Agents of Change Blog

Entreprneuer State of Mind - rad!

Tian — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:33:06 +0000

Normally we don't post funny videos on this blog but this one - Entrepreneur State of Mind - happens to talk about entrepreneurship and even mentions "business plan on the back of a napkin" at 1'35''! A blog post well deserved :)

Take a break from devising your next Google and check this out!

Upcoming external event: TEDxMelbourne #3

Tian — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:50:07 +0000

What is TEDx?

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx.

TEDx is a program of local, self-organised events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is call TEDx Melbourne, where x=independently organised TED event. At our TEDxMelbourne event, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group.

The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organised.

What is TED Conference?

Entrepreneurship Essentials - the 101 class for budding entrepreneurs!

Tian — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:09:47 +0000

Budding entrepreneurs read on:

This program has been designed to ensure that entrepreneurs have their business fundamentals in check. Many programs focus on sales and marketing, which - whilst important - are not the reasons that most new startups fail. Jordan Green will take us through his highly valuable knowledge in analysing business plans, judging countless entrepreneurial competitions and sitting on the investment side of startups as part of his VC experiences.

Launch of Napkin Competition a success - photos uploaded

Tian — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:12:22 +0000

Thank you all for coming down on Wednesday to the Launch of Napkin Compeititon 2010. We've had two great speakers (David Clarke, founder of Webjet and Salvatore Malatesta of St. Ali), awesome venue, tasty food and 120 budding student entrepreneurs!

All photos of the event have been uploaded on facebook (competition Fan Page)
If you find yourself in any of them, go ahead and tag yourself!

SE|AoC gaining momentum at both UniMelb and Monash!

Tian — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:22:37 +0000

Each year hundreds of new students passionate about starting their own businesses (now or future) join our club during O-Week at the University of Melbourne, and this year was no exception.

Launch & Guest Speaker Event | Napkin Competition 2010

Tian — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:42:37 +0000

Ideas can come from anywhere.

Brett Godfreys, the founder of Virgin Blue, infamously went for years with plans for the airline sketched on the back of a pile of beer coasters - now it's your turn!

Student Entrepreneurs | Agents of Change are proud to present the 2010 Napkin Competition: write your best business idea on the back of a napkin and fly to Sydney!

Former IdeaPitch & $1K Comp winner featured in #UniMelb Visions

Tian — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:10:34 +0000

Joshua Engwerda, winner of Ideapitch Competition 2008 and $1K Competition 2009, who had also participated in MEUC 2009, just got featured in UniMelb's Visions video cast.

Joshua Engwerda, winner of Ideapitch Competition 2008 and $1K Competition 2009, who had also participated in MEUC 2009, just got featured in UniMelb's Visions video cast.

Great to see his "heart shaped strawberries" making a big sell-out at Valentines Day!

MUEC 2010 calling all budding social entrepreneurs!

Tian — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:50:17 +0000

It's time to consider participating in Melbourne University Entrepreneurship Challenge (MUEC) 2010 and the Social Entrepreneurship stream. MUEC is a business plan competition, where participants attend workshops, lectures and work with a mentor to refine your business idea and write a business plan. The new Social Entrepreneurship stream, presented by Net Impact, offers you the same exciting program, but pairs your team up with a social entrepreneur instead. Speaker in the Social Entrepreneurship track includes Kevin Robbie from SVA, Roger Pitt from KADAC and Rebecca Scott from StrEAT.

Attention all students - New entrepreneurship subject available in the Faculty of Business and Economics #UniMelb

Tian — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:27:58 +0000

We're proud to announce a new entrepreneurship subject now offered at the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Business and Economics: 325-228 Market Development and Entrepreneurship

Ignite - world's greatest speed pitching event is coming to Melbourne!

Tian — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:13:19 +0000

We’re proud to announce Ignite Melbourne 2010 (#ignitemel), a part of Global Ignite Week, will be held on March 2nd, 2010 at Loop bar.

Ignite is a fast-paced, fun, thought-provoking, social, local and global event. It’s a high-energy evening of 5-minute talks by people who have an idea – and the guts to get onstage and share it with the world. Run by local volunteers over 6 continents, Ignite is a force for raising the collective IQ and building connections across Melbourne.

Great events to kick off your entrepreneurial 2010!

Tian — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:17:24 +0000

While most of us are still in the holiday mood, some of the most entrepreneurial organisations in Melbourne are kicking off their new year with exciting public events. If you're looking to get a head start in 2010, here are two you should seriously consider attending:

Beer Mat Challenge (10th Feb) - the first event of MUEC 2010, hosted by our lovely friends from Melbourne Business School (i.e. the MBA kids). The event is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students from any university. Join them for a fun night of brainstorming ideas, pitching and lots of BEER!

Exams are (pretty much) over - more entrepreneurial events to attend!

Arum — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:58:21 +0000

Now that exams are over for the uni students, we can finally get back to doing interesting entrepreneurial things.

There are a couple of events happening in the next couple of days worth going to:

The Hive Melbourne meets Tony Wheeler from Lonely planet (Tuesday 24th Nov at 7pm) - link to Calendar: http://www.agentsofchange.org.au/?q=node/397

and

Dell Social Innovation Competition - US$50,000 to be won!

Arum — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:05:13 +0000

Dell is holding a Social Innovation Competition with US$50,000 as the grand prize. This is definitely an awesome opportunity for most of you - especially past competition entrants.

The University of Texas and Dell are inviting all Uni and TAFE students to take part in a global competition to generate ingenious ideas to change the world. Individuals, or groups of University or TAFE students are challenged to submit a plan that combines creativity and innovation to tackle a pressing social issue and win US$50,000 to put that plan into action!

Female Entrepreneurs Breakfast, and "10 ways to make your business appear bigger than it is" (from Anthill)

Arum — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:54:00 +0000

The 2nd Female Entrepreneurs Breakfast is happening tomorrow morning at 8am. This month, the Female Entrepreneurs Breakfast will feature Jenny Jiang and Jess Rae from Melbourne Op Shop Tours, winners of IdeaPitch 09!

It will be held at 8am, at Ex-S Cafe at 121 Exhibition Street. Girls - come along to meet other female entrepreneurs!

Also, I came across a great article that a lot of young start-ups and student entrepreneurs may find relevant. Below is an excerpt:

Fake it til you make it: 10 ways to make your business appear bigger than it is

1. Dress Sharp

IdeaPitch '09 Winners!

Arum — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:47:17 +0000

Last night's IdeaPitch '09 Finals Night was amazing - 8 awesome teams of students pitched their ideas in front of a panel of judges and an audience of 50.

Entrepreneurs, students, academics and investors alike enjoyed the presentations, and by the end of the night the judges had tough decisions to make. For those of you who missed last night's Finals, here are the winners:

Category 1: Idea Stage
1st Place - Heart Parks, winning $500 sponsored by Dynamic Horizons (http://www.dynamichorizons.com/)

Interview with the Entrepreneur - Malik Laibi, Founder of Globalvations.com

Tian — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:08:59 +0000

The entrepreneurial ecosystem will improve by the rise of new start-ups that are designed to help out other start-ups, fellow entrepreneurs and innovators. Globalvations.com is one of them - a vertical search engine indexed and categorized innovations throughout the world, connecting visitors to new technologies, innovative companies, products and business opportunities.

IdeaPitch Finalists!

Arum — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:55:49 +0000

Tonight was a great night at the IdeaPitch 09 Semi-Finals, with teams battling it out for spots in the Finals.

This pitches this year was great - the students were very well prepared and the judges were impressed with the quality of the presentations and ideas.

We are proud to announce the Finalists for the IdeaPitch 09:

Category 1 - Idea Stage Finalists:
- Heart Park
- R&D
- Rink
- 37tweets

Category 2 - Open Stage Finalists:
- Wideo
- Green Wall Garden
- Melbourne Op Shop Tours
- iWannaTutor

Elevator Pitch from Evernote CEO Phil Libin

Arum — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:05:20 +0000

In light of the current IdeaPitch competition, here is a one-minute elevator pitch from Evernote CEO Phil Libin.

Just Markets: Harnessing Capitalism for Social Change

Tian — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:54:18 +0000

Just Leadership in conjunction with the Social Enterprise World Forum presents

Just Markets: Harnessing Capitalism for Social Change

The ‘justice of markets’ is intricately connected to the treatment of the poor and disadvantaged.
Nicholas J. C. Santos

Markets have become the most powerful instruments shaping the future.
Peter Ellyard

In the lead up to Anti Poverty Week we are delighted to invite you to the fourth and final Just Leadership Breakfast for 2009.

This is a fantastic opportunity to:

IPitch and Student Entrepreneurs | Agents of Change!

Arum — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:03:47 +0000

In light of the upcoming IdeaPitch competition, Student Entrepreneurs | Agents of Change is proud to announce another media sponsor: IPitch (http://www.ipitch.com.au/).

IPitch.com.au is the place to follow Australia's startup community. Browse through startup profiles, find investment and get inside information on entrepreneurial news at Australia's new destination for startup culture.

Startup School this November

Amir — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:00:11 +0000

If you’re planning a Corporate Escape or are an early stage entrepreneur. Then this 2 day event run by Steve Sammartino - founder of Rentoid, author of startupblog.wordpress.com and all round good guy - is an investment worth considering. For a very simple reason: It’ll save you many thousands by not having to make all the mistakes Steve did before he got it right.

What stuff will be covered?

Content taught includes:
- Idea generation
- Idea validation
- Art of bootstrapping
- Setup costs / legal Tips & tricks
- Project / Cash flow management

Beer Mat Challenge happening next Tuesday!

Arum — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:39:05 +0000

The Melbourne Business School Entrepreneurs Club is holding the annual Beer Mat Challenge at the Queensberry Hotel next Tuesday the 29th at 7pm.

The Beer Match Challenge is designed to provide a forum for socialisation for budding entrepreneurs. Participants from all levels of university are welcome!

The event is an exercise to boost idea generation and to meet experienced people interested to support new business ventures.

Format of the challenge:
- Teams of max 5 people. If you do not have a team, we will put you into one or you can work on your own too!

"Digital Marketing for Profit" Sminar

Tian — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:49:47 +0000

Our club's long time supporter and companion Ben Bickford from Mobile Monday Melbourne is putting up a Digital Marketing For Profit half-day seminar in Melbourne (8 OCT) and Sydney (22 OCT).

Pitch your product "really great, easy and awesome" Steve Jobs style

Tian — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:10:10 +0000

Ever wonder how Steve Jobs leave the indelible impression that Apple's products are really great, really easy and just plain awesome? Since it's the "pitch month" at SE|AoC we are going to post a lot of stuff to help you pitch. Here's a 2-minute YouTube video of the Zen of presentation at Apple's Sept. 9 event, stripped of just about everything but the adjectives.

Yes, Steve's secret formula is to use heaps of "awesome" adjectives during his presentation.

IdeaPitch 09 - pitch your ideas to win $1,000!

