Collider Accelerator Demo Day 2019

Last Thursday was demo day for the Collider Accelerator’s 2019 cohort! As I mentioned previously, I was present at Collider Bootcamp with Josari. But sadly, Josari did not make the cut. However, what that meant that I got to see the startups graduating from Collider, just before they started their journey. It was interesting to see how far they had come.

I think the two startups that came the further from when I saw them at Bootcamp was Shotstack and Trusted Voice.

Shotstack during Bootcamp showed off the technology, but I personally couldn’t see an application. But turns out, there is a great demand for automated video creation en-mass. It was build in response to market demand, but that wasn’t made clear at Bootcamp. But on demo day, it was clear that there was a business model around that product. It wasn’t a solution looking for a problem. There was a problem that Shotstack was addressing because there is a need to create short videos en-mass. I get it now!

Similar to Shotstack, I didn’t know what The Trusted Voice, back then called Master Your Video, was trying to do. I got that the founder, String Nguyen, was an amazing social media influencer but I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to buy from her. But now I get it. The Trusted Voice a coaching program that promises to teach me how I can increase my influence and share my content. String has come a long way from Bootcamp!

AirSyne’s pitch improved a lot! They also found a target market in sports. AirSyne is the location-based messaging app that puts augmented reality (AR) messages in the air. I tried it out during the event. It’s pretty cool, but it is a “critical mass” issue. So I think they have targeted the right beachhead market with sporting events. I also see many other applications for AirSyne, but also a lot of pitfalls. Let’s face, someone will leave an ASCII dick as a message sooner or later!

The other startups also polished their pitches, and I am sure developed a lot in the background. But being more mature startups when they went into Collider, they didn’t go as dramatic a transformation as Shotstack, AirSyne and The Trusted Voice.

I mean, Anti Ordinary, who make beanies as strong as a helmet, and Cardly, who make customised cards with mimicked handwriting, are more scaleups then startups. So it makes sense that Anti Ordinary did not change a lot during the three months of the Collider accelerator. I don’t know what Cardly was before Collider because I don’t have any memory of them in the Bootcamp. I think they skipped the Bootcamp. But it’s clear from the pitch they are a mature startup.

Colour Space, an art rental service and Whatpods, training for podcast hosts, had a proper identity at the Bootcamp, and I think they just developed more during the accelerator. I think Whatpods used their time in the accelerator to create their training modules. Changes with Colour Space was not apparent from the pitch at demo day compared to Bootcamp.

Analytics.Lol was the sole representative of the gaming industry. Analytics.Lol is an analytics software for competitive gaming with the beachhead being League of Legends. I know enough about e-Sports to realize they have a high ceiling and potential for great success as the industry grows. But even the best ideas don’t turn into successful businesses.

Lastly but not least was the startup that actually went first, Umelore! Back in the Bootcamp, I knew Umelore was a sure bet to get into Collider. Umelore is an online marketplace that is connecting Indigenous artists with those looking to source authentic Indigenous artwork, ethically. It’s a brilliant idea from a brilliant Indigenous female founder, Alisha Jayne. I wish her all the luck!

JOSARI at IPIEC GLOBAL 2019

It’s only the second week of July, but it feels like I have lived a month and a half since the start of July. But it’s been good, and one of the great things that have happened recently was that Josari was one of seven finalists for the IPIEC GLOBAL 2019 pitch competition.

Paul did a great job of presenting. Even though we weren’t the among the two finalists who will get to go on to China, this was great exposure and an excellent networking opportunity. The winners were ClearSKY Genomics and Sticky Cell. Both are healthcare startups tackling important issues are the patient outcome. So there is no shame to losing to them. I missed the Sticky Cell pitch, along with that of Puml, because I was a bit late to arrive. But I did get to hear ClearSKY Genomics pitch and realised this was my second encounter with them. ClearSKY Genomics was at the Launch Festival!

I walked in while Watch Your Talk was pitching, and yes, I was careful coming in, but I think I might have messed up Hallie Wang from ACIC’s social media captures! Watch Your Talk also presented at Startcon last year, and they were one of the semi-finalists. At the time I wrote, “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.” They seem to have the app now and are doing closed beta testing. Being a five-minute pitch, as opposed to the two-minute Startcon pitch, they could share more details. So I was more convinced about the technology but not the business model. But let’s see how they develop!

The second pitch I got to hear was for Brekkie from iNovoTech. It’s a breakfast machine for the elderly, and other mobility challenged individuals. During the pitch I kept thinking “vaporware” during the presentation. I mean, during the questions from the judges it became clear that they don’t have a working machine. They have a 3D printed something, but I wasn’t sure what. But they are confident they can build a machine after raising some money. I think they need to work on their pitch and be more clear about where they are in the development process. Because right now, there is an element of smoke and mirrors in their pitch that doesn’t sit right with me.

Next up was Josari. So I got to see my name up on the big screen! It’s nice to consistently see myself as part of teams of Abide, Josari and included in my clients’ websites as part of their team. Given that this time last year, I was mostly an observer. Seeing my name up there as part of teams certainly makes me feel like I have come along with Start with Tinni!

Next was ClearSky Genomics, who are trying to build an interface that makes gene sequencing information easy to understand. Therefore, make it a regular part of the diagnostic process. I like the idea, and I hope it takes off! Given that IPIEC Global was all about pitching to China, it made sense that ClearSky was chosen was one of the two finalists. ClearSky Genomics is undoubtedly a solid technology that can make a huge difference if it can be appropriately commercialised.

