Indeed Bart. Your post still makes for a very good reality check as I see much the same here in Adelaide.
Yep, just do it. Start-ups will still always have to do the old juggling strategy of any ..yes..business. Needs innovation, businesses development, marketing, chasing the occasional Government funding carrot etc - even selling site ad $pace. The trick is for us not to get sloppy and drop any of the balls for the easier ones. 2009/2/6 Bart Jellema <bart.jell...@tjoos.com> > > Have been following this thread for a while. Mick and David, some > excellent input! Having been around the community for a while now I > keep hearing this argument over an over that what Australia need is > more access to funding. This is bugging me for a few reasons: > > - I feel that many use this as an excuse to justify their failure or > much worse: Their failure to even try. > - I get the feeling that some think "getting funding" = success, > instead of the "creating a great product that solves someones issue" = > success. > - Sometimes I think people feel a sense of entitlement. > - Many seem to me to have a skewed view of how hard/easy it is to get > funding in the valley. (One of our friends in the valley spent > countless coffees trying to get funding. After months they finally > just bootstrapped it and sold to Salesforce after about 1.5 years.) > > Sure, some startups can only happen with funding, but in this day and > age I don't quite understand why you would lose your focus and waste > time on trying to get funding for a web startup if you can simply > bootstrap it. Sure it takes sacrifice (Kim and I lived in my parents > attic for 3 months to get tjoos off the ground) and it's a huge risk > because in all likelihood you will fail. But how can you expect others > to take that risk off you if you're not willing to take that risk > yourself first? Once you get your venture off the ground and start to > get some good traction you will find that there is plenty of money > available in Australia to help you grow. > > Right now I meet many wantrepreneurs, hear about many great ideas, but > see too little people cutting code and putting it on the road. I think > it's true that one of Australia's problems is aversion to risk, but > this doesn't only apply to the investment side. So I'd say: Take some > risk, believe in what you do and just build it. If you're growing like > crazy but can't grow as fast as you'd like because nobody wants to > invest, then come bitching about it. > > > On Feb 6, 9:37 am, Tyrone Castillo <tyrone.casti...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I've finally caught up with this thread and I am very excited with > > this idea. > > > > I was at a dinner last night (prior to a somewhat disappointing Top > > Gear Live) and spoke to a few traditional business types. I was > > surprised at the level of interest they had with startups. One guy in > > particular stated that he and some of his colleagues, had been > > thinking about investing in tech but was not sure who, what, where, > > and when to invest. > > > > This would be a great avenue for people like him. Not to mention the > > mentorship that he could provide. > > > > Some other thoughts on this: > > > > As a member: > > I like the fact that $500 (or what ever the final number is) pa. get > > me access to formalised events, > > Access to a network of people who have been there, done that (and > > potentially from people who can give a different view on > > commercialisation aspects from a non-tech view), and > > For $500, I get a small return with a "hot" startup and first dibs to > > invest more if I find one that I really like) <-- to be approved once > > structure is finalised. > > > > Lastly, once I've made it*, it would be a great place to come back and > > give back by sharing my experience etc. > > > > I'm suitably impressed with this idea. > > > > * See about this in 3 years :) > > > > On 6 Feb 2009, at 05:33, silky wrote: > > > > > > > > > On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 10:43 PM, Elias Bizannes > > > <elias.bizan...@gmail.com> wrote: > > >> I like how you're thinking Silky, but it's more a practicality to > > >> get the > > >> funds in the first place. It's not the board that are the problem, > > >> but the > > >> members themselves. > > >> Think of it this way: > > > > >> - for profit: you have a membership, and a board of directors making > > >> executive decisions on their behalf. All profits get redistributed > > >> to the > > >> members if they choose to as a dividend, or it can be reinvested > > >> into the > > >> organisation as retained earnings. Board gets a management fee for > > >> their > > >> services or do it voluntarily. > > > > > this is the model i was thinking of (voluntary board) (i mis-used the > > > term when i said 'not-for-profit' possibly. but also, keep in mind > > > this is just one model that iw as thinking. > > > > > with an investment of $500 i typically wouldn't really expect anything > > > back. so i want there to be another reason to contribute the money > > > than a direct result to the members (in terms of profit from the > > > company). because payout period would be too long (6 months+ to earn > > > back that 500?) many other problems. it also implies a limited > > > membership capacity, or it forces a larger amount to be given out so > > > that everyones money gets "used". > > > > >> - non-profit: you have a membership, and a board of directors making > > >> executive decisions on their behalf. All profits get retained by the > > >> organisation for reinvestment. Dividends cannot be paid out to > > >> anyone. Board > > >> gets a management fee for their services or do it voluntarily. > > > > >> Now the problem with the non-profit model isn't the board: it's the > > >> members. > > >> As you can see above, it makes little difference what structure it > > >> is, but > > >> it matters if you are a shareholder because you don't get the > > >> option to get > > >> a return. Where's the incentive for them to give money? > > > > > Indeed. As discussed above, I mis-spoke. > > > > >> If you are going to tell someone to give you $500 a year to invest in > > >> companies so that other people can get rich, you are going to have > > >> trouble > > >> fund raising. But if you tell them to invest $500, with a 10% > > >> chance they > > >> will make a million dollars (ie, $100k when applying probability > > >> theory), > > >> that's a great motivator. > > > > > maybe, i think the main reasons to join are: > > > 1) access to events > > > 2) something else > > > 3) potential money-back > > > > >> Captitalism kicks arse if you can tame it, to have aligned goals > > >> that also > > >> happen to create community good (like what's happening with climate > > >> change > > >> initiatives). Human's ultimately are selfish: better to rely on the > > >> cynical > > >> view of how people act rather than the hopeful view. When you > > >> expect the > > >> worst, you at least can get pleasantly surprised. > > > > >> Elias Bizannes > > >>http://liako.biz > > > > > -- > > > noon silky > > >http://www.boxofgoodfeelings.com/ > > > -- Kind regards, Nick Ramage Managing Editor Foolkit - Legal visit www.foolkit.com.au e:: ni...@foolkit.com.au m:: 0419 824 915 t:: 08 8382 4349 Foolkit - Your Online Legal Toolkit --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. No lurkers! 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