Tag: Blogs

Inconsistency is what most influences an organisation's decision to invest in R&D and the extent of its R&D investment. This is because a company cannot budget and minimise risk if it does now know the extent to which it is likely to be eligible for a tax concession. The proposed reforms to the R&D tax concession not only conflict with their stated purpose but offer no consistency to organisations already engaged in the complex task of commercialising innovation... whether novel or risky.

Inconsistency is what most influences an organisation's decision to invest in R&D and the extent of its R&D investment. This is because a company cannot budget and minimise risk if it does now know the extent to which it is likely to be eligible for a tax concession. The proposed reforms to the R&D tax concession not only conflict with their stated purpose but offer no consistency to organisations already engaged in the complex task of commercialising innovation... whether novel or risky.

Late last year, Miles Burke, the founder of Perth-based Bam Creative, engineered a coup d’état within his own business. He invited all the company’s employees to become shareholders. Bam started the new year with everyone buzzing around the office, genuinely working for the collective good rather than selfish individual ends. Here’s Burke’s account of how (and why) it happened.

There are many reasons to seek funding in the US, and not all of them involve preparation for entry into the American market. Solar-Gem CEO Khimji Vaghjiani, winner of last month’s Australian Innovation Shoot Out in California, presents a checklist all international entrepreneurs should consider before sitting down with US venture capitalists.

There were plenty of great insights and conversations shared about marketing and social media at last nights Online Marketing By Design event held at the Shelbourne Hotel in Sydney, co-hosted by Mumbrella and Anthill Magazine.

Creative industries have changed dramatically over the past decade, but unfortunately the options for creative professionals to showcase their talent to peers and prospective employers hasn’t. Until now.

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) announced today that it will be staging a free IPO workshop, on 16 February, for small cap companies (companies with a market capitalisation of between $300 million and $2 billion) interested in growing their business through public listing.

Of note to NSW SMEs and public sector research organisations (PSRO) is the launch last week of the NSW government's TechVouchers scheme, a pilot...

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...

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...

Digital media networking solutions company Audinate (a NICTA spin-out company since 2006) has secured an additional $4 million funding round, which was led by its existing investors Starfish Ventures and Innovation Capital.

I think it is safe to say that most entrepreneurs are pretty motivated people. To risk everything to create something new, you have to have a fairly clear idea of what you want to achieve.

Is innovation a driver of economic development down-under? The simple answer is, yes. But is it a core driver – part of our national psyche, supported by government policy? I personally don’t think that it is. I’m not so sure that ‘necessity’ is a part of life for most Australians. I don’t think that the ‘tyranny of distance’ still forces us to work smarter, not harder. In fact, the only cultural description I believe worth citing as part of this innovation debate is Australia’s reputation as a ‘lucky country’.

In the sixth post in this series, Nigel Malone shares the contents of another of his favourite business keynote slides, drawn from a cross-section of sources that includes some of the great business, brand and military planners of all time.

There's an interesting post over on Springwise about Pavegen slabs, an eco innovation by UK-based Pavegen Systems, which harvest the kinetic energy from pedestrian footsteps and converts it into electricity.

A recent survey by The Nielsen Company has shown a global rise of time spent on social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, of two and a half hours for December 2009 and December 2008. Going from three hours to five and a half hours represents a staggering 82 percent increase.

Running a small business inevitably means becoming a jack of all trades, most notably of which is ‘doing the books’. This in turn requires getting to grips with tricky accounting packages, an understanding of spreadsheets and becoming conversant with accounting jargon. The result is waving goodbye to your evenings, weekends and regular sleep.

Have you ever noticed how nobody seems to respect appointments? We only get one go at any point in time. Do you really want to spend it waiting for someone else? Take control!

In the fifth post in this series, Nigel Malone shares the contents of another of his favourite business keynote slides, drawn from a cross-section of sources that includes some of the great business, brand and military planners of all time.

So you want to start a business but time and money are holding you back? Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin set himself the challenge of launching a startup in seven days for less than $500. He’s posted daily summaries for seven days. This is his seventh and final post in the series.