Brisbane Women in Blockchain: First meetup for me but not for most of the women there!

Quite randomly, I ran across the Brisbane Women in Blockchain meetup announcement. So I tagged along since the topic of the discussion was AI. It was an interesting discussion coming from the panel consisting of Katrina Donaghy of Civic Ledger and Tracy Kay of Axalon. I was especially intrigued by the idea that AI-powered tasks that did something, like decode images, would be harnessed to write blocks.

Right now, writing new blocks on a blockchain is mostly a “make work” function. Algorithms solve a computational puzzle, and the fastest to solve is the one given the right to add a block to the blockchain. The idea is that the “proof of work”, instead of being something a make-work task like solving a puzzle, can be something useful like analysing a medical image. At least that’s how I understood the concept.

Overall, the discussion was too high level. I was hoping for a more a more of a deep dive into the topic of AI. But the discussion was kept at a higher concept level. But I think that was more because I happen to pick a meetup that was doubling as new member recruitment and a retrospective.

Indeed, I gathered this is a close-knit meetup with a fair few women being regular attendees. Given my terrible track record for Women Who Code, I am not sure if I’ll be able to become one of the regulars. But this meetup did intrigue me and reminded me that I wanted to explore blockchain and their application more. So maybe I should spend some time developing a blockchain powered idea and get around building it!

Just Listening: Fashion Startup Weekend

This past weekend, the first ever Startup Weekend for Fashion was hosted by QUT CEA. I didn’t participate, and no, I wasn’t at the Mobile App Hackathon either, but I did turn up on Sunday to listen to the final pitches. I am glad I went because all the six pitches were fairly interesting, and all of them have the potential to be successful.

Interestingly, this startup weekend seemed to allow existing businesses to enter. Most of the other Startup Weekends make a big deal that the idea being pitched on Friday is fresh and new. However, SW Fashion allowed two businesses that were established but used the weekend to pivot or start a new line.

In fact, the winner of the weekend of was Electra and it is an existing business. But the Founder used the weekend to develop the LED module for the Colour-matching light up modular bracelet, which will apparently also be used in a purse in the near future. Also, the LED modules work as earrings too.

Their target market is club going party people. So it’s not my scene. My type of LED fashion is more fantasy inspired wear like the type made by Angela Clayton with stuff like her Christmas Angel costume. Admittedly, Electra’s designs are more practical, while Angela needs to create a ready-to-wear version of her creation. That said, Electra mentioned something about an LED embedded purse. That I would be interested in!

The other existing business that used the startup weekend to explore a new angle was the designer Nola Marta, who has a successful high fashion bespoke business in Indonesia. But because it’s bespoke and high fashion, also because Nola Marta wants to be sustainable and ethical to her employees, her growth in Indonesia has plateaued. So she’s looking to move into the Australian market. So she used the weekend to explore strategies on how to do that, settling on launching a more affordable but still bespoke line. I liked the designs she showed off. So I hope she makes it.

The runner-up was more my speed as they were the Modest Collective, who wanted to make a platform where modest fashion buyers and sellers could meet. I don’t wear hijab, but I still have issues buying clothes. Especially dresses with pockets and non-plunging necklines. I also have a friend who sells modest active wear that’s loved by a lot of pale Australian women because it protects their skin and stops them from burning.

So the market is there, and since they are creating a marketplace, instead of a label, they are not subject to trends as much as Electra or Nola Marta. Another startup that was about supporting fashion instead of being a fashion house was Puctto Magazine that wanted to marry a virtual changing room with the ability to buy clothing directly from the runway. It’s funny because I can at once see the novelty in what they are trying to do but also why it won’t work.

Similarly, Quirk was the other platform/marketplace pitched, and again, I can see the novelty and also the many, many, many reasons why they aren’t going to work. Lastly, BU Sunglasses were about making fashionable sports sunglasses for women and kids. The reasoning is that the alien-eye sports sunglasses aren’t loved by women as much as they are by men. So there is an untapped market there for women and possibly kids for non-alien-eye looking sports sunglasses. I honestly don’t know enough about the sunglasses market to comment.

So yes, the participants seemed to have had fun, and it was a successful weekend by all account. But I am glad I was only an audience member because my energy is currently low. You need to have a fair amount of energy to get the most out of Startup Weekend. So I better get my energy up because I am sign-up to participate in the Global Startup Weekend Brisbane 2018!

SheEO: Activating in Australia!

