Australia gets its own Y Combinator-type fund
delimiter.com.au
delimiter.com.au
The University of Sydney have recently introduced a course focusing on Tech Venture Creation[1] and most of the people on that page are involved somehow (including Ryan from Omnisio, Bart from Tjoos and our lecturer Bill Bartee), so this isn't the only new action on the Sydney startup front.
[1] - Tech Venture Creation course - http://techventurecreation.wordpress.com/
One of the most common sentiments from the founders I've had the chance to talk to was that they said Australia isn't (even close to) the optimal place for a startup but they decided to stay here anyway for family/lifestyle/... reasons.
As students I don't think there is much benefit in "getting funded", especially for those still living at home, and probably not even for a year after graduation. (I'm guessing I could live that long in my parent's house before they start charging rent.)
You could even get a deferred student loan of $500 to $20,000 from NAB, with no repayments for up to 5 years * . (with a steep 15% interest)
If you aren't unlucky you'd also be receiving student payments from centre link also.
IMHO, university students don't need much funding from investors. The banks are willing to lend you money as long as they think you're will be able to get a 9 to 5 job when you graduate. Your parents can also provide you with free accommodation and dinners. I think it's a good idea to take advantage of this while we're still students. The only reason you'd apply for seed funding is the mentoring that you will get.
* certain conditions apply.
you don't need to pay back funding.
If you want send me an email (-> see profile) - it's difficult to find these entrepreneurial types at Sydney Uni =]
I love this (and have heard it before, around HN a lot actually): "The biggest risk in a startup is not whether someone will steal your idea or if you can build a product but rather that no one will care."
Looking forward to see what develops.
Also, for Aussie startups if there are issues around company formation and things like migrating an Australian company to a Delaware C-Corp etc we can share, we will.
In the last fortnight I've met a couple of these serial tech entrepreneurs including Julian Holman of OurDeal.com.au who have opened up my eyes to an industry I thought I was (mostly) across.
a lot of people will obsess over NDA's and the like, thinking that people will care SO much as to steal their idea. when in reality what's quoted above is so true, the greatest risk being that people won't actually care enough about the product.
Do they have a Paul Graham?
But I think they're going about it the right way. They know they can't build it around a single figurehead, so they've pulled together a diverse team of mentors, with some big names among them, particularly the Atlassians for current-era track record.
The idea seems to be to build a pathway into Silicon Valley for young founders who don't know what steps to take to get there.
I could certainly have used this a few years ago.
What I find it really sad that even in this decade the best way for a web startup to get attention is to go to the Valley. If the web is global shouldn't the support networks be global too?
In the case of my country (Chile) it is very difficult to make your own web startup. Seed investment is centralized in a goverment organization that only cares about patents and how many millions of dollars you are going to make in the first years. Another problem with seed investment around here is that you must spend the money in very specific things like getting incorporated (which is expensive) and build a business plan $$, not getting the work done. It you aren't sure how you are going to monetize your app in a way that is going to give you massive profits, don't bother trying to get an investor (unless you have rich relatives).
Is Australia similar to my country in that innovating on the web is very difficult from a support ecosystem perspective?
The two weeks in the Valley at the end of the program is to connect with the Aussie community that is just starting to establish itself, to introduce the startups we are working with to the most useful people we can and then to hold a demo day for early stage investors as well. Plus it's hard not to get drunk on the inspiration of meeting other great startups.
I'm going to be in Sydney on 6 & 7 Sept.--any startup folks in Sydney available & willing to meet up and tell me about starting a company in Australia?
mick pollenizer com
Looking forward to seeing the first batch come through!
Great to see !
Looking forward to the first crop coming through.
I hope it works out well for them, Australia needs something like that -- I have more a few friends who have left Australia to pursue cutting edge jobs in tech.
Also like the idea of the Tech Venture Creation course at Syd Uni. I'd like to see every uni in Australia have something similar running, then we'd be sure to get some real hits emerging.
Whether it works perfectly from the get-go is immaterial, StartMate, like their fundees, can launch and then iterate.
Excited to see the first round come through.