Content marketing survey for startups

March 16, 2015, 6:10 pm

≫ Next: Fig and Bloom has been quick to launch, but will the delivery factor inhibit its potential to scale?

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Australian tech company WP Curve is conducting a survey across the startup landscape including Australia to put together data on how startup founders are using, or intend to use content marketing to grow their business. If you are a startup that launched after 1998, has at least one founder working in the business on a full-time basis and consider yourself to be doing something innovative you are eligible to participate. [Source: WP Curve]

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Fig and Bloom has been quick to launch, but will the delivery factor inhibit its potential to scale?

March 16, 2015, 6:11 pm

≫ Next: This entrepreneur built an entire school with $1600

≪ Previous: Content marketing survey for startups

Fig and Bloom media shot-re-sized landscape

In October of last year, Santa Monica-based floral delivery startup BloomNation, founded in 2011 by David Daneshgar, Gregg Weisstein and Farbod Shoraka closed a $5.5 million funding round after years of bootstrapping the company. That round included well-known investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital, Chicago Ventures, Mucker Capital, and CrunchFund. At the time, I felt there was yet to be a platform in Australia that replicates exactly what BloomNation is doing. Other than Fast Flowers, which was founded by Jonathan Barouch (now founder of LocalMeasure) in 2005 and sold to 1300 Flowers (FlowersCorp) in 2010, there isn’t a platform that has gained any significant traction or reputation for being a platform for all florists. In fact, our most successful and well known online floral companies are Roses Only (acquired by FlowersCorp last January) and Granda Flora – both of whom have developed their own brand and design style that is perhaps not suited to mass production across thousands of floristry stores. There stills exists however a lot of room to integrate technology and the floral industry together across multiple verticals. There have been some attempts to create tech startups with a floral focus over the last couple of years. Perhaps one of the most notable was in 2013 when student entrepreneur Kate Klavins (Adelaide) launched her new venture Floragram which allowed people across Adelaide to purchase a surprise bouquet for $25, including delivery. That startup was launched as a part of the Flinders University Venture Dorm program in Adelaide. Even though Klavins was able to validate her idea through paying customers, eventually Floragram made its last delivery in September of 2014. The premise was right, the product was good - but I would argue that the financial model was where the startup ran into trouble as there was nothing in place on the platform that forced stickiness with customers. Three weeks ago, another new player entered the space and has chosen to avoid both: (a) dealing with florists; and (b) a business model that hopes for repeat orders. Melbourne founded Fig and Bloom is a new floral subscription service that allows customers to have flowers delivered to the home or office on a weekly basis by signing up to a number of different plans including a non-contractual month-to-month plan at $25.00 per week and an up-to-six-month contract period at a discounted rate of $19.00 per week. The idea came about when founders Kellie Brown and Dan Groch were talking about different business models that could work in the subscription space a little over a month ago. Realising that she and many of her friends always bought fresh flowers for their homes and offices each week, Brown suggested that it would be a great idea to automate the process. Turnaround from idea to the service going live was within a couple of weeks and the startup now has a steadily growing base of paying customers within Melbourne's metropolitan area - this is currently the only location the startup is fully operational. Having said that, the plan is to expand nationally over the coming months as the customer base in Melbourne strengthens. What is setting the service apart from companies like Roses Only is the point of difference when it comes to product. "We just wanted to make bouquets that had a point of difference," said Brown. "We want to do different stuff. The things that have been doing really well for us are products like ornamental pineapples and unusual flowers. Competitors like roses only do what they do well, so we like that we offer something quirky that they are not offering." I don't know if I necessarily agree that Roses Only is a competitor per se. I see what they do more on the 'gift' side of the market, whereas Fig and Bloom operate more in the everyday 'lifestyle' space. Part of Fig and Bloom's scalability strategy is keeping their range simple - this means a particular set of flowers that are changed through the seasons. Brown has utilised her fashion background to build upon connections that she already had with growers, buying and sourcing directly from them, and says that as they grow, it will be important to have localised relationships in each territory the business is set up in. For fresh cut flowers, a central distribution centre would not work as well, especially with the land mass that needs to be covered in getting products around Australia. Right now, Brown and Groch are taking care of the deliveries themselves. However Brown told Startup Daily that this process will be outsourced as the company reaches that point of scalability. It is at this point, in my opinion, that Fig and Bloom will either choke or flourish. There are a number of delivery strategies that could be implemented from outsourcing to a traditional courier model to even piggy backing of existing infrastructure that startups like Bluechilli's Liquorrun or recently launched DriveYello already have in place. While fundraising would certainly make figuring out the challenges of this process easier, Brown says that she is not entirely sure yet whether they will go down that path, although makes a point to mention that Fig and Bloom is definitely open to having those conversations. It is worth noting that both Brown and Groch have startup experience under their belts. Groch is part of the team that launched performance management tech platform Doceo and through that has taken on investors in that business. And Brown still has a venture in the background she claims has a pre-launch valuation of $1 million but is not speaking about publicly at this stage. Startup Daily can confirm that it is in the fashion industry, however not necessarily technology based and investors are part of that conversation. Allegedly 'red tape' has been inhibiting the business from moving to the next phase. At this point in time, Brown says her focus in on growing Fig and Bloom. The venture is seeing high growth and conversions via social media channels such as Instagram; and Brown says that social media has been a pivotal part of the entire journey thus far, mentioning that she and Groch are also partners in life after meeting on mobile dating application Tinder.

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This entrepreneur built an entire school with $1600

March 17, 2015, 4:13 pm

≫ Next: Sydney’s Hooch Creative partners with Tank Stream Labs to help startups with their design and branding

≪ Previous: Fig and Bloom has been quick to launch, but will the delivery factor inhibit its potential to scale?

Untitled design (7)

The Australasian College Broadway (the College) was established by Maureen Houssein-Mustafa in 1994. A wholly Australian owned company, it is now recognised as the benchmark College in Australia offering Nails, Beauty, Makeup, Hairdressing, and Business Management qualifications all under one roof. The College has since begun extending its offerings to include Aged Care, English and a number of other qualifications, each with a pathway to Higher Education. Maureen commenced the College with a $1,600 outlay, and the school had only 6 students when it first opened its doors. Nearly 20 years on and the College has now been independently valued at $30 million. It has the capacity to accommodate 1500 domestic and international students, taking courses across different skill areas yearly. The recent expansion of the premises which spans over 8,500 sq metres, makes it the largest private hair and beauty college in Australia. Built on Maureen’s philosophy of industry excellence, the College was the first Private RTO to be awarded the prestigious Training Provider of the Year in 2000 by the NSW Department of Education and Training. For two years running the College won the “Battle of the Colleges” as judged by the International Hairstylists Society. With 98+ multicultural educators and staff, who among them speak 28 different languages, Maureen has selected the very best team of professionals and Industry achievers. Many of the staff have worked internationally which allows them to provide students with innovative and extensive training backed by their years of Industry experience. The College prides itself on the accommodating work conditions offered to staff such as working remotely, flexible work hours, being able to bring children to work during school holidays, and offering equal opportunity to staff of all backgrounds and ages (which range from 18 to 75 years of age). There is an interesting trend when it comes to the rise of private colleges in Australia and the flexibility and structure of the staff in these businesses. Many have started to systemise all of their enrolment and administrative needs turning to platforms like oDesk.com to create infrastructure that allows them to scale from a handful to hundreds of students in a very short amount of time. oDesk.com allows these education entrepreneurs to tap into both local and international resources, helping them to manage everything from student files and payments to marketing and social media for their colleges. It is worth noting that private colleges like The Entourage, The Fashion Institute and BSchool are all highly scalable with technology being used to reach students outside of the businesses immediate locality. In fact nowadays with the right RTO partner and online workforce entrepreneurs don’t even need to have physical classroom space in order to become educational juggernauts. Partnering with the right team of online workers and combining that with a clear vision on what you are teaching students can all be completed with an initial outlay of just a few thousand dollars on sites like oDesk.com.

