New Australian Government Initiatives

In addition to the hugely successful R&D and Export Market Development Grant Programmes - the new labour government is looking at implementing the new programmes promised in the 2023 budget 

• Jobs & Skills Australia, 
• establishing the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, and 
• developing the country’s first National Quantum Strategy. developing a National Robotics Strategy.

other budget funding

• $1 billion for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation for energy efficient home upgrades
• $2 billion for a new Hydrogen Headstart programme
• $28 million over two years for Australia’s first National Climate Risk Assessment and a National Adaptation Plan
• $101 million for critical technology industries including $20 million over four years for an Australian Centre for Quantum Growth, and $40 million to incentivise business uptake
• $40 million for a National AI Centre and funding for businesses to adopt AI technologies
• $9 million for STEM education programmes
• And $20.9 million over five years for decarbonising transport and infrastructure, including developing a Transport and Infrastructure Net Zero Roadmap and Action Plan.
• $6.7 million in funding to develop a Future Gas Strategy to support a goal to reach 82 per cent renewables by 2030.
• $14.3 million to partner with the Queensland Government in R&D into reducing emissions in the energy resources sector.
• $19 billion in funding and $7.8 billion in savings on existing programmes.
• $3.8 billion for defence infrastructure in northern Australia, 
• $4.1 billion for long-range strike weapons and to develop missile manufacturing capacity, and 
• $3.4 billion over 10 years for an Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator to spur defence industry innovation.
• Small business energy bill relief of $314 million to help up to 3.8 million SMEs save on energy bills through tax deductions for investing in the efficient use of energy
• Creation of a National Net Zero Authority to help workers and companies in polluting industries such as coal, gas or manufacturing to transition to cleaner industries
• $146.1 million to support electric vehicle uptake
• Petroleum Resources Rent Tax reform to raise $2.4 billion.

https://www.aumanufacturing.com.au/all-the-budget-news-that-hasnt-been-previously-leaked

Nvidia - designs chip for AI servers - valued at $1 trillion

Who would have thought? NVIDIAs shares rise to $1 trillion

https://australianinnovation.blogspot.com/2023/05/nvidia-became-first-chipmaker-to-hit.html

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AI in the HR industry and Aussie Tech

AI in the HR industry is big business - With an estimated value of US$5.26 billion in 2023, going up to US$10.7 billion by 2028, the global artificial intelligence in the HR market is rising rapidly with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 15.3%. 

And Australian HR tech is keen to get a slice of this pie with  Swag by Employment Hero and Martian Logic 

Ben Thompson - founder of unicorn Employment Hero tells Anastasia Santoreneo of Forbes that 

“The fusion of AI and HR not only boosts efficiency but also fosters a culture of innovation, where data-driven decision-making and human intuition intersect, shaping the future of work” 

1.  how do you easily wrote job descriptions 
2. How to match candidates to ideal jobs
3. Predicting a business hiring needs based on past performance and projections 
4. Getting the right person for the right role sooner 

Martian Logic has been building tools for for HR teams to succeed on building teams, retaining employees and supporting managers doing this for years and its tech with the help of AI gets better and better! 

“Hearing people say, ‘this has changed my life’, is what I love the most. It’s what kept me going through the harder times and what drives me today” (founder Anwar Khalil)

Employment Hero has launched an AI hiring tool called Swag.

The new “superapp” leverages artificial intelligence to streamline the recruitment process. For example, it can use AI to produce first-draft job descriptions, predict a business’ future hiring needs, match eligible candidates with suitable roles and post jobs to job boards.

The Swag Career feature gives job seekers access to a free jobs board called Swag Jobs, where they can create a digital employment passport to view job ads. SMEs get free access to these applicants without posting or advertising costs, directly in competition with one of Employment Hero’s backers,SEEK. Businesses that work with Employment Hero – including those on its freemium tier – get Swag included.

Swag offers employees  a loyalty card called instapay enabling employees to access their wages early - (up to $250 per week) to shop at certain stores - that will give them discounts .

