Easy come easy go

John Illman (@LocalHotspot)

Easy Come, Easy Go! Viddy, Raises $30 Million in 2012 and Shuts Down On December 15 tcrn.ch/1Go67Dm via @TechCrunch

Humans Need Not Apply

Referron : Become a first follower and create a movement!!

Referron : Become a first follower and create a movement!!: Some key Lessons:- Its the first and second follower that transforms the lone nut into a leader THe third follower becomes news The ...

San Francisco's top 5% of earners blow the rest of the country out of the water

Robin Chase

Co-Founder Zipcar, Veniam

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Transportation/Trucking/Railroad

Current	Veniam,  Buzzcar,  Speaking Circuit
Previous	US Department of Commerce,  International Transport Forum,  Intelligent Transportation Systems Program Advisory Group
Education	Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Check out this Brookings Institute graphic about how SF top 5% income earners compare to other cities. A really striking graphic.

http://www.businessinsider.com/san-franciscos-top-5-of-earners-are-insanely-rich-2015-3?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20%28Wednesday%20Friday%29%202015-03-20&utm_content=BISelect

San Francisco's top 5% of earners blow the rest of the country out of the water

The Brookings Institution recently released a report showing the income gap between the bottom 20% of households and the top 5% in the fifty largest US cities.

Inadvertently, Brookings has discovered a startling statistic about San Francisco.

Among the top fifty cities, San Francisco ranks as the second most unequal city in the United States, trailing only Atlanta, Georgia.

The top 5% in San Francisco, however, earn 17 times what the bottom 20% earn. The average for the top 5% in the 50 biggest US cities was 11.6 times what the bottom 20% earned.

That massive income gap may in part lie in just how ridiculously high income is for SanFrancisco’s top 5%. San Francisco’s top earners made at least $423,000. As you can see in the table below, no city’s top earners come within even $100,000 of those in SanFrancisco.

The Brookings Institution

The income gap will likely only get bigger in the coming years. Though Brookings did not have enough data to deem it “statistically significant,” it did find that the estimated rate of income growth for top earners in San Francisco was more than 18%, equivalent to an increase of $66,000.

From 0-150m in 6 months

My friend Bob  Pritchard has helped his client Bill N go from 0-150m in 6 months 

Here is how 

• The pain - minimal micro insurance in bric countries 
• The pill - e-insurance via mobile ( everybody has a mobile)
• a clear plan with effective strategies 
• Team - best and brightest people and groups around you 
• Character - persistence - being entrepreneurial. 
• the Spark - 80k event in Florida to attract the key brokers in the market 

To read full article click attached link 

http://sparkmag-au.blogspot.com/2015/03/from-0-to-150m-in-in-6-months.html

Building our innovation ecosystem

To build an Innovation Ecosystem - and grow the well being of our nation we need to nurture innovation -  it's all about education , linking and connecting! 

Linkages - 

- small and large and government 

- education and jobs - (vocational training)

- young and old 

- universities , entrepreneurs, corporate 

..... Form - Mastermind groups !!! - corporates to walk the talk ! Support innovators 

Words!!!

Collaboration

Ecosystem

Networks and referrals - in the fan of innovators 

Growth

Well being

Flow of intellectual financial and human capital

Education and upskilling - resourcing, coaching and mentoring needed 

Technology transfer 

Innovation districts facilitating linkages

Meet up groups

Virtual collaborations 

  

Startup ecosystem to drive 1/2 million jobs and a significant economiclift

It is well known that innovation drives economic growth and improves the well being of a nation 

‘The startup economy’ (commissioned by Google Australia by PWC in 2012 ) uncovered that the tech startup industry could deliver an additional $109 billion to the economy by 2033.

Definition of A tech startup - innovative, disruptive , potential to scale rapidly 

 75% of startups are targeting the Information Media and Telecommunications sector and may be missing the bigger picture opportunity for growth. Projections indicate that the Finance and Insurance, Manufacturing and Health Care and Social Assistance industries in particular hold either current or future value in contribution to total industry GDP. With Health Care and Social Assistance flagged as being the highest industry contributor to GDP by 2050.

