1. National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA)
2. Queensland University of Technology – Creative Industries Faculty (QUT)

We’re excited to announce that Opera Australia is one of our latest Founding Customers. This is a notable strategic win for StageBitz as Opera Australia is an internationally recognised performing arts company, and the largest theatre company in Australia with tremendous influence in the industry.

We have customers lined up from the major professional performing arts companies and tertiary trainers who will sign up for the next version of StageBitz that includes the multi-product feature. This feature is strongly desired by the industry, and enables the management of more than one user working on multiple productions at any one time.

It’s not just the producers and tertiary trainers in the entertainment industry taking an interest in StageBitz, but media and industry bodies are following our progress. The Australian Design Production Guild, the national body representing stage and screen design professionals, recently wrote about StageBitz.

Watch the StageBitz product screencast.

Working with Pollenizer will give you access to the Finance and Ops Team who get stuck in, set up your company, open a Saasu account and an online filing system full of processes, procedures, budgets and financial reports that will be a very valuable asset when your business is ready for investment at Series A level.

At the closing stages of completing an investment round for serious money from the big guys you will embark on the Due Diligence (DD) journey. Generally, there will be tight deadlines to make in order to make this happen and get the cash in the bank or potentially watch everything you have sweated tears over in getting your business to that stage fall over because you have run out of money to get to the next level.

At Pollenizer our Finance and Ops Team use:

• Saasu
• Google Docs
• Dropbox
• Harvest
• Evernote
• Yammer
• Right Signature
• 1Password

It’s a great read but page 9 really struck a chord with me.

I get asked a lot, “Your business card format is very simple. Aren’t you worried about somebody ripping it off?” Standard answer: Only if they can draw more of them than me, better than me.

Many entrepreneurs are nervous about sharing their idea at the risk of someone stealing it.

The truth is, they won’t have the passion that you do and that is the key to success. (Or they may not even understand your idea.) No one succeeds at something they do half-heartedly.

This passion makes all the sacrifices, long hours, sleepless nights and hard work worthwhile.

So what is the lesson for this chapter?

Doing anything worthwhile takes forever. Ninety percent of what separates successful people and failed people is time, effort and stamina.

Do you agree with High’s stance on sharing your idea?

However, Jeffrey Bussgang recommends that these are the kinds of questions you should ask yourself:

• Do you have an idea that no one can talk you out of?
• Do you have a partner you trust with complimentary skills?
• Are you prepared to endure with modest or no salary for a few years?
• Are you bored with your current work environment/life situation?
• Do you perform best in the absence of structure?

If you can confidently answer these, why not apply for Pollenizer’s Startup Bootcamp 2011 (Sydney)?

There are two parts to our application process.

The first is a quick survey.

The second is a brief video pitch – Once we’ve received your quick survey information, we can email the link the video pitch.

Sydney, Australia, 14th January 2011 – Pollenizer today announced that it ranked Number 38th on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific 2010, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in Asia Pacific.  Rankings are based on percentage revenue growth over three years.

Pollenizer grew 818.766 percent during this period.

“Making the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 is commendable in today’s highly competitive technology industry,” said Yoshitaka Asaeda , Deloitte Japan partner in charge of the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific program. “We congratulate on being one of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in the region.”

Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific selection and qualifications

The Technology Fast 500 list is compiled from the Deloitte Asia Pacific Technology Fast 50 programs, nominations submitted directly to the Technology Fast 500, and public company database research. To qualify for the Technology Fast 500, entrants must have had base-year operating revenues of at least US$ 50,000.

Entrants must also be public or private companies headquartered in Asia Pacific and must be a “technology company,” defined as a company that develops or owns proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company’s operating revenues; or manufactures a technology-related product; or devotes a high percentage of effort to the research and development of technology.  Using other companies’ technology in a unique way does not qualify.

Pollenizer has been named a Finalist in Anthill Magazine’s Fifth Annual Cool Company Awards, a national program developed in 2006 to recognise Australian companies that are doing things differently to bring about positive change.

Over 700 aspiring ‘cool companies’ were nominated for the 2010 awards, making ‘The Cools’ one of Australia’s largest business awards programs. The winners will be announced at an award’s function on Thursday 16 December 2010 and published on AnthillOnline.com.

“The Cool Company Awards are extremely egalitarian,” said James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine. “Previous winners have included two-person start-ups, not-for-profit social enterprises, large private companies and publicly-listed corporations.”

“Judging takes into account far more than mere business variables, such as revenue and wealth. The criteria is geared to consider other qualities, from the disruptive nature of the product or service to the culture of the organisation.”

“Applicants either nominated themselves or were nominated by peers, work colleagues, family, friends and other ‘admirers’. A field of hundreds was examined (and cross-examined) before our judges were able to isolate three Finalists for each of our seven categories.”

