Following Australian Startups and Tech Trends

Today I would like to introduce Josh Sharp from Melbourne, Founder of Tech Collective - a site that aggregates prominent and up-and-coming Australian bloggers who write about the new generation of the web and related technologies. In a recent email-based chat with him, he explained his future plans and a new venture he is working on, named, Recursive Media § Please tell us about yourself, your background and your interests? I'm a web developer in Melbourne, and up until now have been primarily focused on building web applications for SMEs. I'm interested in where the mobile and cloud computing spaces are going, and how having a 'persistent' link to the web is really going to change people's behaviour. I'm also keenly interested in helping the local startup community grow and develop. § Please tell us about your venture/company? TechCollective is an aggregator of prominent local bloggers in the web startup space. Its aim is to foster the local community and sp...

Today we showcase an exciting and successful venture co-founded by, Mark Harbottle in 2008 from Melbourne, Australia, 99designs - it connects thousands of designers from around the world with clients who need design tasks completed fast, and without the usual high cost and limited choices you get from most traditional design firms. In a recent email-based interview with Mark, he gave insights into his venture and how he is progressing with it. This is what he has to say: • Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests? I’m 34 years old. I have a degree in computer systems engineering. I started my wo rking life as a programmer, but I eventually found I was much better at online marketing, which back in 1995 was an area not many people had explored. I’ve worked with pure internet businesses for 13 years now. The first 4 years after I graduated I worked with one of Australia’s first internet companies, and the last 9 have been spent working on my own businesses. I started...

Today we showcase an exciting and successful venture co-founded in 2000 by Ex-MD, Mal Jago, who now has a digital consultancy business Earworm Consulting, from Sydney, Australia, Coastal Watch - provides accurate surf reports for beaches around Australia and live streaming vision. In a recent email based interview with Mal, he gave insights into this venture. This is what he has to say: • Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests? Spent 15 years as a Foreign exchange Dealer before a sea change in 2000 into Coastalwatch • Please tell us about your venture/company? Surfcams at beaches to provide surf reports and conditions to surfers/boating/ Surf Life Savings • Who are the people behind this and how it started? Chris Lane- Surfer and IT guru wanting to avoid getting up at UNi and wasting his time getting to the beach and find no waves. • How long it took before it was up and running? 1-2 years established 1998. • What services it provides for consumers or customers?...

Today we showcase an exciting and successful technology business co-founded by Cameron Reilly, from Australia,  The Podcast Network - the World's First Podcasting Business. In a recent email-based interview with Cameron, he gave insights into his venture and how he is progressing with it. This is what he has to say: Please tell us about yourself, your background and your interests? I'm 37, stunningly handsome, brilliant, and like long walks on the beach. What is the name of your venture/company? I'm the founder of The Podcast Network , MODM, Geeks Who Care, Twittories and The Church of LOTU. Please tell us about your venture/company? Where to start? The Podcast Network - the world's first podcasting business. We currently produce over 80 podcasts with a monthly audience of about 500,000 people from around the world. MODM - a monthly networking event for the digital media industry Who Care - a charity based on getting geeks together to use their geekful powers for good ...

Today we showcase an exciting and interesting startup from Melbourne, Australia, 2Vouch - a social recruiting site that helps employers and recruiters find hard-to-reach people. It was founded by Riges Younan. I further explored 2Vouch and how Riges is progressing with his venture in a candid interview with him. This is what he has to say: • Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests? I am currently the founder and CEO of 2Vouch a Social Recruiting site. I have over 12 years of professional executive search and recruiting experience gained in Sydney, Melbourne, London and New York. I have been responsible for the successful launch of five start-up recruiting offices for various firms as well as the development and deployment of sophisticated sourcing techniques & processes that lead to superior results for clients. I bring deep industry knowledge and extensive sales, marketing and management experience to 2Vouch. • What is the name of your venture/company? 2Vouch...