6 key actions needed 

Call to Action

Enhance culture and community engagement – Research suggests that we have a considerably high ‘fear of failure’ rate, which is potentially constraining the growth of our startup ecosystem. Crucial to overcoming this is creating a culture that encourages participation, as well as provides support through mentorship and financial backing via angel funding.

Attract more entrepreneurs with the right skills – The report outlines that this needs to be driven through both education, as well as engaging the existing workforce to be more entrepreneurial. The latter is something that has been done incredibly well by the likes of Google, where employees are actively encouraged to take time out to develop innovations and think entrepreneurially. If this approach is driven through more enterprise organisations it could not only facilitate the growth of the tech startup ecosystem, but benefit organisations on many different fronts.

Open up markets to Australian tech startups – In 2012 procurement contracts from all levels of Australian government totaled $41 billion. The opportunity is there, however the challenge for startups is in accessing this important market. Simplifying procurement processes and open-innovation could have mutually beneficial outcomes. Transport for NSW is one Australian government department engaging in open innovation and connecting with the startup community to satisfy customer needs.

Encourage more early stage funding– Funding for the Australian tech startup sector exists, but is in short supply. Australia invests approximately US$7.50 per capita in venture capital per annum, compared to the US ($75) and Israel ($150).

Improve the regulatory environment – Australia is highlighted as having one of the best regulatory environments for entrepreneurship and the report indicates that there is potential for government to further support innovation and entrepreneurship. 

enterprise organisations should support from not only a funding perspective, but in the ability to embrace entrepreneurship within the operation of a business.  

For full report download your copy of ‘The Startup Economy: How to support tech startups and accelerate Australian innovation’.

Blrt founder Anurag Chakradhar sdevelopes patented communications technology

Blrt aims to combine the best of face-to-face communication and email in a new communication tool.

“Everyone tackling this collaboration problem thinks of it as a collaboration problem but I see it as an availability problem. You may be in a different time zone and sleeping or you may be in the office next to me but busy,” Chakradhar says.

“That shouldn’t hold me back from communicating what I have to say, without losing the emotion of voice and the ability to point at something or draw something, and without having to make a 100 or 500 megabyte video that you then have to download and respond to.”

The problem is that face-to-face meetings required real-time participation by all parties, but email lacked the emotion of voice and gesture. While video could theoretically enable both, it created huge files of 100 megabytes or even 500 megabytes with resulting storage and bandwidth issues.

Voice and gestures

Chakradhar’s idea is to capture the gesture and movement in vector format rather than video. 
“Instead of capturing your hand motion in video, you capture it in computer code,” he says. “That means it’s kilobytes, not megabytes. It feels like a video but it’s not a video.”

The result is an app that lets you pull up different documents or and zoom and pan on a static image, pointing things out with voice and gesture. It records a lightweight file and gives the recipient access to the documents and the ability to respond.

Its simple and functional

Blrt currently exists for iOS and Android.

He is seeking up to $2 million in venture capital funding to take Blrt global.

Grants Innovation in Landscape in Australia

We'd like to invite you to join BSI Innovation for a quick update on the current grants landscape facing innovative Australian businesses.

With new programs (State and Federal) recently introduced, some changes to the existing R&D Tax Incentive program likely, and the deadline for lodgement of claims for 2013/14 approaching fast, now is the time to get a refresher on what benefits are available for your business.

Our consultants will take you through each of the various tax incentive and grant schemes currently available, the real benefits available, and the key aspects of the application process. If you’re a start-up company, or represent an SME developing and commercialising new products and/or services, you can’t afford to miss this event.

Some of the topics we will discuss include:

 • The R&D Tax Incentive – What are the real benefits? What activities are eligible? What else do you need to know before claiming?

 • The Export Market Development Grant – Are you maximising what you’re entitled to? How are your trip records? Tips for first time applicants.

 • The Entrepreneurs’ Infrastructure Programme – 3 streams of benefit, the path to EIP funds, Accelerating Commercialisation – CA grants revisited.

Refreshments will be provided and attendees will have the opportunity to discuss specific issues with our consultants after the main presentation.

RSVPs are essential as places are strictly limited.