This sponsored post was written by Mathew Beeche | Image Source: EagleWavesRadio

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Sydney’s Hooch Creative partners with Tank Stream Labs to help startups with their design and branding

March 17, 2015, 4:27 pm

≫ Next: VentureCrowd’s new partnership with Sydney Angels enhances its leverage in the local ecosystem

≪ Previous: This entrepreneur built an entire school with $1600

_TAW8230

From developing and perfecting a product to attracting talent, startups have a lot to think about when they’re first starting out. With money worries constantly on the mind, many founders often leave the crafting of their branding and creative strategies at the bottom of the to do list. Creative agencies have noticed, and have put their hands up to help. Following Perth branding agency Gurney Branding’s partnership with the Spacecubed coworking space, Sydney agency Hooch Creative has partnered with Tank Stream Labs to help startups with their creative strategy. The agency will be spending a day consulting with seven startups at the space, conducting a one hour workshop with each founder and team. Alex Tassone, managing director of Hooch Creative, said the agency approached Tank Stream Labs after noticing a trend among its startup clients, with many needing help with branding, design, and improving the user experience with the product. “We see many startups focus mostly on their founding team, technology, and product market fit. This differs from the design and brand aspect, which ultimately are the front facing components and communication tools that customers see prior to the product. More than ever, consumers in the B2B and B2C space are becoming much more aware of brand, design and the user experience, both on and offline, and that’s where we come in,” Tassone said. “Our aim is to make the founder leave the room rejuvenated and educated around their next steps and improvements with their business. Which ultimately will lead to a greater brand awareness/cult following, increased conversions, and consumer acceptance.” Despite the importance of design and branding, Tassone said startups are wary of putting a slice of their budget aside for these aspects of the business. “We’ve seen it over and over again: startups have created their design assets and you can tell it was a poor execution with a poor budget, and it then has to be redone every 6 months. Or, they spend a little with someone who promises the world but then doesn’t deliver. It is hard to figure out that balance between a fair budget and quality of work and service. So they just give up for a little while, after being burned.” The agency’s first day at Tank Stream Labs is taking place this week, with both keen to continue the partnership. “Based on attendee demands, we will continually shape our design days to work out a model that derives major value to all the approaching startups and also Tank Stream Labs,” Tassone said. Of course, an agency partnering with a coworking space is a good marketing strategy for the agency itself, too. Helping startups when they can’t quite afford you will likely see them approach you later when they can. “We hope to create a foundation in the startup world around the education and value of design principles, while at the same time display how Tank Stream Labs and Hooch Creative are leaders in their field who can and will work with the best startups in the country, now and in the future,” Tassone said.

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VentureCrowd’s new partnership with Sydney Angels enhances its leverage in the local ecosystem

March 17, 2015, 4:28 pm

≫ Next: Australian Water Association launches competition to find innovations improving water sustainability

≪ Previous: Sydney’s Hooch Creative partners with Tank Stream Labs to help startups with their design and branding

Tim VC3

Yesterday equity-based crowdfunding platform VentureCrowd announced a new partnership with angel investor group Sydney Angels. The new partnership will give Australian startups the opportunity to access venture capital from investors in their early stages. VentureCrowd, which is Australia’s first equity crowdfunding platform to market and developed by venture capital firm Artesian Venture Partners, works by allowing wholesale investors take equity positions in innovative and highly scalable startups.

Sydney Angels is a group of over 70 high net worth investors that will refer startups to the platform as part of the new arrangement so that the founders can crowdsource funds from the group of investors on the platform.

It is worth noting that this is not the first partnership of this nature that VentureCrowd has sought. In fact, there are already 24 network partners in place including Blackbird Ventures, Bluechilli, AngelCube and Slingshot, just to name a few. Building a strong referral network is key to the platform's model as it promises only the highest calibre of pre-screened startups as a point of difference to other players in the space as an attraction strategy in getting investors on board.

When it comes to due diligence it needs to be said that Sydney Angels in particular is one of the most systemised organisations of its kind in Australia. Having made over 35 investments of between $200,000 and $500,000 in startups like Ingogo, Venuemob, Posse and DriveMyCar Rentals since 2008, it is also is the only angel group in Australia with a dedicated sidecar fund worth $10 million.

“The Sydney Angels are passionate about identifying ‘the next big thing’ in a variety of sectors, and we are excited to leverage their due diligence skills and expertise as well as their highly methodical investment process for investors on the VentureCrowd platform,” said Tim Heasley, chief operating officer at Artesian Venture Partners in a statement.

Leverage is the key word here. VentureCrowd is essentially a tech startup itself and leverage is critical to it building a thriving two-sided marketplace. Unlike competitors around the world such as UK based CrowdCube for example, VentureCrowd targets 'wholesale investors' and has a higher minimum investment amount (AUD$1,000) for its investors, given the buy into an investment fund can be as much as AUD$250,000 – it is still managing to democratise the local industry in quite a significant way. By having a significant financial threshold as opposed to CrowdCube that allows users to invest literally £10 to £500 - it actually weeds out 'dumb money'.

Having said that CrowdCube to date has funded over 200 companies on its platform, raising over £70 million from 150,826 investors (users on the platform). Out of the funded ventures 71 percent are highly scalable tech companies; and those companies have been able to employ over 2,000 new people.

Although VentureCrowd operates in a country where equity crowdfunding is: (a) not pro-actively supported by politicians yet; and (b) not widely understood by the general population just yet, it has chalked up a handful of wins with startups like Ingogo, CrowdMobile and Fame & Partners (which was a co-investment with Sydney Angels) using the platform to raise over $1.6 million since early 2014.

As political support for platforms like VentureCrowd become more public, the communities using VentureCrowd and other Australian equity crowdfunding sites like Equitise will become larger; and a by-product of that will be a greater mainstream understanding of the local startup ecosystem.

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Australian Water Association launches competition to find innovations improving water sustainability

March 18, 2015, 3:57 pm

≫ Next: Stashd onboards ASOS as it starts preparing for a Series A funding round

≪ Previous: VentureCrowd’s new partnership with Sydney Angels enhances its leverage in the local ecosystem

Water

The Australian Water Association has partnered with startup competition platform YouNoodle to launch the Australian Water Innovation Challenge, hoping to find innovative technologies that tackle the issue of sustainable water management. Open to entrepreneurs around the world, the competition is searching for water technology solutions across sectors like resources, food and drink manufacturing, and energy. Jonathan McKeown, CEO of the Australian Water Association, said the organisation is hoping to discover ideas that could potentially transform the sustainability of communities and businesses, both in Australia and around the world. “AWA, and our 4,500 members, understand that innovation and entrepreneurship are necessities for growth, and global growth is only achievable through preserving our most important resource – water,” McKeown said. “We encourage startups through to well-established companies to get involved in our inaugural water innovation challenge. We are looking for ideas that can transfer across industries, countries and applications. No idea is too big or too small.” Torsten Kolind, co-founder and CEO of YouNoodle added, “Water is one of our most precious resources and harnessing innovation through competitions is an incredible way to address the opportunities and risks we face globally as we all work to a more sustainable future with water.” The winner will be announced at this year’s OzWater conference in May and will receive a range of prizes, including a tailored B2B program to help introduce their product to potential clients and users, an exhibition space at the Australian Water Association Innovation Forum next year. The winning innovation will also receive a promotional campaign targeted at the national water sector and the Australian Water Association’s members. You can find out more - or enter the challenge - here.

Image via Australian Water Association.

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Stashd onboards ASOS as it starts preparing for a Series A funding round

March 18, 2015, 7:19 pm

≫ Next: Does the Australian startup ecosystem have a racism problem?

