Business in Pacific
ADC Leadership Retreat on Hayman Island, Australia
September 4, 2010 by Kiyoshi Kurokawa
After attending two conferences from the morning on August 27th, I returned home to pack my baggage and be at Narita late in the afternoon. This was the reason why I was unable to attend the lecture of Professor Sandel.
The plane took off from Narita shortly after 9pm arriving at Brisbane Airport at 7am after a 9 hours’ flight. The cabin was not too spacious although I was in the business class, the seats did not become near-flat, so I did not get much sleep. At Brisbane airport I spent 4 hours for transit to JQ (JetStar) for an 1hour and 40 min. flight to Hamilton. Then finally I got on a cruiser to Hayman Island. At last I am here to join the ‘ADC Forum Retreat’. Regretfully I have been unable to accept their kind invitation for a few years because of my schedule elsewhere.
Most of the people on the cruiser were those who came for the meeting. Inside the cruiser was very comfortable, cruising moved smoothly on the quiet surface of the sea, we enjoyed the nice view of many islands that the boat…
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ANZA TechNet Brings Guidewire Group’s G/Score for Innovative Startups to Australia for the First Time
August 9, 2010 by Kathy Drasky
Leading Technology Analyst Chris Shipley To Rate Companies’ Commercial Viability, Execution, Team and Business Model as Part of Gateway to US Workshops in Australia this Month
ANZA Technology Network will bring the Guidewire Group’s exclusive startup assessment tool – the G/Score – to Australia for the first time this month as part of its Gateway to the US introductory workshops in Australian capital cities, 23 August – 1 September.
Developed by leading global startup advisory firm, Guidewire Group, the G/Score assesses a startup’s progress in seven critical business activities. The G/Score has been used in Europe, Asia and the US – but not Australia. The ANZA TechNet workshops mark the G/Score’s debut Down Under, and Guidewire Group CEO Chris Shipley will personally score each workshop participating company. Space in the ANZA TechNet workshops is limited to just 80 Australian companies ready to explore US business opportunities as part of the ANZA Gateway to the US program.
The G/Score combines the expertise of Shipley and her Guidewire Group team, who have assessed over 20,000 startups worldwide in the last 20 years. Companies deliver a 5-minute presentation, and the G/Score is applied to rate the company…
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Nathan Torkington: NZ vs the U.S. (consumption, consumption)
August 6, 2010 by Haegwan Kim
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| Photo Credit to James Duncan Davidson |
Haegwan Kim (HK); When and why did you decide to get involved in the world of computer science?
NT; I was a kid growing up in New Zealand and I was in a very small fishing village.
And it’s not where you would expect there to be a lot of computers and, sure enough, there weren’t a lot of computers, but my parents saw that I was mathematically, wordy, smart. And my uncle was a computer programmer, so they said to him, what should we get him? He said, buy the boy a Commodore 64. I got my sister and my first computer when I was eight, and although I love my sister, I think I spent a lot more time with my computer in those first couple of years.
HK; Hahaha.
NT; It was one of those love at first sight things where I was lost and disappeared into the computer. That set me on my course. It just seemed to be the natural progression from there to…
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ANZA Technology Network FREE Gateway to US Webinars for Australian Entrepreneurs
June 3, 2010 by Kathy Drasky
ANZA Technology Network’s 2010 Gateway to the US program kicks off in July this year with a series of free webinars for Australian entrepreneurs interested in expanding a startup or SME into the US marketplace.
ANZA is ready to answer your questions about the facts, the risks and the opportunities of doing business in the US. They’ve assembled a lineup of speakers who understand the challenges Australian entrepreneurs and CEOs of innovative startups and SMEs face. The webinar speakers include Doron Ben-Meir, CEO of Commercialisation Australia, Dr. Larry Marshall, Managing Director of Southern Cross Venture Partners, Jennifer Zanich, General Manager of Xumii Services and more. They have launched, managed, raised capital, funded and sold businesses in the US and are experts on commercializing Australian innovation overseas.
Click on the links below to read full descriptions of these free 1-hour webinars hosted by ANZA CEO Viki Forrest – and register now. Attend one, two or all three of the webinars. Don’t miss out on this chance to get answers to your questions about doing business in the world’s largest marketplace.
* Expanding Your Business to the US:…
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Australia Culture Tips
March 9, 2010 by CultureWizard
+ Australians, or Aussies, may downplay their own success, which has lead to a common misconception that they are not achievement-oriented. Their humble attitude may mislead you, but the reality is that Aussies are very competitive.
+ Aussies generally work to live, rather than live to work. This shouldn’t be interpreted as a lack of ambition. Leisurely time with family and friends is very important, so you can expect that holidays and time away from work are normal and expected.
+ For the most part, Australians enjoy humor and use it frequently when speaking. It’s often self-deprecating, but it can also be used to humble someone if they are taking themselves or a situation too seriously. People are expected to be able to take a joke. In fact, the Aussies’ sense of humor is one of the first thing foreigners notice about them.
+ Australia has a collaborative culture in which meetings may be held to share information, review situations, make plans, or communicate decisions. Since everyone is thought to have an opinion, emphasis isn’t placed on position or status.
+ Most Australians are direct and comfortable addressing others in a frank, concise manner. They say what they mean…
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Australian Innovation in Silicon Valley: Kudos to Solar-Gem
January 22, 2010 by Renee Blodgett
Solar-Gem won the 2010 Australian Innovation Shoot Out as part of the G’Day USA: Australia Week.