Details:

Date:             Tuesday 24th February 2015

Time:             5:30 pm arrival – 6 pm start

Duration:          Approx 1 hour

Location:         BSI Innovation Seminar Room, Level 7, 14 Martin Place SYDNEY NSW 2000

REGISTER HERE

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Crowd funding - bring it on!

The federal government appears set to adopt its first recommendation from the financial system inquiry that would pave the way for equity crowdfunding laws, The Australian Financial Review reports:

According to the newspaper, Minister for Small Business Bruce Billson told a group of 20 startups yesterday that it is the government’s “clear goal” to have crowdfunding legislation put before the parliament in the spring session.

Crowdfunding is a form of financing that sees ventures or businesses funded by small amounts of money from a variety of investors, the ‘crowd’, through an online platform.

The Financial System Inquiry, led by former Commonwealth Bank of Australia chief executive David Murray, threw its support behind the crowdfunding regulation proposal in December.

At the time, the FSI emphasised the problems small businesses have securing financing, especially at competitive rates, with traditional lenders. Crowdfunding would provide another finance stream for SMEs and help drive down the overall cost of borrowing for small business.

The system currently under consideration would allow securities-based crowdfunding, which would allow potentially large public offers.

Assessing the Future of the Asia-Pacific - US/Australia Dialogue

Extracts from Malcolm Turnbulls speech in USA. 

These are the most exciting times in human history - the pace and velocity of change and the opportunities so presented are literally without precedent. 

The technology of connectivity has raced ahead of our own imagination as to how to use it, not to speak of our understanding as to how to govern it. 

Already most people in the developed world are connected to the Internet and mobile 24/7.

Ambitious economic and political initiatives by the Charismatic new leaders in the world’s two most populous nations, President Xi of China and Prime Minister Modi of India - presents a unique opportunity for Australia 

These Countries moving from investment to consumption - a massive lower class moving to a tech savvy middle class - wanting to consume 

In 10- 20 years there will be more middle class consumers in Asia than anywhere else . 

With the advent of connectivity and globalisation - opportunities will abound - don't get in the way of lower class emerging ii to middle class consumers - go for the ride !!

So, how do countries like Australia and the US take advantage if this emergence and maintain our wage levels, our social safety nets, our first world economies?

Education

Innovation

Communication

Developing strong communication. 

What they can do is invest effectively in enablers of a sophisticated, adaptable economy – in beneficial areas such as skills and training, education, research and economically justified infrastructure.  

In the crucial area of education and research, encouragement for excellence is important – but perhaps even more important is ensuring less able students gain the strongest possible skills and grounding, given they are most vulnerable to being left behind by the economic shifts underway. 

Australia's Andrew Robb is looking to complete free Trade Agreements with these superpowers in 2015 - to become a supplier to this emerging Powerful middle class !

Transforming Australia into an Innovation Hub of Technology

A great piece by Malcolm Turnbull

I am often asked, ‘what is the government doing to drive innovation across the economy’?

This sounds like a contradiction - an oxymoron - because governments, despite their best intentions, are rarely hotbeds of innovation.

Nothing drives performance quite like the bottom line, so for business there is an incentive to continually innovate – to incrementally improve performance to maximise returns. The incentives are not as clear cut for governments.

But nonetheless government has an important role to play in supporting innovation.

We need to get the fundamentals right, to create an environment where there is an incentive for people and business to innovate. This includes balancing the budget and investing in the enablers of productivity and innovation like science, research, education and infrastructure.

Australia’s competitiveness as a high wage and high cost economy is contingent on this. As Australia’s Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb, has pointed out, 65 per cent of Australia’s economic growth per capita between 1964 and 2005 can be attributed to improvements in our use of capital, labour and technological innovation.

This growth was, in large part, the result of a labour force skilled in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Over the next 50 years STEM will be central to Australia’s economic competitiveness. But with only half of Year 12 students today studying science, down from 94 per cent 25 years ago, governments across Australia must continue to invest in STEM to ensure that our graduates can find employment in the fastest growing occupations – three quarters of which will require STEM skills.

In last year's Industry and Innovation statement  the government announced the repeal of Labor's misguided changes to  Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOP) which made it prohibitively expensive for start up companies to give their employees a share in the business they were building. We are also promoting STEM in schools and are rolling out the NBN more quickly and at less cost to consumers, creating the plumbing for the digital economy.