≪ Previous: Australian Water Association launches competition to find innovations improving water sustainability

Untitled design (8)

Sydney-based fashion tech startup Stashd yesterday announced a new partnership with British online clothing and beauty juggernaut ASOS. This will bring the company's products into the palms of daily Stashd users across the 80 different markets the app now has a presence in. The application, founded by Fishburners based Jessica Wilson, presents users with one fashion item at a time, prompting them to either stash it or trash it. The stand out functionality of the app is that in order to 'stash' or 'trash' those on the platform use the same swiping motion made famous by Tinder. The items that are 'Stashd' are filed away in each individual's virtual wardrobe which users can then review, edit, share on social media or purchase at any time. Upon launching the platform last year, Stashd went with, and stuck to, a strategy of partnering with premium global brands like Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter. Having the high-end fashion brands that came with those partnerships on the application meant that not only did Stashd become an instant hit among fashionistas everywhere, it also meant that other brands with more accessible price points started to take notice of what Wilson was building. When it came to talking with brands that had a more affordable price point about partnering with the application, the fact that Stashd had all the premium brands already locked in meant that the conversation with brands like ASOS were a lot easier to have. Brands like Burberry, Balmain and Prada acted as a bit of a draw card. "With the new ASOS partnership, things are starting to change gears," says Wilson. "We are bringing in more affordable pieces and there is bit more fast fashion as opposed to just luxury fashion, we have a good mix between the two". Since its launch, the company claims that over 800,000 items have been 'Stashd' or 'Trashed' and expects this number to grow rapidly now that ASOS is on board. The way the revenue model works in the business is Stashd takes a clip of the ticket earning an 8 percent commission on all items sold through the app. While Wilson was coy when asked about the conversion rate of 'stashd' items to sales, she acknowledged that now that they have some more affordable fashion options, the conversions should rise quite dramatically. "We have listened to our customers and bought down the price point quite considerably," says Wilson. "This should affect conversion rates. We have also started a new [series of] campaigns around 'Stashd' style icons, which consist of bloggers, opinion leaders, and personalities in the fashion space as part of the strategy for launching new brands onto the platform". In addition to ASOS, the next couple of months will see Stashd launch a number of other well known and price accessible online stores onto the platform as well as one of Australia's largest department stores. The details cannot be announced just yet, but if you look through Stashd's social media posts you could probably take a well educated guess. The success of the app as well as the consistent media exposure, leveraged via Wilson's wide network built from her days in fashion PR, has started to make Stashd a target for copycat companies on the app store. In particular, one newly launched venture NextFetch that is pretty much an exact replica of Stashd from a functionality perspective, has even been so bold as to tag "Stashd" in their app store description - meaning that whenever a person on the app store searches for 'Stashd' they show up as well. Wilson told Startup Daily that she doesn't invest too much time looking at what replicas of the platform are doing, other than to accept it as flattery and instead choosing to focus on further developing her own business. From a technology perspective, Wilson hinted that the team was working on a few key changes to the platform that will 'take swiping to the next level'. I guess we will have to wait and see exactly what that means. Next up on the cards for Wilson though is a trip to the United States in the coming months. Up until now Stashd has ran a lean operation with a team totalling four - all based in Sydney. The startup has also been completely bootstrapped up until this point. But now it is time for the company to accelerate growth and Wilson told Startup Daily that part of that plan includes securing somewhere in the vicinity of $1 million in Series A funding. "We have intentionally not taken investment up until this point, we intend to bring on a larger amount which we will be starting conversations about in the coming months," says Wilson. Many of these conversations have been happening for a while though. Wilson confirmed with Startup Daily that on a weekly basis, especially over the last six months, she has been fielding a lot of inbound enquiries from investors wanting to know more about what Stashd is doing and wanting to discuss potential funding arrangements. There has even been at least one player in the fashion technology space that has approached Wilson with a merger offer. In terms of where this future Series A round would come from, Wilson says that she would be happy if there was a mix between local and international capita; the most important aspect is that the investors are the right partner for the company. Update: Originally in the title we stated that Stashd had partnered with ASOS, just to clarify ASOS is now a Stashd affiliate partner. Also original co-founder Pete Neiil is no longer part of the company and that has been amended.

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Does the Australian startup ecosystem have a racism problem?

March 18, 2015, 10:17 pm

≫ Next: The mergers and acquisitions round up

≪ Previous: Stashd onboards ASOS as it starts preparing for a Series A funding round

thewomen

In this podcast Startup Daily's Tas Bindi and Mat Beeche explore the subject of diversity within Australia’s tech startup ecosystem.

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The mergers and acquisitions round up

March 19, 2015, 2:31 pm

≫ Next: Crowdfunding platform Equitise acquires New Zealand based startup Rabble.co.nz

≪ Previous: Does the Australian startup ecosystem have a racism problem?

It's Friday again, which means it's time to catch up on all the mergers and acquisitions news. Here's what went on this week: LinkedIn acquires Careerify LinkedIn has bought talent acquisition startup Careerfiy. Harpaul Sambhi, founder and CEO of Careerify, stated, "We decided to join LinkedIn due to what we lacked – massive scale. More than 30,000 companies across the globe leverage LinkedIn for recruitment, and with more than 347 million members, LinkedIn offers an opportunity to make a much larger impact on job seeking and hiring. We are absolutely thrilled to be joining LinkedIn to accelerate our technology and connect talent with opportunity on a massive scale." He added that Careerify will be focusing on improving its employee referral software for existing customers, and will not be taking new customers on board. Its employer branding and internal mobility products will be closed down. Cheetah Mobile acquires MobPartner for $58 million Cheetah Mobile, a Chinese internet mobile company providing internet security services, has acquired French mobile advertising company MobPartner. Cheetah's CEO, Sheng Fu, said MobPartner's expertise in the global mobile advertising market will allow Cheetah to expand globally. Djamel Agaoua, CEO of MobPartner, said about the acquisition in a statement, "We also share a common vision on how to maximize mobile advertising return on investment around the world and therefore this deal became a natural evolution and extension of our business. Cheetah Mobile enables us to strategically accelerate our growth by increasing both our traffic and product offerings. In addition, MobPartner enables Cheetah Mobile to accelerate its international expansion strategy." Dianping acquires Haizixue Chinese online ratings and deals site Dianping has acquired the online to offline education service Haizixue, which helps parents, students, and teachers connect. Haizixue will continue to operate independently, though its Lu Guangyu has joined Dianping as COO. Nintendo acquires 10 percent stake in DeNA TechInAsia reports that Nintendo has bought a 10 percent stake in the Japanese tech company DeNA for US$181 million. The acquisition is part of a partnership which will see the joint development of gaming applications for various gaming devices using Nintendo's intellectual property and the joint development of a new multi-device membership service. The deal also sees DeNA acquire 1.24 per cent of Nintendo's shares. Forbes acquires Camerama Forbes has acquired the private cloud based photo sharing network Camerama, with the startup's founder Salah Akram Zalatimo becoming vice president of mobile products at Forbes. He will be in charge of building a platform of apps for the company, leveraging Camerama's core technology. Zalatimo said in a statement, "What attracts me to Forbes is the bold and visionary management team that has embraced the transition from traditional to digital media. While many companies continue to struggle, Forbes has thrived." Lewis D'Vorkin, chief product officer at Forbes, stated, "Salah brings with him a unique set of skills, experiences and assets. He’s been a founder of a business, he has the technical know-how and the data-driven mindset that will help Forbes expand its growth in mobile apps. Our goal is to build passionate communities under the Forbes umbrella – the kind that marketers want to reach and that generate valuable and relevant content.” Market Tech Holdings acquires majority stake in Glispa for $77 million London e-commerce firm Market Tech Holdings has acquired a stake in Berlin's Glispa for $77 million. Glispa, a digital marketing and advertising company, will use the funds to further is global expansion and bolster its technology, while complementing Market Tech's existing portfolio of ecommerce and tech companies. Charles Butler, chief executive of Market Tech, said in a statement, "We see the future of online retail being via mobile devices and Glispa's proprietary technologies are at the cutting edge of m-commerce, helping businesses interact with their customers on the go."

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Crowdfunding platform Equitise acquires New Zealand based startup Rabble.co.nz

March 19, 2015, 8:16 pm

≫ Next: Freelancing platform GetSerio’s growth strategy is to vet its members

≪ Previous: The mergers and acquisitions round up

Equitise

Equitise, an equity crowdfunding startup that was founded in Australia and part of the first Australasian Wealth Investment Limited's (AWI) Ventures Program intake announced this morning that it had acquired New Zealand based startup Rabble for an undisclosed sum.

