ideas worth chasing
TRANSCRIPT
Becoming an Entrepreneur& Ideas Worth Chasing
Mike NichollsResident Entrepreneur - Incubate
Follow me @Mikenicholls88
About Me● Built an IT/ISP business & sold it● Worked for VCs + HP + Corporate Sales on Comm Only● Trade + BBus + numerous Cert 3+4 + Online Courses● 35yrs in the workforce inc Defence Forces, Aviation, Finance,
Real Estate, Science, Online Video, Launched Numerous Apps & Sites, Medtech + Hardware
● Launch Startups for world's biggest IP fund● Read and research 1000s of inventions● Reviewed >300 Startup Pitches/Applications ● 100+ pitches a month on Startup88.com● Mentor at Incubate, CSIRO & occasionally Muru-D & UNSW
It all starts with the Problem● Have you identified a burning problem?
● Does anyone really care?
● Do you have an insight or strong opinion
about the problem?
Can you build a Monopoly?
What are the truly great companies that no one is building?
Peter Thiel - PayPal Founder
Great Entrepreneurial Qualities● Persistent & Resilient● Willing to Experiment & Fail● Great Execution● Cuts through noise & distractions● Has a vision & can work out the steps to get there● Coachable yet Independent ● Committed to the problem yet Flexible about
solution
Dont Get Distracted - You Only Have 4 Problems
● Developing Product● Developing Customers● Cash● Build your team
Anything else is a distraction
Traction & growth beats everything else.● Spend 50% of your time on user acquisition.
● Most teams can build a product,
● Some teams can get product market fit
● Almost no one gets enough customers to breakeven
Innovation Waves *● Chips 50s-70s● Computers 70-90s● Routers + Internet - 70s-90s● Open Source + Web Servers - 90s-now● Search 2000s-2020● Mobile + Apps 2008● Messaging ● On Demand Business + Sharing 2010-?● Platforms + APIs 2012-?● Robots-UAV 90s-2020● Software Bots 2015-?● Biotech - Genes - Health● Machine Learning + Big Data + CompVision 2000s-?● Food Water
*Originally Inspired by Bill Tai’s 5 Waves
World/Health Problems● Clean air is a problem for large parts of the world● Clean water is a problem for large parts of the world ● Disease prevention and detection - Malaria, Dengue,
Zika, Ebola ● Food providence and tracking● Solar Energy plants for homes + Developing World● Infant Mortality● Methods of reducing death from heart disease,
diabetes, cancer
Trends & Popular Themes Bots & Apps
● Software bots are coming, low level workers replaced● Messaging/Notification Bots as a Service ● Notifications and Messaging taking over the role of an
App via platforms/backends● Non messengering Apps becoming less important. 5-
10% of your apps are used daily
Trends & Popular Themes - Security● Security is an Issue - Online, Personal Data, Payment,
Company, health, IOT, Email, Comms● Blockchain -
○ reduce fraud.○ control personal data○ Blockchain verify secure devices
General Business Problems● Video meeting apps are broken● Support on the web & mobile still sucks. ● Lead Generation & customer management across
Email, Social, Search is broken● Meeting Scheduling especially across time zones,
organisations is broken● Software/Devices not suited to new work pattern ie
BYOD and more than one workplaces
Hardware Trends● Raspberry Pi Zero - Computers are nearly free● GPUs and the software that goes with them VR,
Machine Learning & AI & Self Driving Cars/Robots/UAV depends on GPUs
● VR is mainstream for gaming, apps coming for work● IOT is getting tired - Pick your niche very carefully
Drones UAVs
● UAV/Autonomous vehicles still have a long way to go systems that allow these to interact with each other i.e. collision & avoidance, air traffic control for Drones.
● Landing and logistics for parcel delivery, security.● UAV Long Range Powerplants, Battery Life etc● UAV Navigation● UAV Flight Operations & Reliability - Almost no one
capable of passing CASA or FAA Regs
Systems & Cloud Problems● Managing Cloud Apps across private and public cloud
providers is difficult● Deploying and testing across platforms is a pain● Scaling/Managing Performance across multiple services ● Developer support is terrible Years wasted trying to
find correct syntax● Solution for security testing Cloud Apps are lacking
Machine Learning + Big Data + Computer Vision● ML & Big Data provide insight or action to users via
apps, APIs or platforms. Dozens of markets not one○ Virtual Assistants & Bots○ Market prediction & trading ○ Route Planning & Logistics optimization ○ Replace inefficient or dangerous work○ Health - reading ECG, BP real time. Recognition of
disease, Malaria, Cancer, blood conditions○ Security