Finally, we come to my favourite pitch, part from Josari of course, Perkii Probiotics! Why was Perkii my favourite? They gave us drinks! It’s always nice to have a startup, although Perkii is very much a scale-up, that can put a product in your hand. The drink was very nice, and I will be buying more. I don’t know if I believe the health claims of probiotics. Still, I am trying to reduce my Coca Cola consumption. So if drinking more Perkii means I drink less Coca Cola, that alone will lead to an improvement in my health regardless of whether probiotics actually do anything.

The final thing I wanted to mention was that UQ was very heavily represented at the event. Puml is in HYPE UQ SPIN Global Sportstech Accelerator. The research backing Perkii came through UQ. ClearSky Genomics is also affiliated with UQ. Sticky Cells too seems to have come out of research done at UQ. So that was an interesting observation. Overall, solid pitches and a great event!

Sydney Launch Festival + Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups

This time last week, I was in Sydney attending Launch Festival, hosted by Jason Calacanis (pictured above with yours truly). I can honestly say that I got more out of the two days then the cost of flights, hotel and meals! The ticket itself was free for me as a founder of Abide.

The free founder pass was a great motivation to go because even though I had to go to a different city, I could take the plunge because for me, at worst, I could have a bit of a mid-year break in Sydney. I didn’t attend Myriad or Qode because the tickets were so expansive. I did attend Startcon but only because I scored free tickets. Would I pay to go to Startcon? No, because the talks at Startcon weren’t anything special. But the majority of the talks at Launch Festival provided enormous value.

One the first day, the best talks were Superhuman’s Rahul Vohra’s talk on “The Product-Market Fit Engine”. The talk was about creating a leading indicator by asking users “how would you feel if you could no longer use the product?” and measure the percentage who answer “very disappointed.”, “somewhat disappointed” and “not disappointed”. The way to build a product-market fit then is to focus on the “very disappointed”, figuring out how to keep them. Also, figure out how to convert the “somewhat disappointed” into “very disappointed”. It also means forgetting about the “not disappointed” because there is a good chance that you cannot get to that group without compromising your vision.

I also loved the talk from Shaun Abrahamson on “Reimagining Cities: a Guide to the Future for Startups & Investors”. He used the words catastrophic climate failure in the context that there are already people building businesses under the assumption that we will have a catastrophic climate failure. Whether you believe that we are doomed or not, I am all for cities feeding cities and being more self-contained.

I also enjoyed the panel discussions on both day one and two. I enjoyed the in-depth look at how Masterclass became a successful startup during the fireside chat with David Rogier.

From day two, I learnt a lot from the presentation of Allen Chen of Fitbod who spoke about Growth Metrics that Matter. The talk was about the limits of taking user acquisition and other numbers at face value. Because if someone downloads your app, Fitbod is an app, but never uses it, do you really have a user? This is a simplification. I haven’t been able to track down secondary material on the talk. But I want to!

I also loved the talk from Charles Hudson of Precursor VC on “How Not to Mess Up Seed Round in 2019”. I am not in a position at the moment to raise a seed round with Abide, but it’s always good to be pre-prepared.

Speaking of which, following the festival, I listened to Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups by Jason Calacanis. It was an incredible look at the other side of the startup world. I am not about to become, but hopefully, Abide will soon be in a position where we will need Angel investors. So it’s always great to research ahead and be a bit better prepared.

Back to the festival. Launch also had a demo pit and a competition to get into Jason Calacanis’s accelerator. I enjoyed the pitches and the demo pit. I was able to make a small connection between the Bee App and my cohort mate from Elevate+, Bee One Third. Maybe something fruitful will come from that!

Overall, it was fun. I had a good time, learnt a lot and also got to have a little mini holiday in Sydney and spend some time with my cousin. So all in all, a week well spent!

Design Thinking, Sales, & Go To Market Strategies for Small Business

Last Friday I got to attend a lunchtime workshop hosted by the one and only Anthony Kuhlmann! Anthony is well known in the Brisbane startup scene but only recently launched Red Apple Consultancy.

Friday was a bit of an experiment. Not sure how it went from Anthony's perspective, but I got a fair bit out of it. Sales are probably my weakest aspect. So it's always good to learn as much as I can about this aspect of the business world.

Finally, the workshop took place in Christie Spaces. It's a co-working place I had never visited before. It was very fancy. I am currently in the process of cancelling my membership with Brisbane City Council's Brisbane Marketing, who took over my Little Tokyo Two membership. If I opt to get a new co-working space membership, I might look into Christie Space. But for now, I am sticking to QUT Foundry, which was fancy new space of its own!

Abide Completes Impact Boom Elevate+ Program

On the 6th June, Abide completed the Impact Boom Elevate+ accelerator journey. However, the name was too esoteric, so we changed it. As Abide, we applied for Impact Boom Elevate+ in January. We were accepted and officially started our journey on 5th February. So it's been almost six months of intense work and development that culminated into a pitching event in front of the Deputy Mayor, and nearly 300 other audience members drawn from business, startup and social enterprises from all over Brisbane and Australia.

I am going to write a Medium article about our whole experience. We have also come to the end of Abide's involvement with the QUT Capstone program, who lent us a team of four students to help build search and registration functions for our website. So there is a lot of ground for me to cover. So watch this space for details but for now, thank you to Tom Allen of Impact Boom for picking us. It was an awesome experience!