Arum — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:21:00 +0000

You're invited to PITCH your business ideas for a chance to win over $1,000 worth of prizes!

IdeaPitch 09: Network, showcase ideas and promote business endeavours - elevator pitch style. Finalists will have the opportunity to pitch to an audience of investors, venture capitalists and the entrepreneurial community. There is $1,000 worth of prizes to be won, including cash and consulting hours with innovative firms.

The IdeaPitch Competition will be officially launched at the Elevator Pitch Essentials Workshop.

ELEVATOR PITCH ESSENTIALS WORKSHOP

Female Entrepreneurs Breakfast

Mark — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:08:24 +0000

One of our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, Marita Cheng, is starting up a new networking and social event for all the entrepreneurial girls out there!

It will be a monthly event, with the inaugural breakfast taking place this Tuesday:
What: Female Entrepreneurs Breakfast
When: 15 Sep 2009 from 8am
Where: Lindt Cafe, 271 Collins St, Melbourne, Australia
Guest speaker: Michelle Mathews, Founder, Deck of Secrets

Insights from US Venture Capitalists - for those of you missed out the VC Movie Night during Eweek09

Tian — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 07:26:36 +0000

For those of you missed out the VC Movie Night during Entrepreneurs Week, here's your chance to catch up! Many thanks to Brendan Lewis from The Churchill Club for taking his time digging out all the gold from the one hour footage. Even for those of us already watched the video at the movie night, if you haven't taken enough notes (like myself) this is an excellent summary of the many insights about tech startups and VCs that came out of the video.

The Hive Melbourne TONIGHT

Arum — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:59:53 +0000

The Hive is a get-together that happens on the 2nd Tuesday of every month.

This month's hive is happening tonight (Tuesday, 8th September) from 7pm, featuring Tom Howard and Fenn Bailey of Adioso.

Tom Howard was a panelist at one of our Entrepreneurs Week events - Monash's IT Start Ups Panel.

Come down to network with the entrepreneurial community and find like-minded people!

The Hive is held at The Order of Melbourne, 401 Swanston Street, just opposite RMIT.

Hope to see some of you there - shoot us an email at hi@agentsofchange.org.au if you're going :)

3 Things an angel investor wants to hear in your pitch

Tian — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 05:44:30 +0000

Got a business idea ready to take over the world? Here are some practical tips for those interested to compete in the upcoming IdeaPitch Competition 2009 (application opens 18 Sep, closes 2 Oct).

David Bennett @ Pitch Club

For entrepreneurs, dorm is the new garage

Arum — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:02:49 +0000

Saw this great article on CNN about students in America making their own businesses - right out of their dorm rooms.

From fold-able shoes to a travel company which provides busing, tailgate parties and hotel accommodations to college football games.

Pretty good read and definitely motivating to the budding student entrepreneurs out there :)

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/08/21/student.entrepreneurs/

Posted by Arum @ 1:01am, 1/09/09

8 Free Online Entrepreneurial Classes from MIT

Arum — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:56:44 +0000

Came across these free online classes from MIT. Might help to fill the gap for those who are disappointed in the university's lack of entrepreneurship classes.

Courses include:

1. Business Analysis Using Financial Statements: how to read and utilize the information contained within financial statements

2. Financial and Managerial Accounting: understanding and presenting financial information to investors and for decision-making processes

3. Applied Economics for Managers: how economists model consumer choices and market coordination

Graduate Consulting Group - a social entrepreneurship venture!

Arum — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:20:35 +0000

Student Entrepreneurs | Agents of Change was at the E3 Expo today, held by the University of Melbourne's Commerce Faculty and the Melbourne Graduate School of Management. The Expo was a success in our eyes - it was great to get such a big number of interest from students, especially those who have recently heard about E-Week.

On another note, we ran into a couple of familiar faces at the Expo.

Entrepreneurs Week 2009 - Innovators Challenge winners announced

Arum — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 06:49:24 +0000

After months of hard work, the Entrepreneurs Week 2009 team had fun celebrating at the Closing Ceremony last night!

Innovators Challenge winners were announced, and those who came along would agree that the entries to this year's competition had achieved some amazing things over 6 days.

Paint A Professor was the winner of the "Biggest Impact" category, winning lunch with the directors of Deloitte Innovation.

Innovators Challenge deadline extended!

Arum — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:33:52 +0000

Innovators Challenge registration has been extended to 5pm Wednesday because the video was posted late, and people had trouble finding the video.

See post below for details of the Challenge - but dont forget that the final deadline for registration is Wednesday 5pm.

So if you missed the opening ceremony, see the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQdbvWY4Grc

Rules and registration here:
http://www.eweek.org.au/innovatorschallenge2.php

Innovators Challenge Video launched online!

Arum — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:10:44 +0000

Innovators Challenge 2009 has been officially launched.

The mystery object?
Paint!

Check out the video that was launched (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQdbvWY4Grc) and register your team online at http://eweek.org.au/innovatorschallenge2.php

New MBSEC website!

Arum — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:21:58 +0000

The Melbourne Business School Entrepreneurs Club (organisers of MUEC) have launched their new website - http://www.mbsec.org/

A little bit about MBSEC: “MBSEC exists to foster and focus the entrepreneurial spirit of the Melbourne Business School Students, while developing a community based network of entrepreneurs in Melbourne.”

The new website has a great calendar of events of things happening around Uni and also contains lots of information about the Melbourne Uni Entreprenurial Competition.

5 more sleeps until Entrepreneurs Week...

Amir — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 11:33:25 +0000

With the Opening Ceremony less than a week away, the E-Week team has been working relentlessly to simultaneously organise 18 events over 6 days - no easy feat. Keep an eye out around the Melb Uni campus for our posters and flyers this week - hopefully you will find them interesting!

Visit the E-Week website if you haven't already (www.eweek.org.au) or follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/seaoc) to keep updated about the Week.

Victorian Business Icon Competition

Tian — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:29:43 +0000

Are you Innovative?
Are you Entrepreneurial?
18 to 25 years old?
2009 Victoria Business Icon is coming!

Entrepreneurs Week 2009

Amir — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:37:05 +0000

Entrepreneurs Week is coming in Semester 2!

Kicking it off with the Opening Ceremony on Friday the 7th of August, the Week's events include presentations by prestigious speakers, panel discussions, workshops and competitions.

Enter the Innovator's Challenge for a chance to win prizes such as lunch with Deloitte’s Innovation Team, membership to the prestigious Churchill Club, website development packages, and many more.

Media Training Workshop with Brad Howarth

Amir — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:34:42 +0000

So you have the best product or service in your market.
But do you have the skills to tell that to the people who need to hear it?

Mirror Marketing and Events is holding a 3.5 hour presentation by professional journalist and trainer Brad Howarth.

Melbourne Thursday 30 July, 2009
When: 9am – 1pm
Cost: $285 inc. gst
Venue: 350 William Street, Melbourne

Conversations with Entrepreneurs

Amir — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:55:10 +0000

Ernst & Young have put together a nice website packed with conversations from winners of the 'world entrepreneur of the year' awards.

It makes for some good reading/listening, with tips for up 'n' coming entrepreneurs, as well as some insights into what its like in the day to day life of an entrepreneur.

Check it out at: http://www.ey.com/conversations#

Posted by Amir @ 12:00pm, 22/6/09.

The Accidental Billionaires

Amir — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:02:39 +0000

Interesting new book titled 'The Accidental Billionaires' about the Facebook founders. Talks about Zuckerburg as a geeky undergraduate hacking away at things and stumbling across the concept that became facebook... Given virtually everyone at uni uses facebook, insight into the backstory should be enlightening - or amusing at minimium.

Book comes out July 14 on Amazaon if I'm not mistaken.

Also, for a bit of a change - a job opportunity (for a startup at least).

Twitter College Dropout

Amir — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:51:34 +0000

Topical...

Twitter - if you haven't heard of this one, were have you been? - founder Jack Dorsey, talks about what it takes to start up a company. Dorsey dropped out of New York University one semester short of graduating!

Video below (thanks to www.collegemogul.com):

Young Social Pioneers

Amir — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:13:10 +0000

Slow week as you can well imagine, what with everyone studying hard to ace there exams... or at least pass in some/most cases.

Came across this little number from the Foundation for Young Australians, some sort of social enterprise scholarship by the looks of it.

http://www.ecna.com.au/2009/05/search-for-australias-young-social-pionee... for details.

Don't forgt The Hive on tomorrow night either. Makes for a good break from study!

Posted by Amir @ 5:15pm, 8/6/09.

10 Kid Entrepreneurs to Watch!

Amir — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:31:18 +0000

"Bill Gates was 19 when he came up with the idea for Microsoft. Michael Dell was the same age when he started selling computers out of his dorm room."

First few lines on an article about the 'Top 10' kid entrepreneurs coming up in tech.

An interesting read. Check out the whole article and slideshow: http://www.contentnext.com/econaffinity/list_intro/top-10-kids-in-tech/

One of the best is:

City Pillar Challenge

Amir — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:25:07 +0000

So,

A couple of us from Agents of Change (myself included) pitched today at the finals of the Melbourne City Pillar Challenge.

Student Guide to Startups

Amir — Sat, 30 May 2009 00:18:53 +0000

Y-combinator has been mentioned on this blog before. It's a company which funds predominantly student startups in the US.

Paul Graham, entrepreneur and co-founder of Y-combinator has also been mentioned here a few times at least. He's got some awesome videos and articles on startups, particularly student startups.

Having just finished reading one such article http://www.paulgraham.com/mit.html I am again suitably impressed. His experience of student startups from the funding side must be second to none.

Melbourne Uni Web Startups

Amir — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:00:24 +0000

Just the other day we heard about a few website projects coming out of a class taken by Sarah Stokely, a tech journalist and teacher of some digital media classes at uni. (Sarah blogs at http://www.foxforcefive.com/ for those interested).

Without knowing too many details, it looks like the students had to come up with a web startup, possibly within a limited timeframe.

The websites are described below, all appear community based, but are different from each other.

Student entrepreneurs first steps

Amir — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:28:30 +0000

Found an awesome short article about student entrepreneurs. Particularly focused on the initial stages.

The aptly titled 'Navigating the jungle; a survival guide for student entrepreneurs' has some great tips and resources. I haven't checked out the rest of the blog in detail, but other posts look promising.

David Langer, the person who authors the blog, speaks from personal experience as he goes through his efforts starting up www.groupspaces.com

Check it out at: http://davidlanger.co.uk/2009/05/17/navigating-the-jungle-a-survival-gui...

Enternships

Amir — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:47:22 +0000

Internships at startups and SMB's!

A new startup out of Oxford called Enternships > http://www.enternships.com/ < hooks up students and recent graduates with startups and small business's around the globe.

It acts as a match making service, and for now it's free to put up your profile. They do plan on adding premium services at a price later in the play.

City Pillar Challenge

Amir — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:58:40 +0000

A quick update on the City Pillar Challenge.

Finalists have been announced, and an entry from one of our own has made it through! Watch this space for more detail, the final presentations are going down on June 1.

