online is growing rapidly. But you're possibly not aware of just how rapidly growth in internet commerce is occurring.

Media tips

One of the many reasons I love the work I do as a freelance journalist is that I get to spend a lot of time talking to emerging Australian technology companies. There is a vast wealth of incredible innovation in this country, embodied within hundreds of companies that will reshape the world in their own small way.

Tunnel Talk: Start the press!

While mainstream print media circulation figures decline, niche publications continue to sprout from nowhere like mushrooms in a sodden field. As long as there is an audience, publishers will keep churning out the content. We asked three independent publishing entrepreneurs how they seized their patch of turf.

Ankit Fadia: the ethical hacker

By the age of 16, Ankit Fadia was the author of several best selling books and a popular website on his pet subject: ethical hacking. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the US Government hired him to decrypt a critical email intercepted from Al Qaeda. It was, as they say, a good career move.

Baby business

Most people will always forfeit personal luxury to provide for their baby. It's no wonder that the baby industry is perpetually booming. Liz Heynes and Catherine Kerstjens take a look at five Australian companies on the move in an industry where only the best will do.

Sharpening entrepreneurial minds

Bootstrapping entrepreneurs might think the hallowed halls of academia are for those avoiding the cut and thrust of the private sector. After all, an MBA is for those looking to skip a few rungs on that creaky old corporate ladder. Right? Wrong. Business schools around the country are now focused on supporting and developing your entrepreneurial streak. More than ever before, higher learning is one ticket to start-up success.

Cashflow 101: the King and I

Cash is king... and no one except Elvis is likely to disagree. So why don't we ever have enough and how can we fix cashflow problems without selling off part of our company?

Victorian Technology Profiles Aug/Sep 06

The path from start-up to success story can be a challenging journey. These two Victorian innovators are taking the path less travelled, turning good ideas into profitable international businesses, and they're not looking back!

Strategy: Cash is king

While sometimes apocryphal, start-up failure rates tell a sombre story: most start-ups don't see their third anniversary. This high attrition rate has many causes, but a primary factor is poor cash flow management.

Just a few feet from easy street

Sick and tired of venture capitalists slamming their heavy, oak doors in your mush? Heck, even a cash injection of 50 grand would get your bright idea to the next stage, right? Fear not. Help is at hand.

The power of tittle-tattle

Greetings Anthillians! I've been sipping a glass of fine wine and contemplating the grapevine. Word of mouth has to be the most powerful form of advertising. How else could a brief conversation by the water cooler precipitate the purchase of a $300 dollar bottle of plonk? Professional antagoniser, Ray Beatty, is on the case.

Ant Bytes — AA17

If you've ever received an invitation to a wedding being held interstate or overseas, you'll know that sharing the love can be expensive and time consuming. But with technology doing more and more of our leg work these days, more palatable options were bound to emerge.

Australia’s innovation blind spot

I recently had the good fortune to host the Commercialisation EXPO 2006 conference held in Melbourne. It covered all the right areas and was a great success, but it is clear that one troubling issue remains - the chasm between innovation and marketing is as wide today as it has ever been.

Australia's innovation blind spot

I recently had the good fortune to host the Commercialisation EXPO 2006 conference held in Melbourne. It covered all the right areas and was a great success, but it is clear that one troubling issue remains - the chasm between innovation and marketing is as wide today as it has ever been.

Business valuation… a black art?

Value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. While experienced investors use a range of tools to calculate the worth of a start-up or early stage company, some also believe that valuation is more art than science. So what is this 'black art' and how do experienced investors make their decisions?

Cool Company Awards 2006

They cartwheeled, schmoozed and cajoled us; dangled riches before our very eyes. But coolness cannot be bought. Coolness simply is. And while some thought us nuts for trying; here they are. Australia's coolest companies revealed.

Pete Thomond – Disruptive innovator

Pete Thomond spent the past four and a half years working out the secrets of successful innovation. The British academic and business consultant was co-manager of the "Disrupt-it" project, a €3 million European Commission co-sponsored programme of research and business tool development. Now he's spreading the word downunder, as a Research Fellow and innovation consultant at the Brisbane Graduate School of Business. At 29, he's young, but how many people do you know with a PhD in disruptive innovation?

Top marks: Business plan competition

There's a new reason for creating that great business plan... prize money! If the possibility of commercial success (or failure) isn't inspiration enough to do your basic business homework, perhaps you should consider the financial incentives offered to budding business planners. Scores of Australian organisations now hold annual business plan competitions, where entrants compete for cold hard cash... and the honour of being named 'most likely'. By Pi James.

Q&A: Nigel Poole

As the person responsible for commercialising all new technologies emanating from the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation, Nigel Poole knows all about transforming ideas into companies. From where he sits, Australia's so-called "commercialisation gap" is receding, with seed investment culture and managerial experience the keys. He's a busy man with busy ideas and a penetrating vision for Australia's future as a knowledge nation.
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