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How to get involved in the Australian Startup Community in 2016

Wayne GerardCo-founder & CEO RedEye

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The startup scene in Australia is gaining momentum very quickly, with over $1 Billion dollars in new funds announced in 2015, the federal government's new innovation policy and awesome state and local government initiatives, like Advance Qld and Brisbane City Council's new startup hub, there is a lot of excitement around startups and innovation!

How do you get involved and if you're a startup founder what are you doing to capitalise on all these initiatives?

Here's 10 things you can do to get engaged in the startup scene in Australia:

1.     Sign up for the StartupAus email.  https://startupaus.org/ StartupAus is the startup communities voice and has great relationships with all the incubators, accelerators, coworking spaces, events and the local, state and federal governments. You'll find out about events and get insight into the key players, initiatives and opportunities to participate in the startup ecosystem.

2.    Attend an event at an accelerator or coworking space. checkout http://www.rivercitylabs.net/ , http://www.ilabaccelerator.com/ in Brisbane http://fishburners.org/ , https://www.bluechilli.com/ , http://stoneandchalk.com.au/ , http://tankstreamlabs.com/  in Sydney http://yorkbutterfactory.com/ in Melbourne just to name a few.

3.    Checkout what's happening with the federal governments National Innovation and Science Agenda http://www.innovation.gov.au/

4.    Checkout what the QLD Governement is doing with Advance Qld  http://advanceqld.initiatives.qld.gov.au/  and check out what the other states are doing by visiting their websites.

5.    Attend a startup event, there are literally hundreds of big and small startup events happening around Australia in 2016. Check the events calendar at StartupAus or any of the coworking spaces to find out more.

6.    For a great source of startup news checkout http://www.startupsmart.com.au/ 

7.    Sign up for This Week in Startups Australia a great podcast about the Australian Startup Scene hosted by my friend Mark Pesce.  https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/twista-this-week-in-startups/id951368363?mt=2

8.    Visit a local startup, find a local startup in an area you're interested in, most founders will happily grab a coffee with you and help you to get a feel for the community and the right people to engage with. Come and meet our team at www.redeye.co 

9.    Attend a startup weekend in your capital city, find out more at http://www.up.co/ 

10. Start a startup! Its a wild ride, you'll learn stacks about business, leadership, building teams, solving problems, servicing clients, making money.... and not sleeping :-

What's the next frontier?

It was radio, the television, then internet then mobile.......

It was IBM, then Microsoft, then Google then Facebook

What's next? 

Virtual Reality will be the next frontier!!!!

A study has found that 32% of consumers are interested in buying a VR head set - especially to augment gaming and shopping!