I think now is an excellent time, with the wholesale destruction of the local export base and inflated property/currency values... investing in innovation suddenly becomes at lot less risky in relation.
Although the social safety nets here are wonderful... there is something to be said for desperation as a good thing. Small business skyrocketed in the US in 2008-9. I think tall poppy (is that the right term?) Needs to die. Startups are gruelling, you have to inspire everyone involved with how awesome you and the company are. Cheers, Rob Aron Steg <[email protected]> wrote: >It's true. We are constantly suffering from middle child syndrome. We are >trained to be risk averse and it's very hard to purge that out of out system. >Then we see some great successes and instead of inspiring us, we say "wish I >could do that. Pity." Additionally the VCs appear to have the same attitude as >their counterparts in the states have much deeper pockets. > > >But I think there is a really concerted effort to change that from the bottom >up. There is a lot of "stop bloody wingeing" being yelled from the bleachers >and I think the country is listening. All the new accelerator programs are >doing their jobs and inspiring people. > > > A. > > > >On Saturday, September 8, 2012, Robert Shea wrote: > > > >I do feel this way pretty frequently, sorta unwelcome fish outta water. >It's ok though, everyone I meet non-professionally has been very friendly. > >I hope so. Australia used to be looked to (early 2000's) as a good place to >test technology concepts. Educated, English-speaking population, with a weak >currency. The strong currency just means those developments need to come >internally, the infrastructure is here, the talent is here... I think it's >just a matter of getting over the psychological hurdles. > >Even talking to people off-list in the last day or so, I hear so much >self-doubt and defeatism even while speaking of their dream. > >If I could wave a magic wand, I'd make the start-up culture here more secure, >arrogant even: > >"I have this idea, I'm going to let people buy books online! For the first >several years I'm going to sell $1 for $0.75, with no plans of making a >profit, we'll have a book warehouse, with people filling orders on >roller-skates and later we'll tap the computational power of people in the >developing world and, and, and we'll all be billionaires! We're doing it!" >"Are you insane?" >"I don't know, I've been too busy pulling all nighters everyday for the past >four months to be first to market! I've taken out a fifth mortgage on my home! >We're going to be billionaires!" > >So it'll be interesting to see how I fit in here. > >Cheers, > >rob > > > >On Friday, September 7, 2012 8:56:37 AM UTC+10, [email protected] wrote: > >http://nickrace.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/wrongway-goback134091220073uhr5.jpg > >;-) > > >Seriously though, welcome. With a background in the bay area, I'm sure you'll >be a valuable asset to any startup with global ambitions. > > >On 6 September 2012 15:27, Robert Shea <[email protected]> wrote: > > >My wife is from Melbourne. We wanted to start a family and agreed this was the >better place for that (the healthcare system, alone... I have no words). > >I've been to Melbourne previously, so not too many surprises... I actually >like the weather as well (everyone here is always apologising for it). > >Now, I love Australia and am proud to make it my new home, but one major >criticism is the prevalence of a "good enough, is" attitude, that I just can't >wrap my head around. > >I figure a start-up community is the best place to meet people who feel >otherwise. > >Thank you for the welcome! > >Cheers, > >Rob > > > > > > >On Thursday, September 6, 2012 10:35:47 PM UTC+10, blindman2k wrote: > >Hey Robert and welcome! > > >What brought you from SV to Melbourne given so many are going the other way? > >Did Melbourne live up to your expectations? > > >Anyway, welcome to Melbourne! > > > A. > > > >On Thursday, September 6, 2012 12:19:56 PM UTC+10, Robert Shea wrote: > >I'd posted on here a while back, but never actually introduced myself. Got >busy for ages, but have finally made time to return. > >I moved to Melbourne last year from Silicon Valley (born in Santa Clara, spent >basically my whole life there) and the difference in culture has taken some >getting used to and I am still light years from fitting in or understanding >the reasoning behind much of what goes on here. > >I've worked with many start-ups over the years, created my own even. Some >crashed in spectacular fashion, some got bogged down in legal issues until the >fizzled, and some have been wildly successful. > >I've got a family now (the reason I moved here) which makes cautious of the >start-up environment, but still interested in the community. I've had too many >pay checks bounce/sales fall through, which is an adventure for a 20-something >bachelor, less cool now. However, the industry here doesn't seem to know what >to do with me. I've mostly worked in solutions development/direction, >validation/strategy/risk... much of this work fell under the banner of >"information security" in California, but here that tends to mean something >completely different (more security product technician/sales/management, >penetration testing, or discrete compliance). > >Anyhow, if I can constructive contribute to any conversations I will... >through usually that takes place if the form of "I think X is bad because of >Y, have you considered Z?" Cause, you know... validation. > >Cheers, > >Rob > >-- >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 > >-- >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 >[email protected] >To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >[email protected] >For more options, visit this group at >http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en > > > >-- > > >Yours, > A. > >Aron Steg Managing Director >BCDE Investments, SMS Diagnostics, SMS Broker, Sniip, Zaq, Explainers >Tel: +61 4 3333 4444 | Fax: +61 3 8677 7613 |    > > > > >-- >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 >[email protected] >To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >[email protected] >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. 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 [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
