Hi Cormac, Well you are totally right on most points. But the sense of failure doesn't exist within Australians in the business sector or ordinary life.
In Australia, we get lots of successes - even in business. The big problem we face is that our governments, (perhaps QLD, VIC and WA being exceptions) have too many historic ties with Europe to really appreciate any of the successes that are made here by normal Australians. Once success comes to an ordinary Australian.. there's a tradition that comes very close to cancelling their passport, or shutting attempting to shut them down. Rupert Murdoch, Paul Hogan, Julian Assange, Zehngrong Shi are just four names that come to mind of success. But there are hundreds more. Here's the story on the last guy, in case you haven't heard of him... http://www.throng.com.au/sunday/zhengrong-shi-chinas-richest-man In a way, the Australian Government did help him by telling him to leave the country. And sure.. that definitely did work. Now, he isn't portrayed (certainly within government circles) as an Australian hero - but everywhere else he is... I'm very sorry to say that unless you act like a good convict in this country... then you can't expect any favours. All the Australian business successes have been done without help from any government (unlike in other countries) and we should be careful to recognise this and ensure that's carried forward... Westfields.. hip hip hurray... go build europe... On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 2:17 AM, Cormac <cormac.mclough...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi. > > As I am an Irishman living in Ireland, with a self-declared interest > in the innovation culture in Australia (see a previous post), I > thought I’d give some insight into what you might learn from us. > > Firstly, creating a “valley” or innovation ecosystem takes TIME. It’s > not something that can be done in 5 or 10 years. Most people know > that Silicon Valley took a couple of decades to really get going. Yet > we expect that the “next silicon valley” can be created in one decade > or less, and that the next Google/Facebook will just pop out? > > Secondly, innovation is all about FAILURE. I think I read somewhere > that the average successful business in the USA is the result of the > sixth attempt. Now, think about what the media, your friends and your > relations would say to you if you were after failing 3, 4 or 5 times? > In most countries you would be labeled a failure, and it takes real > guts, self-belief and determination to go on in the face of that. In > my opinion, this is one of the biggest challenges to creating an > innovation culture in any country, and changing this should be part of > any solution. > > Low corporate tax rates attract and retain multinational companies. > In addition to this, government investment incentives create jobs. > The more “high value” the job, the more incentive you get from the > government. The only reason the government does this is to create and > retain jobs, not to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem. But does it > affect entrepreneurship and help create indigenous tech companies? > Yes and no. > > You need these high tech multinationals in order to up-skill the > workforce, bring ideas and cross-opportunities, provide employment, > and attract new talent to the location. However, you then face the > prospect of these people staying in their “safe” corporate jobs, and > not creating something native of their own. I think this is where the > Australian government could help – in providing support mechanisms for > these people right at this crucial stage. > > Such support could be: > 1. Casual space for people to meet, discuss ideas and work on > prototypes. White boards, desks, chairs, internet access and coffee. > You get the idea. > 2. Regular organized events with speakers in order to spread ideas, > create motivation, develop momentum and allow people to network > 3. Providing in-house experts in some areas where start-ups need help, > like market research, sales and marketing, and innovation/ideation. > Most developers just want to get dirty and create a prototype without > doing any market research or really thinking through their idea. > 4. Provide tax-breaks for entrepreneurs to go for it. For example, I > think there is a program in Ireland that allows people with a high > value startup idea to get funding of half their previous year’s salary > in order to do a feasibility study (subject to validation of the idea > by Enterprise Ireland) > 5. Encourage VC’s into the area. Providing tax breaks for VC’s may be > one way, although I tend to believe in the 37signals approach if > possible of organic growth. > 6. Develop a strategy of how you can use what is unique to Australia. > You have a great lifestyle over there – the envy of the world (well > apart from the spiders…). How can you capitalize on this? It’s never > been easier to hire cheap developers in India/China/xyz country, so I > think non-low cost locations need to think up their own version of the > Apple “Designed in California. Made in China” approach. What is the > value that Australia can provide? > > I fully expect some world class companies to come out of Ireland as a > result of the combination of government assistance to the > entrepreneurial sector and talent that has been created or imported to > Ireland as a result of the multinationals. But it will take time. > And failure. Probably lots of failures….but as Napoleon Hill (I > think) once said: “There is no such thing as failure. Just temporary > defeat" > > I had a quick look at the Lifeguard paper, and I think you are on the > right track with all this anyway, so keep it up. > > > On Dec 13, 10:37 pm, David Lyon <david.lyon.preissh...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Actually, the Australian Government aren't stupid. > > > > In around 2000 they had $800 million marked for local investment in > > tech companies. > > > > What happened was that they couldn't find a way to "allocate" it. So the > > funds were moved to Singapore. They are being used there - perpahps > > to this day. > > > > Actually in Australia, it's not that we are short of capital. Funds are > > abundant. > > > > If you look at industries in Australia that *have* succeeded, like Wine > > and Spirits, they've done so without government help or intervention. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Looking around the world, the Isrealis seem to have gotten the right > > > mix of entrepreneurial policies. Singapore is pouring a lot into their > > > incubators but no figures on their effectiveness (anyone?). As for > > > Australian govt policy ... tax breaks for R&D favor those large > > > enterprises with existing cashflow and not really relevant to startups > > > who are scrapping by on the smell of an oily rag. > > > > > Lawrence > > >http://nz.linkedin.com/in/drllau > > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon > Beach > > > Australia mailing list. > > > > > Guidelines on discussion: > > >http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e13. > .. > > > > > No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. > > > > > To post to this group, send email to > > > silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<silicon-beach-australia%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com><silicon-beach-australi > a%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com <a%252bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com>> > > > For more options, visit this group at > > >http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach > Australia mailing list. > > Guidelines on discussion: > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den > > No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. > > To post to this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<silicon-beach-australia%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Guidelines on discussion: http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. To post to this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
