Four ways to boost Australian innovation

An interesting article in Australian Mining of all places that covers some techniques on how to get funding for innovative ideas.

When your first idea is over: Sidekicker on the pressures of pivoting

When to pivot (change strategic direction), the age old question. In this article by Rose Powell on Startup Smart the decision making process behind a pivot at Sidekicker is examined.

Myself I consider the decision to pivot needs to be driven by two factors only: 1) success or lack of in the current target market, 2) the measured opportunity difference achieved after the pivot. No point changing direction if the measured fundamentals do not move in your favour. Note: measured is in bold for a reason, you should be making decisions like this based on pure metrics.

Australian Technology Company Beats out Global Rivals in Best App Ratings

According to this article in Consumer Electronics NET Oomph has done it again..

Artificial Intelligence startup Vicarious grabs $40M from Zuckerberg, Musk, Kutcher, & others

The startup Vicarious’ is trying to reproduce the part of the brain called the neocortex..  More details in this article on Venture Beat.

Email Wars: Chimp chasing, Cronulla style

This article in Shoe String tells the story of Campaign Monitor, which is biting at the heels of MailChimp.

Australia beats Silicon Valley on almost every entrepreneurial trait: Global accelerator

A batch of psychometric tests by The Founder Institute has found that Australia beats Silicon Valley on many traits required to be an entrepreneur, read more at the article on Startup Smart.

Elevator Pitch: Bluethumb

LifeHacker Australia does an Elevator pitch for Bluethumb, an online marketplace for original art.

Extreme accounting? NZ’s rugged tech startups aim high with business software, not social media

Reuters covers the story of Zero, a NZ start-up making waves in the accounting sector.

Super changes not so super for startups

In this article in Smart Company it appears changes to investment reporting for super funds could result in start-up investment figures becoming public knowledge.

NZ point-of-sale startup Vend pockets $20M in funding for international expansion

Online point-of-sale startup Vend secures $20 million (A$21.88 million) in a funding round for its expansion. PayPal founder Peter Thiel was one of the investors, according to this article in The Australian.

WPA2 wireless security cracked

In know, nothing to do with start-ups directly; but something I feel people should know about – read more at this article in Science Spot. Basically, if you are serious about your security – go fixed wire…

Vivid Sydney, Stand up Stand Out Start-up pitching

Last but not least, your opportunity to get your mits on $3,000 plus for your start-up, see here and to register to attend the dinner see here .