The unexpected trip to Startcon's Brisbane Regional Final for Pitch for $1 Million

I am making up for being dead to the world during most of August and September! Although Startcon’s Pitch for $1 Million wasn’t on my to go list. Until, Little Tokyo Two gave me a chance to get free tickets on Thursday night, for the Friday event. When life gives you these opportunities, it’s foolish not to take them. So I took it and was treated to a great day of interesting pitches, insightful talk and delicious food!

Normally, I do a detailed analysis of the pitches, but with 27 pitches at a duration of 2 minutes plus 3 minutes of questions, it’s simply too many to cover. So let’s start with the winner: Conpago!

As I am working as a consultant CTO for two QUT Foundry based startups dealing with aged care, I had heard Conpago mentioned a few times. But this was the first time I heard them pitch. It was a very well done pitch. They got across clearly the pain point they were addressing, the benefits they were bringing, and they finished with seconds to spare! Two minutes is not a long time, and some of the other pitches failed to get across clearly the why and what of their existence. Conpago on the other hand, had a clear story, that they communicated well. I felt my speech points going up just listening to them!

Second place went to Monarc Global, who want to be Uber of private air travel. As far as the pitch went, there were better presenters then Monarc, but they certainly had the sexiest business idea. Also, while they struggled to fit everything into the two minutes, they still got across their why and what. It was also very clear that the business had some real traction. So while I think they need to practice more before the finals, I think they have a solid shot at winning the $1 million prize!

Becon Health took out third place. I missed the initial pitch for Becon Health and Parent TV. But luckily, both were selected to be the six semifinalists. So I got to hear Becon’s pitch, and Parent TV’s too of course. It was a good pitch, and I know they why and what of their existence. Becon Health is also something that I am surprised doesn’t exist already. But I suppose, like Monarc, Becon Health needed the economy in a certain place to be viable. We do live in a gig economy, a sharing economy and an on-demand economy. So it makes sense for the market to be ripe for Becon Health.

As I mentioned, the initial 27 pitches were paired down to six semi-finalists. These six founders pitched again, and from there ranks the three winners were chosen. Parent TV was one of them. They are an online content factory that provides tailored educational content for parents. It’s a good business idea that was pitched with clarity.

Kids Wantu was another semi-finalist. Way back in February 2017, I wrote about attending a Meetup on how to market apps. The post isn’t very detailed, and the meet-up no longer exists. But the in the post I did mention that one of the meet-up members had presented her app. That member was Anne-Marie Walton, and at the time, she was just getting ready to launch Kids Wantu to the general public. It was amazing to see how far Kids Wantu had come in the almost two years since the Meetup. Kids Wantu didn’t place this time, but I think the app is set for big things to come!

The sixth finalist was WatchYourTalk and I was a bit surprised they got in. The pitch was good but I am very sceptical of the idea. The startup wants to build an app that monitors speech to detect signs of depression. The founder assured the audience the app was based on sound science. But I would need to see the research behind it to be convinced.

I personally wouldn’t have chosen UPTEK in the place of WatchYourTalk. The founder was wearing the air bands while pitching. The product also seemed ready for Kickstarter. I certainly would back the product should it ever come on Kickstarter. That’s not to say that there was more evidence in the pitch that UPTEK AirBands had more solid science behind it then WatchYourTalk. I think that a band that helps you build more muscles by restricting airflow in short bursts is more likely then an app that detects if you are at risk of suicide based on your speech pattern.

From the other pitches, the ones that didn’t make it out of their group, there was World's Biggest Garage Sale whose full pitch I got to hear at Creative 3. I also got to see the 2-minute version of Space Y’s pitch from last Tuesday’s iLab event.

Finally, I wanted to take note of Amber, the only crypto-startup to pitch. The founder of Amber, Aleksandar Svetski, is on the opposite side of the Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash debate to my good friend Brendan Lee. They even debated each other recently! If you are wondering what the hell I am talking about, let me refer you to the video of the debate.

Overall, it was a good day. I did learn a few things from the invited speakers. Maybe I’ll do another post to delve a bit more into what I learnt. I am glad I went. Thank you again to Little Tokyo Two for the tickets!

iLab UQ Germinate 12: Pitch Night

Tuesday night I attended the iLab UQ Germinate 12 Pitch Night to support Chatloop. Michael Mersiades, the founder of Chatloop, had a very successful night. He won the Shane Chidgzey Young Entrepreneurs prize. He also launched the Chatloop crowdfunding campaign to raise money to build the Chatloop app. The pilot program for Chatloop was coordinated annually using Whatsapp and other messaging apps. I am happy that Chatloop won and I think it was very deserved as it was by far, the strongest pitch of the night.