Exciting times in the HR Tech and AI space methinks

Martian Logic https://martianlogic.com/

Swag and Employment Hero https://employmenthero.com/products/swag-employment-superapp/

Change of Government - change of grant programmes

The Department of Industry, Science and Resources is looking  to launch  a  $392 million Industry Growth Program in late 2023 - that was unveiled in the Federal Budget earlier this month.

The Industry Growth Programme  is to build funded centres of support (to be self sustaining in 18 months ) and is aimed to help SMEs and startups get their ideas off the ground .

 The programme is aligned with the priority areas of the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund which is expected to be operational in some capacity by the end of the year.

Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic said: “This end-to-end approach will maximise the return on taxpayers’ investments and provide a clear pathway for our entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into thriving businesses in Australia instead of overseas.”

The funded centres - providing services vs funding are expected to become self-sustaining by the middle of next year when the program concludes, although they may yet play a role in the Industry Growth Program.

The program is being funded by  replacing  elements of the maligned Entrepreneurs Programme, which was the subject of a damning audit last year.

The fallout of the maligned entrepreneurs programme 

Jessie Wu of after work ventures shares the frustration of startups and innovators going through pain from  pulling of the failed Entrepreneurs Programme.

 

The only certain thing for a startup is uncertainty! 

“The word ‘technology’ appears 7 times in the Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ recent budget speech, but both Federal and State governments have been quietly pulling funding from programs that support innovation and entrepreneurship: 

- The NSW MVP Ventures Grant which provided $200k to startups is on hold as part of a Comprehensive Expenditure Review (https://lnkd.in/eP_MwcYE) 

- The Accelerating Commercialisation program which provided up to $1m in matched funding to commercialise technologies has been shut down (https://lnkd.in/ezhumCqi) 

- The Entrepreneur’s Program which provided expert advice, support, and funding for startups and small businesses has closed; all staff have been let go (https://lnkd.in/ecDX4PhP) 

- The Boosting Female Founders program which provided $250k - $500k to female-founded startups has frozen applications (https://lnkd.in/eg2VTtcH) 

- The Manufacturing Modernisation Fund which provided up to $1m for SMEs to transform manufacturing practices with new technologies has frozen applications (https://lnkd.in/ecDX4PhP) 

A new program, new Executive, new independent review committee, and new set of eligibility criteria is all very well for new governments’ desire to make their mark and cut ribbons, but it ultimately leaves startups and SMEs in the lurch. 

Startups don’t have the luxury of time to wait around for governments to get their sh*t in order. Many were in the middle of (incredibly onerous) application processes, only to be unceremoniously notified the whole program was shutting down. 

In a sector where uncertainty is a constant, governments are most helpful when they can provide stability - in policies, sources of funding, and tax incentives to invest in entrepreneurship.”

Has the government got the capability of choosing winners? If a founder can’t get VC - should the government back them? 

There is still some great Australian Grant programmes… if you want to know more , speak to Mick or  Peter at www.bsiinnovation.com.Au 

 

The Aust Govt support in the form of R&D incentives  is still one of the most generous support programs in the world. 

And the EMDG export grant helps take Aussie business owners and leaders  offshore.

Great insight by Kyle Bolto 

Start up is not only a contest of ideas but a contest of execution and finding a way. If you can’t work this out independently of govt support I would say that’s a hard filter. 

honestly, if you need government support for a $50k MVP as a startup you're not really cut out for it. 

It means, you either don't have the hard skills to build something yourself, or you can't attract people who can build with you, or you can't excite yourself, your family or anyone enough to back your vision.

Everyone has ideas, not many can actually build things, it's not the governments job to fund that gap at MVP stage, in my opinion.

As a data driven founder I’m always happy to see real data to change my mind. (opinions are not data).

Roy Green - Special Innovation Adviser, University of Technology Sydney., says  it potentially offers a new lease of life for the Industry Growth Centres, albeit through service provision rather than operational funding support.

The concept is that support should go to projects that would not have occurred without government intervention, rather than funding projects that would in any case have attracted private funding 

will be further opportunities in the future for the much needed development of Australia’s research and innovation system.

This will be the key to creating long term growth and jobs.

www.bsiinnovation.com.Au 

Kinde supporting Startups, Innovators and SAAS Based Companies

If you are a startup or looking to build an app or saas product - speak to the team at Kinde .