Equitise officially launched its service at the end of January 2015. Although the team would describe the company as a trans-tasman play, there is a clear focus right now on the New Zealand market right now. Its first raise, for mobile technology and tourism business Tourism Radio NZ is 37.5% subscribed with 40 days to run, and management believe the investment will result in revenue growth compounding by 50% year on year.

Rabble was acquired from Rowan Simpson who also founded Point of Sales software company Vend and was a key player in the early days of tech company TradeMe, he was also an early investor in Xero.

Rabble is is an online community of over 600 New Zealand companies that allows members to raise their profile, recruit great talent and attract help from suitable investors and advisors. The site was created in 2013 by Southgate Labs, a Wellington based company that helps growing software businesses with seed capital, strategy and execution.

"We’re excited to announce today we have just bought Rabble from Rowan Simpson" said Equitise co-founder Chris Gilbert in a statement today."This brings together over 600 NZ tech companies, investors and advisers with an equity crowd-platform that has an Australasian focus and investor base. And we’re celebrating by launching a new competition for NZ businesses with over $20k of prizes". These prizes include business services such as coaching and mentoring as well as access to services that help support startup growth.

Equitise has stated that it intends to run the Rabble platform in parallel with its equity crowdfunding platform, giving Rabble members easy access to crowdfunding opportunities.

“We originally built Rabble because we thought it was an important resource for early-stage companies in New Zealand who wanted to raise their profile, grow their team and attract investors and advisors,” said Simpson. “We’re excited the team at Equitise share this view and look forward to seeing it continue to flourish in the future as part of their platform.”

In addition to being part of the AWI Limited accelerator program and receiving seed funding as part of that program. Equitise has also recently raised additional funding from Tank Stream Ventures and Bridge Lane capital and other angel investors including the founders of Spreets (sold to Yahoo!7 for $40m) and founders of Brands Exclusive (sold to APN for $70m). Though the amount of capital raised has not been revealed at this point in time.

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Freelancing platform GetSerio’s growth strategy is to vet its members

March 22, 2015, 5:10 pm

≫ Next: Startup Weekend Australia announces FinTech event in Melbourne

≪ Previous: Crowdfunding platform Equitise acquires New Zealand based startup Rabble.co.nz

Serio

While many startup watchers may assume that the online freelancing platform market has been all sewn up by the likes of Elance oDesk and Freelancer, that hasn’t stopped the launch of a range of new offerings, all promising something different. Speedlancer works on a four hour turnaround, while new venture GetSerio is looking to shake up the market by, well, asking users to get serious about their work. Daniel Green, founder of GetSerio and managing director of retail equipment manufacturing and distribution companies Mills Display & Mills Shopfitting, said that while he always loved the idea of hiring freelancers online, his experiences on the established platforms left him underwhelmed. “It was hard to communicate based on lack of skill, time zone differences, language issues, and so forth, yet I knew that there were freelancers out on the web that I’d want to work with. After a lot of research, and no solution in sight, I created GetSerio.com for serious companies who are as serious as me about hiring freelancers to shift some of their operations to reliable, quality freelancers,” Green said. This idea of reserving GetSerio for ‘serious’ companies is one of the main aspects differentiating it from the other platforms; the ability to sign up as a hirer has mostly been limited to members of the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, while others have been vetted. “I am a proud member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization and I knew the base, I knew that they owned businesses not unlike my own and, therefore, may have experienced the same pain that I did trying to use online freelancing sites,” Green said. “We believe vetting hirers is important and since EO’s 11,000+ membership base goes through very strict joining criteria and the companies are high calibre, I believe they were a great place for us to start. As we’ve developed our own vetting criteria, we have been able to relax this restriction, but we will always do our best to reserve GetSerio.com for established, incorporated hiring companies.” GetSerio doesn't charge commissions or fees based on jobs posted or completed, but rather charges hirers - excluding members of the EO and those invited to the platform - a subscription fee. Freelancers can sign up for free using their LinkedIn profiles, integrating all their existing work experience and recommendations. “We’ve invested in the hirer’s experience and I think they’re willing to pay a reasonable fee for it. I knew the kind of hirers we’d want to attract were already paying to use tools like BaseCamp, so we put a lot of money into building an end to end cloud-based project management solution specifically geared for online collaboration between freelancers and hiring companies. That means hirers pay us about $80 a month for the software as well as the talent pool we continue to attract and the payment system,” Green said. Green isn’t daunted by the challenge that platforms like Freelancer and Elance-oDesk present. He believes that, unlike the big names, GetSerio focuses on quality over quantity by curating both sides of its marketplace. “The opportunity is huge, online freelancing is multi-billion dollar industry according to all the published research, so there’s room to differentiate and still make a healthy profit, maybe even contribute to the overall shift in how people work today,” he said. “However if you’re focused on quantity like those sites are, you’re married to a model of taking fees from the workforce that makes the least and don’t provide the tools to effectively get the job done, which I believe is challenging and needs to be taken seriously. At the end of the day, it's not just quality, but it is reliability delivered that is essential.” At first glance, the launch of a new freelancing platform - and vetting membership - seems confusing, given the popularity of the other names in the market. However, Green may just be onto something. Freelancers can use the platform knowing that they are working with bigger, established companies, while the companies themselves can easily check a freelancer’s previous work experience and references through the LinkedIn integration. The subscription fee could also be a step in the right direction, with a quick Google search showing more than a few users have been put off other platforms due to constant prompts for payment for various quirks and features. The launch of the platform has been privately funded, with Green and his existing business partners investing in its development over the last four years. “We have been in a kind of stealth mode for a while as we refined our product and we now feel it’s ready for the wider market. The objective is to grow, learn/adapt and refine. Then repeat over and over.”

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Startup Weekend Australia announces FinTech event in Melbourne

March 22, 2015, 6:50 pm

≫ Next: Startups using online workers still need to ensure employee engagement

≪ Previous: Freelancing platform GetSerio’s growth strategy is to vet its members

CoinJar

Startup Weekend Australia has announced a new sector-specific event, with Startup Weekend FinTech set to take place on March 27 - 29 at Melbourne's York Butter Factory coworking space. The event, sponsored by Intuit Quickbooks Online, will provide an educational space for entrepreneurs to learn more about launching fintech startups and aims to help nurture innovation in the sector. Darcy Naunton, leader of Startup Weekend Australia and co-founder of York Butter Factory, said the event will give entrepreneurs the necessary tools and resources to learn how to build a startup in 54 hours. "The FinTech industry is home to some of the best talent in the world and in Australia, so we expect to see some exciting ideas come out of this event," Naunton said. The event will see attendees form into teams and come up with ideas, which they will then pitch to judges Ryan Zhou, co-founder of CoinJar, and Ian Gardiner of Amazon Web Services. Stuart Stoyan, founder and CEO of FinTech startup MoneyPlace, said that with much room for growth in the local FinTech sector, events like Startup Weekend are invaluable to entrepreneurs as they help sharpen their ideas. “Financial services play a major role in the local economy but the sector is ripe for disruption and screaming out for new solutions that provide a better value proposition to customers. While the Australian fintech industry is in its infancy, the maturing US industry is providing great inspiration for our market. It’s clear there is a massive opportunity for Aussie startups to make an impact both here and overseas,” Stoyan said. The Startup Weekend FinTech event is just one of 24 events set to be held in 12 cities around Australia this year. Entrepreneurs can register for the event here.

Image: Asher Tan and Ryan Zhou of CoinJar, via The New Daily.