As for the other pitches, they were an interesting mix of ideas, at different stages of development and viability. Given that UQ iLab’s applications are limited to UQ staff, students and recent alumni, I am not surprised that some of the ideas did feel more in the germination stage and not necessarily in the acceleration stage.

One of the more developed ideas was Happy Dinosaur creative outdoor advertising for local businesses. I think they have worked out a good niche. They are also addressing a legitimate pain point. They are printing advertisements on paper cups and distributing them in local cafes. Also, using cafe tables to advertise local businesses. They are a lot of potential for synergy but at the same time, they aren’t addressing the fact that people have becomes somewhat immune to passive marketing. But still, good niche, solid solution, I think they have a future.

#Selfie (iLab said to take one!)

Another pitch that peaked my interest was Tutio, which aims to provide platform using which school students can get affordable tutoring. The platform also aims to teach students how to learn. It’s a good idea, and I think it has legs. But I know too little about the private tutoring market to comment much. But since they were targeting schools, I recommend they approach the Brisbane School of Distance Education. Since the students of BSDE are required to be more self-sufficient then students in traditional classrooms, I figured they stood to benefit more from Tutio.

Staying in the education vein, Model Econ pitched to provide a platform for economics teachers. They correctly identified that it is hard to communicate the importance of econ in the world at large. You need to see the context, and they aim to provide that via their platform. Good idea but I feel they should be targeting students and empowering them to explore economics more. But teachers need better teaching tools. So Model Econ certainly has a market.

Half-way between education and entertainment you have Robotics Playground. They want to make robotics as fun and accessible as laser tag! I understand their goals. Robots are currently the toys of STEM parents to help raise their kids to love STEM. But not all kids have STEM parents. Indeed, not all STEM parents can master robotics. Robots should belong to everyone. So while I think they need to work out a lot of chinks, I think they are on to something.

In the all entertainment category, there was Nature Freedom. It’s a social enterprise that is aiming to provide people with disabilities, and mental health issues enjoy nature. It’s a good endeavour, and I wish them well.

Now to a set of three pitches that cover three stages of life. Firstly, there was Finding Perfect, a well-pitched play-once type game that determines what a woman would like as her engagement ring. But still leaves the final ring choice a surprise. A fun little gimmick but I don’t know if there is a business there.

Once you get married, you might need furniture for your marital home. That’s where Space Y by North Hem comes in. They display furniture that’s sold online at physical locations near potential consumers so that consumers can come and see the pieces physically before buying. North Hem is an online furniture store. So I assume they know more about this idea and are confident they can make it work. I think it’s a good idea if they can make it work. I am just not sure if they can.

Now whether we get married or ever own furniture, we will all get old! Old age means lots of medication, this is where MediRoo comes in. At the moment, they are mostly another medication tracker/reminder app. But they want to differentiate themselves by adding doctor engagement. If they succeed, and I doubt they will, I think they are on to a winner. But doctors are busy, overworked people. I don’t think they will sign-up for more work.

The final pitch of the night was I Tinker Too. They got torn to shreds on the night by Queensland’s Chief Entrepreneur Steve Baxter, who nearly slipped into full shark tank mode. I think Mr Baxter might have been a bit too harsh on them. But I do think he had a good point. I Tinker Too needs to tinker with its business process a bit more. The found it not technical. He is outsourcing everything. He doesn’t have a stable workforce. So they are on shifting sands, as Mr Baxter pointed out.

Overall, a good night. I am glad I attended. I picked up a few pointers that I could use in my pitches. Now, do I have a pitch coming up? Well, that’s a story for another post!

Short Update: Chatfor10 & DevStart

Earlier this year, I made a post talking about my involvement with Chatfor10. I am happy to say that Chatfor10 has been going from strength to strength. They are now going by ChatLoop, are part of UQ’s iLab germinate accelerator and working towards a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to build the Chatloop app. I am, however, have not been involved with ChatLoop for quite some time. I dropped out months ago when it became clear that they needed me to commit more time then I was willing or able to commit. But I am still a believer and supporter of ChatLoop and will be cheering them on when they participate in iLab UQ Germinate 12 Pitch and Investor Demo Night!

Speaking of Chatfor10, the last time I mentioned them on this blog, it was in the context of DevStart. I am sad to say that DevStart too is no more. Trish Khoo, the founder of DevStart did her level best to get the meetup off the ground, and I did my small part organising the May talk with Chatfor10, but the Brisbane meetup scene is just too crowded. The amount of effort it took to organise speakers wasn’t worth the turnout and Trish decided to call it quits. I considered taking over as the sole organiser, but I couldn’t think of what I could do differently to attract more people. Brisbane just has too many events, meetups and other things of a similar nature. So yes, it’s sad, but sometimes you have to pull the plug.

