Disqus - Latest Comments for kimheras

Re: “There’s just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product”

kimheras — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 23:08:31 -0000

Word!

Re: Australian VC funding gets Turnbull’s attention

kimheras — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 23:50:37 -0000

The way I read Seb's earlier article was him effectively saying that in order to build a robust later stage funding environment in AU we need people who have made money in tech from previous generations to recycle it into new generations.

The great irony of Turnball's retweet is that so little of the $60MM he reportedly made out of Ozemail has gone back into funding the next (and the next) generation of Aussie tech startups.

That aside, I can't help but agree with Sam / Matt - the probability of an actually significant fund being raised in AU in the foreseeable future is slim to none.

Even if you look at the $100M fund of funds Artesian is trying to raise, that will be broken down into ~10 x $10M funds as part of their investment thesis.

Awesome for early stage but again, not really helpful for A rounds and certainly of no help to B and C.

Re: Where is the money: investment trends for startups in Australia

kimheras — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 01:23:29 -0000

great piece Zach and big thanks to Andrew for pulling this info together.

Re: - Website Login

kimheras — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:10:40 -0000

Very well said, Charlie.

We're seeing exactly the same thing here in Sydney.

The primarily volunteer lead community we saw several years ago has started to sprout many people and organizations whose fulltime profession it is to support the ecosystem, and the benefits to the community as a whole have grown exponentially.

Re: - Thisisgoingtobebig.com - The Problem with Startup Advice

kimheras — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:35:56 -0000

You inspired me to write a similar blog post last year after a conversation with you, Charlie -

http://kimheras.tumblr.com/...

Thanks for keeping it real.

Re: Some Thoughts on Branding Startups and Communities

kimheras — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:50:50 -0000

At least that's original @David Smuts .

As you'll see from the image in Brad's post that Mark links back to, we're also trying to own the name "Silicon Beach" in Australia http://siliconbeachaustrali...
Oh, and don't forget Silicon Beach Brighton (the Southern England version) http://techcrunch.com/2011/... 100% agree with you, and Brad, Mark. Places should define themselves based on what they bring to the table - not try to borrow from a name that has its own history / context.

That having been said - happy to challenge LA and Brighton to a "best beach" battle to see who gets to keep the Silicon Beach name ;)

Re: Pushstart Class of 2012 Revealed!

kimheras — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:15:34 -0000

Great write-up, as usual, Mat.

We're only 3 days into the program and already we're seeing teams improving based on feedback from mentors - will be interesting to see how far they get in 13 weeks.

Re: http://kimheras.tumblr.com/post/8079944335

kimheras — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 23:07:20 -0000

Hey Mark - thanks for dropping by and commenting - didn't get a notification so apologies for the delay in responding.

Would be great to hear what the end result of your thought process is.

A follow on from the above discussion is that while I'm particularly keen to promote the Australian startup industry I believe there would be a flow on effect if we could shift the paradigm, and just part of the focus, to look at just anywhere outside of the US, as a starting point.

I know Fred Wilson has been doing this particularly in Europe, Accel definitely has been in Australia and, through the simple process of looking where not many others are, they and other investors are getting relatively cheap valuations for the types of startups they’re investing in. They’re also helping to build local startup communities.

It should also be noted that I've probably spoken to somewhere between 1000-2000 Australian "tech entrepreneurs" through my community activities – I organise Open Coffee Sydney, used to be the editor of The Next Web Australia, have attended more events than I can remember and now am doing some interesting things around mentoring with PushStart - www.pushstart.com.au

I’m noticing a change in mentality that I bet is being replicated around the world – where the idea of going to the Valley if you want to be successful is not taken as a given anymore.

While the Valley can’t be replicated, that doesn’t necessarily mean the success of Valley startups can’t – and I think “foreign” entrepreneurs are starting to get that.

This puts us at the start of a trend where US Investors are looking abroad for better deal flow and in the process are building foreign communities and good startups are less willing to go to the US.

I suspect the cumulative effect of this will be a gradual de-focussing on the Valley.

It will still be an unbelievably important hub, but if you’re a Chinese, Indian or Brazilian startup, for instance, why would you look to the US when everything you need (returned tech vets and new successful startups to inspire you, dollars, a market) is local?

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to see the demise of the Valley.

Rather, I believe that there is so much knowledge, experience and support in the US that if we could better connect that, with some of the passionate, talented tech entrepreneurs solving real problems and building real tech businesses around the world, we’d all – consumers, startups, investors, citizens – be better off.