An event, that included a competition, was held this week to showcase Australian innovation, illustrating collaborative, entrepreneurial spirit between Australia and the United States.
The competition was to promote Australian innovation by showcasing the country’s most pioneering technology companies. The fourth annual Innovation Shoot Out was hosted at Microsoft’s Mountain View, CA campus this week.
Solar-Gem provides modular solar-powered off-grid lighting and electricity systems, pre-pay tariffing systems, and high-efficiency LED lighting modules targeting the 1.6 billion people without access to power.
Companies were judged based on their ability to solve a recognized problem, demonstrate a clearly defined business model and market for their solutions, offer a solution superior to what’s already available, and provide a reasonable return on investment.
There was a judging panel of industry leaders chaired by Mark Anderson, CEO of Strategic News Service. Judges included Deborah Magid, director of software strategy at IBM Venture Capital Group; Allison Leopold Tilley, partner at Pillsbury; Chris Shipley, chairman and CEO of Guidewire Group and former executive producer of the DEMO Conference; and Prashant Shah, managing director of VC firm Hummer Winblad.…
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Who Will Be Named G’Day USA – Australian Innovator of the Year?
January 19, 2010 by Renee Blodgett
Australia has an Innovation Shoot-Out this Wednesday in Mountain View.
Australia’s most forward thinking technology innovators take the stage in Silicon Valley for the fourth annual Innovation Shoot Out. They each have five minutes to convince a panel of top-tier U.S. investors and industry experts that their technology is ready to play on the global stage.
Inspiration guaranteed — All attendees are entered in the prize drawing to win two round trip tickets to Australia, courtesy of Qantas (you must be present to win).
The opening keynote will be Dan’l Lewin of Microsoft Corporation and Judging Panel Chair & Closing Keynote is Mark Anderson from Strategic News Service.
Judging Panel:
*Allison Leopold Tilley, Pillsbury
*Deborah Magid, IBM Venture Capital Group
*Prashant Shah, Hummer Winblad
*Chris Shipley, Guidewire
The 2010 Shoot Out finalists are:
Digisensory, which combine smart imaging devices with their web-based real-time distributed intelligence system to deliver an end-to-end security and surveillance solution.
Intelliguard, a provider of DDoS protection for online enterprises and Internet service providers.
Mid-Comp International, a supply chain management infrastructure provider.
MultiTrode, a specialist in lift station control and monitoring for water and wastewater facilities around the world.
Solar Gem, a creator of…
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The Pros and Cons of Working Abroad
January 13, 2010 by Marianne McPhee
I’ve worked abroad a few times. Just like most people who do it, I seek labour to help me fund the rest of my traveling – hostels, food, drink, transport, and everything else in between. It can add up to be a pretty big bill.
I’ve taught English, handed out flyers on the street and sold promotion packages. Soon (fingers crossed…) I’ll either be employed in a bar, or on a farm.
To work, officially, you need a work visa. But there are PLENTY of places who will overlook this small detail. In fact, of the three jobs abroad I have held up until now, only one required any proof that I was legally eligible to work. One. The others? They’ve decided to take the calculated risk, which of course means that you do too.
Thailand
My Thai working visa was organised through a company called CIEE – the people who also found my teaching placement. I paid them a fee (which I found to be very reasonable) which covered all the costs of my visa, plus a great deal more, and it took away the headache of going through all the paperwork myself. Not bad. Because CIEE…
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No More Refresh on the Web: Real Time a Reality with Groovy Corp.
July 30, 2009 by Renee Blodgett
A stat I didn’t realize was that 99% of the web is a refresh experience. Seems logical but not something you think about because we’re so used to it. Delay. Refresh. Delay again. Frustrating at best, particularly when it affects your productivity.
We all want real time however the experience has fallen short until now. Imagine going to Ticket Master and seeing seats disappear and reappear in real time, without a delay, the moment a ticket is purchased or returned.
Imagine Twitter feeds flying through the widget that collects them on various websites and blogs the instant you post something.
Welcome to the world of Groovy Corp. Run by Australian entrepreneurs, it’s a promise I was excited about at this week’s AlwaysOn Stanford Summit.
They focus on delivering database and cloud solutions (hosted DB’s) and appliances for web properties that need a fast real-time experience. Say goodbye to the chunkiness and slowness of legacy relational databases, and hello to Groovy’s SQL switch that scales easily, and improves speed and performance by over 100x.
Today, they’ll announce their SQL Switch’s performance using the Dell DVD Online Store Benchmark.
Below Groovy Corp’s CEO Joe Ward tells us…
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Is the Web Female?
July 6, 2009 by Renee Blodgett
Yesterday at Reboot Britain in London, there were back-to-back sessions and countless panels on technology, innovation, social media and the web.
It ranged from ending the digital divide, redefining the role of public service media, where next for the media and politics, consumer democracy or a politics of citizenship, to the future of policymaking, how video games open learning and creating a social, environmental and ethical revolution in business.
On the panel, “is the web female?” moderated by BT’s JP Rangaswami, four women talked about their opinions around a) what does the web ‘being female’ mean and b) should there be the “divide debate” at all?
Australian Joanne Jacobs was amusing and got a laugh from the audience when she said, I’d like to think that I’m the token bloke on the panel.” She tends to do more ‘masculine’ things online, she tells us. Before she went deeper, I was wondering whether that meant playing war games or creating widget skins in black and gray. Not quite.
Bottom line, how we spend our time online is different depending how much feminine energy we house in our daily lives. Are we women working from home, raising two children…
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