Creative3 2018

I live! Barely! Damn you climate change! My body can’t handle the hot-cold, perpetually changing weather we have going. Because I spent two weeks in August suffering from cold and flu, which resurfaced just last week. My illness nearly stopped me from attending the Creative3 2018 event at Moda Events Portside. But in the end, sniffling, barely able to talk and only performing at 60% max, I dragged myself for an evening of fine dining and judging!

By that I mean, that Creative 3 Pitch competition finalists helped kick off the night. They delivered their pitches to us, and we voted on who should represent Australia at the Creative Business Cup (CBC) in Denmark. The four finalists changed from a service provider to a hardware startup. But based on the night’s performance, there could be but one winner: ANTI.

ANTI is a helmet company who have designed a helmet for those who don’t like wearing helmet by making it look like a beanie. It’s a clever idea, and they pitched it by having one found hit another, helmeted founder, on the head with a large stick. They had me at large stick to the head! But honestly, it was the most interesting pitch of the night.

Coming a distant second to Anti in my estimation was World's Biggest Garage Sale (WBGS), a social enterprise that aims to capitalise on our increased awareness and desire to enter the circular economy. I have been doing a fair amount of research into the circular economy and so was very interested in the concept. But I didn’t think they were strong enough to stand on a global stage.

While I put The Right Fit third, I think they have the best business model. I mean, they are already a few years old and going strong! They are a talent booking platform, operating on a higher tier then many of the other freelancing and gigging platforms. That said, I think they have a fair amount of competition in their space. But the pitch implied they had their niche figure out.

Finally, the Can’t Sleep App cropped again and I must be missing something! I wasn’t convinced by the pitch or concept when I heard the pitch on Collider Accelerator Demo day, and I wasn’t convinced this time around either. I don’t get it. I mean, it’s a $10 per month subscription service! Maybe it’s amazing, and if I ever tried it, I would be hooked. But again, $10 per month! I can’t sleep badly enough to spend $10 when I could get Spotify Premium for that same price. I price premium is supposed to be for the music therapy science behind it all. But I don’t buy the pitch.

Apart from the pitches, the four-course dinner was punctuated by some great speakers. First up was Amy Cosper of RadicalUpstarts. She managed the pitch finalists and also gave a nice talk on the conception of stopping digging into the ashes. So many times during the startup journey you hear about persevering, it’s easy to forget that you aren’t supposed to ride a dead horse forever. Knowing when to give up is also important.

At this point, there was a surprise fashion show that was not in the program. The show was put on by four designers who had completed Fashion 360 accelerator. I enjoyed the show it but it did make me wonder if I was dressed fashionable enough for the occasion. I thought I did pretty well despite my illness. I was also wearing an offering from a fashion startup. Not a local one but underneath my dress, I was wearing the Honey Love Sculptwear!

Cameron Adam of Canva followed her. That was an amazing talk about Cameron’s background and his journey so far. I wish he had gone into a little bit more detail on how Canva happened, but that was not the subject of this talk. He did leave with three lessons, 1. Start what you finish, 2. Don’t work for assholes, and 3. back yourself. Good lessons to live by!

Following Cameron, was the most surreal talk of the night. Althea Lim spoke about her company Gushcloud International who works with social media influencers as well as creatives from music, film and television etc. to help them build an online presence. It was surreal for me because I watch enough YouTube for it to feel a bit like the curtain being pulled but what I am seeing not entirely adding up. After her talk, I asked her about burnout among social media influencers and also bad behaviour by social media influencers. She gave good answers but also prefaced them with, that’s not what her company does exactly. Understandable and as I said, she did give good answers.

After Althea Lim’s talk, there was a panel on Kind design. I confess that I tuned out a bit at this point. It was a long night, and I needed a mental break. The last talk of the night was delivered by the comedian Tim Ross who also has a passion for mid-twentieth century architecture and design. It was a good talk with some great jokes. His passion for mid-twentieth century architecture and design was on full display. So I am happy to agree to disagree with him on the aesthetics of this period because I find most designs from this period to be ugly as hell!

Overall, a great evening and I am glad I dragged myself there, even if my trip did prolong my illness and set my recovery back by at least a two days. I mean, as they say, no pain, no gain!

My write-up for IMNIS: Planned Happenstance

"Never underestimate the power of chance!" That's the message I wanted students to take away when they read the article I wrote about my journey for the Industry Mentoring Network in STEM. The chance to write the article followed on from the invitation I received to speak at the IMNIS breakfast event last month. I enjoyed writing the article. I hope the IMNIS members enjoyed reading it too!