The Value of Business Planning in a Web Startup

Blog on March 8th, 2010 0 Comments

I often get asked what’s the real value of ‘theoretical’ type business planning for a nascent start-up. The question that usually pops up is: why would anyone want to spend time painstakingly planning when circumstances are so uncertain?
Questioning planning is only natural. After all planning takes time, the output is ‘soft’ and generally slows down [...]

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Its been a big year

The Year That Was 2009

Blog, Promoted on December 7th, 2009 0 Comments

It’s been a big year at the Pollenizer hive and we wanted to celebrate it with a book, beautifully crafted by our friends at Blurb.

We’re now a team of 60 people, operating across 8 countries who have helped over 60 web businesses to grow.

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What’s on for Global Entrepreneurship Week

Blog on November 16th, 2009 0 Comments

Global Entrepreneurship Week kicks off in Sydney this week from 16 until 22 November. The week is a worldwide initiative to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. Events throughout the week provide useful getting-started information and networking opportunities for innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs.
     

If you have even a passing interest then I recommend checking out some [...]

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Investors Can Cause Companies to Fail

Blog on October 28th, 2009 0 Comments

Here’s an idea for you. I call it ‘The Inverse Law of Ambition’.
Founders who focus, obsessively, on small things seem more likely to grow massive companies.
Founders that focus on growing huge without paying attention to the small things, fail.
Facebook is the best example of this rule in action. Even today, it is clear that [...]

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Startup Momentum & Rock Stars with Steve Sammartino

Blog on October 20th, 2009 0 Comments

Guest blog post by Steve Sammartino from Rentoid. Steve is also hosting a Startup School in Melbourne (Nov 7-8) and Sydney (Nov 21-22). It’s highly recommended by me (Mick) as Steve has great, real experience buildings startups – with success and failures – and combines it with tornado strength passion. Don’t miss it. I’ll try [...]

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Pitching to America

Blog on September 11th, 2009 0 Comments

A message to our Sydney-based startup friends. Pollenizer is sponsoring Coming to America event, now on Thursday, October 15, 2009 from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
Rich venture environments exist where there is a pool of successful entrepreneurs re-investing back into the kind of businesses that they understand. The guys at Mitchellake are a unique bridge [...]

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The Difference Between a Functioning Product and a Working Business

Blog on June 17th, 2009 0 Comments

A quick video from me on the (big, big, big) difference between a product that actually functions and a business that really works.

Roughly;

Getting the product to ‘function’ means you can use it.
Getting the business to ‘work’ means that you optimise it so that it creates lots of value.

And my rough guide for your budget;

20% – [...]

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Our Man in Europe: Amir Suissa Joins Us

Blog on May 3rd, 2009 0 Comments

We’ve been working a lot in Europe for the past year and the time has come for us to pitch a tent on the ground. I am really pleased to announce that Amir Suissa has joined our team and will operate a Pollenizer HQ out of Zurich, Switzerland.
Like all Pollenizer people, he is kind of [...]

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Know Your Business with Agile Business Intelligence

Blog on March 19th, 2009 0 Comments

Businesses offering software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications acquire hundreds (or thousands) of new customers per week and generate an incredible amount of data from resulting transactions. It is common-place to see software platforms that service thousands of customers each week, with each interaction leaving a trail of data that tells something about the health of your business.
Hidden [...]

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Pre-Framing a Pitch To Stop The Demons

Blog on November 3rd, 2008 0 Comments

(Before I start, I just want to say that this is a new idea and it still needs some exploring, so help me flesh out before eating my flesh)*
Whilst having a sushi/beer dinner with Atari Boy last night, we were talking about how sometimes you have an idea, flesh it out, then as you start [...]

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