How to apply, get in and then crush it in a venture accelerator
Yesterday, I happened to be in Melbourne at the same time Lean Startup held their “How to apply, get in and then crush it in a venture accelerator” Meetup event where over 200 attendees got together to listen to a panel of startup entrepreneurs share their experience on getting into a Startup accelerator and the journey involved.

It was also interesting to hear from other start-ups, including what worked and what didn’t work for them. There was good energy in the room with lots of burning questions from determined entrepreneurs. And when you start hearing from the entrepreneurs about their failures and experiences, you can be sure it is not just entrepreneurs in Tasmania doing it tough.

As Angel Cube, a Melbourne-based accelerator, and the entrepreneurs talked about the details involving the ins and outs of working with a Startup Accelerator, it got me wondering whether it’s time for Tasmania to have its own Startup accelerator.

We know Tasmania had 2 incubators, Springboard and In-tellinc, which both typically mentored larger ventures, but now that Springboard has started winding down, perhaps there will be an opportunity for an accelerator program to fill the gap.

Looking at the current Tasmanian landscape, surely it is time for investors to bring Tasmania the seed stage investment it sorely needs by setting up it’s first accelerator and seed capital fund.

Don’t think it’s possible? Well, maybe for starters we should have a look at some of the Australian accelerators that were present at the event:

• Startmate (@startmate), a Sydney based accelerator that runs a 5 month program focused on internet startups chasing large markets with technical founders. Typical terms are $50,000 investment for a 7.5% equity (includes two demo days, one in Sydney and one in Silicon Valley, trip included). Mentors of note include founders of Atlassian, Hitwise and Spreets, and partners at Southern Cross Ventures.
• Angel Cube (@angelcubemelb), a Melbourne based accelerator that runs a 3 month intensive program. Typical terms are $20,000 investment for 10% equity. Includes a demo day to investors. Mentors of note include founders of 99Designs/Sitepoint, Stateless Systems and Crowdmass.

These accelerator programs are not looking for amazing ideas or people with tons of experience. They are looking for determined and smart founders who are quick to execute and has the drive and determination to succeed.

Such founders may or may not have a proven idea. But they do need to be able to demonstrate their ability to quickly test an idea in order to be able to find out if it will stick, if there will be any traction, and if it is scalable with a potential to go global.

These accelerators want to find founders who are not afraid to make mistakes and, more importantly, they want to see them learn from mistakes, quickly.
But there’s a catch, which arguably may or may not be a bad thing. The catch is you need to be physically present in the city where the accelerator is based, or have the intention to move there during the program. And this is the reason why perhaps Tasmania should have a Startup Accelerator of its own.

So really, the issue isn’t funding or lack of talent. The real problem could stem from the sheer amount of work involved with creating an accelerator, or the lack of experience in the community. But, with regards to the latter, if we don’t start to make the first steps, how are we ever going to gain any experience?

Sourcing Mentors

How about mentors? Which is what these accelerators are really all about. For a Tasmanian Startup Accelerator to be successful, it will likely need to be able to harness its ability to help startups reach outside Tasmania and Australia.

In a limited market, going regional or global quickly and decisively is an essential part of proving ideas and gaining traction, hence the historical focus on outsourcing companies.

For optimised mentorship, the Tasmanian accelerator will need to have a “rolodex” of mentors and be able to source them from within Tasmania while continuously looking to connect with an international network of mentors.

The accelerator will also need to connect with grassroots techies, startups as well as small business communities to leverage the diaspora and tap into local entrepreneurs with potential Silicon Valley or global expertise.

The Tasmanian startup sector has been somewhat quiet, but momentum is building slowly, especially as innovative startups like AsdeqLabs demonstrate their ability to sell a visionary enterprise-level product to the world while operating in Tasmania.

When a startup accelerator exists in Tasmania, it will be interesting to see what kind of entrepreneurs apply to the first Tasmanian Startup Accelerator class. I would expect to see ideas in e-commerce, travel, and perhaps even more enterprise solutions in the midst of applicants.

So what do you think? Do you think it’s time for Tasmania to have its very own Startup Accelerator?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. Constructive feedback and discussions will be greatly appreciated.

About the Author: Byron Teu is one of the co-founders of Startup Tasmania. He is a serial entrepreneur, an occasional investor, and he is addicted to building Startups. Byron is on Twitter! You can follow him via @byronteu

For this first event, we have guest speaker, Robin Fieldhouse, introducing us to the world of IP Commercialisation which is sure to be an important and insightful talk on how to secure and commercialise your business idea.