Today we showcase an exciting and interesting startup from Sydney, Australia, Sticky Tickets - an online ticketing and event registration web portal. It is co-founded by Matt Freedman, J ay Gaibisso and Dany Gruosso. I further explored Sticky Tickets and how Matt is progressing in a candid interview with him. This is what he has to say: • Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests? I’m Matt Freedman and I’m the CEO of Sticky Tickets , an online ticketing and event registration web portal. We are based in Sydney, Australia and our site currently services all of Australia. I am also the Chairman of eMarketing business Redback Solutions which I founded in 1999. • Who are the people behind this and how it started? The business was co-founded by myself and Sydney entrepreneurs Jay Gaibisso and Dany Gruosso. Jay hired the IMAX during the FIFA World Cup in 2006 to watch Australia v Brazil but couldn’t find a simple-to-use, self-service online system to...

In our ongoing coverage of startups coming out of Australia and interviews with CEOs, Media Personalities, Philanthropists, and VCs, today we showcase a successful venture and an exciting entrepreneur Ben Barren, co-founder of Gnoos - Australia's Largest Blog Search Engine for Consumers and Enterprises. I recently met Ben through our common friend Duncan Riley. I was highly impressed by his breadth of knowledge and enthusiasm. I followed up with him to do an email-based interview with me to explore his thoughts on the progress of his various ventures and new emerging trends. This is what he has to say: • What is the name of your company, the people involved, and can you provide some background on the venture? Red Lion Ventures Pty Ltd owns Feedcorp Pty Ltd and Gnoos Pty Ltd . Red Lion Ventures was co-founded by Michael Leone and Ben Barren. The business has doubled revenue in the last 3 quarters so we’re hitting a real growth spurt. In early 2005 Michael and I believed there wa...

Today we showcase an exciting and interesting startup, in the online business directory search market segment, from Sydney Australia, FreeConnect - An online business directory search with multichannel capability, including VOIP. It was started by John Kennedy and was launched on May 28, 2008. In my view,  FreeConnect is definitely a unique service in the Australian business directories market segment as compared to other players . It has the huge potential to change market forces. It offers consumers a free way to connect with the business of their choice via (multichannel) telephone, email, SMS and VOIP. It is also Australia’s first-ever VOIP online directory service. It allows businesses to post a wide array of information - everything from their address and contact details to product and service information, photographs, payment options, business history and more – all at no cost. The only payment businesses make is for the actual lead when it connects them with a customer l...

In our ongoing coverage of startups coming out of Australia and interviews with CEOs, Media Personalities, Philanthropists, and VCs, today we showcase a startup in the eCommerce segment from Manly, Tjoos.com - Compare Prices For Better Choice While Shopping. It is co-founded by Kim Chen and Bart Jellema. Let us explore how Bart, co-founder of Tjoos.com , is progressing with his venture. This is what he has to say: • Who are the people behind this and how it started? Back in July 2007 my partner and I were looking to purchase contact lenses online. Having done comparison shopping a few times I expected it to be easy to find the lowest price using one of the price comparison sites. We spent all day looking at every comparison site we could find and got some upsetting results. Shopping comparison engines rarely list the lowest price, and if they do it's merely a coincidence. Shopping comparison sites only list stores that pay them, making most sites nothing more than PPC product se...

In our ongoing coverage of startups coming out of Australia and interviews with CEOs, Media Personalities, Philanthropists, and VCs, today we showcase a startup from Melbourne, Australia, to be launched in October, 2008, Trickytix - an online event registration company. Trickytix allows a customer to create an account, set up and style their event page and then begin selling tickets without any manual intervention from us. This is all achieved through a self-service interface. Typical events include lunches, meetings, fun runs, cycling or triathlon events, dinners, conferences, etc etc. It will be running under a closed beta trial with a number of companies from July 2008. Let us explore what Scott, co-founder of Trickytix , has to say about his venture and innovation coming out of Australia. This is what he has to say: • Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests? My name is Scott Handsaker, and I am the Managing Director and co-founder of Trickytix, an online...