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Startups using online workers still need to ensure employee engagement

March 22, 2015, 7:22 pm

≫ Next: Xero continues to show us why it is one of the fastest growing FinTech companies in the APAC region

≪ Previous: Startup Weekend Australia announces FinTech event in Melbourne

imagepaid

Articles about workplace culture can be a bit of a yawn, I know, but the idea that a positive workplace culture contributes to a company’s success is undeniable – just look at Google’s 20 per cent time and other enviable office perks. Of course, a positive workplace culture isn’t just about office perks, but employees being happy with and engaged in their work. The problem is, according to a report from The Forum Corporation, employees aren’t as engaged in their work as they should be; in turn, employees aren’t holding themselves accountable to complete work to the best of their ability. In fact, just 18 per cent of business leaders and managers surveyed reported seeing the highest level of accountability among employees in their organisation. This statistic is the similar whether or not these workers are in the same office or employed / contracted remotely. Furthermore, the report also found that while business leaders have confidence in their strategic visions, many worry that their organisations won’t actually be able to successfully execute these plans and make their visions reality. For the startup founder who’s given up a steady job and pay check to work on their idea and make their dream come true, making the vision a reality is crucial – no time, money, or effort can be wasted. As a result, the report argues, enforcing a culture where employees hold themselves accountable and get the job done is key. So, what exactly is accountability? It’s defined in the report as ‘honouring the commitments we make to others;’ in the context of the workplace, this is a daily practice that can be expressed as the timely follow through on commitments despite shifting priorities, conflicting goals, and role ambiguity – in other words, what you could say is the every day in a startup environment. Accountability, which ensures work is completed to the best of an employee’s ability in a timely manner, is critical to the performance of organisation. According to the report, it’s easy to tell if your company’s lacking a culture of accountability. If you’ve seen any of the following, you’ve got a problem: employees giving excuses, blaming others, putting off important things, doing the minimum, acting confused, and playing helpless. Not at all the kind of employee behaviour you want in a business, whether you’ve just started out or whether you’re making your hundredth hire. So how do you do create a culture of accountability? Especially in an environment where you are managing workers remotely? First and foremost, you have to examine yourself as a leader. A positive culture, created and curated by a strong leadership group that holds itself accountable, will in turn see employees holding themselves accountable for the success of the company. If your working with online workers, such as on a platform like oDesk.com, this means that you need to establish yourself online in the way you want to have others emulate - never miss deadlines, stick to the procedures you have set out and be sure to take feedback from your online workers to establish the systems they need in place that enable them to perform at optimum capacity. Though it may not always be easy leading in an environment that’s often short-term and that is constantly shifting and adapting, leaders must do their best to keep promises, ensure clear goals, and ensure employees have all the resources they need. Maintaining clarity and open communication is also essential; be assertive about expectations and negotiating how an unmet commitment will be addressed. Through this type of leadership, startups can see workers exert their own discretion to achieve results, persist in the face of setbacks, adjust plans to deal with emerging challenges, admit to mistakes, advocate for changes in policies or practices that are interfering with an organisational value or goal, and respond effectively to others who have not honoured a commitment.

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Xero continues to show us why it is one of the fastest growing FinTech companies in the APAC region

March 23, 2015, 4:27 pm

≫ Next: Cuddle Clones wanted to help people overcome the death of their pets, but became a high growth startup in the process

≪ Previous: Startups using online workers still need to ensure employee engagement

xero

Accounting software provider Xero's growth has been perpetual headline-maker as of late. The company has been firmly positioning itself as the go-to platform for startups and new businesses across Australia and New Zealand, and services over 400,000 users worldwide, the vast majority being paid subscribers. Today marks another significant milestone in the company's plans to transform the way businesses manage their financials. The company has today announced the release of a massive update to the platform that includes advanced inventory management, new online quoting tools, new file management, practice reports, and more. All of these updates are at no additional cost to the 158,000+ Xero paid users in Australia. The update sets the platform apart from traditional accounting software as it has been purposely built for mobile and cloud, thus meeting the needs of users no matter their location. Some of the updates include:

Inventory - Delivers simple inventory management that allows customers to be more efficient with real-time tracking of the quantity and value of their small business inventory. Items can be easily added to an online quote or invoice, helping small businesses to better manage and monitor stock for improved sales and meet demand, saving them precious time and improving cashflow. For customers with complex inventory needs, Xero seamlessly connects to a number of partners in the Add-on Marketplace.
Online Quotes - Small business owners can create online quotes and estimates easily from within Xero, on-the-go, in real-time, and on any device. Online Quotes complements Xero’s Online Invoicing capability, enabling small businesses to improve business efficiency and cash flow by making it easier and faster for quotes to be provided and approved on site and online, and for invoices to be sent and paid quickly.
Practice Reports - Revolutionises how accountants prepare and manage reports. Practice Reports allows accountants to add value to clients through customised reporting on their accounts with real-time data. Initially launching in New Zealand, practice reports will shortly be rolled out in Australia, followed by the U.K. and U.S. later this year.
Side-by-Side Files - Makes it easy for small businesses to enter their financial transactions. Receipts and bills can be uploaded to Xero and viewed on-screen while the transaction is being entered or completed. Small businesses can keep up-to-date records and complete transactions quickly and effortlessly.
Bank Feeds - Building on its existing support for bank feeds, Xero makes it easy for bank transactions to be reconciled with small business accounting. Xero now supports an additional 1,692 bank feeds, connecting to 7,000 bank feeds and over 5,000 financial institutions globally.

One of the reasons Xero has become so popular in the tech space is because of its growing ‘add-on’ market that allows other aspects of the business such as people management, sales and quotation software and CRM systems to plug directly into and seamlessly share data into the Xero system cutting out time consuming administrative tasks from the startup's day-to-day operations. Xero now has around 1,100 staff (500 employees joining in 2014 alone) and recently raised $NZ132.9 million in investment from Accel Partners. At the back-end of last year Xero announced a strategic partnership with StartupAUS, the country’s national (and original) peak body for high-growth startups. Chris Ridd, Managing Director of Xero also joined the StartupAUS advisory board. This partnership is similar to a number of other alliances that have been formed by Xero with other high-growth business communities such as The League of Extraordinary Women, Startup Grind and the ‘Xero for Startups’ program that the company launched with startup co-working space Fishburners in November 2014. Part of these programmes includes a six-month free subscription for all new users of the platform.

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Cuddle Clones wanted to help people overcome the death of their pets, but became a high growth startup in the process

March 24, 2015, 3:08 pm

≫ Next: Startups need to learn how to negotiate various ‘growth traps’

≪ Previous: Xero continues to show us why it is one of the fastest growing FinTech companies in the APAC region

Stan and clone

For Jennifer Williams and Adam Greene, Cuddle Clones started out as a toy company helping people overcome the death of a furry family member. But what Cuddle Clones became is a highly scalable ecommerce startup. Launched in April 2013, the Louiseville, Kentucky-based startup has garnered significant media attention as of late, which, in turn, has tipped sales orders over the edge. Cuddle Clones now faces the challenge of managing high demand.

Simply put, Cuddle Clones creates replicas of people’s pets. Customers send photos of their furry loved ones from different angles, and Cuddle Clones handles the rest. What’s remarkable is how accurate the clones are. Based on some photos, you can barely tell which is real and which is a clone.

[caption id="attachment_39218" align="alignnone" width="631"]

Balki and Clone[/caption] [caption id="attachment_39219" align="alignnone" width="611"]

Larry and Clone[/caption] The startup’s Plush Cuddle Clones start at US$179 for smaller animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, and birds, whereas larger animals like dogs, cats and horses cost $249. The startup also offers custom figurines of people’s pets for $99 as well as custom granite memorials for $79.

This may appear expensive, but Cuddle Clones is, by far, a less creepy and cheaper alternative to taxidermying - the process stuffing the skin of dead animals to create a life-like effect. Taxidermying can cost well over $1,000 and the result is far less cuddly.

What inspired the creation of Cuddle Clones is grief. Both Williams and Greene had loved and lost animals before and thought Cuddle Clones would be a great way to help people around the world cope with the loss of their pets.

Greene told Startup Daily that although the death of a pet remains the biggest motivation for people buying Cuddle Clones’ products, they've also identified several other consistent customer segments - that is, a young girl going away to college, military deployment and extended hospital or nursing home stay. In all these scenarios, people are having to leave their pets behind.