The program will conclude with an end of year bash, on 16 December 2010, in Melbourne.

What are Cool Company Awards?

The Cool Company Awards was launched in 2006 as a way for Anthill Magazine to publicly acknowledge and celebrate Australian organisations that are doing things differently to bring about positive change. In its fifth year, the awards attracted nominations for over 700 organisations, making it among the largest business award programs in Australia.

What is Anthill Magazine?

AnthillOnline.com is a digital business magazine that celebrates creativity, inspiration and commercial ingenuity, providing a fresh, exciting and practical perspective on Australian business in a global world. It is among the Top 50 Business & Finance websites in Australia, as ranked by Nielsen Online Ratings, and is home to the Cool Company Awards, the 30under30 and the Smart 100. It’s where ideas and business meet.

If you need venture capital to shift your startup into its next fast-growth phase then Innovation Bay’s upcoming Angel Dinner in Sydney might be for you.

If you are interested in coming to the dinner, have funds to invest or represent a company that is looking to invest in early stage companies, you should contact the Innovation Bay team on info@innovationbay.com.

“From the last 5 dinners over $6m in funding has been raised as a direct consequence of companies pitching at the dinner.  The dinner enables entrepreneurs to pitch in a supportive environment, in front of an audience of technology experienced angel investors and advisors”, say Ian Gardiner and Phaedon Stough, Innovation Bay co-founders.

1. What: Innovation Bay Angel Dinner
2. When: September 21st 2010
3. Location: Table for Twenty in Surry Hills, Sydney
4. What do I have to do? Submit a 90 second video elevator pitch in any video format and send to info@innovationbay.com
5. Application Deadline: 5 pm, Tuesday 14th September 2010
6. Full details: www.innovationbay.com

See you there!

In the first half of the 4 hour workshop we worked on customer discovery (micro-segments, customer values, creating 10 X value). We iterated on this process to create a focused customer development plan. See below. We then pitched the concept to a group of colleagues who liked the idea. That evening we ran a fun market validation exercise around the original business concept – Dares for Dollars. Mick copped a few cream pies in the face.

Customer Development Model

On Monday Chris and the team arrived ready to refine the model above and get cracking on an implementation plan. Within the first hour, the workshop ended. Chris had the weekend to think about his business and changed his mind. He decided he didn’t want to pursue the Pledgespace idea any further.

He failed. This is a good thing. For the modest cost of a Pollenizer focus workshop, Chris has saved himself time and money  building out an idea ‘to spec’ as he originally envisaged and one that he wasn’t passionate about.

Chris has gone through a valuable experience and it highlights that starting a web business and learning to be an entrepreneur requires an enormous head shift, discarding old mental models to learn new principals. It can feel a bit like you are in kindergarten all over again.

What did Chris learn about this experience? You can read below.

From Chris Gray, June 2010:

Hi Guys

I have had some time to think about stuff and reflect on the process and what I have learnt from meeting you guys in Sydney.

To be honest I found the entire process overwhelming.  This would be quite personal as I think it has allot to do with my background, environment  and support network as opposed to the process itself.

I understand the process (as much as I can after 1 weekend) and immediately saw the mistakes I had made along the way. I can still see the value in the concept but can also see the risks and challenges that would need to be mounted along the way and am not prepared to take them.

It comes down to what I said on the day, I don’t know or feel confident enough that I have a strong enough platform on which to build. If I had a history of activism, daring and change facilitation then it would be a different story.

The positive things (things I did like)

1. The feeling that there is MORE to life and the ability to actually make stuff happen
2. The importance and value of having a network and utilising that network
3. The awesome people (Mick, Luke, Jo, Lesley-Ann, Rob Antulov, Wayne Bosley) who I got to meet and talk to
4. The excitement and energy that the process gives you (you guys will never get bored J)
5. The idea that a business is about being dynamic, learning, pivoting and iterating.

The negative things (things I didn’t like)

1. The willingness to “Burn people” in order to learn.  I do understand this but am not entirely comfortable with the “smoke and mirrors” approach.  I like to be 100% transparent as a rule
2. The idea that you put yourself out there to be judged knowing you are wrong just to learn.  Again I understand now why it is necessary and love the fact that this is dynamic and exciting. But at the same time I don’t like to do stuff that I know is wrong, even if I can get something out of it.  It comes back again to the fact that I am transparent, genuine and honest. (Or at least I try to be J)
3. The feeling of being on the outside looking in.

Next steps for me …

1. Find some other people, build a new network that contains more successful, dynamic people such as yourselves
2. Find a concept that I know (not just love) and make it happen
3. Follow through on my ideas… too many times I have gotten almost to the “tipping point” and then bailed out

I would like to thank all of you guys for your time, input, honesty and feedback.

