Category Archives: Incubators

Another weekend, another hackathon….

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Last month, I competed in my second hackathon of the year, the #HSCodeFest sponsored by the Herald Sun and News Corp, and hosted by Melbourne University’s Carlton Connect. I’m pleased to say that our team of four, which was only formed on the first night, came 3rd in the pitch competition – with an idea for a news quiz app.

Screen Shot 2015-12-18 at 3.44.56 PMThat particular weekend was quite an eventful one for local startups – not only were there at least two other hackathons being held in Melbourne at the same time, but the State Government also announced its LaunchVic initiative. Small Business Minister, Philip Dalidakis found time in his busy schedule to address the #HSCodeFest participants, which was a great incentive. The previous weekend saw another Startup Weekend event, and last weekend Carlton Connect hosted yet another industry hackathon sponsored by the GE Industrial Challenge. And of course, since then we have had the Prime Minister announce the National Innovation and Science Agenda. To paraphrase Mr Turnbull, there’s never been a more interesting time to be a startup….

Having participated in Startup Weekend’s first #FinTech hackathon back in March this year, I was a lot more prepared, and had a much better idea of what to expect. Even though I didn’t pitch a specific idea on the opening night, I used my previous team-building experience to make sure we had a balanced mix of skills and expertise. I was also clear to make sure that once we had agreed on the project idea, everyone had specific roles, and we constantly checked in on progress and next steps.

As usual, the team generated far more content, data and ideas than we actually used in the pitch presentation. We also kept it very simple, by focusing on the key concept, demoing an MVP, outlining the commercial strategy, describing the business plan, and establishing just enough knowledge and awareness about the market opportunities, even though it had not been possible to fully scope them. For an insider’s view, check out my team-member Nathan’s blog.

We have seen over the past 12-18 months that the hackathon model is being deployed in many different ways to try to stimulate innovation and generate new business ideas. Even government departments and public utilities are getting in on the act, by enabling participants to access data sets, software, technology and APIs to see what they can come up with. Large corporates, who struggle to embed innovation into their organisations, are also holding internal competitions drawing on the experience of meetups, hackathons and pitch nights.

I only see this as a positive development, as long as the energy, enthusiasm and experience can be channelled into meaningful outcomes, which enable in-house talent and external expertise to combine to build great products and services that customers want, and/or identify and deliver significant process improvements and efficiency gains.

However, part of me is sceptical – as someone who is probably much older than the average age of a hackathon participant, I’m still amazed how many of my contemporaries either have no idea or simply don’t “get” the hackathon or meetup concept. They seem astonished that anyone would want to get together with total strangers, and spend their evenings let alone a whole weekend working with them, for “free”. To those of my peers who may see it that way, I would point out that participating in these events is a cheap and effective way of accessing new ideas and skills, meeting talented people, and acquiring new skills and knowledge.

Finally, if your organisation is thinking about running a hackathon or similar event for the first time, I’m more than happy to share my insights – contact me via this blog.

Since the holidays will soon be upon us, Content in Context is taking a short break. Normal service will be resumed on January 5. To my many regular readers and followers, I wish you all a safe and peaceful New Year.

Next: Surrealism, Manifestos and the Art of Juxtaposition

The convergence of #MedTech – monitoring, diagnostics, remediation

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Earlier this year, I participated in MedTech’s Got Talent, a competition for medical technology and biotech startups, organised by STC. Now, HCF in partnership with Slingshot have announced a similar accelerator program, called Catalyst. Launched at a recent meetup event hosted by Startup Victoria*, Catalyst is the latest industry initiative to lend support to the growing #MedTech sector. It’s fair to say that the sector is not without its challenges (regulatory compliance and IP protection being foremost), but there is substantial investor interest given the potential for growth and widespread application of the resulting technologies. I also see that there is increasing convergence in respect to some of the digital products being brought to the market – through the use of wearables, mobile apps and analytics to deliver monitoring, diagnostic and remedial solutions.

