The Mumpreneur workshops this year are going to be theme based, so each month there will be a speaker with a theme relevant to mumpreneurs and business/personal growth, and  time for networking and discussing the things you want to know to get your business ideas growing – all suggestions for speakers etc will be happily taken.

We will have yummy chai tea and snacks, sometimes a pot of soup, bring along your lunch or something to share, and we can keep the communal ‘kitchen table’ overflowing.

See the flyer for details – see y’all there!

Australian Startup success story BugHerd is a keen example of the power that a good product, a strong team, and a market opportunity has – in any financial climate. The company’s stellar funding trajectory is not dumb luck in a GFC weary heavy investment sector, with serious interest from local and foreign investors culminating in a $500k deal with Starfish Not only is BugHerd an Australian startup doombuster, it has had significant downstream wins for Startup Tasmania by way of delivering us BugHerd marketing and sales manager, friend, mentor and startup evangelist James MacGregor. James is one of several recent returns to Tasmania after big global careers, working locally and impacting globally. James is often found chilling frantically in the Lair, keeping us up to date with the national co-working and startup incubation phenomenon. So next time someone tells you that your startup has no hope, and you’ll never get funding, take stock from the formula for success that BugHerd has employed. Refine your offering, define your market, develop your propotype, engage mentors and advisors, get involved in the startup and entrepreneur community and switch off the negativity and talk of the GFCageddon, and singularly focus on your path to market. Word.

QikID has exclusive license to develop its Biometric Identification Service stemming for world wide usage based on granted patents in countries including AU, US, CA, UK, FR, DE, IT, SG, NZ & JP — a critical element of the company’s value and market protection.

QikID at its core is a generic and adaptable identification service that could be potentially used for thousands of distinct applications.   In order to get the service into the market QikID are currently focussed on developing a number of services for specific vertical markets:

• QikID have identified a need in the education sector in solving the problem of quickly and accurately identifying students sitting examinations to prevent fraud.   The service will be delivered using iPhones and integrated with existing university infrastructure to ensure easy rollout.
• QikID have identified a significant market need in large entertainment venues such as casinos, pubs & clubs in identifying individuals with a history of violence or anti-social behaviour that, aside from disruption to business and brand damage, can result in trading penalties being imposed.
• Casinos and Clubs/Venues also need to be able to identify patrons with high value to ensure that appropriate VIP service is provided, as well as track activity and identify potential problems with their frequent gamblers.

QikID has conducted extensive market research prior to market entry, revealing that based on extremely conservative market penetration rates of 1.5%, for only the Australian Market (patents are granted in 13 countries), there is sufficient revenue available to make the business profitable based purely on Pubs and Clubs sector.

QikID’s services are designed to be low-touch, easy to use and intuitive, using readily available ubiquitous hand held devices.   Clients will be able to setup an account and start using the service by simply buying the required number of iPhones, downloading the QikID app and putting in their credit card number.   This low barrier to entry enables QikID to scale services very quickly, both for domestic and international market demand.

QikID has given special consideration to the privacy of users and the security of the data both in flight and at rest.   A number of innovative measures are embedded in the technology and process to guarantee the privacy of individuals.

Not only is the technology proven and the company already generating significant interest, access to a key target market is available, with the principal investor in QikID owning 3 significant entertainment ventures employing some 400 staff in Sydney, where QikID will be beta testing in March 2012. Startup Tasmania is proud to count Dan as one of its foundation members, and congratulate him for his recent win at the Tasmanian ICT awards in the emerging technology category, along with his win of the 2011 Peacey Award.

The seminar will present an overview of the depth and breadth of the digital space by providing case studies, insights and practical guidance on creating, developing, producing and marketing digital content, specifically in the games and online markets.

Sessions will be presented by local, national and international specialists and cover a multitude of issues such as creating sustainable business models, crowdsourcing, webisode and multi-media production, gamefication, and screen agency funding of digital content.

Where: Mercure Hotel, 156 Bathurst Street, Hobart.
When: Thursday 1 December and Friday 2 December, 2011 9am – 5:00pm (TBC)

There will also be an industry networking opportunity on the evening of Thursday, 1 December that will be open to those attending the seminar and also those unable to attend either or both of the daytime sessions. This will be a great opportunity to chat informally with the presenters and others working in this area in Tasmania.

Places for the seminar will be limited and those wishing to attend  must  register by email toinfo@screen.tas.gov.au

Follow the link below, or just register as you know it will be awesome!

http://www.screen.tas.gov.au/Events/screen_tasmania_digital_seminar

Startup Tasmania Cocktail Event 2011

The Startup Tasmania gang are getting all classy, with our first cocktail event in conjunction with our entrepreneurial buddies at Drysdale.

Join us for cocktails and pre-TasICT award drinks if you are heading over to the ICT industry night of nights and get your party on.

