The leanest-possible IT plan for your startup (that still gets the job done)There’s no playbook for how to equip your startup team, and that’s probably a good thing. In most cases, your first computers will just be whatever the founders already own — a battered MacBook, a… Apr 17 25April 17, 2025Article at Medium
SAFE? Con Note? Priced? Which should an angel investor prefer?I often read advice for startup founders about when and why to choose between seeking investment on the three most common kinds of terms — a SAFE, a convertible note, or a priced equity round… Mar 10 25March 10, 2025Article at Medium
Do Australians want to be protected from investing in startups?TL;DR: a majority of Australians would support dropping the financial limitations on startup investors, in favour of an easily accessible education course. The Albanese Government is reportedly considering plans to lift the financial threshold for… May 11 24May 11, 2024Article at Medium
Join our new M8 angel syndicateNo obligation to invest, no fee to join, just great opportunities in product-led tech startups Canva’s massive secondary sale and the millions it will return to the local angel investor community has brought a renewed interest in learning how tech… Apr 17 24April 17, 2024Article at Medium
Announcing Hola Health’s AUD4.5M Pre-Series A, led by M8 VenturesToday marks the announcement of our first venture-scale investment, leading a new round of investment for Perth-based on-demand telehealth startup Hola Health. We’ve known the team since the previous investment round and Hola Health’s team have… Mar 18 24March 18, 2024Article at Medium
Solving Australia’s problem with who can invest in tech startups and who can’tThe current ‘sophisticated investor’ system is exclusionary, discriminatory and ineffective, and proposed changes will make a bad situation worse My venture partners and I are raising money for new venture funds at the moment and there’s an awkward… Jan 17 24January 17, 2024Article at Medium
Tech stories about the future are at the core of my pastA story about startup storytelling, and where my story began Almost as soon as I could talk, I wanted to learn how to be a great storyteller. I would waddle in a cloth nappy around my family’s humble fibro house telling lengthy and grandiose stories… Apr 28 23April 28, 2023Article at Medium
This story is not about that, it’s about what happened *after* what happened next.Back in 2010 Tony Burrett and I started a digital agency and startup studio called The New Agency. I’d only just moved to Newport, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, a few weeks before, so I had no intention of commuting 90mins to the city every day. I… Apr 25 23April 25, 2023Article at Medium
How to navigate the tech startup world as a woman founder with a non-technical backgroundThe struggles of being a woman startup founder are well-documented. The data shows women are less likely to raise capital and, when they do, the amounts are usually smaller. In the tech world, this is exacerbated further if the woman is also from a… Apr 03 23April 03, 2023Article at SmartCompany
How to quickly choose a ‘good-enough’ name for your startupIt’s very early in your startup’s journey. You and your cofounders have a good mutual understanding of what you think your startup should be, but you can’t agree on what to call it. You don’t have time for this right now, but you know you need a… Mar 01 23March 01, 2023Article at StartupDaily
Why you should lower your ambitions for your first time in startupsHow many times have you picked up the entertainment section of a newspaper to read a restaurant review that begins with something like: “The owner of this aspiring Michelin Guide restaurant, which is opening for the first time this week, says they’ve… Feb 01 23February 01, 2023Article at StartupDaily
How getting your startup’s valuation right is about supply and demandThe “pre-money valuation” of your startup is the total value of your company before an investment is made: it determines both how much equity an investor will receive in exchange for their investment, and therefore, how much equity you, your team and… Dec 21 22December 21, 2022Article at StartupDaily
Why you should hire for culture-fit, skills and experience, in that orderOne of the stupid things I did when I first made money was start an indie music label. It was the early 2000’s, online music was just beginning to take off, and I wanted to learn more about it from the inside. I thought I could see many parallels… Nov 23 22November 23, 2022Article at StartupDaily
How future-proofed is your startup? Three businesses taking a sustainable approachFor 11 years, Fishburners has been open to a wide range of early-stage startups and entrepreneurs of all backgrounds and walks of life. This has included companies that make our everyday lives easier, such as by helping you skip the coffee ordering… Nov 13 22November 13, 2022Article at SmartCompany
Bot’s up Doc? How an AI-generated tweet made me think deeply about how the worst VC could be the best one for youNews » Advice » Business strategy » Bot’s up Doc? How an AI-generated tweet made me think deeply about how the worst VC could be the best one for you This is gold, I would read this blog post pic.twitter.com/vdPbq7n6YW I was playing around with a new… Nov 09 22November 09, 2022Article at StartupDaily
Here’s why you shouldn’t be in hustle mode right now to launch your startup by the end of the yearNews » Advice » Business strategy » Here’s why you shouldn’t be in hustle mode right now to launch your startup by the end of the year Around this time of year, almost all of the startup founders who pitch me or ask for advice will start saying,… Oct 26 22October 26, 2022Article at StartupDaily
How to get the best startups to enter your pitch competitionIndustry dinosaurs like me can still remember when there was no such thing as a startup pitch competition. But times have changed: the glaciers have retreated, bipedal mammals have become the dominant life form, and there are now more startup pitch… Sep 14 22September 14, 2022Article at StartupDaily
The 5 whys of customer researchThe goal of customer research at the earliest stages of a startup journey is to help us validate/ invalidate the assumptions we have made when believing we that we know what customers want. Chances are, in the first few years, your tech startup is… Aug 31 22August 31, 2022Article at StartupDaily
How to make yourself an industry leaderWant to create a perception that you’re a leader in the customer community your startup serves, or in the professional startup field you work in? It’s not rocket surgery: become the person who creates a regular meetup and community about it. Say… Aug 17 22August 17, 2022Article at StartupDaily
How to use a community to make you an industry leaderWant to create a perception that you’re a leader in the customer community your startup serves, or in the professional startup field you work in? It’s not rocket surgery: become the person who creates a regular meetup and community about it. Say… Aug 12 22August 12, 2022Article at Medium