These initiatives are all about providing Australians with even more opportunities to succeed - to create, to innovate and to be more productive.

Government also has an obligation to shrug off its conservative shackles and innovate its own operations and lead by example.

We can talk about the benefits of new technologies or we can realise the opportunities afforded by new technologies and use these as case studies of what can be achieved.

I regularly hear people talk about the uniqueness of government, that there is no point applying business principles to government problems because the two are somehow unrelated. While there are certainly differences, there are many more similarities between service delivery agencies and businesses in the services sector, including a number of common challenges.

One such challenge is investing in ICT in ways that enables business and government to deliver services that meet the expectations of customers.

This is an area where government can learn a great deal from business, particularly the banking sector which has invested heavily in technology to digitise services.

In compute terms, government is not very big. Just consider the sheer volume of social media transactions that occur every minute of the day: 280,000 tweets are sent, 72 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube, there are 2.4 million Google searches and 1.6 million likes on Facebook – and these figures will already be out of date.

And yet at $6 billion a year, 1.6 per cent of the federal budget is spent on ICT. When combined with the states and territories, government expenditure on ICT accounts for a third of all ICT spending in Australia. Given that two thirds of this expenditure is operational, there is considerable scope to not only realise savings, but to significantly improve the quality and availability of public services by improving the way government invests in and uses technology.

The Internet is the most accessible, productive and cost efficient way for government to deliver services to the public and for the public to engage with government. Driven in large part by the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets, the public expects to be able to engage with government seamlessly over the Internet.

If we are serious about promoting the benefits of innovation, government must improve the quality and availability of its own services.

This is why the Prime Minister and I last week announced that the government will establish a Digital Transformation Office (DTO) within the communications portfolio, to deliver all major services digitally by default, and ensure that all services can be completed digitally from start to finish.

This means that for all major services, in time, users will no longer need to visit a shop front or sit on the phone to a call centre part way through a transaction due to poor functionality.

Modelled on the UK's hugely successful Government Digital Services (GDS), Australia's DTO will transform the service delivery experience, operating more like a start up than a traditional government agency.

The DTO will be made up of small teams of developers, designers, researchers and content specialists who will use technology to make services simpler, clearer and faster to use for the public and business.

Consistent with its mission to innovate, the DTO will promote a flexible and nimble culture - one that values principles and frameworks over rigid rules that are more likely to stifle innovation than foster it.

And as digital services improve and customers choose to interact more and more digitally, the potential for government to realise large savings is also significant, particularly when you consider that agencies still send about 250 million letters and manage 150 million over the counter interactions a year.

Manual interactions of this kind are not only costly, they are less convenient, efficient and accurate than digital transactions, with research from the UK estimating that online transactions are 30 times cheaper than postal transactions and a staggering 50 times cheaper than face-to-face transactions.

But to realise these savings the DTO cannot be driven by savings for savings sake.

Savings will inevitably follow if services are so compelling, accessible and easy to use that the public actually seeks them out.

The DTO will also work with state and territory governments to identify opportunities for collaboration, to streamline service delivery across all tiers of government.

Succession Planning Day for 2015.

I am really looking forward to attending Craig West's Succession Planning Day for 2015.

As a business person, I know how important it is to get one's business "Investor Ready" or "ready for an exit" or "ready for your team to eventually take over your business so you can retire,"  maximising the value to you. 

If you are an accountant, lawyer or financial planner, be sure to attend and find out how you can add value to your clients in this all important stage of your client's business! 

Craig is known as Australia's leading business succession and exit planning adviser, and we are delighted to invite you to attend this event. As a 10X subscriber type in the code SPD10X on the payment page, to book your ticket, and you will receive $75 off the regular  ticket price. 

CLICK HERE TO BOOK 







presented by

Looking forward to seeing you there

You know you are an entrepreneur if....

from

Ryan Holmes CEO at Hootsuite

Vancouver, Canada Area

Internet

Beisdes being  passionate, resilient and a member of "club fear"  you might be an entrepreneur if...