*Disclaimer - I'm part of the team : )

Also, a reminder about the upcoming events this week: NICTA have an interview with an entrepreneur tomorrow night, and AIMIA talk about the risk involved in social media Wednesday (check the calendar section for more detail).

Posted by Amir @ 6:00pm, 25/5/09.

MUEC Winners

Amir — Sun, 24 May 2009 09:29:02 +0000

The Melbourne University Entrepreneurial Challenge ended this past week. After 3 months of fierce competition, 6 teams made it to the finals.

They'd pitched to expert panels and written business plans for their ideas. A few of the entrants were already up and running come the final round.

The winners were announced at a fancy dinner. With a last minute addition of an undergraduate prize to!

MicroJobs startup camp pitch

Amir — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:32:48 +0000

MicroJobs

This was the other half of the two job sites (as the name would suggest).

They were up in quick time, and spread the word far and wide. Even though the early listings were fictitious, it didn't stop them taking a phone interview for the 'playboy bunny' position!

There pitch:

Rate My Guts startup camp pitch

Amir — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:24:00 +0000

Rate My Guts

This team more than any embraced their entrepreneurial. Up until the 11th hour (literally an hour before the product launch), they were a health comparison site.

Then, after a few minor complications and a lot of soul searching, decided a place to share gory stories was far more there bent.

The results you can decide for yourself...

Part 1

One Off Jobs startup camp pitch

Amir — Tue, 19 May 2009 02:21:53 +0000

One Off Jobs was one of two job sites coming out of the camp.

They were head to head in a battle for honours internally (despite protestations that it wasn't a competition).

This team was, far and away, the most dedicated. With all of there members staying up 24 hours plus. Putting in the work while others slept.

What isn't shown in the pitch is their funny promotional video. You should check out their site if you haven't seen it yet.

Upcoming events!

Amir — Sat, 16 May 2009 03:20:42 +0000

Just wording people up on a few upcoming events.

Firstly, the people at Melbourne Junior Chamber of Commerce are putting on a nice little shinding at the KPMG building, with an impressive speaker list. This one is going down on the 21st.

Then there is NICTA's Meet the Founder series. An interview with Dr Alan Finkel, of Axon Instruments, which was sold for $200m in 2004, and is currently the Chancellor of Monash University. Free and on campus, they also provide some decent food for attendees! 26th of May is the date it takes place.

iBrewit Pitch

Amir — Fri, 15 May 2009 04:03:21 +0000

iBrewit was a fans favourite from the start!

Ever the underdog, the team was reduced from 5 to 4, and momentarily 3 from late Friday night. That they had one coder working continuously for over 24 hours helped, but it was a massive effort all round.

A community for local brewers, complete with wiki and forums, was up and running in quick time. And the lure of free beer to the first 50 who sign up was a strong draw card.

Their pitch:

Conversion Space

Amir — Wed, 13 May 2009 05:34:54 +0000

Conversion Space

This team as star studded. All four of them had previous entepreneurial experience. Mark Parncutt and James Ramsay, lead coders on the conversion space team, have both been successful in previous entrepreneurial competitions.

Conversion Space was a big challenge, and this team worked hard, during the night you could see the stress on their faces as the deadlines approached. Business/marketing team members Roshni Govindaraj and Grace Sia even managed to get themselves banned from facebook spreading the word!

ChoreCop startup camp pitch

Amir — Sun, 10 May 2009 08:00:35 +0000

So,

ChoreCop was an interesting one.

They started out with an idea for providing budgeting/financial services for students on line. After about an hour or two, it dawned on them that this wasn't going to be accomlished in the time allowed. And quickly went back to the drawing board.

They re-emerged with a simple idea of helping those in share houses sort out their domestic chores. It was real, filled a niche, and they were off and running.

It ended up being voted best of the camp by the people at Anthill!

Their final presentation.

Part 1:

Pitch Pitch Pitch

Amir — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:17:04 +0000

Theme of the week seams to be pitching (don't blame me I'm just the messanger).

We've got the pitching workshops tonight and tomorrow. Plus, I'l be posting the pitches from the recently completed sartup camp.

To wet the appetite further, below is a bit of an extract from a recent opst on pitching by Ross Hill, winner of last years John Heine Challenge with his startup 'The Hive'.

Pitching Workshops

Amir — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:06:41 +0000

Student Entrepreneurs is running 2 pitching workshops. It will be a practical training session to develop confidence and the ability to use this experience for future pitches with real potential business ideas.

An opportunity not to be missed with John DiNatale from DC Strategy who has had vast experience and knowledge in this area as a pitching coach.

Workshops available on 6th May and 7th May from 6-7pm.

Only ten spots available in each workshop; first come first served.
RSVP by Monday 4th May at 5pm by emailing grace@agentsofchange.org.au

Startup Camp in Anthill!

Amir — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:43:23 +0000

A bit of fame goes a long way...

After the fun of startup camp run a couple of weeks back, Anthill Australia, thought it newsworthy!

Check out the link to hear their thoughts on our camp!!

http://anthillonline.com/websites-of-the-week-students-locked-up-until-t...

Posted by Amir @ 9:45pm, 1/5/09.

Commerce Case Competition

Amir — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:16:45 +0000

Just wanted to word you up about an upcoming case compettion we're helping to run.

Read the spiel below, if you're interested email amir@agentsofchange.org.au

---
The Faculty of Economics and Commerce, in cooperation with AIESEC, the Latin American Students’ Association (LASA), the Melbourne GSM Student Association and the Student Entrepreneurs | Agents of Change, brings you an exciting case competition!

startupmelbourne.com

Amir — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:43:19 +0000

A quick one today,

Getting the word out about a new site/blog about the entrepreneurial scene in Melbourne. It's aiming to pull together all the entrepreneurial happenings around town, and has a good list of local entrepreneurial bloggers and pseudo-celebrities.

Check it out at www.startupmelbourne.com

Posted by Amir @ 3:45pm, 27/4/09.

Student startup camp - participant perspective

Amir — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:26:56 +0000

One of the people who participated in the recently completed startup camp - Gaurav Dadhania - has his own blog at http://gvrv.posterous.com/

He has penned his thoughts on the camp, and his take on it as a coder/developer are interesting to say the least.

His thoughts:

The Hive - review

Amir — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:06:36 +0000

An awesome night at The Hive last night. Speaker Sahil Merchant, founder of MagNation.

Not only deos Sahil tell great stories (storytelling = key to any good public speaking gig), his venture hasn't made a cent to date...

We heard how he works 20 hour days, 70 days a week. How he is 5 days away from runnning out of cash with rent and wage bills due. How the magazine is a terrible industry with low profit margins and high labour requirements.

Entrepreneurs: speakers and networking

Amir — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:58:30 +0000

Quick, real quick, word about two events tomorrow!

Paul Bassat from SEEK.com is talking at melb uni @ noon in the ICT theatre 1.

Then The Hive kicks off @ 7pm, Order of Melbourne (on Swanston st). Speaker is from Magnation. Always good fun.

Will be at both, let me know if you're planning on attending.

Plus; writeup of startup camp coming soon!

Posted by Amir @ 11pm, 20/4/09.

student startup camp investor pitchers

Amir — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 08:49:47 +0000

Heya,

Student Startup Camp is still going strong, now into its 25th hour straight!

Just a big shout out to anyone around town tomorrow who may not know - there is an open pitching session from 2:30pm at the University of Melbourne. 198 Berkeley street, level 6 (the building is officially called 'the spot').

More the merrier.

Posted by Amir @ 6:50pm, 18/4/09.

student startup camp - press release prep

Amir — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:04:01 +0000

After some work and some sleep (at times a bit of both) the teams are getting ready to send their startups into the public. There are some furrowed brows - specially from the coders - think some are having a harder time than anticipated. All part of the fun.

The launches will be streamed live to the web later today. Stay tuned to the twitter tag #sscm to catch the latest.

Student startup camp - current progress

Amir — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:18:20 +0000

Check out all the progress at http://www.startup-australia.org/startupcampmelbourneuni1

The teams are up with brief concept descriptions. Will be the place to see current statuses (aside from twitter)

Student startup camp live!

Amir — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:38:34 +0000

And we're away!

Student startup camp.

30 people into 6 teams. We've had brainstorming and pitches. All the teams have got there ideas, registered them, and some are even live!! The pace is breakneck to say the least!

There is a twitter feed going off the hook. Tune into #sscm to stay in the loop.

Posted by Amir @ 11:35pm, 17/4/09.

student startup camp

Amir — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:02:56 +0000

Student Startup Camp is here (almost). Everything starts at 6pm!

Keep Sunday afternoon free and come check out the final live pitches.

Keep checking back on this blog for regular updates and progress throughout the weekend.

There will be web streaming of some stages too (hopefully). More on that later.

The first deadline is having team name, concept, and domain name registered by tonight at 10:30pm sharp. Wish them luck!

Posted by Amir @ 8:00am, 17/4/09.

Student startup camp

Amir — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:50:57 +0000

Applications are in, and there was a lot of them....

We've started processing, expect to be contacted today or tomorrow (likely via email).

Some people are gonna miss out, for which we are sorry - good problems to have I guess.

Don't forget the MUEC workshop on tonight at 6:30pm at the Melbourne Business School.

Posted by Amir @ 6:50am, 9/4/09.

student startup camp

Amir — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:48:19 +0000

Reminder that deadline for student startup camp registration is closing at 10am tomorrow Melbourne time.

Get your applications in quick. Some more details have been added to the startup camp page, and, if you happen to be or know of any coders, get them signing up. They're in hot demand right now!

We'll be in contact between Wednesday and Friday to confirm places.

One more thing, MUEC workshop is on Thursday from 6:30pm at the Melbourne Business School. Check out the calendar for details.

Posted by Amir @ 6:45am, 7/4/09.

8 'Stupid' College Business Ideas

Amir — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:17:51 +0000

Came across this funny post a while back, thought it was worth sharing.

note; originally from http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/8-stupid-frat-boy-business-ide... )

See, when I was in college, I would walk by the Quad and see a poster for some new book-exchange service literally every week. “SCREW THE BOOKSTORE!!!” it would say. “TRADE YOUR USED BOOKS WITH THIS NEW SERVICE!” The idea is that bookstores charge too much, so why not give the power back to the students and let them trade books at the end of the quarter?

Startup Camp deadline extended

Amir — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:32:09 +0000

Just a quick announcement.

WE're gonna be extending the deadlines for Startup Camp to Wednesday the 8th of April. Some of the emails that where meant to go out hadn't, and we've gotta make it fair for everyone...

You can expect a follow up call/sms from Wednesday onwards confirming places and the like.

In the meantime, enjoy this visual depiction of the 'history of the internet':

Google Ventures

Amir — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:07:41 +0000

This is cool.

Just got a link about google ventures: "Google Ventures is broadly interested in startups in industries including consumer Internet, software, hardware, clean-tech, bio-tech, health care and others. First and foremost, we're looking for entrepreneurs who are tackling problems in creative and innovative ways."

http://www.google.com/ventures/

Not only a chance to get your business funded, but how cool to say you are funded by google!