There will be some amazing entrepreneurs giving us a TedX style 10 minutes about their journey, drinks and canapés at student prices — imagine that!

RSVP to polly.mcgee@startuptasmania.com, rock up on the night, bring all your pals.

Oh by the way — why not become a Startup Tasmania financial member as a Christmas present to yourself…click on the membership button on the website and join an elite group of Tasmanians.

The fine print…

Venue: Drysdale House 59 Collins Street Hobart

Room: Collins Room (its on the left as you walk in)

Cost: $25 per head for non members, $15 per head for members.

Drinks: Discounted prices…$6 for cocktails, $3 beer, $5 for wine.

Date: 25th November 2011

Time:   4.30pm to 6.30 pm ( bar will be open at 4pm, members are free to buy drinks before the event.)

The first offering from Sentralize, much like Eatability, brought together foodies, and many of the other early feature offerings such as friend circles and relationship assumptions are now commonly used by Google and Facebook.

The lack of commercial focus in the early days had some strong benefits, aside from the obvious downside of a lack of strategic market focus. It allowed Byron and his team to keep evolving and creating their ideas without the pressure of having to compromise the innovation, and cemented the relationships and the base of the business for when the rubber eventually hit the road.

Once he graduated and completed his residency, Byron temporary put aside his Dr title for CEO, giving himself   a year to take Sentralize to the next level. At this point, the cushioning he had from the business world with his dual medical income became sharply underscored as cash flow trickled. All peripheral ‘playing around with ideas’ was streamlined to focus on products that would make money.

Over the next couple of years Sentralize grew, both in clients and staff. Byron embarked on an overseas mission looking to the US for investors. It was here that he realized, to his surprise, that what Sentralize were doing in Tasmania, was cutting edge in the US, and that his own cultural cringe/tall poppy was his biggest limitation.

Turning down several offers for funding, mainly feeling that the product was too early and could be grown so that when it was sold or invested in Sentralize would have a bigger stake, Byron came back to Australia and made several strategic changes to his business model. Growing rapidly had grown costs, the business dealt with customers that took a lot of time and therefore were costly.

Keeping the existing clients, he scaled back the business so it was leaner and his core staff remained, he then changed the product to be proprietal and he could sell the traffic not the product, and expanded his offerings to   a number of real   time community driven products that articulate with social media and where community gathers. He continues to work in his other love — medicine, doing gigs all over Australia, where ever he is working, thus remaining true to his passion for helping people, as well as his drive to work in the fast growth tech space.

If he could do it all again? The 5 key learnings from Dr Teu in his startup success story are below.

Top learnings:

1. Products have to be driven by a deep understanding of ‘what problem do we solve’ — where the solution to that problem has revenue attached to it.
2. Is there is a clear value proposition: is the solving going to make more money or save more money for the client?
3. Pricing — is it right, do the value and cost meet the expectation for the need of the client such that all parties feel they have a good deal.
4. What are my core abilities, where are the gaps, and do I have the right relationships to expedite my route to market through the decision makers in the companies I am working with?
5. Is the timing right? While all the elements are in alignment.

Byron has been in the US, China and Nationally expanding his business for the last 12 months: negotiating for capital and learning the lessons of taking a fast growth technology company out of Tasmania and into the world. He will be sharing his experiences, good and bad, and candidly answering questions. Other Startup Tasmania co-founders will participate in the Q&A session to help you strategically consider your path to market for 2011/2012.

Cost is $25 members/$30 non-members, refreshments and nibbles included.

Twitter version: Startup Tasmania is holding a geektechtrivia night fundraiser, it’s gunna rock.

When:  Thursday 6th October. 6:30pm For a 7:00pm start (Straight after Startup Tas Shots!)

Where:  Basement, 71 Murray St, Hobart, Tasmania

RSVP  to  stacey.cornish@startuptasmania.com    and pay on the night or PayPal it.

The Longform…

Hold onto your joysticks, this one is going to go NUTZ! Startup Tasmania’s inaugural GeekTech Trivia is our low-brow fundraising night of nights.

Amazing trivia questions covering the full tech landscape, amply supported by snacks, wine, and high sugar soft drinks. Just like your share house at uni – only with no washing up

Come along for our regular startup shots at the Startup Tasmania Clubhouse Co-working Lair at basement ecoHaven 71 Murray St from 5pm, then once you are primed stay for GeekTechTrivia from 7pm till the last geek standing!

Cost will be a measly $20 for trivia, booze and food for members, or $30 for non-members. Join on the night and pay member prices! Lucky door prizes, virtual pony rides* anything goes for our triviastravaganza!!!

*just kidding, but it would be fun huh!

SO c’mon. Get stuck up buddy! The challenge finishes on August 21st, winners announced at 1st September Startup Tasmania Shots networking session in da lair.