Last Wednesday, I attended the Brisbane “activation” event for SheEO. The SheEO model brings together 500 women, called Activator (thus an activation event) who contribute $1100 each as an “act of radical generosity”. The money is polled together and loaned out at 0% interest to five women-led ventures selected by the Activators each year. The goal is to have a perpetual fund that continues, funding women-led ventures.

I think it’s a great idea that borrows from endeavours like the Grameen Bank, which was cited by Monica Bradley the MC for the night. SheEO’s first goal is to find 500 women in Australia, but on the night, they made clear it would great to have 500 women in Queensland alone! I don’t know if they will succeed, but I certainly wish them well. I will certainly keep them in mind in the coming year for possible activation.

The main guest speaker for the night was Carly Brown, Founder of UNE Piece, whose company fits the mould for a venture that can apply to the SheEO fund. Because the SheEO fund has a simple criterion, do you have an annual turnover of $50,000? If so, you can apply. I gather UNE Piece is up there and so can apply.

I like the simplicity of the application process. It really is about the “wisdom of the crowd” or rather, the wisdom of the 500 Activators. I can see pitfalls with the model but overall, it can be better than having “a process”. It sounds weird but I am reminded of a recent tweet by Peter Laurie regarding the “process” of application. I.e. some teams understand the process better than others. But it doesn’t mean they are a better startup then another that isn’t as good at process deconstruction. In many ways that is not too dissimilar to publication or grant applications in the academic world or even Oscar nominations. If you have a process, it can be gamed. So maybe just relying on 500 women with skin in the game, in the form of money, might be the way to go!

Few things make me more stressed than rapidly assessing a startup from an application form and a short video.

Some teams understand the process, some don't. I worry about how well that correlates with quality of the startup.

— Peter Laurie (@pjlaurie) November 9, 2018

So yes, I had a good time learning about radical generosity and how women are elevating other women. Nothing left to say but point out that event was hosted at the BDO offices and they have an amazing view! I understand one of the WeWork Brisbane offices is in the same building, and I am so tempted to sign-up for that office. Alas! I am not in a position to indulge in that type of expenses yet. But I hope that changes soon!

Personality and Place: Your Happy Place App

We know that our environment has a significant impact on our mood. But how aware are you of how the place you are in effects your mood? Also, are we designing for all personality types or only a subset who tend to be over-represented on urban planning boards? There are the questions Dr Nigel Cartlidge of Griffith University explores in his research. We teamed up back in July to turn his research into an app that’s usable and downloadable by all, which is where the Your Happy Place App comes in to play.

Currently available on Expo.io as a working demonstration of the concept. Nigel will be presenting the app and the broader plan for it at The International Urban Design Conference taking place right now in Sydney.

The idea has a two-sided market. One side of the market is everyone interested in emotional and wellness tracking and analysis. Ideally, users will use the app every day to record their emotions, taking into account the place they are in, and the app will provide feedback to them. The other side of the market is the urban design and planning community, who could use the data to better design and build urban spaces.

The ideas are still developing, and it’s all currently bootstrapped by Nigel, and his wife, Janet. I am on board as CTO and chief developer. Hopefully, we can drum up enough interest to start raising some seed funding. The website for the business side of things is Personality and Place. I cannot be at the conference, but I am sure Nigel is doing very well!

Pitch Ready Workshop

One of the people I met at The Hour was Marisa Warren, the CEO of Elevacao.org. Purely by chance, I was already signed up to attend the Pitch Ready Workshop, which was hosted by Marisa the following day.

It was a great experience. I especially like the pitch practice that was integrated into the presentation. I happen to sit next to Deb Morrison, CEO and Founder of Pet Cloud, so we ended up partnering each other while we practised different parts of our pitch. Pet Cloud is a mature stage startup, while Start with Tinni just ten days old. So the difference in our pitches was night and day. Deb had the “why”, “what” and other aspects of her business down pat, while I am still polishing my pitch. So that was my big take away from the day, I need to get my story straight.

So the onus is now on me to take what I learnt at the Elevacao Pitch Ready Workshop, combine it with what I learnt on the Creative 3 Pitch 101 Webinar earlier in the year get the pitch for Start with Tinni right. Beyond that, we talked about taking turns pitching for Koostoo. So I need to be ready for that too!

I ended the day by taking a tour of the River City Labs, which is also in The Precinct, which is where the Pitch Ready Workshop too place. It was good to see the limits of River City Labs and get a proper context of how much space they occupy within the Precinct. I am not ready to talk more on that side of things. Suffice to say that I am giving serious considerations to working out of the co-working space at least for a short while.

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