Posted by Amir @ 10:10pm, 31/3/09.

Startup Camp

Amir — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:11:48 +0000

Startup Camp. Startup Camp. Startup Camp.

It's nearly nearly here!

In fact. Registration is now being taken (see link at top of screen). There is a very limited amount of spaces (28 in total), so be sure to sign up.

A few may have heard me rave about the one that happened in Melbourne late last year. It was intense. One of the coolest things I've been a part of. Eye opening lessons too!

Be sure to email us for further details/questions if you've got 'em. We'll also have a stall up for tomorrows commerce reorientation bbq. Between 12 and 2pm at the commerce courtyard.

PERSONAL MOBILITY

Amir — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:25:06 +0000

Two revolutionary forces – the advent of the Internet and widespread deployment of wireless networks – have swept the communications world in the past two decades, changing how individuals interact and how companies do business. They promise access to personalised and location-aware content anywhere, any time and through any device and have changed how people connect making them constantly and immediately accessible.

There is almost no bigger market for budding entrepreneurs. This space is hot!

coolest college startups

Amir — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:11:42 +0000

Nice article about some US college startups.

Keep in mind what works there can often work here ; )

(Note: An add will come up for about 7 seconds before the actual article shows up, you can skip this add via a button in the top right hand corner of the screen)

http://www.inc.com/college/?nav=mfi_ar

Posted by Amir @ 12:10pm, 26/3/09.

Muec deadline thursday + RMIT networking tomorrow

Amir — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:07:48 +0000

Just a quick reminder that the deadline for the MUEC competition is fast approaching. Officially closes at 5pm Thursday.

Visit www.muec.mbs.edu and follow the instructions on how to enter.

Also, RMIT is holding a networking session tomorrow night, they've a couple of guest speakers and free finger food and drink. Worth a look if you are around. Details are in the calendar.

Posted by Amir @ 9:10pm, 24/3/09.

$1k competition winners

Amir — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:30:03 +0000

Awesome effort by all who entered. And by us who twice judged and gave every entrant feedback!!

The winners from the comp were in no particular order:
- Kingston Development: Silk
- Green Wall Garden
- Melbourne Op-Shop Tours
- Corporate Dining Direct
- Transient

$1K competition submissions closed

Amir — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:17:12 +0000

Just a quick one,

Submission for the $1K competition is now closed. Lots of entries (more than I have fingers and toes at least), but we will endeavour to have our feedback and suggestions, as well as winners, announced by Monday close of business.

Check your emails a little after that, or check back here to see the winners list.

Posted by Amir @ 10:15pm, 20/3/09.

So what is "MUEC" anyway?

Mark — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:38:44 +0000

There's been much mention of MUEC on this site and in our member newsletters in recent weeks; most notably we've said that the $1K Competition (which closes tomorrow) is preparation for MUEC, the "real thing".

Young entrepreneurs from china and Australia

Amir — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:54:36 +0000

Quick reminder about a few upcoming events;

Firstly Asialink is hosting an event tonight around 6ish. They normally put on pretty classy digs, worth checking out.

Tomorrow is MUEC's bbq, from 4pm onwards, in the MBS courtyard. Again, food and drink is provided, plus it's the last chance to meet with others who are interested in entering the entrepreneurs challenge. If you've got an idea and are looking for a team, or if you don' have many ideas but would like to join a team, the bbq is the place for you.

Getting Real

Amir — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:09:42 +0000

A few people I've spoken to recently have raised questions concerning the first steps of starting up.

There are a few good books out there on the matter, and you won't get any advice more on the money than 'just do it', but if you're interested in something both inspiring and a little more on the educational side (in a good way). You should definitely check out this free e'book, by 37 signals:

http://gettingreal.37signals.com/toc.php

I'm only a couple of chapters in, but can already tell this stuff is gold. A must read for people interested in Startups!

Enjoy.

Steve Jobs Stanford Graduation Speech

Amir — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:06:05 +0000

A little something to get you charged about entrepreneurship.

Stay hungry, stay foolish.

Posted by Amir @ 8am, 15/3/09.

First dollar comp winner

Amir — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 02:40:38 +0000

Yesterday was the last day for submissions to the first dollar comp we ran as part of O'week promotions.

Will Nasta had the most interesting entry we received, see below:

The hive, MUEC, workshops and more!

Amir — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:56:26 +0000

This week is gonna be a big one!

Tuesday night is The Hive, the ever growing entrepreneurial mixer that goes down on the second Tuesday of each month. More details on the calendar (ditto for the other events).

Thursday is the launch of the Melbourne University Entrepreneurial Challenge (MUEC). This one's our baby - a business plan competition run for our university students - with the goal of helping us get our ideas off the ground. Heaps of prizes to be won, awesome workshops, speakers, and people. And free food and drink to boot. Should be a blast!

$1K competition

Amir — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:22:34 +0000

Full review of last nights event will follow shortly.

For now, get cracking on the $1K competition, details here:

http://www.agentsofchange.org.au/1kcomp/

Posted by Amir @ 5:20pm, 6/3/09.

City Pillar Challenge 2009

Tian — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:09:47 +0000

Here's another exciting competition happening in Melbourne CBD.

Submit a business plan to the City of Melbourne as an individual or team for the innovative use of a city pillar and you could win a cash prize of $1200 PLUS a permit to use a city pillar to showcase your winning initiative for up to 12 months!

Registration closes 4pm Friday, 3rd April (so act fast!)

Launch of $1K Competition and Guest Speaker Event

Amir — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:06:34 +0000

Launch of $1K Competition and Guest Speaker Event

This Thursday 5th of March 2009 at 5:15-7:00pm, Executive Lounge, Alan Gilbert Building, 161 Barry Street, University of Melbourne.

Fancy yourself to be a budding entrepreneur? Have the chance to win $1K cash in prizes for your best ideas on 1 page!

* Hear two successful entrepreneurs (James Masini from Hippo Jobs & Michelle Matthews from Deck of Secrets) share their experiences
* Network with like-minded individuals
* Details about our $1K Competition
* Food and drinks provided

First Dollar Competition

Amir — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:11 +0000

“In 75 words or less describe how you made your first $$”

The entry with the most entrepreneurial spirit will win an award-winning entrepreneurial book 'Art of the Start' by Guy Kawasaki, and be published on our website.

Competition closes 5pm, Friday 12th March

Entries to be handed in to our stall (we will be in the Commerce Courtyard every day from 12-2pm until Friday 12th March).

(Note; if you can't make it in, email submissions to hi@agentsofchange.org.au with First Dollar comp as the subject line)

MBS EC Beer Matt Challenge

Amir — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:36:10 +0000

Our friends at the Melbourne Business School are putting on a Beer Matt Challenge to get our creative juices flowing!

I quite liked their flier advertising the event:
-----
Drink Beer.

Devise Plan.

Pitch Plan.

Win

Drink more beer...

Shouldn't everything be that easy?
-----

Sounds like a winner to me!

As for details - it's going down THIS THURSDAY from 7pm at the Queensbury Hotel. Spots are limited so please register at http://beermatchallenge2009.eventbrite.com/

INNOVIC 09 Competition (Repost)

Amir — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:03:55 +0000

INNOVIC 'The Next Big Thing' Competition is now open (and has been for some time...).

Details from their site:

Applications for INNOVIC's International Next Big Thing Award 2009 are now being accepted globally. Applications can be completed online at http://www.nextbigthingaward.com/.

O'week tomorrow!

Amir — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:19:47 +0000

The year has finally begun... from tomorrow.

We'll be back on campus at the commerce courtyard for the next three weeks. Come lunchtime for a chat, hear first hand the cool things in store, and pick up a free copy of Australian Anthill!!

The more people the merrier.

Posted by Amir @ 9:20am, 23/02/09.

Why people don't start-up

Amir — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:55:16 +0000

The Anatomy of Start-up Reluctance in 15 Parts. By Paul Graham

Funny and illuminating. Video is a little raw, transcript below.

Reason #1. too young.

How do you know if you're old enough or not. How can you tell if you're an adult? What makes people seem old?

Entrepreneurs events around town: the hive, mobile monday, and silicon beach drinks.

Amir — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:20:48 +0000

People. The entrepreneurial calendar is warming up again!

2009 looks set to be a big BIG year.

First - this Friday is Silicon Beach drinks. Essentially a bunch of cool people meeting up for Friday knock-offs. A good mix of people, many working on start-ups of their own. It's going down at Trunk (275 Exhibition street, city) in the city, 5pm onwards. Details here http://melbourne.siliconbeachaustralia.org/

INNOVIC 09 Competition

Amir — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:31:38 +0000

INNOVIC 'The Next Big Thing' Competition is now open (and has been for some time...).

Details from their site:

Applications for INNOVIC's International Next Big Thing Awardâ„¢ 2009 are now being accepted globally. Applications can be completed online at http://www.nextbigthingaward.com/.

the business plan

Amir — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 19:42:39 +0000

Was going through my notes a while ago. Came across an interesting take on what's required in the business plan.

This was from a guy who had been there and done it in Silicon Valley, starting and later selling his tech company for something like $250 Million.

Without further ado:

- The Team (who & what)

- Customer (what is there pain)

- Product (how does it fix pain)

- Value (how much will they pay)

- Cost (to build and sell)

- Unfair advantage (team, tech,or business model)

- Competitors (why do customers love you)

Social Entrepreneurship Open House

Amir — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:37:58 +0000

Just got word of a cool new project opening up this Thursday, 4 - 7pm, at 673 Bourke st, Melbourne (just opposite Southern Cross station).

It's called 'Donkey Wheel'... Don't ask me.

Donkey Wheel is a non-profit Trust, which focuses on giving funding to social initiatives which otherwise would find it very difficult to operate. They fund the â€˜unfundables.â€™ The people doing truly cutting edge work.

10 reasons to startup at college

Amir — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:41 +0000

Below are the thoughts from US college entrepreneur David Brim, co-founder of startup grouptable.com

"I graduated from UCF this past summer with a degree in marketing. Though I was an entrepreneur before I started at UCF, my time there really helped me realize the value being an entrepreneur in college. I decided to put together a list of my top 10 reasons why itâ€™s great to be a college entrepreneur in the hopes that it will motivate and inspire students currently in college to nurture their entrepreneurial spirit and get their ventures rolling".

Little Miss Entrepreneur

Amir — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:13:59 +0000

With exams nearing an end, and holidays for all right around the corner, not much is happening in the entrepreneurial space.

In the meantime, one of our â€˜agentsâ€™ - Julie - has started her own blog, under the inspired banner â€˜little miss entrepreneurâ€™.

Sheâ€™s off to a flyer with some nice posts already, you can check it out at http://littlemissentrepreneur.wordpress.com/

Leave a comment or two if youâ€™re keen. A word of encouragement goes a long way when something is just starting up!

Posted by Amir @ 7:15pm, 28/11.