Screen Shot 2015-11-22 at 8.10.47 PMAt the Catalyst launch, three #MedTech founders discussed their startup experiences and offered some insights to budding applicants. Jarrel Seah (Eyenemia), Phil Goebel (Quanticare) and Leonore Ryan (Cardihab – Cardiac Rehab Solutions) covered the product development process, being part of an accelerator program, and the specific challenges of medical technology.

There was  broad agreement that Australia (and Victoria in particular) has a strong and successful history of #MedTech development and innovation. There was also a sense that the future funding of telehealth services will be key to the sector’s development, especially the shift from “fee for service/solution” to “fee for value” models.

Aside from the regulatory and IP challenges, two of the biggest hurdles for #MedTech are the customer complexity, and procurement models, which can be summarised as follows:

Who Pays? Is it the clinician, patient or carer? Who, in effect, is the customer?

How Do They Pay? Each State has its own procurement and hospital funding models, plus there is the interplay of private health insurance and providers.

During the product development process, the founders stressed the need to manage expectations for an MVP, the use of customer discovery interviews, and the importance of making clinicians part of the solution. There is also a problem with data gaps (e.g., hospital re-admissions), and the requirement to establish patient trust: while the software, data and apps can support more meaningful consultation, there still has to be some human component to foster behaviour change. There was also a comment about marketing for tomorrow’s market, not the current state.

Having each been through some form of accelerator program, there was common agreement on the benefits:

  • Access to networks of mentors and strategic advisers
  • Help with navigating the regulatory landscape
  • Options for one-off funding to help convert trials to customers
  • Ability to focus on the project, along with peer stimulation, and a sense of urgency

Each of the three startups mentioned here deploy some combination of smart phone technology, sensors and analytics – just as Dr.Brand does, which featured at the recent Future Assembly. The notion was reinforced most recently at Swinburne University’s Design Factory Gala NIght which showcased, among others, innovative #MedTech student projects that utilise a mix of digital display/visualisation, wearable devices, mobile apps and analytics to address three key cognitive-related issues: patient falls in hospitals, dementia, and Asperger syndrome.

Previously, I have described health as one of the three pillars of the digital economy. Furthermore, the future of #MedTech (as distinct to biotech) is going to be built on the combined deployment and integration of smart sensors, personal devices, artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor, diagnose and remediate behaviour – not necessarily to cure the patient, but to overcome physiological challenges and age-related conditions.

 

*Apologies – normally I acknowledge the Startup Victoria event sponsors – but since the team have been doing such a great job in securing new supporters, there are so many to mention!

Next week: There’s an awful lot of coffee in Japan (but not much espresso….)

A Tale of Two #FinTech Cities – Melbourne vs. Sydney….

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Inter-city rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney is nothing new. The fact that neither city is the national capital only adds to the frisson. The usual debates as to which is the better for sport, culture, beaches, food, weather, property prices, live music, public transport and coffee normally mean Melbourne edges out Sydney in most categories. (But then, I’m probably biased – however, having lived and worked in both, I think I am reasonably objective.)*

When it comes to startups, and FinTech in particular, the debate is beginning to hot up. At a recent FinTech Melbourne Meetup the topic was “is there room for both?”. The speakers, Toby Heap for Sydney, and Stuart Richardson for Melbourne, remained tactful and diplomatic, as it’s not really appropriate to talk about which is better – more a case of choosing “which is the right location for your own particular FinTech”. So, the debate avoided mere point-scoring, and tried to establish some commonalities, as well as provide some considered views on the benefits inherent within the key differences.

Both cities have a growing reputation for startup success, built on some core foundations: groups of angel investors and VC funds with an increasing FinTech focus; several accelerator programs, incubators and co-working spaces; and a community of founders and aspiring tech entrepreneurs.

From an industry perspective, two of the four Pillar Banks are headquartered in Sydney, and two in Melbourne. More insurers have their HQ’s in Sydney compared to Melbourne (apart from health insurance, where Melbourne hosts the largest market providers), while Tier 2 and regional banks (by their very nature) are more likely to be located outside either city (not including wholly owned brands of the Big 4).

