On Wed, May 7, 2014 at 11:00 AM, simran <sim...@innovyzstart.com> wrote:
> there's one fundamentally flawed assumption in your email geoff... that > is, that entrepreneur is synonymous with "works crazy hours", that might > be a stereotype many project or even promote as necessary, but it's far > from the truth in many cases. > You're right - not everyone is crazy busy. Some people are time rich doing the 4 hour week thing and building a lifestyle business. That's fine. But when it comes to public policy, these people aren't going to move the needle because their economic impact is (really) no different to someone else self employed. The economic impact comes from people building companies that employ people and create wealth outside their ownership group - and this involves a lot of work, and a huge time commitment. And this is the group that moves the needle more than anyone else in the economy pretty much, which is why it's opinion and needs are more relevant for the whole community than the needs of an individual (who remember is still being "served" but their local representative). Sure, there's outliers who create big companies and employ lots of people and who sit around with lots of spare time, but I think to claim that this is flawed assumption is incorrect. Happy to be shown evidence to the contrary though. > therefore, a body represented by grassroots entrepruners as part of it > is entirely possible, and i suspect desired. > As mentioned above, I'll believe it when I see it. > startupaus is a wonderful org (albeit i hope it didn't use "shock and > awe" tactics) but its board meetings are not open, we do not know who > funds it, we don't know much about it other than it has some good people > on it and has had some coverage lately; however they absolutely do not > represent us ALL. > If you're waiting for an organize that represents "us ALL" you'll likely die waiting (or create your own that represents a very small group of people who are irrelevant from a public policy perspective). > A one party country is a dictatorship... i'd love to see startup aus > flourish, but i gotta say, the PUBLISHED PRINCIPLES of startsoc feel so > right... > One voice gets shit done. No one messes with doctors because of the AMA. Same goes for Farmers with the NFF. If there were 6 AMAs all competing for legitimacy and a voice they'd all be easy to ignore. More is truly less when it comes to being a voice to affect public policy. As for saying "startsoc feel so right", this stuff only works when it goes well beyond a feeling and you're 18 months and almost 1000 hours in and having to remember why you started in the first place. It is a long, hard slog. > perhaps together all of the orgs can achieve more than one ever could... > most of us running accelerators are extremely collaborative... we can > together build and focus on and SERVE many segments... the same can be > true for orgs that represent us... or should we shut down The Australian > Computer Society now? now that startupaus is getting it's 15mins of fame? > lets support them to extend their 15mins, but not blindly as pawns. > I'm all in favour of creating a group that is in the shape of startup aus, but, I'm saying that unless you've got a dozen people who are prepared to commit 10-20 hours a week, every week, for the next 3 years, to get it to a point where it has achieved some success and built a sense of value, our efforts are better spent getting more involved with the creature that already exists and trying to prize it open; as a group saying they represent startups, we're all stakeholders, and should feel a right to get ourselves involved in its operation and decision making. Unless they decide to change their position and say they're representing a different group, in which case it is their business and their money and they can do what they like. > -- > sent from my mobile > On 08/05/2014 1:11 am, "Geoff McQueen | AffinityLive" < > geoff.mcqu...@affinitylive.com> wrote: > >> I've been thinking about this a bit, and I think there's a lot to be said >> for the idealism of having a body representing startups which is truly >> democratic and driven by current entrepreneurs who are in the trenches and >> can speak with a strong level of legitimacy on the issues. >> >> However, I think it has a snowball's chance in hell on a practical level. >> >> The reality is that founders of startups are some of the most time-poor >> people around. Unlike other time-poor people (junior doctors for example), >> the path of a founder/entrepreneur is also perilous where your (economic) >> survival is at stake. If you do manage to get successful beyond the >> survival phase you probably have investors, and you certainly have a team, >> customers and users to think about, and there's also competitors and >> innovation to keep working on. The only time you've got a chance to slow >> down and think about contributing is when you're no longer a current (or >> independent) entrepreneur - which gets to the heart of Pete's comment I >> think. >> >> In this context, I believe any "coming together" that requires time >> effort is doomed to fail to be honest. Politics (and let's be frank, that >> is what we're talking about here - establishing leaders who are prepared to >> listen to stakeholders, synthesize views and represent on behalf of a >> stakeholder group is politics) is *very* time consuming. >> >> It is very easy to throw out a claim, build hashtag support and then >> "start" something new (which is why there are the three domains Marcus >> outlines, and there's probably many others including this mailing list's >> website missing), but to sustain something and deal with the "input" from >> stakeholders (who often demand things without being prepared to actually >> contribute to delivering them - sorry, that's just how it is) is super time >> consuming. >> >> The tech community has proven it can and does a good job at coordinating >> the efforts of lots of individual stakeholders, with numerous open source >> software projects providing an incredible example, but these endeavours >> don't involve brushing up against the horrible world of real-world politics >> where pragmatism trumps ideology and compromise is key. You