Global Entrepreneurs Week

Amir — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:24:35 +0000

Things are slowing down a little as we near the end of the year.

It is actually Global Entrepreneurs Week right now. Started Monday, until tomorrow.

Full links are available at http://www.unleashingideas.org/theweek

Not much going on around hear. Interesting concept though - kinda like our own Entrepreneurs Week!

Posted by Amir @ 10:25pm, 20/11.

The Umbrella-sella-fella.

Amir — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:10:06 +0000

The next installment in our ongoing coverage of unimelb entrepreneurial types brings you Steven Pawsey, a first year undergrad, who was recently awarded the Victorian Young Entrepreneur of the year award for his business 'Stevei Marx'. Not having met Steven personally, I offer instead an interview he did courtesy of Andre Sammartino, a lecturer in marketing at Melbourne.

The interview is at:

http://internationalbs.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/talking-to-the-umbrella-...

Very impressive so far, and I'm sure we'll be hearing more about Steven in the not to distant future!

The Hive

Amir — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:15:52 +0000

The Hive Melbourne is networking for entrepreneurs. This months edition of the Hive sees Philip Weinman, serial entrepreneur, mentor and philanthropist.

Brief bio: In 1983, Philip co-founded HiSoft, a software/hardware solutions business, which quickly became one of Australiaâ€™s fastest growing companies, employing 400 people in five countries. Within five years HiSoft grew to become Australiaâ€™s largest privately owned computer company with a turnover in excess of $300M... more about Philip on the Hive's site.

Who: Philip Weinman
When: 7pm, November 11th, 2008

Silicon Beach

Amir — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:34:36 +0000

Can't remember if I've already written about this. Either way...

Silicon Beach is Australia's answer to Silicon Valley. It's got all the news and people in the Oz startup scene.

http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/

Have a look and sign up - there's a heap of cool people on site, and a great resource to be a part of!

Further, although it's exams for most all of us, be sure to check out The Hive this coming Tuesday. Will post more details later. But if you're impatient, check out www.thehive.org.au

Posted by Amir @ 4:30pm, 6/11.

Idea Pitch videos

Amir — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:06:33 +0000

Finally!

To say getting all the videos onto youtube took longer then expected is an understatement...

In presenting order (to the best of my goldfish like recollection):

Concept Category

- Fruits of Seduction

Young Guns

Amir — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:03:32 +0000

Video's of last weeks finals pitches will be up tonight.

In the meantime, check out Triple J's latest offering for us entrepreneurial types, the 2009 'Young Guns' series. Applications are open till the 23rd of November. Winners will get to be part of the series, which should give you some nice exposure on a national scale!

Details can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/catapult/ and following the young guns link. The rest of the site is aimed to help, so might be worth trawling through.

Sure beats exam study.

Posted by Amir @ 12:15pm, 31/10.

Elevator Pitch

Amir — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:28:24 +0000

Hehe.

Perhaps a little late for the competition just passed. But below is a link to 'venturehacks' guide to elevator pitching. It's wort checking out just for the classy Ali G clip of him pitching to Donald Trump and co.

http://venturehacks.com/articles/elevator-pitch

The rest of their site is not bad either, definitely worth a look.

Also, video's of last weeks finals should be up shortly, soon as I remember where I put those tapes...

Posted by Amir @ 10:40am, 28/10.

Interactive Advertising Event

Amir — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:48:12 +0000

Just a reminder about the AIMIA event this Wednesday on -

Interactive Advertising: Present Trends
Find out what is working in today's online advertising environment and what the next 12 months hold..

Speaker's from Hitwise, Google, and Sensis. Plus, if last time is any indicator, good food and drink too.

Should be good fun!

As usual, if you're heading down let me know (amir@agentsofchange.com.au).

EVENT DETAILS

Date: Wednesday the 29th October
Cost: Free

Location:
Sensis Theatrette
Level 3
QV Centre
Cnr Swanston and Lonsdale St
Melbourne City

Micro-Enterprise Loans for Student Start-ups

Amir — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:54:32 +0000

This was placed across my path; should be of interest to anyone looking for some funding (Idea Pitch entrants perhaps?)

Following is their words:

IdeaPitch Winners

Amir — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:54:02 +0000

Congrats goes out to the winners of yesterday's Idea Pitch competition.

To the best of my recollection it goes:

1st Open: Nudge

2nd Open: 10 degrees

3rd Open: iReturnee

1st Idea: Melbourne Op Shop tours

2nd Idea: Fruits of seduction

3rd Idea: Intergrated voice box

All the people who made it to the finals were winners in my books - even bigger winners though were the winners... ;)

Video and pitcures of the event will be up here soon. And a proper review of the competition will be up shortly too!

Posted by Amir @ 10am, 24/10.

Interactive Advertising: Present Trends

Amir — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:46:56 +0000

Upcoming event (that's not this Thursday's Idea Pitch finals competition...) run by AIMIA.

I went to the last one. Was good; interesting speakers, great finger food! definitely worth checking out.

Details: Want to understand what is working in todayâ€™s online advertising environment? AIMIA Victoria presents a session on online and cross-platform advertising that is relevant to contemporary markets and issues. Come along to this free event on Wednesday the 29th of October to hear from three fantastic speakers and have the opportunity to throw some questions into the ring.

IdeaPitch Workshop recap

Amir — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:38:39 +0000

Got the elevator pitch workshop with Steve Sammartino from Rentoid up on youtube in 9 minute increments. Definitely worth a look if you missed it.

Links are here:

And the finalists are...

Amir — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:05:50 +0000

So.

By now all of you who entered in our current IdeaPitch competition should know whether or not you've made it into the finals!

Congrats to all those who did, condolences to the rest - better luck next year, etc etc.

The finals are scheduled for this Thursday, 6:30 - 8:30pm. Will be a classy affair, wine, canapes, old people with money...

I've been a bit slack of late in terms of putting things up and reporting on past events (the calendar has been in a bit of a bad way of late). This will change shortly.

Posted by Amir @ 9:15am, 18/10.

Pitch tips

Amir — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:06:52 +0000

There's been a massive number of entrants for this first IdeaPitch competition!

To give you all a helping hand before Thursday's semi-final, check out www.vator.tv > Note; thats vator as in eleVATOR. It's a really cool site anyway, and worth a look.

One video on their site is below; these guys won the Babson $30,000 Innovation Challenge (Babson is a US business school if I'm not mistaken).

Submission deadline 5pm today!

Amir — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:05:27 +0000

Don't forget to enter by the deadline. All entries get feedback from judges. 5pm today!

Also, Calendar has been updated with a few events.

Posted by Amir @ 10:25am, 10/10.

Ideapitch 08 - sample pitch

Amir — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:38:30 +0000

A follow up from last nights pitch workshop (but probably most relevant for those who missed).

Steve Sammartino, founder of Rentoid and authour of the popoular startup blog (just search for startup blog in google, it's number one!), presented us with his own pitch fort rentoid, imagined 12 months previous, when they where about too launch.

Presentation is here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcjg6dsq_59hb6dxng4

Best of luck for the comp!

Posted by Amir @ 8:45am, 9/10.

more on Ideapitch '08

Amir — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:07:34 +0000

A quick update.

Prizes for the competition are up to $1,500 in cash and more in inkind services!

The template for submissions has been posted in the ideaptich section of this site. And hopefully shortly we'll have Steve Sammartino's demonstaartion on how to write it up, using his own startup Rentoid as a sample.

Also, the facebook link to IdeaPitch 08 should have read http://www.facebook.com/inbox/#/event.php?eid=37580333915 instead of what I posted.

Posted by Amir @ 8:00am, 7/9.

Startup Camp Melbourne

Amir — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:42:42 +0000

I've been absent these last few days...

With Good reason mind you.

Check out http://www.startup-australia.org/startupcampmelb1plan

Full report will follow.

Posted by Amir @ 6:30am, 5/9.

IdeaPitch '08

Amir — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:42:16 +0000

The objective is simple. Bring together a focused group of entrepreneurs, investors and advisers and provide an exclusive and spontaneous environment for them to interact, showcase ideas and promote business endeavours - elevator pitch style.

You have 3 minutes to make your case to a panel of judges in the seeding, and if successful, present your ideas to potential investors in the final round. There are of course fantastic prizes to be presented to winners: $1000 cash, consulting time with innovative firms, incubators, and more...

Female Entrepreneurs

Amir — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:27:58 +0000

No doubt many of you know of our event on tonight.

But... if you're still in the dark, check out the details on our facebook page http://www.new.facebook.com/inbox/#/event.php?eid=30930400333

It will be a classy affair, so be sure to wear your best.

And a big shout out to Julie for running this whole event like a superstar!

Posted by Amir @ 9:20am, 29/9.

Event: Innovation in Business

Amir — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:46:03 +0000

Event being held this Wednesday by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association.

From their site:

From Ideas to Value

Innovation is much more than just new ideas, it is the process of transforming creativity and knowledge into value, and is a vital part of our businesses and our industry.

Yet harnessing the energy of new ideas and turning these into innovative products, practices or services is often tricky.

Change the world

Amir — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:15:40 +0000

Google has launched Project10^100

From Google:

"Project 10100 is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible."

How it works

1. Send Google your idea by October 20th.

VC Pitching

Amir — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:12:36 +0000

Lot's of things happening in the entrepreneurial scene around Melbourne at the moment. Quite a number of them seam to be pitch related to.

The dream of starting up your big idea and going for VC funding can hinge on your ability to pitch. You're going for the big bucks and have to make a sale. There has been much written about it, but nothing spells out the process quite like a video.

Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition!

Amir — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:45:48 +0000

Global competition to recognize young leaders who are finding new ways to create positive change in their communities. Initiated by Ashoka - leaders in social entrepreneurship.

Entries open now through October 15th.

Winners will be announced November 12th.

The competition is open to all young individuals between the ages of 12-24

Lookin for entries â€“ ideas OR projects â€“ that meet the following criteria:

Pitch club update

Amir — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:50:52 +0000

After contacting the pitch club organisers about concession tickets to the upcoming pitch club, they directed me to the following link:

https://pitchclub.wufoo.com/forms/student-registration-melb-sep08-pitch-...

You'll find concession tickets for $35, which is, in my humble opinion, better then $50...

Posted by Amir @ 2:45pm, 19/9.

Clean tech seminar 25 September MBS

Amir — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:26:17 +0000

Event announcement about an upcoming seminar at the Melbourne Business School (for those on the main campus it is just outside gate 10, towards the law building on the left hand side.

Brought to you by our partners in crime MUEC (Melbourne University Entrepreneurial Challenge) - they run a business plan competition, check it out at www.muec.mbs.edu

Business opportunities in Clean technology: Making money by addressing global warming

Pitch Club

Amir — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:24:20 +0000

Keeping up the theme of presenting, Pitch Club is coming to Victoria this month (their first time back since February).

I went last time and had a blast - good atmosphere, really well run, and a chance to see a few up-starts battling it out on stage.