As for pension funds and asset management, particularly in relation to Australia’s superannuation sector, Melbourne is clearly the bigger player, particularly for the largest industry funds (based on their historical links to the trade union movement). In addition, Melbourne is home to some substantial family offices, as well as specialist asset managers, including overseas firms. After all, Melbourne’s establishment wealth comes from the nineteenth century gold boom.

When it comes to markets, Sydney wins out by virtue of housing the main equities exchange, as well as being a hub for futures, fixed income and forex. Sydney also hosts more investment banks, including local branches of foreign players.

In some respects, the differences can be likened to the market roles and dynamics of London vs Edinburgh, New York vs Boston, Frankfurt vs Munich, or even Hong Kong vs Singapore, for example.

For me, however, the key distinction between Sydney and Melbourne can be summarised as: “Sydney trades, Melbourne invests”.

* Note: Content in Context is taking a well-deserved break. Starting this week, the next few posts will feature some brief blogs on different aspects of FinTech. Normal service will be resumed in early November

Next week: do we need a #FinTech safe harbour?

Sharing the love – tips from #startup founders

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Startup Victoria, with support from inspire9, BlueChilli, PwC and the Australian Computer Society brought together a mix of expert speakers who shared their insights, experience and advice for aspiring startups. The evening took the form of a series of lightning talks, and again demonstrated the contribution and importance of the Lean Startup Melbourne Meetup events to the local startup community.

First up, Adam Stone from Speedlancer reflected on his experience of the 500 Startups accelerator program, via 6 simple lessons:

  1. Make sure you connect, network and avoid all marketing BS in your pitch
  2. Achieve the target of three growth hacks a week
  3. Work out your Unit Economics
  4. Remember to hustle – it’s important to secure market tests and investor meetings
  5. Play ping-pong (a lot)
  6. Target angel investors rather than VCs

Next, Kristeene Phelan, who was the first regional employee at Etsy, explored the theme of communication, when working with global and remote development teams:

  • Choose your collaboration tools carefully, and have a backup for your backup
  • Know your international time zones (and daylight saving changes…)
  • Compromise the scheduling of cross-border conference calls
  • Slow it down when talking live to multicultural and multilingual teams
  • Get the team together in person whenever possible, and also make time for 1:1 dialogue – face to face time is important

Then, Thomas Banks, Creative Director at the Centre for Access made a very personal and impassioned presentation on website accessibility: about 99% of websites are inaccessible to people with disabilities, underscoring the importance of having an inclusive approach to web and app design.

Geoff Dumsday talked about the significant work CSIRO is doing in accelerated innovation. Most of us probably know about CSIRO’s role in inventing WiFi and polymer banknotes. But perhaps less well-known is the fact that CSIRO work with around 1600 clients, including 350 multi-national companies, and have over 300 commercial licenses in use for technology and inventions coming out of the work their scientists and researchers do. As Australia’s innovation catalyst, CSIRO is enhancing the entrepreneurial culture through evidence-based R&D. Such as the invention of non-animal gelatine for use in biomedicine, food and cosmetics.

LIFX co-founder Daniel May pitched the need to make products that add value or make a difference to the world. As examples, he referred to his new project, AgreeTree, which is trying to take the pain out of drafting commercial contracts; and also to the work of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and how it is engaging entrepreneurs via an accelerator program.

Finally, Layla Foord from Envato covered the topic of building successful teams, especially when hiring early-stage employees. Using the theme of “pitch in, not mark territory”, she emphasised leveraging attitude and mindset over job titles.

This smorgasbord of ideas and content was a useful reminder to aspiring founders and entrepreneurs that while a great idea (backed by a solid business plan, market traction and protectable IP) will help get you motivated, the human touch is vital to gaining momentum for your project.

Next week: #FinTech – A Tale of Two Cities: Melbourne vs Sydney