Smart 100 2011

I had friends who travelled often for business and would find themselves suddenly in a city with nothing to do and no one to do it with. As you often purchase event tickets months out from events, it is difficult for the business traveller or last-minute purchaser. Also, it can be very lonely to attend events on your own. I decided to build a site where people could meet and connect with others, without the "online dating" stigma attached. And it would provide an opportunity for people to offload or buy last-minute tickets without having to deal with scalpers.

I invented a device to block drains and then automatically to draw water from drains. It was called the everydrop water harvester and appeared on the New Inventors and won the episode people's choice award. I then found it was difficult getting a pump that could draw water from below it and continue to hold prime. Such pumps that could do it like diaphragm pumps were more expensive, less efficient and not usually for the domestic market. Further, even these pumps were prone to shorter life when left to run dry for too long. Hence I developed this new product.

I was trying to improve my surfing and kept on falling off my skateboard. I studied the biomechanical movements and pivot points of the human body and designed a prototype swingboard which was effective and safe to use. Once we ironed out some of the issues with the prototype we invited a sports physiologist along to make sure we were not going to injure a user. The physiologist was amazed at the freedom of movement and fitness benefits for general users in the fitness market for Core Strength Training, Balance Training and Rehabilitation.

Clinton Larson and Emma Lo Russo, ex-Macquarie Bank colleagues, came together to explore the impact that the social web and changing technology were having on traditional businesses, especially those looking to compete globally. After testing the opportunity, they launched DIGIVIZER in July 2010 -- a solution that finds the digital footprint of people organisations know (their customers) or people they should know (prospects) on the social web.

A potential client, the British Ministry of Defence, was having problems with the extreme weather conditions in Afghanistan affecting their pump systems and regulatory changes meant that they could not leave their sewage at the site of their camps. We have had 25 years of experience using vacuum technology for sewage networks in Australia and so managed to come up with a way to containerise the system and handle the conditions.

We realised that simply providing content to a market online was not enough. We discovered that we also needed to help our customers organise, access and use the content in the easiest way possible. The purpose of this innovation is to provide nurses and allied health staff around central and rural Australia with a comprehensive online platform for them to complete and manage their Continued Professional Development (CPD) activities.

I had the idea that a community-based approach to energy measurement and control could better help people to save energy and money, to share and learn. And so, the Smart Energy Groups project was born.

A major mobile operator in the UK approached our channel partner to see if they could help determine if smartphone applications (iPhone, Android, etc.) were causing congestion and outages in the mobile network. We quickly modified our mobile web analytics platform to analyse mobile application traffic and develop a series of new reports that provide unprecedented insight into smartphone application usage and associated network impacts.

We wanted to create something that connected to the average Australian. The financial planning industry ignores people who have simple goals and not large amounts of money -- we wanted to help and connect with people from all walks of life.

I was a time-starved mother of a newborn baby and a toddler. I was spending nearly an hour a day washing and sterilizing baby bottles. I began researching for an appliance that could meet my needs and found nothing. So, I started sketching some designs and developing the functions of my 'Dream' appliance.

The purpose of this innovation is to efficiently and effectively raise capital for early-stage businesses needing growth capital. This is done by increasing the competence of those seeking capital and matching them to those with capital to invest.

I realised that mums attending my networking events were leaving inspired but still didn't have the technical know-how to move forward. However, they also had limited funds to access business support and advice. Brainstorm in a Teacup solved both these problems. Bringing together six biz mums (and myself), the session utilised the skills and experiences of women who were formerly in marketing, sales, IT and more to advise, connect and feedback to one another, all for the price of a coffee and a magazine.

I proposed taking practice firms into a 3D platform. Previously, students formed companies that existed only on paper and traded with no economic restrictions. In a virtual world, the teacher can monitor the interactions and transactions between businesses and change the cost of inputs to recreate reflections of a real environment.

I was sitting on the toilet. I realised that toilet paper has seen little to no innovation in the last 50 years. I also realised that global sanitation is a huge problem that is underfunded because people don’t like talking about toilets. In a split second the idea was born: toilet paper that uses 50% of its profits to build toilets in the developing world.

A good client asked for a unique team-building program that would enhance the team's ability to think creatively, collaborate towards a result that created a legacy, embedded the team's purpose and values and led to a deep level of understanding between team members. I combined my corporate team-building experience with my songwriting and recording capability and designed the team song experience.

My innovation was hatched after fitting yet another misaligned shower tray. This time I was doing a renovation for a mate who always provided a drink after work. Bewildered by the task ahead, I knocked off and sat down to a bout of drinking and thinking. Do I pack the walls or do I jackhammer and shift the pipe? Then it came to me: Why doesn't someone make an adjustable tray with a waste that can be fitted through the tray from above?

When I went to purchase my first car, there were so many things I did not know and did not understand about the process. After a great deal of research and conversing with friends I still made a lot of mistakes. Realising how much research and street know-how is required, I created this iPhone application, which can help at the most important time, when you actually go to look at and purchase a car.

Blue Zoo was a boutique management advisory firm, and came to the realisation that our industry was fundamentally inefficient. Our services were largely unavailable to the SME and not-for-profit sectors due to cost, and unavailable to regional and remote areas due to availability of qualified people. We set about to commercialise our intellectual capital into an instrument that would still be valuable to large companies, but would also be accessible to smaller organisations and regional areas.

Kogan invented LivePrice when we realised there were shoppers around the world pre-paying for goods but not receiving any benefits for doing so. LivePrice creates a win-win situation for both retailers and shoppers. It rewards customers who jump on great deals quickly.

I was holding four cans of beer whilst waiting for the Jesus and Mary Chain to come on stage at the 2008 V Festival. Like all cans at festivals, the four cans had been opened at the bar. Someone bumped my elbow and the bottom can in one hand fell to the ground and the beer in it exploded out and covered me in beer. Two thoughts came into my head: "Crap, there goes seven bucks," and then, "I wish I could re-seal the cans after they open them at the bar..." And that's when I came up with the Spillah can lid.