Tickets are a bit pricey ($99 for two people, $69 for one), but it's definitely a good experience.

Details are at http://pitchclub.com.au/ You can check out some of the previous events on the site too!

It's on September 30.

worlds best presentation

Amir — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 06:37:44 +0000

A big part of entrepreneurship is telling your story. Your ability to convey your ideas and hard work, something you may have spent much time creating, into an interesting, engaging story, can be the difference between funding, market acceptance, and failure.

For some good examples of telling stories with slides (and it's safe to say we've all seen bad examples - think of the last lecture you dozed off in...) can be seen from the 'worlds best presentation' competition. Hosted by slideshare.

Entrepreneurial Thinking

Amir — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:56:43 +0000

Entrepreneurship lecture: Entrepreneurial Thinking - Creativity vs
Rationality

This seminar looks at ways of unlocking creativity and creative
thinking and of recognising the barriers to creativity, innovation and
entrepreneurship. It also investigates how to generate multiple
opportunities from one idea.

Marcus Powe, the presenter, teaches Entrepreneurship and Business
Planning.

Date: Tuesday 16 September
Time: 5.30pm - 7.30pm
Venue: Innovation @257, 257 Collins Street, Melbourne
Cost: Free!

Registration: Please go to: http://www.rmit.edu.au/entinres/er_lecture_series

Startup Camp!

Amir — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:44:37 +0000

Recently came across this event - looks like a fantastic event that should be a lot of fun!

What: Startup Camp Melbourne

It's a get together of people from different disciplines that have an interest in startups and do a complete startup in one weekend. From coming up with the idea and making a business plan to pitching, design and development and marketing.

When: The Fri-Sun of 3-5 Oct 2008.

The RSS Feed explained

Amir — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:05:32 +0000

If you're wondering about the link that sits at the top of this blog, it's time for some quick schooling!

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.

Google, among others, have this tool/application (which, before you ask, is free). It's commonly called a reader. What happens is this; rather then visiting your favourite pages every time you go on the net - you can subscribe to the pages.

Innovators Challenge - Thought's from a judge

Amir — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:52:37 +0000

Some more publicity from entrepreneurs week!

Brendan Lewis, founder of many startups (the Churchill Club - a group for entrepreneurial minded people - is one you may be familiar with) was one of the judges at the Innovators Challenge.

He has a column in smartcompany.com.au, and penned his thoughts about our event.

You can read 'em here: http://www.smartcompany.com.au/Blog/Brendan-Lewis-Blog/20080826-Up-start...

Posted by Amir @ 9:05pm, 10/9.

vishal sharma - aussie startups

Amir — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 10:54:59 +0000

Some of you may have recently checked out our facebook page and seen an article written about the Student Entrepreneurs!

We we're interviewed by Vishal Sharma, whose interest focuses on Australian start-ups.

Note: If the name sounds familiar, it's because I recently posted about a book on Australian Start-ups that Vishal is publishing.

Vishal's site will be of lots of interest to you. I've included a link to our interview, and encourage you to explore from there!

http://startups.sharmavishal.com/2008/09/student-entrepreneurs-agents-of...

Posted by Amir @ 12:30pm, 8/9.

The Hive this tuesday

Amir — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:33:21 +0000

Coming up to the second Tuesday of September means The Hive is rolling around again.

This months event is being held at JWOW Wine Bar (QV).

Ryan Trainor will be speaking on entrepreneurship, having started his first company - in retail security - at the ripeold age of 23.

More details can be found at thehve.org.au

I will be there, as will a few others from Unimelb. Get in touch if you plan on going!

Posted by Amir @ 11:45pm, 7/9.

Entrepreneur on Campus

Amir — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:39:30 +0000

Entrepreneur-on-Campus is a professional mentoring program for entrepreneurial students provided by us, the Student Entrepreneurs | Agents of Change. The goal is to enable students interested in entrepreneurship to obtain informal, practical advice from experienced entrepreneurs, who make themselves available during prearranged 'office hours.'

Event tonight

Amir — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:42:19 +0000

Again I've left it until the last minute to let you know - but Asialink - a host for one of the E'week events, is holding a discussion with Mahummad Lutfi, a self-made entrepreneurs who know finds himself as Chief of Indonesiaâ€™s Investment Co-ordinating Board.

Details are here: http://events.unimelb.edu.au/event/5144/

Starts at 6:30 sharp.

Posted by Amir @ 10:50am, 27/8.

Story of Australian Founders At Work

Amir — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:21:46 +0000

Bit of a slow period. After the rush...

Thought I'd point out what looks like an interesting book: Story of Australian Founders At Work

You can find more about it here http://startups.sharmavishal.com/2008/08/story-of-australian-founders-at...

More curious is that I was thinking of doing something very similar for australian sustainable start-ups, or student start-ups. Who's got the itme to write a book though!

We're launching something new hopefully tomorrow night. Stay tuned for details.

Posted by Amir @ 7:25pm, 25/8.

Studentbusinesses.com

Amir — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:33:52 +0000

A while back I spruiked this site www.studentbusinesses.com A platform for entrepreneurial students worldwide.

It's by invitation/application only, and has a wide array of different businesses started by students, as well as students interested in starting/joining a new venture.

I highly recommend taking a look, and perhaps filling out the application form. It's interesting enough just having a look at the ideas of other students and what they're pursuing.

Meet the founder

Amir — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:27:01 +0000

A bit belated...

NICTA runs a 'Meet the Founder' series whereby they ask an entrepreneur a series of questions.

They have their first one for the year on tomorrow at 6pm (finger food starts at 5). It's in the NICTA building, Brown Theatre.

More details at http://www.nicta.com.au/nicta_events/meet_the_founder

Posted by Amir @ 11:15pm, 18/8.

Innovators Challenge winners

Amir — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 01:29:02 +0000

The other half of the winning Innovators Challenge entry is Dazzle.

Here is the outline of their presentation. Shortly I'll upload a video of theirs (and others) to complement.

The end of Entrepreneurs Week... 08

Amir — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:45:39 +0000

The Innovators Final was the last hoorah for E-week 08, and what a send off it was!

After what felt like a week that lasted an eternity, the ending has absolutely inspired us to do more, bigger and better!!

The enthusiasm and energy in the room was fantastic to be a part of, and what a joy to watch everybodies efforts in the competition.

One half of the winners (a two way tie for those that missed it) was taken by the team 'Cup of Hope' - who used paper cups to raise awareness for Breast cancer sufferers.

You can check out there entry below:

Innovators Challenge

Amir — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:58:09 +0000

Entries to the Innovators Challenge competition are now closed.

The more observant of you may have checked out Stanford's Entrepreneurs Week past (back in February this year). As we saw in the 'Imagine it!' video, they used post-it notes to create value.

Earlier this year they used rubber bands...

One entry to their competition I found particularly noteworthy was this submission from a precocious physics student, modelling the theory of relativity.

You've got to check it out.

University Policy

Amir — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:00:03 +0000

Little rant about university policy...

It's backwards...

Sadly I've had to take down Professor Terziovski's slides from our luanch event. As per uni policy.

This seems a strange rule, very much against the current 'open' information trends across the globe (see MIT making all their courses available on-line). One can only hope the university wakes up to itself before it gets left to far behind. It certainly isn't an attitude that encourages entrepreneurship.

Student Startup Seminar

Amir — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:07:14 +0000

Paper cups, paper cups, paper cups... (sorry, I felt compelled).

Tonight session about students who've started their own ventures whilst at uni could well be the session of the week.

A bit of background about the speakers (which to be fair we probably should have made available earlier) is as follows.

Entrepreneurship: the opportunities, myths, and challenges

Amir — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:58:07 +0000

Below is the sildeshow (plus transcript) of Mile Terziovski's opening address, explaining (as the title suggests) entrepreneurship as it's seen today.

Removed (12/9).

As an overview to entrepreneurship in society, it is pertinent. But this only tells us half the story. The blood, sweat, and tears, that entrepreneurs put into their ventures must be heard first hand. Their efforts are inspirational, and lessons learned from failures incisive.

It's why Monday's student startup seminar is not too be missed... More details to follow.

Posted by Amir @ 7:50pm, 9/8.

Innovators Challenge goes off with a bang

Amir — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:16:16 +0000

Earlier today we officially launched entrepreneurs week and kicked off with the Innovators Challenge. Mile Terziovski, head of the Global Innovation & Entrepreneurship centre got the proceedings underway with his insight into the make-up and drives of an entrepreneur (the content of his presentation will be made available shortly).

Innovators Challenge competition

Amir — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:37:38 +0000

A few people have been emailing for more information regarding the competition. To which I've said there is none.

The thing to remember is this: In starting something entrepreneurial and innovative you have to take risks and deal with ambiguity. Unlike class assignments, not everything is clear in the real world; you've got to use your imagination, back yourself, and be accepting of failure (as a learning experience at least).

Vic Pitch 08 Finalists

Amir — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:40:40 +0000

Vic Pitch â€™08 announced the five most outstanding Victorian small businesses, who will â€˜pitchâ€™ their businesses to a panel of experts and investors tomorrow at the Treasury Theatre, Melbourne on August 7, 2008 from 2pm to 5pm.
Pitch â€™08 is an event designed to connect innovative business ventures with development capital.

Cinergix is the team to watch out for. They recently finished second in our very own business plan competition (full review here: http://www.agentsofchange.com.au/?q=node/81 ).

Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition

Amir — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:08:18 +0000

Social Entrepreneurship is a recently new phenomena, and one widely miss-understood by the general population.

Social Entrepreneurs in essence carry and deliver the same aims of non-for-profits, but don't rely on donations to operate i.e. they have a revenue generating business model.

I couldn't more highly recommend getting involved in this, applications close 12 November, 2008.

From their site:

How will you change the world. Part 2

Amir — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:23:02 +0000

For those of you who came past South Lawn Monday afternoon I apologize. The big spectacle you where meant to see never materialized.

Funny story reallyâ€¦

The material we planned to use turned out to be like a sail in the wind, ripping straight off our rope and flying around.

Like true entrepreneurs, this wonâ€™t hold us back. Weâ€™ll be trying again tomorrow, with a slightly modified approach, in a slightly modified place.

This time we will be out the front of the Copland Theatre, in the commerce court yard (right next to the Baillieu library for the uninitiated).

How will you change the world?

Amir — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:43:26 +0000

Entrepreneurs Week is just around the corner (metaphorically at least).

For the next two weeks, we will be running a special promotion on south lawn, from 12 - 2pm. You should definitely come down an check it out.

We'll even be filming it, so you might get famous...

Posted by Amir @ 11:30am, 2/8.

Entrepreneurs Network

Amir — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:04:08 +0000

Big shout out to Thehive.org.au - an entrepreneurial network founded by a few guys from RMIT back in February this year.

They meet once a month (the second Tuesday of every month to be exact), with a gun guest speaker, and a bunch of interesting people chomping at the bit to start their own businesses.