1)

You’re restless, and no achievement ever seems good enough.
When most people reach a goal they think, “I did it! Time to sit back and enjoy it for a while.” An entrepreneur thinks, “Great, what’s next?” Take the late fashion maven Coco Chanel. She started with a simple hat line, expanded into women’s clothing, and eventually moved into jewelry, accessories and perfume. By the time of her death in 1971, Chanel had not only left behind an iconic brand, but a business empire that was bringing in $160 million annually. Entrepreneurs like Chanel don’t stop with one big achievement. They’re always itching to find and take on the next challenge.

2)
You’re a control freak. Throughout my career, I’ve had to make a conscious effort to strike a balance between controlling my business and letting the talented people around me take the reins. It turns out that many of my entrepreneur friends struggle with the same challenge.

 It’s great to have a CEO who cares about all the details of a company, but when that person needs to be involved at every level, it can become detrimental to getting things done. It can also stress out employees, who have been brought on precisely so you don’t have to make each and every decision.

Luckily, we can take some comfort in knowing that super entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates have all been described as control freaks.

3)

You’re a masochist. As an entrepreneur, you’ve got to love a little pain and a lot of risk. Consider the fact that 75 percent of new startups fail. Only a masochist sets himself up to face those kind of odds, straight out of the gate. And it doesn’t get much better after that, at least not at first. You’ll struggle for money. You’ll work unimaginably long hours. You’ll be lonely, because while everyone else is out partying or watching movies, you’re toiling away … often alone. Serial entrepreneurs—who start and run businesses one after another—could be considered even more masochistic, because they go into each new venture knowing what’s coming.

4)

You have a love-hate relationship with money. Entrepreneurs generally fall in love with making money really early in life. A young Warren Buffett, for instance, had a paper route for the Washington Post and made money selling everything from lost golf balls to gum, stamps and magazines—all before he graduated from high school. I got my start washing windows of local businesses and selling snacks on paintball fields when I was still in elementary school.

But, eventually, many entrepreneurs are driven less by money and more by the innate thrill of launching a new venture and the freedom and control that come with it. By the time I reached college, my own attitudes had already started to shift. I was on the path to a law degree and a secure, well-paying job. Instead, I dropped out to start a pizza restaurant because it was more of a challenge and I could do it my way.

5)

You’re a black sheep, and maybe even a dropout. Many entrepreneurs describe themselves as not fitting in with the crowd. I definitely felt that way in high school. Lots of notable entrepreneurs have even ended up ditching the traditional education system altogether. Tech titan Bill Gates, billionaires Ted Turner and Li Ka-shing, Richard Branson and McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc are just some examples of widely successful entrepreneurs who all dropped out of high school or college. While it’s not always easy to be the outsider, it’s exactly this quality— seeing things through a different lens from the rest of the world—that can help move society forward and drive innovation.

6)

People think you’re crazy.

Because entrepreneurs tend to think along different wavelengths, their ambitions can often come across as crazy to friends and family—especially before the vision has been made a reality.

Take, for example, Ruth Handler, who created the world’s most iconic plastic doll: Barbie. In the 1950s, Handler was met with doubt and criticism (including from her own husband) for proposing a doll that looked more like an adult than a baby or child. She came up with the notion after seeing her own daughter playing with paper dolls that looked like adults. Handler, of course, went forward with the idea anyway, and the rest is history.

2 emerging trends for 2015

2 trends predicted by MIchael Evans 

The Outsourcing of Everything

Google, Amazon, and other companies have already become consumer outsourcing service providers. 

Meals, groceries, shopping, dry cleaning, and almost every other service one would leave the house for can be outsourced for a fee. 

To many, this is a trend that is reemerging from the past. Remember Webvan, the grocery delivery company that did a deep dive into bankruptcy almost 15 years ago at the nadir of the dot-com bust?

 As companies like Google figure how to make personal outsourcing services economical and profitable, outsourcing for consumers will become a huge growth industry in 2015 as people become willing to pay more to preserve their personal time.

Convergence and Consolidation of Social Media and Business 

- Facebook is largely a young consumer media company. 

-LinkedIn is largely a business network, and 

- Twitter a social commentary site. 