Since its inception, Cuddle Clones has sold to over 40 countries globally, though the US remains the company’s top market by a wide margin. Greene told Startup Daily that their current month-to-month growth rate is “ridiculous due to a lot of recent media exposure”. In fact, from January to February this year, the startup experienced a growth rate of well over 700 percent. The company’s yearly growth rate is sitting at about 450 percent.

Cuddles Clones has mainly engaged in digital marketing strategies. The company evidently has a strong social media presence, especially on Facebook (78,000+ likes) and Instagram (43,000+ followers). Multimillion dollar brands like Black Milk Clothing and Frank Body have mastered the art of building a mass, cult-like online following. A quick glance at Cuddle Clones’ social media channels would have you convinced that the company has also mastered the same art. This is, of course, helped by the fact that the internet loves animals.

Although it's all well and good that the media currently loves Cuddle Clones, the company's greatest pride is its satisfied customers. Greene said, “We regularly get testimonials about how our products are helping people. That’s what we’re most proud of.”

The founders are currently in the early stages of discussing strategic partnerships with companies that have a retail presence in the pet products space, though Greene said nothing is close to being finalised.

He added that Cuddle Clones really wants to become known as the company that can help people overcome the loss of a pet: “That’s really why we started the company and where we think we can do the most good in terms of customer impact and business/brand development.”

Most of Cuddle Clones’ new website features and future products will centre on pet bereavement.

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Startups need to learn how to negotiate various ‘growth traps’

March 24, 2015, 3:19 pm

≫ Next: At first glance BidzDirect may seem like an Alphatise replica but the founders would disagree with that statement

≪ Previous: Cuddle Clones wanted to help people overcome the death of their pets, but became a high growth startup in the process

Startup Stock Photos

There are plenty of businesses being started across Australia every day. Most make it to revenue; many generate decent revenue; but an overwhelming majority hit significant growth pains. They get caught in what Business Growth Specialist, Mike Boorn Plener refers to as the ‘Growth Trap’. The companies that are poised and ready for growth will reap the greatest benefit in the upcoming years. Below we look at some of the activities startups need to master so the growth trap does not choke progress. 1. Momentum Business growth is like a freight train – except you’re pushing it down the track with your bare hands and the help of a few friends. First and foremost, you need to come to terms with the fact that it’s hard work. You sweat. You feel like you’re going nowhere. Eventually you get the train moving – your business is beginning to show results. At this stage you want to keep pushing, gain speed, let the train start rolling down the tracks. Even then, you don’t stop, just run as fast as you can and keep pushing. As you move down the tracks, people come along and help the pushing. Your sales grow so you can buy more coal to fire up the engine. But you have to keep up that momentum. Where so many businesses go wrong is the stop-start-stop-start. You build the momentum, then take a breather and lose that momentum. It’s like starting all over again. You need to make sure that you test before you start. Do you have a team that can push, a product that sells, and a marketing machine that works? Many of these can be tested well before you really start by using online freelancers from sites like oDesk.com. Once you’re ready, be prepared for a marathon. That’s what it takes to start with momentum. 2. Profitability Most businesses need to watch the profitability gap. You may need to produce a certain number of widgets before manufacturing is viable. Or do a certain number of billable hours before it pays the office rent overheads. As you expand it gets worse: You now need to hire staff to do more of what you do already, or to expand activities. What if it takes two months before a sales person is up to full steam? In the meantime you have to pay their base salary, while spending a significant part of your time with them. Sales will probably drop before they start going up. Startups need to work out at what point they will need to add extra people so for every growth step along the way you know when you will be profitable. Constantly look for economies of scale and for ways of leveraging what you have already built. One way to leverage this is by using platforms like oDesk.com to scale your headcount up and down as you need it. You should keep a relentless eye on revenue as your first measure, and then check that your margin is preserved as you expand. Utilising online workers does not just save money because of the flexibility of scaling hours, it also saves money by way of not having to invest in physical office space and equipment straight away, something that too often gets startup companies into big trouble. 3. The Marketing Machine If you rely on traditional avenues of marketing, growth can be a challenge. The premise is that you have to keep pushing. Push new campaigns, push sales, and so forth. The moment you stop pushing, growth will wane. This is not ideal. To create sustained growth you have to think of your marketing as a machine that keeps chugging along – just like that freight train. Modern marketing requires an integrated approach. Social tools, digital marketing and traditional communications need to be integrated to ensure a consistent and positive customer experience. And it’s not enough to assume your audiences are not using digital technologies, or that you do not have the resources to sustain them Joanne Jacobs, COO of 1000heads says, “A common mistake of businesses today is that they measure audience volume and eyeballs across marketing activities rather than customer actions. This has long been a problem of measuring the wrong things, but it is only now that customers are using these social and mobile tools that the true value of an integrated approach to marketing is being questioned. 4. Scalability Can you do 50 percent more revenue with the same team? If not, find out how you can. One of the key hindrances of growth is when you can’t expand the organisation to match the growth you need. Bringing new team members on board is expensive and takes time. Generally, it takes a while before a new team member is fully up to speed. Neil Livingstone from CFO Advisory provides another example – Wink Models. He says, “This is a talent management business, and what they’re running is like a booking platform. A modelling business is surprisingly intensive on the administration side. “So they are developing an app that models use to clock on and clock off. Through the app they do all interactions, like booking email confirmations, locations info, what to wear, billings and more. It used to take 40 minutes to process one model’s payment, it now takes less than five minutes”. “The whole idea is they can take on significantly more business without getting more staff, processing a much higher volume of bookings without the current high administrative and labour cost. And as a potentially significant secondary revenue stream they’re now looking at selling the app to other agencies.” Startups need systems, and this is where freelancers from sites like oDesk.com can help. 5. Reporting Want to count more revenue? Count it more often! If you report monthly, start reporting weekly. If you report weekly, start reporting daily. If you’re not reporting on revenue, start. The rationale is simple: If your sales are sagging (your second indicator of growth – the first one is orders / commitments) you need to know sooner rather than later. If, after the first week of a month, you see you’re behind, you still have three weeks to catch up. If you report at the end of the month, well, it’s hard to catch up on that month. You have to know what the key drivers for your growth are, so you can report on them. For example if you run a retail operation, counting how many people come through the door is hugely important. Smart business owners use technology to automatically track store traffic on an hourly basis using that information to correlate to revenue, checking sales conversion of each store staff, and even seeing where they may need to roster additional staff for peak periods.

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At first glance BidzDirect may seem like an Alphatise replica but the founders would disagree with that statement

March 24, 2015, 3:36 pm

≫ Next: Homecamp wants to open up suburban backyards to campers

≪ Previous: Startups need to learn how to negotiate various ‘growth traps’

Untitled design (9)

It is not very often that your biggest challenge as a startup ends up being the bad press surrounding another startup. But that is going to be the hurdle that co-founders Phil Tran and Zaven Matevosian will be facing over the coming months as they prepare to launch and raise money for their new venture BidzDirect. BidzDirect is a platform that allows users to browse products listed by sellers (retailers) and buy those items, or set a price that they are willing to pay for a particular item. If a seller is able to match that pricing, then the user will be able purchase that item instantly. It's important to highlight the word 'instantly' at this point, as it will make everything we are about to delve into in this piece a whole lot easier to understand. Both Tran and Matevosian are experts when it comes to pricing. They've worked in the special pricing division at IBM for the last 14 years and this is where the seeds that eventually lead to starting BidzDirect were formed. "The essence of special bid pricing is a company submits a purchase request of volume size," says Tran. "[Customers] don't want to pay retail, they want to pay almost half of retail and sometimes right next to cost. In order to qualify that pricing, we review the profit and cost benefit on that deal and do a quick analysis of future profit and draw a roadmap and then we approve the deal or decline the deal and this process can take anywhere between 24 hours and 5 days". Tran then draws comparisons between this traditional business-to-business way of working and the consumer space: "In the consumer space, we buy one item and still want the best price" Tran said. It was based on that simple notion that BidzDirect was founded. BidzDirect vs. Alphatise As previously stated, the major problem that BidzDirect is going to face will come from the fact that Alphatise, which officially 'launched' in August last year, is being dragged through the media and things are not exactly pretty. Although it's hard to ignore the similarity in the concept of what both startups are trying to do, a deeper look at how one executes compared to other reveals a stark difference in both the technologies behind the platforms and the well-rounded understanding of the space Tran and Matevosian has in comparison to the founding team of Alphatise. It's worth nothing at this point that one of the three original co-founders of Alphatise, Ben Nowlan left the company late last year and is now the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Sydney based startup Sherpa. [caption id="attachment_39189" align="aligncenter" width="445"]

