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Global Growth by Design

Want to break into Europe? Doing business in China? Is the USA your next stop?

The proposed Australian R&D tax reforms… Do they walk the talk?

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.

The proposed Australian R&D tax reforms… Do they walk the talk?

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.

Can Australia really claim to be a nation of innovators?

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’.

‘Bean-talk’ — a golden egg for small business

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.

Would your business benefit from a government grant?

During this evening networking event, attendees will learn from successful Australian business builders who have "been there, done that" and employed grant assistance as an instrumental part of their ongoing commercial success.

Are you seeking venture capital for 2010?

During this two hour seminar and networking event, attendees will learn from five of Australia’s leading experts on venture capital and business development - real investors, currently seeking investment opportunities, and successful entrepreneurs, who have ‘been there’ and secured private funding for their growing companies.

GoodBarry's Bardia Housman shares his tips after selling to Adobe

Bardia Housman is an Australian entrepreneur who recently completed his second successful exit, selling Business Catalyst (makers of e-commerce software suite GoodBarry) to Adobe Systems. Australian specialist recruitment and M&A outfit MitchellLake captured this candid interview at the South Food+Wine Bar in San Francisco last month.

GoodBarry’s Bardia Housman shares his tips after selling to Adobe

Bardia Housman is an Australian entrepreneur who recently completed his second successful exit, selling Business Catalyst (makers of e-commerce software suite GoodBarry) to Adobe Systems. Australian specialist recruitment and M&A outfit MitchellLake captured this candid interview at the South Food+Wine Bar in San Francisco last month.

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: The dark art of valuations

This week I've been attempting to work out the value of our company, which means I've been taking the business world's equivalent of a Dark Arts class at Hogwarts.

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: I think, therefore IM

My focus this week has been on drawing up the first draft of our Information Memorandum (IM). Unlike the business plan, I haven't found this particularly easy at all.

Commercialisation Australia and the Valley of Death

Firstly, let's clear up some confusion. Commercialisation Australia is not going to pay for your marketing campaign, help you with advertising or fund you to break into your desired market. CA will help you up to the point that you are ready to go commercial. That is, it will help with pre-commercialisation.

Clint Walker, 2009 Anthill 30under30 Winner

As one of this year's 30under30 winners, Clint Walker was instrumental in building, running and selling the enormously successful Rising Sun Research (RSR), which was also named the Coolest of the Cool at Anthill's 2007 Cool Company Awards. He's now in startup round two with his second company, Run with Robots.

Diary of an entrepreneur raising capital: Dealing with rejection

Oodles.com founder Steve Sherlock has set himself the goal of raising a multimillion dollar Series A funding round by the end of January 2010. He is documenting his trials and tribulations and seeking feedback from readers on AnthillOnline.com. This is the third post in his series.

8 steps to buy out the boss

If you ain't the Big Cheese, it's likely you think (at least occasionally) that you could run the company better. So get a team together and make it happen! Here are eights steps to buying out your boss and seizing the reins.

What this inventor wants from investors

In August, we decided to explore the many facets of capital raising - from angel investment and grants to venture capital and private equity. For want of a better name, we called the exercise Anthill’s Venture Capital month. The theme tossed up plenty of investment advice and discussion. But it also triggered some strong reactions from Australian inventors who think that the investment culture in Australia needs a dramatic overhaul. Trevor Rose was among the most ardent, so we invited him to provide a 'right of reply'.

Tasmanian innovator Travellr raises growth capital from World Nomad Group

Later in the evening, perhaps after a second or third round of cocktails (all the pubs were closed), Cummings shared his views that raising capital is a time consuming process and that, in particular, he would be seeking a strategic partner. That's why I was particularly pleased to receive news yesterday that Travellr.com has secured growth capital from none other than the travel insurance and travel services company The Worlds Normad Group.

Is raising capital from your customers a smart move?

While most new technology developers will spend months chasing down angel investors and cold calling VCs, often with the randomness of a headless chook, without too much planning or forethought (much to the potential investor's frustration), sometimes the safest money is already right under their noses. It's called 'strategic capital' or 'smart money' (or a mix of the two).

Peter Henderson, 2009 Anthill 30under30 winner

Jumping ship to work with a larger, market-leading competitor was a disruptive change. The realisation that his entrepreneurial skills would be best utilised growing their business, rather than his own, did not come naturally for Peter Henderson, one of the few genuine "intrapreneurs" in this year's crop of 30under30.

Australia desperately needs a virtuous cycle of innovation

It says much about the schismatic nature of Australia's economic strategy that the Federal Government invited public submissions on how to build a clever country in the same week that it signed a $50B gas export contract with China. Jordan Green outlines his vision for Australia's knowledge economy.
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New Zealand’s Xero eyes US IPO, further disruption as subscribers increase...

Xero recently held its annual meeting in Wellington, during which the company revealed some interesting details about its future. As has been widely suspected, the...

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