As far as my venture into the web startup world, I can honestly say that I enjoyed it immensely and definitely feel I chose the right people to talk to in Pollenizer.  I can see what you do, understand your approach and how you will continue to be successful.

Given an opportunity I would love to work with any or all of you in the future.

I hope to encounter and meet all of you in some capacity again

Regards

Chris

Mick Liubinskas’ reply to Chris:

Thanks Chris. Fantastic email. Greatly appreciated.

A quick note on ‘burning people’. It sounds worse than it’s supposed to. I guess the key principle here is that we know we’re not going to be perfect day one, so we might have to disappoint or not satisfy some people. There is a tendency to hold it back until it’s right, but the dilemma is that we won’t work out if it’s right until we get it out there in front of real customers.

This relates heavily to points 2 and 3 below.

Looking forward to your next venture and I hope we can work together in the future.

Thanks,
Mick Liubinskas

This week Pollenizer launched Startup Bootcamp to help people like Chris learn the principals of web business startups.”Focus or Fail, it’s that simple”…

Failure if part of life and business. As a community of new and experienced entrepreneurs, why don’t we start sharing more of these stories with our own community and see what happens.

Big thanks to Chris for being willing to share his experience with our community. If you are involved in the startup scene in Perth, get in touch with Chris, he’d love to hear from new and experienced web entrepreneurs.

You can contact Chris Gray on chris@madicus.com.

At present there are over 400 million active users of Facebook worldwide, and 50% of those active users log on daily (Facebook Press room).

So it’s no surprise that businesses are now using Facebook groups and pages to promote their goods and/or services.

But what are the differences between the two? And which is more appropriate for your business?

A quick search tells you that groups allow their members “to connect, share and even collaborate on a given topic or idea.”

Meanwhile, Facebook pages help “define the identities of the people and brands with which you interact.”

But what does this mean in a practical sense? This is what I’ve discovered;

1. Facebook groups are a space designed for personal interaction to harvest deeper discussion between users about a particular topic area. If you want consumers to become more of a community where they can organise themselves and communicate easily, in relation to a particular topic area, then groups are for you.
2. Facebook pages are used to build a fan base for users to congregate to; and where public figures/organisations can broadcast information to their fans. If you’re aiming to create brand or product awareness and want to target specific types of consumers, then pages are for you.

Here is a table outlining more specific differences;

Sam from Blurb.com next to Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House

It’s fun and challenging working with clients in different time zones, so it is good for the relationship when you can catch up in person. Samantha Howe (pictured) from Blurb visited Sydney in March to spend time with the Pollenizer Blurboz team; attend Blurb sponsored events; and catch-up with Blurb’s partners. I interviewed Samantha Howe, Marketing Account Manager (Global Partnerships and Business Development) for the Pollenizer blog.

What is Blurb?

“Blurb is an online print-on-demand creative publishing platform which enables anyone to creatively express their individuality through a professional coffee-table quality book.”

Who is Blurb for?

“Blurb is for everyone! It’s your content in a printable book form. It is your poetry, your design, your writing, your photography.”

Why is Blurb so cool?

“We never say we’re cool but others do. I think it’s because our platform is creative and accessible and there are no boundaries. Blurb.com has worked hard to remove barriers to making a book. We’re passionate about enabling people to see their work published in a book.”

Blurb.com at 2010 Semi-Permanent Sydney Design Conference

What is Pollenizer doing for Blurb?

“Pollenizer is our eyes, ears and voice in Australia and New Zealand. This means the team is actively ‘seeding’ the market, talking about Blurb.com with cultural and creative influencers and organisations, and creating opportunities for Blurb.com in the marketplace.”

Tell us about the range of books in the Blurb bookstore.

“Blurb.com prints a book every 10 seconds. We have over 40,000 titles in our online bookstore. We see all kinds of books – photographs of dogs in bow ties to artist exhibitions to stunning graphical illustration, photography and brand books.  Everyone uses our platform for different purposes: as a business tool, agency creds book, writing fiction, photo books, fund-raising. Some titles do raise our eyebrows. As long as the content is not illegal there’s a market for it.”

Billy Blue Design School Students at Blurb.com Presentation

What have you been doing while you have been in Australia?

The team and I went to Semi-Permanent Creative Conference in Sydney as a sponsor and exhibitor.We spoke to creative professionals and students about Blurb.com can be used for portfolios, story-telling, brand books and more.

During this week we hang out with Blurb partner Art Whats On; caught up with potential partners; and met with local Blurb Nation designers.

I then flew to Fremantle in WA for the launch of month-long photography festival, Foto Freo, where Blurb was a sponsor and I did Magnum Workshop presentations. While we were in town, we ran a meet up for our WA Blurb bookmakers. Over 80 people squeeze into a small Fremantle bar to talk about book-making, share stories and show-off their books.

Melbourne was the last stop to to visit partner Red Bubble and cool global utility bag brand Crumpler.