Building a startup is not for the feint hearted and you need all the help that you can get... focus on what you are really good at and build a team around you that can help you with what you need to do to scale your vision!!

People generally become overnight successes after 10 or 20 years!!

Live the dream!!

Great post Ross Chaldecott ....

Here’s the thing. If you’re founding a startup – and particularly if it’s going to be successful – then you’re going to be at it for a long time. It’s going to be your life for 5, 10, 15 years. It may even be the last job you ever have. So you’d better make sure you’re solving a problem that you are in love with. Something that you are going to be passionate about years from today. And something that you can convince others to believe in also. Startups are not get-rich-quick schemes – they are long term investments of time, money and energy.

Kinde is built on this mindset. The problem of developer infrastructure is one that almost everyone in our team has personally experienced over their careers. It is also a problem that many of us have wanted to solve at some point. I believe it’s one of the last true universal problems that exists in tech today. A problem that affects every SaaS business at every stage.

And so, even when things feel tough, we can still come back to the fact that the work we do is having a real impact on people’s abilities to advance humanity and change the world. Which feels like a pretty worthwhile thing to invest time into.

#startup #tech #business

Some VC milestones and metrics

Thanks KPMG growth Ventures 

While the underlying metrics are stage, industry and business model dependent, there are 7 that Rajeev Gupta from ALIUM Capital and Jerry S. from OIF Ventures say would make a no-brainer investment this year:

💁 A lifetime value (LTV) to customer acquisition cost (CAC) of 3x and above. This means for every dollar spent on the cost of acquisition, you’re generating $3 of lifetime value.

🔥 A burn multiple of two times or less, which means for every $2 of burn, you’re generating at least a dollar of recurring income.

💰 Less than 12-months payback on your cost of acquisition.

🤝 Net dollar retention of above a hundred percent. 110% to 120% is a very strong metric which shows your net churn on your existing customer base is growing at 10-20% per annum.

📈 30-40% revenue growth and a gross margin of 70%, plus an operating margin of 2-3 years at 20-30%.

🧑 Revenue per employee of $150,000. If you can hit this amount, this means you can cover your employee costs.

🔬 20-30% R&D spend and 15-20% sales and marketing spend.

Psst: this snippet was taken from our most recent Q&A on efficient growth and profitability. Check out the full recording and summary wrap-up in the comments!

Inside the mind of Elon Musk

Safian Frivol and his mates interview Elon Musk talking AI, Twitter, Tesla and a whole heap of stuff !!

Some Gems

 

💎 “the only public stock I have is Tesla - and focus and invest in companies I am involved with”

💎 If you are really good at something and add value to the customer - you will grow and acquire or get acquired!! 

💎 In each major industry - there will be just a few players !

Candy - 3 major players

Cars 

Dog food 

Social Media

AI

💎 hitchhikers guide to the galaxy - we don’t know the questions to ask or the answers  - but the universe is the answer . Increase consciousness - machine or man - doesn’t really matter. We (earth) are just a dot on the landscape 

💎 the internet changed humanity - the internet is the nervous system - all knowledge is immediately available 

💎 communication used to be by diffusion - by a letter - then by phone - no library no knowledge - now you have access to all knowledge - profound change 

💎 changing human dna - crispr - changing gender - is it ok !! Prevent diseases … our bodies are just vessels and tools 

💎 if you going to die from cancer at 55 - edit it out of the dna  

💎 AI - game changer - keep our consciousness going in a sustainable way 

💎 climate - fossil fuels - high energy to low energy - hydrocarbons - can replace fossils -  abundant - carbon tax - no brainer 

💎 We don’t know what we don’t know - and we are all scared of change . The key to his success is his propensity to break through barriers - to take those risks to solve those wicked problems 

Lots more …..

Great Insight from AirBNB founder

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky tells Jason Calicanis focus almost ALL of their energy and  time on three things:

1) product

2) marketing

3) hiring

And building one fully-integrated organization.

No splintered divisions or subdivisions.

There is ONE roadmap, with two annual release cycles (May and November).