This coming Tuesday they've Paul Mathis, the driving force behind a long list of popular Melbourne restaurants including Transport, Taxi, Transit, Upper House and Lower House, Chocolate Buddha, Soulmama, and the list goes on (the first restaurant he opened at the sprightly age of 23!).

shouldigotoclass.com

Amir — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:57:45 +0000

Serial entreprneur Phillip Kingston (he of flogd.com fame) is at it again.

His latest effort, a project he's co-founded with his partner - who studies law at Melbourne I'm told - enables us (at the moment us = University of Melbourne students) a platform to check out & rate how good the lecturers are, as others students have found them.

If you're anything like me, and choose your classes by how good the lecturer is (whether one feels they can possibly sit through them for twelve weeks), then this site is gold.

The site is www.shouldigotoclass.com

Investment Indicators competition

Amir — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:34:19 +0000

First day back for most.

Before we really get into the swing of 'Eweek', I'll point out this little competiton. It's about coming up with better indicators to help investors decide which entrepreneur to fund.

Details are:

The SEVEN Fund $50k VINE Project: Developing Investment Indicators for Emerging Market SMEs

The SEVEN Fund is putting out a challenge, a question to be answered by anyone and everyone. Recognizing that traditional financial ratios and assessment metrics are not sufficient for identifying promising emerging market firms, we therefore pose the following question:

Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Amir — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:40:38 +0000

One of the events taking place during 'Entrepreneurs Week' concerns sustainability (green is the new black etc etc).

Entrepreneurs tend to see opportunity where others see chaos.

Climate change represents big chaos, ergo, big opportunity. Therefore. This is an event not to miss!

For more details on this event, including early booking, check out this link http://www.sustainablemelbourne.com/urban-design-and-built-form/event-in...

Entrepreneurs Week

Amir — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:40:39 +0000

Officially announcing our next big event for the year; The 2008 â€˜Entrepreneurs Weekâ€™ - brought to you by usâ€¦

Seriously though, this is gonna be massive. A week long competition, seminars with speakers whoâ€™ve done it all before, weâ€™re even planning to make a video out of it!

Imagine Cup winners from University of Melbourne!

Amir — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:12:38 +0000

Not sure if any of you managed to catch the Ageâ€™s â€˜Nextâ€™ section today. In it is an article about four Unimelb students who won a Microsoft run competition.

The challenge was to create a technology project that helps promote the environment.

These guys came up with a smart system that monitors and manages water for farms (talk about filling a gap!)

Whatâ€™s more, their product SOAK (Smart Operational Agriculture tool Kit), which can be installed for $3-4K, is attracting lots of interest from companies wanting to help sell it.

Worldâ€™s best presentation contest â€˜08

Amir — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:39:24 +0000

This one might be a little off topic. Itâ€™s not specifically related to entrepreneurship â€“ but it does look cool and may be of interest.

The relevance of the post below (with the really cool slideshow) is that it was the winner of last years â€˜Worlds best presentation contestâ€™. This years competition closes at the end of the month, some cool prizes are up for grabs, and its a good way to learn the valuable skill of communication.

From the site:

Shift Happens

Amir — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:56:09 +0000

The slideshow (thereâ€™s also a number of video versions on youtube - but as far as I can tell this is the original) has been around for an age. But itâ€™s still got some powerful messages.

There is a reason behind why Iâ€™ve decided to post it - method to my madness â€“ but this will be revealed at a later date. Probably tomorrow.

In any case, click through, and enjoy!

Global Security Challenge Competition

Amir — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:38:37 +0000

A shout out about the Global Security Challenge competition. Which, as far as I can tell, is the most lucrative competition in the world.

A whopping $500,000 US up for grabs!

From their site
â€˜The purpose of this annual competition is to help young startups and ideas succeed in the security field. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to get your ideas in front of investors, media, government and industry leaders.

Mobile Publishing

Amir — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:45:11 +0000

Just a quick word regarding an event on tomorrow (Tues 8/7) evening.

About the mobile phone as a content medium, and the emerging market it is becoming.

It sounds interesting, and free to boot!

Check out the calendar for details.

Posted by Amir @ 9:25am, 7/7.

Bootstrapping

Amir — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:13:09 +0000

Came across this article just a second ago.

I can't work out if it's funny or for real (courtesy of bootsrappingblog.com):

'10 things your small business can learn from cage fighting'

Bootstrapping involves a lot of thinking outside the box and this post is no different. Cage fighting has grown in popularity in the recent year or so and since Iâ€™ve been a fan for 6-7 years now, it was the perfect time to talk about how cage fighting (mixed martial arts, the UFC, WEC, ect) can relate to small business.

Entrepreneur on Campus

Amir — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:23:02 +0000

Not too long ago I posted about Steve Sammartino; marketing lecturer at uni, founder of Rentoid, and author of a global top 20 entrepreneurs blog to boot!

Steve recently gave an interview on hatcthat (a site that interviews entrepreneurs â€“ started by Ross Hill, student entrepreneur currently studying RMITâ€™s entrepreneurship course).

Steveâ€™s quite a character, and the interview is entertaining. You can find it at http://www.hatchthat.com/steve-sammartino-from-rentoid/

My favourite part would have to be:

University of Melbourne team finalists in vic pitch 08!

Amir — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:42:53 +0000

Best of luck to Cinergix who have been announced as a finalist for the Victorian Pitch â€™08 competition.

Cinergix entered into the recently completed MUEC competition where they won 2nd place overall!

For those of you interested in watching some live pitches (itâ€™s a good learning experience if youâ€™ve never seen/done it before), you can watch the guys pitch on August 7, between 2 and 5pm, at the Treasury Theatre.

Event attendees can register online at www.pitch08.com.au

Posted by Amir @ 10am, 30/6.

Flogd interview - Part 3

Amir — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:07:46 +0000

This is the final (and probably my favourite!) part of my interview with Flogd CEO Phillip Kingston.

We hear Phillipâ€™s great definition of what entrepreneurship means to him.

Followed by some nuggets of wisdom heâ€™s picked up during his experiences in business. â€“ Some really good advice for people thinking about starting their own thing.

Young Australian Entrepreneurs

Amir — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:30:05 +0000

Australian Anthill is one of the few magazines dedicated to the Australian entrepreneurship scene.

In their latest edition, they profile 30 up and coming entrepreneurs under 30 years of age. Itâ€™s an interesting cross-section of the types of organisations young people start. But by no means a exhaustive list.

Check it out at the link below.

http://www.anthillonline.com/article_detail.php?id=684

Posted by Amir @ 1:45pm, 23/6.

Events, resources, and members.

Amir — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:13:13 +0000

A new event - on this Wednesday - has been updated on the Calendar.

Also check out the resources page (if you haven't already), its got a good introductory video for successful start-ups, a more detailed ebook for the same topic, and a link to a global platform for entrepreneurial students - started by a couple of people from Harvard.

Lastly, the members section was updated a while ago. Sign up for the reasons mentioned on the page!

Posted by Amir @ 1:30pm, 22/6.

Second installment of my interview with Phillip Kingston, CEO of Flogd.com

Amir — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:10:17 +0000

Part 2 of my interview with Phillip Kingston, com/science student and co-founder of Flogd.com.

In this part Phillip talks about how he and Edward came up with the idea, which all started from a simple observation from Ed â€“ interesting that itâ€™s normally the simple ones, the ones that make you think â€˜why didnâ€™t I think of thatâ€™ that work.

A couple of minutes in and we hear how they went down the wrong path for almost 2 months before finally getting a key insight about their customers.

Risking it all

Amir — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:40:31 +0000

Not that any of you will see this in time...

There is a show on SBS in 5 minutes. About a group of entrepreneurs starting a fish and chip restaurant. It's actually better than it sounds. It was a four part series, and tonight is the final part.

Would have mentioned it earlier but it totally slipped my mind.

Posted by Amir @ 7:55pm, 18/6.

Pitch '08

Amir — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:30:10 +0000

Quick reminder.

Deadline for the Victorian Pitching competition closes tomorrow.

If you wanna register go see: http://pitch08.com.au/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&...

From their site.

"Vic Pitch â€˜08 is a pitching competition with real results, but it is also an opportunity for businesses and startups to learn from pitching their business proposition to a panel of industry experts and investors.

Part 1 of Interview with student entrepreneur Phillip Kingston, CEO of Flogd.com

Amir — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:50:12 +0000

Ok.

I give you Part 1 of my interview with Phillip Kingston. CEO of Flogd.com.

In this first part we hear Phillip discuss his previous experience leading up to starting Flogd. Noting that aside from his own experiences, itâ€™s more about drawing the right experiences from whatever you do. Even if the particular task isnâ€™t overly related to business. There tends to be transferable skills from much of life.

A few minutes in and we move onto his first start-up before flogd. Zitaki â€“ an online fashion retailer.

This was instrumental for his understanding when starting flogd.

Flogd Preview

Amir — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:24:23 +0000

With minutes of Friday to spare, I'll finally upload this post.

Not that there is much special about this post - but it was my first effort at creating and uploading a video. Not much of an achievement for some, but a giant leap for my kind...

Now, before we get into the good stuff, namely my interview with Phillip Kingston from Flogd.com

Here is a quick video of Flogd, what the site looks like, and what it does. Just so you can get your head around the conversation that follows.

Bon appetite!

Student Entrepreneur

Amir — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:20:50 +0000

My apologies.

It's been at least a few days since the last post... I'll leave to your imagination the reasons why.

For now, I offer a link
http://omnisio.com/startupschool08/david-heinemeier-hansson-at-startup-s...

Interesting talk about making money online.

Also, coming shortly - by that I hope to have the first installment up tomorrow - will be a talk I had with Phillip Kingston, co-founder of flogd.com

Entrepreneur on Campus

Amir — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:06:27 +0000

Been a bit slow these last few days â€“ cramming for exams like all good students.

On Friday I caught up with Steve Sammartino, founder, author, and global marketing lecturer at the University to boot!

[This was a surprise, given the universities implicit preference to theory over practice, reflected in the pedigree of most lecturers].

Heâ€™s currently working on his startup Rentoid, which he launched early â€™07. He also writes about his journey in his blog over at www.startupblog.wordpress.com â€“ his blog gets upward of 20,000 people a month!

Interview with Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson

Mark — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:44:51 +0000

Last Friday after our innovation workshop I was able to sit down with Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson.

His main message throughout the interview is for young entrepreneurs to "have a go", and not worry about failure. You'll have plenty of chances to get it right, especially if you're still at uni! He also recommends the Internet as being an excellent way for students with little capital to have their first attempt at business.

The MUEC Review

Amir — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:05:39 +0000

Alrighty, weâ€™ve finally rolled up our sleeves and written the review (by we I mean me, ditto our-my).

Some hard data.

For starters, there were approximately 22.4 teams (plus/minus .4 rounding error) who entered the competition.

7 of these teams came from the undergraduate track, which involved an earlier round, to which 15 teams of unimelb undergraduates entered (for those of us whose maths isnâ€™t that sharp. 8 teams from the undergraduate track didnâ€™t proceed to the first round of MUEC).