Alphatise founders | Paul Pearson, Richard Frey and Ben Nowlan (departed)[/caption] Alphatise is currently in dire straights right now, being forced to enter voluntary administration earlier this month. A profit and loss report published by journalist Alex Heber on Business Insider yesterday, reveals that, so far this year, the company is running at a $3.2 million loss and creditors confirmed the company had insufficient cash to take care of its liabilities. The startup only made $9, 211 in revenue last year in addition to a $1.07 million loss - hardly the growth that the founders were spouting to the media about, but that's a conversation to explore another time. When I interviewed Tran about his new venture, I didn't pull any punches when approaching the topic of similarities between his platform and what Alphatise has already tried to do and is currently failing to pull off. To his credit, he was extremely well prepared for such questions, obviously having faced the same remarks in investor meetings over the last couple of weeks. "Without putting [the founders] down or discrediting them in any way, Alphatise is basically a reverse group buying business that kind of operates in the same way as Catch of the Day" said Tran. "Catch of the Day had a product and had a seller and went and got the volume and demand and that triggered the [discounted] price. What Alphatise does is it goes and gets the demand for a certain product without having any seller behind it, then once it reaches say, [a demand of] ten thousand users, it says to sellers - we have 10,000 people willing to pay for this item for "x" price. Are you willing to sell in?" In a nutshell, what this means is that Alphatise was selling false hope to its users. Generating demand to get an item at a particular price is the easy part of the challenge, but finding a seller willing to do it is the tricky job. In reality this process could take anywhere between a day to a month to lock down; and by then, users will have lost interest, may have already purchased the item themselves or have had bills come in that need to take priority. The variables that disrupt the original interest are endless. BidzDirect mitigates this ever happening through technology and automation; its approach is to take advantage and grab the sale while the opportunity is presenting itself. Instant gratification is key to making things work in this space. The BidzDirect platform has a unique pricing engine that sits behind everything and matches the price requests made by consumers with sellers that are willing to fulfil those purchases instantly. Unlike Alphatise which then goes out and tries to find a supplier, BidzDirect has taken a page out of eBay's playbook and already has an established network of 'BidzDirect Sellers' using its platform. Most of these sellers are similar to the types of suppliers that you would already see selling items on the eBay platform as an additional sales channel for their bricks and mortar or retail businesses. On BidzDirect, when entering products into the platform, sellers choose a 'lowest price' option for their items that ensures they still make money from the sale and if the pricing that users are searching for falls within that range for that product, then it is a match and hopefully a sale. No negotiation is necessary. Sellers have already predetermined in the system where they are willing to drop prices to and that process is automated via the BidzDirect software. As far as revenue streams go, BidzDirect is keeping things simple with a 5% flat fee on sales made across the platform. In comparison, that is less than half the price of an eBay listing. Tran realises the potential there is for not-so-tech-savvy retailers to leverage off his technology as opposed to building their own site. "We realise we are building a two sided market place, [and getting] buyers is the easy task," said Tran. "The Buyer side is already showing a lot of interest. It's a different and unique way of shopping, BidzDirect allows retailers to leverage off our technology". I will however be critical at one aspect of BidzDirect and concede that when it comes to UI / UX Alphatise is the clear front runner. There is a definite clashing of fonts and colours and the logo in my opinion is not attractive to a younger audience (typically those between 20 and 40 years old). I would hedge a bet that they are the target market. In fairness, the site has not launched officially yet, so all of those things may be subject to change. The pre-launch phase At the moment BidzDirect is currently in its pre-launch phase, with a view to open the platform publicly in July. Behind the scenes, there is a lot of testing happening in the Australian and United States, which Tran believes will be two of the strongest locations for the platform. Startup Daily was able to confirm though that the platform would have a rather strong Asian presence with plans to launch into the Singapore and Indian markets a few months after launching. Right now, instead of boasting about millions of questionable Facebook likes, chasing PR opportunities and pumping money into advertising, BidzDirect is taking the quiet approach, making sure it gets everything right and remains user focused. That focus extends to the product lines that will be available on the site at launch as well, with the startup choosing to stick within three core areas of products at this stage - consumer electronics, fashion and sports wear. Tran says that the launch will be a low key 'soft launch' as he does not intend to run into issues as Alphatise did by spending money faster than the business grows. An Opportunity While this may be in poor taste, and I firmly agree that everyone should concentrate on running their own race, BidzDirect has a massive opportunity to be a leading company in this space by capitalising on the fact that it is giving users what Alphatise couldn't - instant gratification. It would be a great way to recruit some more buyers over to the platform. By selling itself to small businesses as a platform, stores and brands can plug into to create an extra sales channel BidzDirect. If it executes on this plan quickly, it can gain significant market share before Alphatise has the chance to catch up and replicate. Aside from the administration issue, Alphatise also has a court case to deal with as a former employee is suing the company, which can't be dealt with until after the administration issues are sorted. Court Filings - Supreme Court:

Banks v Alphatise Pty Limited [2014] NSWSC 1437

Seed Funding Although bootstrapped at the moment, BidzDirect is currently in the process of prepping to open its seed funding round in April. The intention will be to raise between $500,000 and $1.5 million. The harsh reality is this is going to be a challenge considering the stigma that has now been attached to this type of business. The risk factor is always going to be higher now in an investor's mind. Tran is well aware of the roadblocks ahead and has surrounded himself with a group of advisors to help him navigate his way through. Unlike Alphatise pre-launch, he certainly isn't being cocky.

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Homecamp wants to open up suburban backyards to campers

March 24, 2015, 3:30 pm

≫ Next: Newcastle startup Camplify wants caravan owners to lease out their unused vehicles

≪ Previous: At first glance BidzDirect may seem like an Alphatise replica but the founders would disagree with that statement

