Our week at Google Australia kicked off with our call for Sydney to build a Silicon Beach, and last night we brought over 200 aspiring Aussie entrepreneurs together at the first Google Sudo event near our offices in Pyrmont. We also streamed the event over a Google+ Hangout On Air, taking questions from a virtual audience that even included one entrepreneur from regional Queensland! You can catch up on the video of the event on YouTube.
As we announced a few weeks ago, Google Sudo is a new initiative that we hope will help create a robust and supportive ecosystem for start-ups and provide access to the insights, advice, and contacts that entrepreneurs need to succeed. Last night’s event focused on incubation and venture capital, led by entrepreneurs Mike Fox & Mike Knapp from Shoes of Prey (and former Googlers); angel investor Vivian Stewart from Sydney Angels; and VC Bill Bartee from Southern Cross Venture Partners.
The conversation was as lively as we expected, covering such topics as:
- Staying in Australia vs going to Silicon Valley. Our panelists were in favour of staying put, for reasons ranging from the benefits of having your personal network nearby and easily accessible; to taking the time to prove your product and build the foundations of your business before making the jump; to the sizeable grants that the Australian government provides to young businesses.
- The importance of a great idea. A theme throughout the conversation was the challenge of finding the truly unique idea -- the “purple cow”. Our panelists advised the audience that the hardest part is figuring out a problem that really needs solving, and observed that many successful start-ups are founded by someone who has really deep expertise in a particular area and can see what really should be done better.
Other questions included what trends investors are seeing in what’s being pitched to them, advice for “start-up fanboys” who are thinking about making the leap, what questions you should ask a potential investor, and what red flags investors look for in a fledgling team.
This is just the start of Google Sudo -- and we’d love to hear from you on what you’d like to see in future events and Hangouts. Watch last night’s video and then leave us your feedback here.
Posted by Alan Noble, Engineering Director, Google Australia and New Zealand
