Following Australian Startups and Tech Trends

Today we showcase the story of an exciting venture, from Sydney, Australia, infome - Find Anything Nearby from your Mobile, co-founded by Scott Middleton, Andrew Lowe and Brett McDowall. In a recent email-based interview with us, Scott gave insights into how he is managing and juggling. This is what he has to say in his interview with us: • Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests? When I was about 12 - thanks to a book my parents bought me - I found out that I could create web pages, I was so excited I distinctly remember tossing and turning the entire night because I began imagining the possibilities, imagining what I could create; especially how I could build websites for local businesses. A year or two later, still excited and full of enthusiasm I’d learnt how to create mobile games, A well-established local mobile developer bought my first game and it went worldwide – it even made it to a top 20 list for Australian developers. Even now, I still love mobile. I...

Today we showcase the story of an exciting venture, from Melbourne, Australia, Debenu Pty Ltd , Document Management Tools for your Desktop, co-founded by Karl De Abrew. In a recent email-based interview with us, he gave insights into how he is managing and juggling. This is what he has to say in his interview with us: • Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests? I've spent time in my earlier years in the UK, Australia, the US, Ireland, and then back in Australia. I'm an avid technologist and have been for as long as I can remember. Back to the times when people would laugh at me for using a keyboard when they had their trusty ball-point at the ready. I enjoy working with my friends, and consequently, I try to involve them all at some stage in my businesses. I have managed to create a working environment that doesn't feel too much like hard work. Sure, the hours are long, but as an entrepreneur -- well, I've got a great boss. I also get a lot of freedo...

Today we showcase the story of an entrepreneur, Malcolm Allen, from Melbourne, Australia, founder of Glynx - Your World of Private Applications, i.e.; it is software you run on your PC to control your online identities and make your internet private. In a recent email-based interview with us, he gave insights into how he is managing and juggling. This is what he has to say in his interview with us: • How long it took to launch From the first concept to today six years old. We have had several goes at it, realising the problems are far greater than we initially anticipated, both technically and in terms of the competitive intensity. It would be true to say that I am not sure we would have started if we had known how hard it would be (and the amount of sacrifice required). For us it has really been a "force of will" - we are creating a business literally from nothing. We didn't even really believe the meaning of "we don't know what we are getting ourselves into...

In the ongoing coverage of exploring new startups coming out of Australia, today we explore a promising startup - RetailMeNot.com . It is co-founded by Bevan Clark and Guy King of Stateless Systems, Sydney, Australia. In a recent email-based interview with Bevan, he explained how he is progressing with his venture. This is what he has to say: • Please tell us about your venture/company? Stateless Systems is a bootstrapped venture focused on building websites and tools that make the Internet easier to use. Our web properties include: RetailMeNot.com : Find and share coupon codes for thousands of online stores BeatMyPrice.com : A people-powered price comparison engine CushyCMS.com : A super easy hosted content management system OurSignal.com : Social news aggregator and visualizer BugMeNot.com : Bypass compulsory web registration PDFMeNot.com : Takes the hassle out of viewing PDFs online JungleCrazy.com : Browse Amazon products discounted by at least 70% • Who are the people behind thi...

Today we showcase the story of an entrepreneur with 3 successful ventures under his belt, Matthew Ireland, founder of eTradesman.com.au , MineOnline.com.au & LawyerLink.com.au from Sydney, Australia. In a candid interview with us, he explained how as an entrepreneur he is managing and juggling. This is what he has to say in his interview with us : • Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests? I’m Matt Ireland, founder and manager of eTradesman.com.au , MineOnline.com.au & LawyerLink.com.au . Based between Sydney & Newcastle I have a huge passion and interest in the possibilities and developments of the Internet and am always keen to read up on entrepreneurs and people who have been there and done it. Huge sports fan outside of ‘work’ and enjoy a beer with friends and family. • What is the name of your venture/company? Our current portfolio of online businesses includes  eTradesman.com.au , Mi neOnlin e.com.au & LawyerLink.com.au – stay focuse...

I recently did an email-based interview with Emily Freeman, founder of Mobilist , one of the emerging mobile consultants on the Status of Mobile Advertising in Australia. Let's explore what she has to say about this emerging platform and the opportunity: • Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests? My background is a mix of marketing and online. After my Marketing degree, I worked in marketing & product management for companies like Ernst & Young, Fairfax & Microsoft in the UK . I've always been interested in technology - even in 1997 at Fairfax I managed CD-ROM products! In the dot com boom, I worked as a community manager for a startup and luckily ended up in a stable role at Sensis when the crash came. At Sensis, I managed websites like Whereis Online and in 2004 I was offered the opportunity to develop Sensis' first WAP products. Back then there was no mobile industry, so it's exciting to have been part of something from the v...

In the ongoing coverage of exploring new startups coming out of Australia, Today we explore a new initiative by a young entrepreneur, Amir Nissen from Melbourne Australia, Student Entrepreneurs - Agents of Change In a recent email-based chat with Amir, he explained what motivated him to start this initiative. • Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests? Amir Nissen. I'm currently a fifth-year commerce/arts undergraduate at Melbourne uni. Interested in social entrepreneurship mainly, but also raising awareness of entrepreneurship, particularly amongst the student population. • Please tell us about your venture? We run a few initiatives aimed at promoting entrepreneurship on campus. These range from spotlighting some entrepreneurial students on our site to bringing successful entrepreneurs in to talk about their experiences. Our most recent event was 'Entrepreneurs Week' - comprising a series of seminars on various aspects of entrepreneurship, and an inn...

Today we showcase an exciting and successful venture co-founded by David Jones in 2005, ThreatMETRIX - Security for eCommerce Applications. In a recent email-based interview with David, he gave insights into his venture and how he is progressing with it. This is what he has to say: • Please tell us about your venture/company? We created ThreatMetrix to deliver a new layer of security protection specifically for the explosive growth of eCommerce transactions. With the growth of over 20% pa of online credit card transactions and web 2.0 applications now monetizing, the fraudsters have taken advantage of their anonymity on the internet to steal credit cards, fraudulently purchase products and launder money. ThreatMetrix delivers intelligence to eCommerce sites to detect both good customers and fraudsters using stolen identities. • Who are the people behind this and how it started? The founders and core team previously built security products for SurfControl (now WebSENSE) - we saw the u...