Student Entrepreneur - Linda Kowalski

Amir — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:13:21 +0000

Today I had the pleasure of chatting with the delightful Linda Kowalski - a 3rd Year comm/arts student, & founder of Beep2run.

For those of you who didnâ€™t catch Linda in the previous edition of the Unimelb voice. Beep2run is a concept that combines exercise and fashion (in a manner of speaking).

Global Security Challenge

Amir — Sat, 31 May 2008 03:10:39 +0000

Business plan competitions are coming into fashion. Most every major university has their own competition, and many organisations are starting to catch on and host their own.

Still, relatively few - at least that I know of - are open competitions.

One big one, that's open to the world, is the Global Security Challenge. Details are below:

----
The Global Security Challenge Competitions 2008

Studentbusinesses.com

Amir — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:54:14 +0000

Recently, I stumbled upon this site www.studentbusinesses.com â€“ run by a couple of kids from Harvard University.

Their site is focused on helping student entrepreneurs from around the world network and get feedback from one another, as well as accessing service providers such as investors and IT firms.

After a quick correspondence with the founders, weâ€™ve agreed to work together in promoting the site in Australia â€“ with our very own section once a critical mass is reached!

Pitch '08 and other events

Amir — Mon, 26 May 2008 23:08:46 +0000

Some of the goings on around Melbourne for us entrepreneurial types:

"Victorians with a bright business idea can now engage in a major event designed to connect innovative business ventures with development capital as part of Energise Enterprise 08 â€“ Victoriaâ€™s Small Business Festival and have the chance to win prizes to the value of over $60,000.

Vic Pitch â€˜08 will take place at the Treasury Theatre, Melbourne on Thursday, 7 August, 2008. The application deadline is Monday, 9 June, 2008 and applicants and event attendees can register online at www.pitch08.com.au ."

What's up with our Uni?

Amir — Sun, 25 May 2008 05:41:30 +0000

As many of you may have heard me harp on. Entrepreneurship is a small phenomena in Australia. A small (but growing!) following amongst students is slowly getting it into mainstream.

Innovation Workshop Review

Amir — Sat, 24 May 2008 05:53:52 +0000

Yesterday we ran our first 'event' for the year!

An excellent talk by Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson, co-founder of the school of thinking, author of many books, and consultant to companies world-wide.

Some interesting insights from the workshop. With liberty, some key takeaways for mind was:
- The importance of doing. Don't wait for things to be perfect - they never are. Get them decent and run with them.

Innovation Workshop Tomorrow!

Amir — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:27:28 +0000

Never thought I'd be guilty for writing fluff as an excuse for promoting things. But then...

I guess really if you're reading this (in time for tomorrow) you already know about the event.

In which case, rather then bore you - further - by repeating the details. I'll give you a link to one of my all-time favorite writer's on creativity. Hugh MacLeod, over at gapingvoid.com is a former marketing exec, who has risen to alternative rockstar status for drawing cartoons on the back of business cards.

Innovation and Creativity

Amir — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:30:50 +0000

A quick link to get you in the mood for Friday's workshop.

I know many of you wish to be more creative/innovative (I know I do).

Personally, my first reaction for this shortcoming is to look for someone (other then myself) to blame...

Looks like schools might be a key reason.

MUEC awards

Amir — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:52:33 +0000

Well done to all the MUEC competitors.

The business plan competition - which began last November. Finally concluded last night. With the winners announced.

Results were:
1st Place - Zudio Music
2nd Place - Cinergix
3rd Place - Infomedica
1st Undergrad - Nudge
2nd Undergrad - Moving Media

A fantastic effort to all involved, particularly the undergraduate teams - who beat alot of more experienced opposition to make their way into the finals.

Young Entrepreneurs Networking

Amir — Sun, 11 May 2008 21:20:37 +0000

Just a reminder for you today.

Tomorrow night (Tuesday the 13th), The Hive - a group of young people interested in starting entrepreneurial ventures - is meeting. They have a guest speaker (Simon Crowe) coming in to talk about his experiences of starting up a successful business. For those of you who don't like surprises, he's the guy behind Grill'd.

For those of you who do like surprises, don't read above...

You can find out more info on the calendar page. Or register at their website thehive.org.au
A few of us from student entrepreneurs will be there too.

Startup Skills

Amir — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:15:23 +0000

Take a look at the following steps/skills. Think about the process, what it's describing.

- Creating the vision and values, what you do and more importantly, why you do it.
- Finding, evaluating, and recruiting people who have a diverse set of skills that fit with your goals.
- Design an apprenticeship program too train new people, quickly.
- Orchestrate a group strategy to execute goals.

And finally (perhaps the most difficult of all).

- Keep everything running.

Pimp my Mind

Amir — Mon, 05 May 2008 08:39:26 +0000

Well here it is.

The moment you've all been waiting for.

The big announcement. The crescendo of almost a whole weeks anticipation.

Our first official event of the year!

Pimp my Mind - A Creativity and Innovation workshop by Dr. Michael Hewitt-Gleeson; co-founder of the School of Thinking (check out his site at http://www.schoolofthinking.org/ ), and co-creator of the 6 thinking hats with Edward de Bono.

More details on this event will be made available when known. It will be sometime later this month, it may or may not cost to attend, but it's definitely not one to miss.

Global Student Entrepreneur Competition

Amir — Sun, 04 May 2008 05:52:09 +0000

Just came across this article.
http://131.170.40.30/browse;ID=2k744vg9jrrn

Story of an RMIT student who entered the GSEA (www.gsea.org) competition last year, made it to the finals in Chicago, and came 7th!

(Warning- grotesque university bigot-ism coming up).

If an RMIT guy can come seventh, imagine what someone from Melbourne can do...

Student Entrepreneurs

Amir — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:19:10 +0000

What a week its been! Aside from the fact that itâ€™s $%#^ freezing, itâ€™s also the start of a whole heap of activities for the month of May.

Innovation festival kicks off around Australia, the Melbourne launch is on the 8th. Coinciding with this a bunch of different companies shop there wares by putting on free workshops and seminars. Weâ€™ve done our best to document them, so have a look at the calendar too check them out.

The Journey

Amir — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:45:48 +0000

I stumbled upon this great article about entrepreneurship. A must read if you are looking for some insight into the mindset of an entrepreneur. The title of the article 'The Journey is the Reward' sums up what the piece is about, but definitely check it out for yourself.
http://luvspain.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/the-journey-is-the-reward/

In other news, a few of the student entrepreneur members (an exclusive group at the moment) are working towards putting on a workshop with a special speaker - and take my word for it, this guy is special!

Business Skills Workshop

Amir — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:55:32 +0000

RMIT's Business Skills workshop is on this Monday.

It's part of their business plan competition, but it's free for anyone to attend. The competition itself is also open to anyone - with the exception that one team member must be affiliated to RMIT.

For some of you thinking about an idea, the first round entry is pretty basic (a two-pager about your idea, they provide the template), and it's not a bad mechanism to get some feedback on your idea.

You don't have to enter the comp to check out the workshops though. You can find more info on the calendar.

Inaugural Entrepreneurs Project!

Amir — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:30:27 +0000

HB, a founding member of Student Entrepreneurs, is spearheading the first venture to come out of the club.
Read his message below, and come down this Friday at 2pm (meeting at South Lawn) to be involved.

---
Fellow Entrepreneurs,

I am absolutely brimming with excitement because I have some great news for
you.

As you all know we have our website launch just recently. It is not much yet
but just you wait and see.

The second but very significant news is that we will be launching our
inaugural entrepreneurs project this coming week...and you are invited!

Top 10 reasons to start a business at uni

Amir — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:03:56 +0000

10. A more impressive story.
9. No family to take care of, mortgage to pay etc.
8. Aren't oppressed by the system i.e. can still think 'outside the box'.
7. No fat paycheck to walk away from.
6. Ignorance is bliss.
5. Can't lose what you don't have.
4. Free resources at your fingertips.
3. Ability to live like a hobo
2. Plenty of time to do it again if you fail.
1. You're at uni now.

I'd encourage you to add, but comments aren't enabled. Email if you like amir@agentsofchange.com.au
But know that I am aware I lifted most of these from somewhere else on the net.

The Entrepreneurial Investment Club (EIC)

Amir — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:01:28 +0000

The EIC is a club run by some students at the University of Melbourne.
They are interested in both entrepreneurship and share markets, ie. taking over the world at a profit.

MUEC Semi-final report.

Amir — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:27:06 +0000

As promised, a report on the MUEC semi-finals last week (might be two weeks back now that I think about it!).

8 teams had made it to the semi-finals, including a record 3 undergraduate teams. They had all submitted fully fledged business plans, as painful as that can be. The next step was to brave the judges, with a pitch, followed by a Q & A session.

Sustainability

Amir — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:04:52 +0000

Suffice to say, Sustainability is a land-mine of opportunity for entrepreneurship.

The old world (big business), hindered by shareholders and short term profit maximising, is too big and cumbersome to take advantage of the 'cleantech' revolution.

The area (sustainability) can go one of two ways; Either it's like the dotcom bubble, with hordes of money flooding into it, way too fast, and unfounded. Until it pops. OR, and it is a big or, it slowly - relative to the dotcom at least - evolves into the done thing in economy/society. Option two seams far more likely in my opinion.

Business Planning

Amir — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:01:05 +0000

I found an interesting link. This one in particular, regarding business plans, is rather poignant.

http://forum.belmont.edu/cornwall/archives/008628.html

A lot of the focus recently has been on the Melbourne University Entrepreneurial Challenge - for those who donâ€™t know, it is a business plan competition, run for the last eight years by the Melbourne Business School.

EIC Guest Speaker

Amir — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:47:19 +0000

A quick update. The Entrepreneurial Investment Club is having their final event for the semester. It's on this Friday from 2:15, check out the calendar section for more details. Last week they had the guys who founded flogd.com, an online app for myspace, bloggers, facebook etc. The flogd guys are current University of Melbourne students, hopefully we can get them in for a few words, for those who missed it.

MUEC semi-finalist interviews

Julie — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:44:16 +0000

Here's a few quick words with some of the semi-finalists during the pitching workshop held last month. The semi-final pitches actually went down last Thursday - we'll have an update of how the night went a little later this week.

Pitching Workshop at the Melbourne Business School, 7 March 2008

Julie — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:54:54 +0000

Lawyer, banker, consultant and now Investment Director, Drew Williams has all the skills and knowledge that any young entrepreneur would kill for, but wouldn't dream of settling for! In an evening that brought together young students with fresh ideas for fresh change, who better to learn all about the do's and don'ts of pitching a business plan than one of the judges & mentors themselves - Drew Williams.

Introducing the Blog

Julie — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 05:20:50 +0000

There's a whole universe of changeagents out there, looking to share information and ideas, and our numbers are swelling by the day. As everyone does their bit, it's important to find out allies and heroes, to share insights and inspire others.

This blog is the who, what, how, and why, that's changing the world at the University of Melbourne.