Another day, another rip-off: #StopTheRipOff

The Great Australian Rip-off campaign is in full swing as we at Kyco work to bring more attention to the problem with comparison sites. As if to validate our problem statement, Trivago was fined $44 million for misleading customers coming to their site looking for the best price.

My CEO, Trond Smith, appeared on Sky News to explain how this goes beyond travel. Highlighting that outside of comparison tools from consumer groups who compare the whole market, these websites are largely sales engines that will highlight the more profitable deals for them. Not to mention they aren’t always upfront about who owns them and sometimes they are owned by the people they are promoting.

It’s all very shady and very late-stage capitalism to a certain extent. 30% of people are switching, so the 70% who are not switching are in a way bearing the cost of the switchers. But also, the switchers are paying with their time and effort to keep switching. Wouldn’t it be better if we all just save as a collective?

Kyco is trying to be that collective and I am proud to do what I can to make that happen!

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, Brisbane, Australia

Happy New Year!

2018 was a big year for me, what with launching Start with Tinni among other things. 2019 will hopefully be an even bigger year with me. I am currently gearing up for the imminent release of Your Happy Place App on the Google Play Store. I also recently joined JOSARI to help them launch their app on the iOS store. But the biggest thing I am looking forward to in 2019, is the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, that’s set to take place in QUT from February 2-8, 2019.

The Bootcamp gives attendees the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of starting a new venture. Problem specification, customer, solution, business model, pitching, all supported by hands-on coaching. So in that respect, it is similar to the Startup Weekends I have attended previously. But with a more formal and academic component, given it is run by MIT.

The founder and CEO of one of the startups I am currently working with attended the boot camp in 2018 and spoke very highly of the experience. So, although the tuition of the program is about USD 6,500, I decided that the price tag was worth it.

There is a pre-boot camp checklist. The list includes reading,

1. Disciplined Entrepreneurship by Bill Aulet

2. Made to Stick by Dan & Chip Heath

3. Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink

4. Talking to Humans by Gliff Constable

I intend to write and publish a short post here as I finish the books, so look forward to that in the coming month. I also have to complete a few online modules from Edge Edx. I am going to have to get started on that, and I have already started the “deep dive” courses offered by MIT as part of the Bootcamp.

I am excited. A bit scared because of my issues with low iron, which leads to energy issues. But I am going to work on it during January, along with the reading list and the online modules!

Techstars Startup Weekend Brisbane 2018

This weekend, around the world, TechStars Startup Weekend is back on. This weekend was targeted towards women, although it is not exclusive to women. Men could come along and join if they wanted. I am not taking part, but I did turn up for Friday night initial pitches. I also gave a pitch, but I didn't do any recruiting for canvased for votes obviously. I mostly enjoyed listening to the pitches.

So where the pitches different from the Startup Weekend in November? Not as much as I thought they would be. There were three extremely similar pitches for fashion related startups that centered around customisation and ethical fashion. There were a few start-up ideas around caregiving, including ideas about making elderly parents more comfortable with technology. However, what surprised me were how many startup ideas centred around financial education and financial freedom. There were, however, no obvious winning ideas among the pitches.

What I mean is that during the November Startup Weekend, it was pretty obvious that the Pegasus Equine Management was a slam dunk unless something went wrong. The idea got the most votes, was the biggest team and it was obvious the lady who pitched already knew going in that there was a market for it. Most importantly, she already had the contacts to break into the market if she could just get a product together. The only idea that approached Pegasus, in terms of known gap in the market and industry connection, this time around was "Florist Connect", but it just didn't have the traction among those who were attending.

Anyway, I handed my card to a few people who I thought I could collaborate with in the future but I am not sure if anything will come of it. It probably would have been better if I could stick around and taken part but between travelling for much of January and a recent bout of illness, I didn't feel I would have the energy to contribute effectively. But I have already signed up for the March Startup Weekend, which has a focus on creativity, including IoT. So I think it might be a good venue to pitch some of my wearable ideas.