And due to the number of emails sent to us about whether others can still attend the event after RSVP has closed, the answer is yes, you can still join us on Monday but the “At The Door” price will be $30 across the board, which means members will miss out on the $10 membership discount.

So join us on Monday and start making 2013 your year to get focused, learn how to commercialise your idea, get involved, meet other entrepreneurial like-minded individuals and become inspired!

According to the media release, the highly successful Jobs and Skills Expos delivered by the Australian Government will provide local job seekers with hundreds of jobs and training opportunities.

The Expo will bring together employers, employment services providers and training organisations with job seekers on one day – creating a one-stop-shop for jobs and training in Hobart.

“Job seekers will experience a ‘jobs and skills marketplace’ connecting them with employers, private recruitment agencies, Jobs Services Australia providers and registered training organisations and hundreds of employment and training opportunities.”, said Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Bill Shorten.

“More than 800 job seekers have been connected with job and training opportunities at the Expos held in Launceston, Burnie and Devonport in recent times, now we’re bringing an Expo to Hobart.”, Minister Shorten added.

The Expo will be held at the Derwent Entertainment Centre, Brooker Highway, Glenorchy, from 10am to 3pm on Friday, 1 March 2013.

For further information about the Australian Government Jobs and Skills Expo or for those interested in exhibiting or advertising a job vacancy or training course at the expos should call 13 11 58 or visit the website.

The announcement today essentially detailed further on how the State Government will allocate money under its jobs package.

The Government says the money is coming from its $7.5 million Innovation and Investment fund, it has already previously announced.

And according to ABC News Tasmania, the State Government is predicting the initiative will stimulate about $11 million in private investment and create 170 jobs.

About the Author: Byron Teu is one of the co-founders of Startup Tasmania. He is a serial entrepreneur and is addicted to building Startups. Byron is on Twitter! You can follow him via @byronteu

Their approach is to train a new generation of Ruby on Rails developers with a 10-week program.

For those of you that don’t already know, Ruby on Rails is a popular web development framework based on the Ruby programming language that is quickly gaining momentum in the global Startup scene.

In SydneyDevCamp’s case, the purpose of setting up their developer “boot-camp” in Australia is to pump out entry-level developers and satisfy hungry entrepreneurs looking for talent and technical expertise.

The founder of “Sydney Dev Camp”, Ms. Danila Davidson calls it “an intensive training experience” for 20 students.

“It’s a nine-to-five, five-days-a-week journey from no formal coding experience to enough web-application-building competence to start a new career”, says Davidson.

Ms Davidson comes from a background of no small beginnings. She has private equity and VC funding experience while business globe-trotting for the past 8 years.

Through this experience she has been able to meet and witnessed several of these camps in action and feels the time is right for the Australian scene.

The obvious value here is that there is a real shortage of developers in Australia and “Sydney Dev Camp” is addressing this issue by adopting a new approach to produce talent.

By offering a program which teaches beginners how to code from the scratch and then connects them to potential employers SydneyDevCamp’s goal is to have developers job-ready at the end of the program, which means that by the time the students graduate, they are able to contribute value to an engineering team at any start-up/ high tech enterprise or launch their own venture.

For more information, visit “Sydney Dev Camp“.

About the Author: Byron Teu is one of the co-founders of Startup Tasmania. He is a serial entrepreneur and is addicted to building Startups. Byron is on Twitter! You can follow him via @byronteu

This is a $12.50 per person event as we will be providing delicious bakery and espresso coffee for breakfast. 

Our president, Oliver George, will take the opportunity to talk about where we are and more importantly the exciting news about where we will be heading in 2013.

We invite all current, past and potential Startup Tasmania members to join us in celebrating 2012 and getting pumped for 2013!

Come join us and network with the amazing people behind some of Hobart’s most exciting startups and innovative businesses!

To ensure sufficient catering for the event, please book your tickets early through Eventbrite.

About the Author: Byron Teu is one of the co-founders of Startup Tasmania. He is a serial entrepreneur and is addicted to building Startups. Byron is on Twitter! You can follow him via @byronteu

The next Angel Dinner will be taking place on Tuesday, 19 February but with Christmas just around the corner, this call for video pitch is done early so everyone will get plenty of notice.