This helps alignment - with teams focussing on one direction and one goal! 

He found that more divisions and smaller teams with different goals -made them think smaller, not BIGGER, created a lack of accountability and more bureaucracy and unnecessary internal politics… resulting in fewer decisions being made and stagnation 

At Airbnb, the management team now aims for less bureaucracy and higher-quality product releases.

Brian is now hands-on with EVERY product decision, and things have never been running smoother.

He spends almost all of his time: 

1) reviewing work (product + marketing) and 

2) hiring people, while spending almost no time on "corporate matters."

1. Be more hands on - focus on product, hiring and marketing 
2. Focus on an aligned strategy agreed by all 
3. Reduce bureaucracy and internal politics

See interview

Comments

Ha Nguyen 

I’ve heard from those inside the company that AirBnB is the slowest moving company where folks have ever worked. 

The challenge for startup founders is how to make sure you create a culture and environment where individuals and teams are aligned around priorities but still feel a sense of empowerment and accountability (and not sacrifice speed).

Wow! Need a Brian 101 on how to run a successful product-based company. Working in silos, not relating to one another's roadmaps, and generating unnecessary noise and bureaucracy seem to be widespread issues across organizations. And then we expect end users to tell us what works best and what doesn't when there is so much turmoil internally!

What strategies can be done to prevent Working in silos, not relating to one another's roadmaps, and generating unnecessary noise and bureaucracy ?

Go1 acquires Blinkist in a deal they say is circa $100 million

GO1 the Ozzie Loved learning Unicorn has bought German business Blinkist that has been  disrupting the microlearning segment with its innovative digital reading platform .

Startup daily says that the deal is said to be worth around $100m , with one of its key Investors , Insight Partners, taking an additional US$30 million in equity in Go1 at an “upround” that’s believed to value the business at around $3.5 billion.

What Blinkist Does

Blinkist, summarizes the key ideas from the world’s most powerful books into bite-sized nuggets of knowledge. 

Created by four friends at university who share a passion for learning, the company initially struggled with only 100 downloads in the first few months, but now they can boast over 26 million users and counting

BlinkistProvides genuine value to someone’s life.” – says Holger Seim, CEO of Blinkist - sharing  key insights from over 5,700 of the world’s best nonfiction and fiction titles. 

It Provides Knowledge right at your fingertips 

What was the 10X factor that made this happen making it “one of the best apps in the world” (according to Apple)  and the best startup employer in Germany (according to LinkedIn ) 

• $35 million in VC funding, enabling it to employ over 160 people igniting millions of curious minds. 

• Diverse content - A learner can choose from topics across 27 categories to broaden their perspective. 

• Endorsements from the likes of Apple’s CEO Tim Cook 

• Solving a pain - saving time - reading takes a lot of time -  Blinkist created an easy and powerful way to make the most of a user’s reading time by presenting them in quick, readable servings known as “blinks” that you  can read (or listen to) on any device, anywhere at any time. Filled with actionable advice as well as relevant examples, making it less likely to forget what they’ve read. 

“Blinkist helps its users learn and retain more information than ever before. 

The App That Is Loved By Millions has received over 94K five-star ratings on the App and Google Play Store from intellectuals all over the world. 

Why GO1 is excited 

Andrew Barnes, co-CEO of Go1 - the global content aggregator for high-quality training said that the combination of Go1 and Blinkist will create a new model for consumption of any type of learning content - providing an experience of ongoing learning that serves professional goals while being engaging.

The goal is for life long  learners to  incorporate learning into their day-to-day lives. How can we provide an ability to learn wherever and whenever a learner want to.

This is the future of learning.

I am really excited about this development of learning , and excited to be on the journey of providing lifelong learning with BSI Learning and NEXTTECH Learning . 

Yes, it’s challenging - but oh so rewarding and on the cutting edge of innovation 

GO1 is supported by a powerful cocktail of Investors 

Go1’s backers of over $400 million include SEEK, Microsoft’s M12, Madrona Venture Group, and AirTree, with Blinkist’s other investors Greycroft, Headline, IBB, and MGO, now joining its cap table.

Read more at: https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/berlin-startup-acquisition?utm_source=cpp