can't fork a >> budget or a law or a government policy if you don't agree with it. >> >> The same technology that makes it possible for the newest person to >> question the direction of a project or commit code makes it very difficult >> to bring a whole group of stakeholders along when a compromise has to be >> made - and the ease of "starting" something new with a splinter group who >> don't agree with the position of leadership makes it even more fraught. It >> is *possible* to overcome these limitations with a combination of a >> exceptional leaders *and* a lot of time spent bringing stakeholders >> around to the benefits of compromise, but again if you're looking for >> founder/entrepeneurs to be the ones to lead and spend the time here you're >> going to be out of luck once again (unless the founder really doesn't want >> to build a big company, and is instead using the group as a springboard >> into politics - which will generally invalidate them as an independent >> entrepreneur because now they're a politician pretending to be an >> entrepreneur). >> >> Honestly, I think the best thing we can do as time-poor startup founders >> is get behind the efforts that are being bankrolled and spearheaded by >> groups of people who do have the time and resources to at least do >> something. I agree with Pete that there needs to be a pressure/expectation >> on the part of the StartupAus board that there is strong representation and >> input from the stakeholders the StartupAus group claims to represent >> (otherwise there is no legitimacy), but I think we'd all get a lot further >> if we focus our energy on this imperfect beast rather than try and "start" >> something else from the grass roots - particularly if that thing naively >> assumes the main contributors are survival focused time poor founders - >> then you're guaranteed to fail. >> >> Geoff >> >> >> >> >> On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 7:35 PM, Marcus Holmes <m...@marcusholmes.biz>wrote: >> >>> I always find it symptomatic of the culture that we have three >>> completely different and unrelated Startup Australias: >>> http://www.startup-australia.org/ >>> http://startupaus.org/ >>> http://www.start-up.com.au/ >>> >>> Maybe if we can form a solid "Startup Australia" from the actual startup >>> community then there wouldn't be a vacuum that Google or anyone else could >>> use to agitate for changes that they, and not necessarily we, want. >>> >>> And if we can stop "Startup Australia" from looking almost exactly like >>> "Startup Sydney" then that might actually be useful. >>> >>> >>> On Monday, May 5, 2014 1:10:15 PM UTC+8, Colin Kinner wrote: >>>> >>>> Hi all >>>> >>>> StartupAUS recently released the Crossroads >>>> report<http://www.startupaus.org/crossroads/>, >>>> an action plan for growth of the Australian startup ecosystem. The >>>> federal budget is due to be released on 13 May, and last week the >>>> government's Commission of Audit >>>> recommended<http://www.startupsmart.com.au/planning/short-sighted-startup-community-blasts-commission-of-audits-funding-findings/2014050212208.html> >>>> winding >>>> up two of the government's most significant programs that support startups >>>> - Commercialisation Australia and the Innovation Investment Fund. >>>> >>>> There has never been a more critical time to ensure that the government >>>> gets a clear message about the importance of not just preserving existing >>>> programs, but investing in growing and supporting the startup ecosystem in >>>> the medium and long term. >>>> >>>> StartupAUS is seeking quotable feedback from Australian entrepreneurs >>>> to show that the startup community cares about what decisions the >>>> government makes, and supports the findings and recommendations in the >>>> Crossroads report. >>>> >>>> Please take five minutes to provide a short quote / testimonial using *this >>>> form*<https://docs.google.com/a/startupaus.org/forms/d/1lzy7RsrZ984S4YqjmOMtyEYXRyRWPOtsoo8d_Zyqy2o/viewform?usp=send_form> >>>> . >>>> >>>> Responses will be collated and uploaded to the StartupAUS web site >>>> alongside the Crossroads report, as well as sent directly to relevant folks >>>> in government. >>>> >>>> Cheers >>>> Colin >>>> >>>> -- >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon >>> Beach Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for >>> more >>> >>> Forum rules >>> 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. >>> 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs >>> >>> >>> 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 >>> >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Silicon Beach Australia" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> *Geoff McQueen* >> *Founder & CEO* >> >> __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ >> <http://www.affinitylive.com> >> Office: +1 800.425.7315 >> Cell: +1 650.450.4384 >> Skype: geoffmcqueen >> >> -- >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach >> Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more >> >> Forum rules >> 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. >> 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs >> >> >> 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 >> >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Silicon Beach Australia" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach > Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more > > Forum rules > 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. > 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs > > > 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 > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Silicon Beach Australia" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- *Geoff McQueen* *Founder & CEO* __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ <http://www.affinitylive.com> Office: +1 800.425.7315 Cell: +1 650.450.4384 Skype: geoffmcqueen -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more Forum rules 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs 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 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Silicon Beach Australia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