So here’s what you need to submit to them:

• A 90 second video (any format acceptable but don’t exceed the time limit) to info@innovationbay.com
• The purpose of the video is to introduce your business and explain why you should be selected, compellingly
• Explain your value proposition in a strong and punchy format….they want to know why you are poised to succeed and why someone would want to invest in your business.
• And as pointers, explore the following briefly:
  • Investment – how much, what do you need it for, why should someone invest
  • The market – size and opportunity
  • What problem you are solving and do you offer a different solution
  • Business overview – who you are, what you do, your experience, your team

And YES, all this in only 90 seconds!

So what are you waiting for! Start preparing early and send it in by 5pm (EST), Friday 8 February 2013.

The top 9 videos, as selected by Innovation Bay’s panel of experts, will be uploaded to Innovation Bay Angels website (private log-in access only) where members can further discuss your business with you and then vote for their favourite(s). And finally, the 4 pitches that receive the highest votes will be invited to present at the Dinner.

To find out more, go to Innovation Bay for details. Good luck!

And of course, don’t forget to spread the word!

About the Author: Byron Teu is one of the co-founders of Startup Tasmania. He is a serial entrepreneur and is addicted to building Startups. Byron is on Twitter! You can follow him via @byronteu

We just found out from Innovation Bay that the applications for the 2013 Advance Innovation Program will be closing at 5pm next Monday, 10 December 2012. So keep reading if you don’t want to miss out!

For the  25 start-ups  selected, the program includes:

• 3 x workshops in Australia where participants will develop their pitch and receive critical feedback on their business model from experienced Australian entrepreneurs and investors
• 8 x 1 hour mentor sessions via Skype from a successful Australian based in Silicon Valley
• 5 x days in the US, beginning in Los Angeles with a full day of talks and panels. Attendees will get the inside scoop on local companies, people, incubators, investment, hot issues and learn the role of key players such as Mucker Labs, Science, Launchpad LA, Cross Campus and Amplify
• Participants will then head to Silicon Valley for three days, to spend time with mentors, practice pitching, showcase their company, have countless opportunities to network, attend the Lounge Chair Series and experience Silicon Valley in a way that is totally unique, leaving them inspired to build a successful global start-up

Sounds great? That’s because it is! Now proceed to the Application Form!

This is a great opportunity so also please don’t forget to share  this information with any budding entrepreneurs that may be interested too!

Just in case, here’s more information about the Advance.org Innovation Program for 2013. Good luck!

About the Author: Byron Teu is one of the co-founders of Startup Tasmania. He is a serial entrepreneur and is addicted to building Startups. Byron is on Twitter! You can follow him via @byronteu

So once again, we’ll be having our casual afterwork networking session at the Preachers Quarry Salamanca. They always look after us so we thought we should share some love back.

Do come along and join us for some beers, wines, softies, and more importantly, meet other startup entrepreneurs, and plan world domination! (Click  here to RSVP and for more details about time as well as venue)

Whatever it is, we can all drink to your successes and workshop those opportunities over a few cold ones.

On top of all that, there’s also lots to update about Startup Tasmania’s exciting future, developments and budding relationships with exciting entrepreneur movements in our wonderful Island State!

Besides, we might also run some short 30 second pitch practice sessions depending if there’s enough people putting their hands up for it on the day.

Either way, we would love to see you this Thursday, and it would be great if you could RSVP yourself and your +1(s) so we could effectively plan activities and space reservations accordingly.

Alrighty then… that’s all from me for now. Cheerio and we sure look forward to see you at Preachers the Quarry Salamanca around 5pm this Thursday!

About the Author: Byron Teu is one of the co-founders of Startup Tasmania. He is a serial entrepreneur and is addicted to building Startups. Byron is on Twitter! You can follow him via @byronteu

Emma will spend Thursdays in the Startup office (The Typewriter Factory – Level 3, 13-17 Castray Esplanade, Battery Point), so call by and say hi or make an appointment by emailing: emma@startuptasmania.com

Emma will be working to update Startup Tasmania’s business directory, writing profiles and features on current member, as well as securing and nurturing new members.

It is expected that Startup Tasmania will expand over the coming months. Not just a growth in membership base, but also the reach of and engagement with entrepreneurs, the business community, and start-ups.

Most importantly we aim to increase interaction with and provide value to you – our members.