Tag: Opinion

Our 'secret-squirrels' have revealed to Anthill that the seven board positions, appointed to analyse and approve Commercialisation Australia funding applications, have been filled and that an announcement is imminent. No-one knows who will be among this 'magnicifent seven' other than those appointed or involved in the decision. In fact, it is a complete mystery to external observers how these important functionaries were selected. Was there some sort of process behind closed doors? Were they vetted? Were the decisions political? Or vaguely political, chosen in the same fashion as a US High Court Judge, to perform the role yet still be 'on-side' with the powers that be?

The complex and expensive world of professional marketing is an outsourced expertise that is mostly out of bounds to startups and SMEs. While many resources are available to the small business owner, it can also often come down to having the time to research and follow up on new ideas. This is where a novel product from Australian-based marketing company ChildsPlay Marketing can come in handy.

How many of us have set goals or made New Year's resolutions only to find ourselves quickly going back to old habits, reneging on our promises to ourselves or just plain giving up? I know I have! Until I came up with this process that really worked for me.

Limerick-based software startup Goshido recently completed its first round of private fundraising in only eight days. What is more impressive is that it accomplished this feat solely via the social media networking site LinkedIn.

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.