Homecamp

Going on holidays isn’t as straightforward as it used to be. Back in the old days, people used to book a week at a nice beachside resort, pick up a backpack and live it up in hostels, or get the kids into the caravan and go on a road trip around the country. Nowadays, travellers are looking for experiences that are both cheaper and more authentic. A new Sydney startup called Homecamp is hoping to provide travellers with both by having them camp out in suburban backyards. Dubbed ‘Airbnb for camping’, the idea for Homecamp came to David Abitbol when he was roadtripping around Australia with co-founder Audrey Krukoff. “We were constantly debating where we were going to park our campervan in order to sleep. We were searching for an alternative to traditional camping and to wild camping, which is often unauthorised. So we wondered if we could park our campervan in someone’s garden, and for the next few days we moved around the neighborhood asking if we could use someone's backyard and everyone said yes,” Abitbol said. Abitbol, who is originally from France, said the encouragement and positive comments he got from other travellers convinced him the idea had business potential. Like Airbnb, people with some extra space can list their backyards on Homecamp, where campers can then browse listings and book a yard. The platform is currently free to use, with plans in place to monetise by taking a percentage of the booking fee. Homecamp has seen some interest from travellers already thanks to word of mouth and a couple of Facebook campaigns. However, Abitbol acknowledges that, with people opening up their homes to strangers, the platform needs to built trust with - and between - campers and hosts. “We will need to reconsider and focus on direct marketing and talk to customers in person,” he said. The comparison to Airbnb also brings up the question of problems with local councils and State governments - Australian lawmakers have been notoriously unhappy with Airbnb. According to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, camping sites must be approved by local councils. “We will have somehow to deal with the local councils. We haven't checked every single council in Australia, but we’ve done a lot of research. Camping on private properties is allowed most of the time under certain conditions, often referring to the duration of the stay, and the use of the amenities,” Abitbol explained. “Government and city councils will have to evolve with the new economy often called ‘the sharing economy’. They will, somehow, have to find solutions that will adapt to new concepts the internet brings without blocking innovation and, more importantly, entrepreneurship.” A few dozen camping spots have been listed on the platform already, with listings along Australia’s east coast and around New Zealand ranging in price from $10 to $50. Working out of Sydney’s Fishburners coworking space, Abitbol is positive about his experience in Australia and the opportunities he has found here. “When I left Paris for Sydney, I really felt I was leaving the ‘new Silicon Valley’ of France. The French government has implemented a lot of initiatives to help the new generation of entrepreneurs innovate, and I can feel the same here in Australia,” he said. “I think there is a fantastic opportunity here in Australia to make a difference. There is less competition and more support between startups, which makes it easier to turn an idea into a business. Compared to France, it's quicker and easier to create a company here.” Provided it can avoid problems with councils, Homecamp could prove successful. Airbnb has shown that travellers enjoy staying with locals outside city centres on the cheap, while hosts are willing to give up some of their space to make some extra cash. However, unlike Airbnb, which requires hosts to have an extra room or be away in order for a guest to stay, camping in the backyard means hosts and campers don’t have to share close quarters, and hosts don’t have to leave to have anyone stay. People who may shy away from Airbnb out of fear over sharing or leaving a house or apartment with a stranger may also find Homecamp an easier concept to get on board with. Abitbol’s goals for Homecamp in 2015 are simple. “We want to democratise camping, get people enjoying the Aussie outdoors, and have more home owners listing their property on Homecamp. Our aim in 2015 is for both the host and the property owner to have a safe and enjoyable experience using Homecamp.”

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Newcastle startup Camplify wants caravan owners to lease out their unused vehicles

March 25, 2015, 6:05 am

≫ Next: FoodRunna is leveraging off time-rich but cash-strapped students to get its operations off the ground

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Camplify

Though many of us buy new toys and gadgets thinking we’ll use them constantly, they often get set aside before too long. Caravans or RVs fall into that category. While retirees spending their kids’ inheritance on a luxury caravan for a road trip around the country may get their money’s worth, the majority of caravans sit on front lawns for the better part of the year. A Newcastle startup wants to get these caravans on the road by connecting owners with renters. Justin Hales, CEO of Camplify, said the idea came from his experiences on family holidays as a child. “My family and I used to go caravaning with my extended family every holidays. On a return trip we were ran off the road and decided to sell our caravan. We never had that type of holiday again. In October my wife asked me to see about hiring a caravan for the Christmas holidays but I couldn’t find any out there. I thought that with all the caravans sitting in people’s front yards, surely I can come up with a solution that solves both problems,” Hales said. Camplify allows owners to list their caravans or other recreational vehicles for hire. Just like Airbnb, owners can then chat with potential users and pick which they’re comfortable lending their vehicle to. The platform, which charges a booking fee, estimates that a caravan would be hired for an average of 6 weeks per year, giving owners a spare $3500. The startup is also keen on creating a sense of community around the platform, hoping caravan owners and renters create connections around holiday experiences. Camplify is one of six startups taking part in the first Jumpstart accelerator program, run by Slingshot in conjunction with the NRMA. Hales said he first heard about the program after attending a roadshow event in Newcastle and pitching it to the NRMA. “When we started all we had was an idea. Over the past three months Slingshot has assisted us in validating that idea and developing a full business around it,” Hales said. “The biggest challenge is educating the market in this type of disruptive business. Once people understand the idea they love it.” While a number of owners may be wary of handing over something as expensive as a caravan or RV to a stranger for weeks at a time, many others would surely jump at the chance to make some extra cash for something that goes unused for most of the year. This, and encouraging users to make connections and share tips and advice on their holidays, can help Camplify build a devoted community. The NRMA connection will also help - with the Jumpstart program promising its startups access to the NRMA’s member base if the product fits, Hales believes Camplify is well-positioned to make the most of the connection. “The NRMA and caravaning go together like footy and a meat pie. We are the perfect new business to introduce to NRMA members and offer them an additional service,” he said. As Camplify prepares to launch in late March, the focus over the next few months is simply growing the platform. “The goal is to launch our system, focus on listing caravan owners, and provide holidaymakers with an amazing holiday,” Hales said.

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FoodRunna is leveraging off time-rich but cash-strapped students to get its operations off the ground

March 25, 2015, 4:44 pm

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Each year the University of New South Wales (UNSW) hosts a competition called the 'UNSW Startup Games' where teams of student entrepreneurs compete with each other over a period of four weeks on the "entrepreneurial battlefield". Students come up with an idea for a scalable startup and must then work on building this vision within one month, focusing on execution, promotion and sales. In the last week, the students pitch to a panel of angel investors who select the winner. The 29th of March concludes this year's annual event; and one team hoping to take out the top prize is the team behind FoodRunna, which launched its service just last week. The idea for FoodRunna came about when its co-founder and CEO Gilbert Wong complained that he often did not have the time to leave his desk at work and go to get food in the city at lunch times. He realised that, yes, there are services that can help with that such as Delivery Hero or Menulog, but felt those particular platforms - albeit full of variety - didn't allow him to order from his favourite places to eat because those cafes and restaurants did not offer deliveries. “There were restaurants who delivered their own food and there were delivery services with a set menu, but there never was a delivery service that got you whatever you wanted. [That’s] where we decided to begin,” says Wong. Basically FoodRunna is aiming to solve this problem via its new 'peer to peer' food delivery service, which is currently operating within Sydney's CBD. Since launching a week ago in Beta, the startup has gained 30 regular customers and are doing a minimum of 10 deliveries per day. All it takes is three clicks on the website for a user to have their desired meal delivered directly to them. At this point, the delivery fee is $3.50; and a 'food runner' typically delivers about 10 to 12 meals within the 11.30am to 2.30pm lunch time period. One way in which FoodRunna is leveraging its connections with university students is by enabling them to use the gaps of free time they have throughout the day to make some extra cash. “One thing we noticed was that university students were incredibly time rich but money poor," said Ashi Bhat, co-founder and CMO. "I had several friends at university that were looking for part time jobs but weren’t getting accepted into retail or hospitality jobs. So I wondered what it would be like to create an ad-hoc recruitment service that leveraged off the labour of students, eager to make some quick cash. And that’s exactly what we did with FoodRunna”

At the moment the startup has been recruiting students from UNSW and UTS to deliver to corporate customers, as soon as they order.

Although FoodRunna has been created as part of a UNSW initiative, the team of five co-founders has told Startup Daily that they intend to keep running the venture beyond the competition. Not only is it proving to be a great way to provide jobs for university students, the team also believes it is solving a common problem experienced by many workers within cities across Australia.

In the pipeline is a more responsive version of the website and an app which will make it easier for users to access the service throughout their busy work days. Over the coming weeks there are also plans to automate the payment systems so that users can pay for their meals and the delivery fee at the touch of a button - at this stage its working off a cash system.

There are a few issues that the team will need to solve in order to reach scalability, and these will no doubt be questions raised by the investor panel this coming weekend.

The first is centred around the fulfilment process - even with users transferring the cash and delivery fee upon ordering - a challenge exists. If you are expecting "cash poor" university students to pay for the meals upfront before being reimbursed for it - most I would argue wouldn't have the bandwidth to front the cash for up-to-a-dozen deliveries. There needs to be some kind of cash support system implemented.

The second challenge is that FoodRunna is a very niche version of existing services like Sherpa and Airtasker. Both of those services have cash and traction already under their belt, and although they both play in the 'general tasks' space, part of that market does include food delivery for time poor people. FoodRunna will need to explain why its service is better than theirs when it comes to this very specific delivery space.

The product-market fit is clearly there, but ultimately the success is going to come from establishing a trusted brand in the space.

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