- keynected - enables brands and their customers communicate with each other 

Social media in 2015 will consolidate (how many social media sites can survive?) and become true B2B and B2C business tools through strategic alliances or mergers. 

-Salesforce.com is the preeminent sales and Customer Relationship Management (CRM)platform for business. 

- Microsoft is the leading small and mid-sized business software company. 

-IBM ( who are they? ) 

There will be significant consolidation and convergence in the Internet, business services, and social media industries in 2015.

About Michael Evans

Michael Evans is Managing Director for the Newport Board Group, with deep knowledge of business strategy. He can be reached at (415) 990-1844 or via email at mievans@msn.com.

I'llridewithyou

Love, respect, tolerance, sharing and mateship.

Makes me so proud to be an Australian!

Join the referron user group to maximise the benefits of referron

Join the Referron User Group to enhance your referral and referron skills. Be sure to update your experiences and insights from your use of referron and your experience of referral marketing

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Ride Surfing

RIDE-SHARING services such as Uber, SideCar and Zimride are incredibly popular in the US for those needing a ride or willing to offer one. But following a long campaign by the taxi industry, there are moves afoot to close them down. The firms already have been fined $US20,000 each in San Francisco. In Australia the picture is rosier for now with Uber rolling out Uber Business, which allows companies to be billed to a single card. The Australian start-up RideSurfing, meanwhile, is expanding its recently launched Sydney ride-sharing service, with Perth coming aboard. Riders give the driver a donation they feel appropriate for the trip, rather than a formal fare. CHRIS GRIFFITH

Big Corporates - Innovate or Die!!

Innovation is becoming the buzzword - not only in the innovation hubs of startups - but also in the land of the big corporates

Indications that the Bureacratic Disease is setting in

• Are you starting to defend your margins through pricing?
• Is bureaucracy rife and issues re people trying to maintain their positions an, titles and jobs a problem?
• Is it a mission to do something different?
• can you relate to the drain phenomena?
• Is the early vision of your Company exhausted?

A growing number of large brands are investing in non-core innovation for Growth. They must.
Disruption knocks. For some, disruption has all but destroyed the current status quo.

As my mentor Allen Pathmarajah says - when the rate of change on the outside is greater than the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.

there are 2 fundamental reasons why large corporates don't thrive in innovation
1. risk appetite is low and
2. fear of failing

Below are 8 examples of how organisations have started to infuse innovation into their culture

1. Silicon Valley outposts, Nestle detting up a facility there
2. Telstra supporting Muru-D
3. Google supporting Fishburners
4. On-Premise accelerators: Polleniser incubating Spreets
5. Co-location with entrepreneurs, such as the RocketSpace model in San Francisco (soon             NYC and London)
6. Continual learning - The Innovation Masterclass and the 10X Coaching Club and its                   accredited Business Diploma
7. Attending investor forums
8. Create a space where its ok for risky behaviour and the ability to push the edge with the             comfort that its ok to fail 

Many organisations need a good dose of new leadership to make innovation real and sticky.

Innovation is not a nice to have - its a necessity - and its good business.

Steve Blank talks about innovative businesses needing to both improve and invent!

So - in summary

• Continuous disruption will be the norm for corporations in the 21st century

• Continuous innovation – in the form of new businesses-  will be the path for long term corporate survival

• Current corporate organisational models are inadequate for the task

• Look to set up an Innovation Mastermind Group

The video below ( emphasizes that companies will need to have an organization that can do two things at the same time:  executing and improving existing models and inventing  – new and disruptive – business models.

When I speak to a founder of a start-up - it really gets my juices flowing 

They don't talk about building a lifestyle business (which represents 90% of all SME's). My Dad was a pharmacist, and his why was to earn enough money to live well, feed and educate his family and enjoy a day at the races to get is adrenalin pumping…..

Founders of Startups talk about

• How they are going to change the world by doing something important
• They are disrupting
• They are making a massive difference
• They are going to take over the universe
• They are excited and they are on a mission

DO you think there should be a position for an Chief Innovation Officer? 

Can this position be outsourced? 

Would you like to learn more about innovation? 

• -->

Love this quote!

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely and in a well preserved body - but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly worn out and totally used up - proclaiming  WOW , WHAT A RIDE!!!!