Anyway, there’s a lot more to be said on the topic but here’s probably not the forum. Happy to take it offline if you’d like to chat more - kim [at] pushstart.com.au.

Either way I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this topic (and others) and thank you again for taking the time to comment.

Keep up the good work, you really are making a difference ☺

Re: You Need to Win the Battle for Share of Mind

kimheras — Sat, 21 May 2011 11:56:30 -0000

Well said, Mark. We've played around with the tools that make starting so easy these days, for long enough - time to get down to transformational stuff now, guys.

Re: http://kimheras.tumblr.com/post/2147790252

kimheras — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 18:12:19 -0000

hmm - kinda spruiky Robert but good to hear you guys haven't hit the Caribbean just yet :)

Re: http://kimheras.tumblr.com/post/2147790252

kimheras — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 18:04:55 -0000

Thought about OzForex but not sure considering they're a subsidiary of MacBank and I haven't really seen much of Matt and the team's experience/knowledge filter back into the community. I might be wrong there, so happy to hear other opinions.

Missed Ozsale's news while O/S travelling - so thanks for the heads up.

Not sure about the Groupon clones. Will def add them to the contenders but not sure how much they have influenced the local community. Spreets might be a good one as it's been a key selling point for the Mick and Phil to recruit more startups into their Pollenizer portfolio. More startups working with Pollenizer means more committed startups, which is always a good thing. Not too sure if I'd call the rise of so many groupon clones a "win" though...

As always, some good suggestions, Niki (and in the middle of StartMate selections too!), so appreciate your input.

Re: http://kimheras.tumblr.com/post/2147790252

kimheras — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:41:11 -0000

haha - maybe we can squeeze it in :)

Re: Pocket Life wins race to bring real-time location-based social networking to Facebook

kimheras — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:20:15 -0000

not quite the same as having your location updated in real time, which is what Pocket Life has been the first to bring to Facebook.

Re: Has Twitter Got It Wrong? AdAdmire launches ads for followers, not tweets

kimheras — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:06:57 -0000

Not sure where this word "intrusive" has come from guys.

Didn't use it once in the story.

Re: Melbourne puts together a kick-ass list of startups

kimheras — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:19:13 -0000

um, because it's a list about Melbourne startups?

Re: Apple’s iPad GeoRetardation – A Slap In The Face For Non-US Developers

kimheras — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:17:08 -0000

yeah, great. But I'm not talking about rolling out to the rest of the world. I'm talking about helping out key developers.

Re: Apple’s iPad GeoRetardation – A Slap In The Face For Non-US Developers

kimheras — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:33:00 -0000

But zato, the problem is that it's not the devs saying they won't code for a month - it's Apple saying you can't have a device, unless you want to grey import it, for a month. That's why the onus ought to be on Apple to address the situation.

re: complaining - No dev is going to complain, lest they feel the wrath of Apple - doesn't mean what Apple is doing is right.

Re: Startup Bus Rolls Into Austin – Winners Announced

kimheras — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:34:52 -0000

wow - not wasting any time Ryan. I like it :)

Re: Australia One Step Away From Becoming An “Internet Enemy”

kimheras — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:30:02 -0000

Yeah, South Australia is a state in the, um...south of Australia. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Re: Australia One Step Away From Becoming An “Internet Enemy”

kimheras — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:29:03 -0000

haha - i notice the pun when writing the post but thought it was just me being a bit immature. Guess not :)

Re: Startup Camp Sydney 3 #SUCS3 – Meet The Startups

kimheras — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:36:40 -0000

dave/casey - don't sweat the elephant comment. I have no doubt you'll come up with solutions :)

Congrats on the startup BTW. Interesting idea

Re: The Next Web Australia Awards – Winners Announced!

kimheras — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:25:26 -0000

Thanks Dan

That's fixed now.

Re: Who Are The Most Active Social Media Users…? The Australians.

kimheras — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:45:38 -0000

Yay for us! :)

Re: The End.

kimheras — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:48:29 -0000

Tim? I thought we were boys, Kain :(

haha - seriously though - thanks for your support Kain. Hope to see you over at TNW AU

Re: The End.

kimheras — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:38:27 -0000

Thanks, Richard. I've appreciated the support you and the team have given me. Look forward to writing about your kick-ass projects over at TNW AU :)