Wednesday 28 July 2010
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Tuesday 21 September. Our next angel dinner
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On Tuesday 21 September 2010, we will again be running one of our hugely popular "angel dinners". The venue is Table for 20 in Surry Hills.
We are essentially acting as a brokerage between "angels" (those with money to invest or advice to give) and "entrepreneurs" those with ideas and talent but not enough money or good advice.
Judging by the success of our previous dinners, this is definitely a service which Australia needs.
Almost 15 businesses have pitched to our group now and, from what we can establish, about $7m of funding has been raised in total as a result. We are very proud of this.
We have found it easy to fill the room with the angels, but harder to fill the room with great businesses who want to pitch.
If you are an angel or Innovation Bay member and feel that you really should be at this event, please email us at info@innovationbay.com.
If you have a business and you are looking for funding, we are interested in hearing from you. You need to submit a 90 second video to info@innovationbay.com telling us about the business and why we should select you. Please see some of the posts below for advice and guidelines as to how best to do this.
THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS 5PM ON TUESDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER
Final note - we will also be running another angel dinner on Tuesday 23 November 2010. Put this in your diary too.
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Tuesday 8 June 2010
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Follow up from June Angel Dinner - great post from Randal...
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Our June angel dinner was a resounding success, with four awesome businesses pitching to a room absolutely full to busting with potential investors and advisors.
Our finalists were: Aerogenesis, Insqribe, Sumwise and eDiary. News on their funding outcomes to follow.
Off the back of the dinner, and thinking about our 90-second-video-pitch format, Randal Leeb-du Toit (one of our founders) has pulled together this great blog post. See link below...
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http://metarand.com/2010/06/07/how-to-successfully-pitch-angel-investors/
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Tuesday 25 May 2010
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June angel dinner - example of previous successful video pitch
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We have had quite a few questions around what makes a "successful" video pitch.
The reality is that there are no hard and fast rules. Something that is clear and to the point is better than something over-engineered and over-produced.
To give you an idea of what worked in the past, here is a video done by one of our successful pitch businesses, Spreets.com. Thanks to Dean McEvoy for letting us publish this.
Just click on the image below to watch.
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Thursday 20 May 2010
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June angel dinner - how to present your business
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Our angel dinners have been highly successful for our presenting companies (over $5m raised for our presenting businesses from the first three dinners). We are consequently receiving loads of requests from potential presenters.
We can only accept three companies for this event and that makes it tough on the selection panel and also on you to know how to pitch to us. The good news is that we've decided to up the ante and give you an unprecedented opportunity to extend beyond business plans and static summaries in your efforts to be one of the top three companies pitching to our members.
If you want to pitch. here's what we would like you to do:
* Knock up an elevator pitch video
* Explaining your value prop in a strong and punchy format
* As pointers: - business overview, hurt & solution, the market and your timing, why you are poised to succeed
* Any video format acceptable
* 90 seconds only
* Email it to info@innovationbay.com
* Get it in by COB Friday 28 May 2010
Go crazy, use your computer webcam, dust off the Flip or roll out the pro video team - your choice. We'll let you know on Sunday 30 May if you'll be presenting on 1 June!
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Thursday 22 March 2010
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June angel dinner
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We are delighted to announce the date of our next Angel Dinner - Tuesday 1 June 2010.
We have been pretty overwhelmed by the interest in these dinners from both the presenters and attendees. It would seem that we are definitely tapping into a market requirement for this kind of event.
For those who want to attend the dinner as an "Angel" or adviser, or just interested party, this is an invitation only event, even for members. If you are a member and feel that you should be invited, please let us know. We are looking to bring together a select group of individuals who have been successful within the Australian technology market to engage with the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The format of the dinner will be in true Innovation Bay style, relaxed, open and with a focus on knowledge sharing. The venue will be at our private dining location (Tablefor20 in Surry Hills) where no more than 30 guests will gather to hear and engage with three technology entrepreneurs.
For the businesses, they will gain a tremendous opportunity to pitch their idea to a hugely accomplished talent base.
For the attendees, it's a great chance to mingle with some exceptional people, to hear from three exciting and innovative businesses and to "give something back" to Australian entrepreneurs who need our help. For everyone involved we expect there to be investment and talent-gathering opportunities.
The price will be $100 payable on the night - cash (the folding stuff) preferred.
If you are a start-up and would like the opportunity to pitch your idea to this amazing group, email us here.
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Tuesday 9 March 2010
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IMPORTANT - video submission deadline extension
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We are still receiving good interest in our next Angel Dinner on 16 March (see post below).
We have decided to extend the video submission deadline to 5pm on Friday 12 March.
Full details below. Good luck.
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Tuesday 2 March 2010
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March angel dinner - how to present your business
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We are receiving a lot of interest in our next Angel Dinner on 16 March (see post below for details of this).
Our previous dinners have been highly successful for our presenting companies. We are consequently receiving loads of requests from potential presenters. We can only accept three companies for this event and that makes it tough on the selection panel and also on you to know how to pitch to us. The good news is that we've decided to up the ante and give you an unprecedented opportunity to extend beyond business plans and static summaries in your efforts to be one of the top three companies pitching to our members.
If you want to pitch. here's what we would like you to do:
* Knock up an elevator pitch video
* Explaining your value prop in a strong and punchy format
* As pointers: - business overview, hurt & solution, the market and your timing, why you are poised to succeed
* Any video format acceptable
* 90 seconds only
* Email it to info@innovationbay.com
* Get it in by COB Tues 9th March
Go crazy, use your computer webcam, dust off the Flip or roll out the pro video team - your choice. We'll let you know on Friday 12th March if you'll be presenting on the 16th!
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Thursday 11 Feb 2010
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March angel dinner
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After our terrific success with our first two angel dinners in 2009, we will be holding our next one on Tuesday 16 March 2010.
The companies who have pitched at our two dinners have now raised about $2m from people that they met at the dinners. We also know about some who have recruited board members and most who have received invaluable advice from Innovation Bay members.
For those who want to attend the dinner as an "Angel" or adviser, or just interested party, this is an invitation only event, even for members. If you are a member and feel that you should be invited, please let us know. We are looking to bring together a select group of individuals who have been successful within the Australian technology market to engage with the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The format of the dinner will be in true Innovation Bay style, relaxed, open and with a focus on knowledge sharing. The venue will be at our private dining location (Tablefor20 in Surry Hills) where no more than 30 guests will gather to hear and engage with three technology entrepreneurs.
For the businesses, they will gain a tremendous opportunity to pitch their idea to a hugely accomplished talent base.
For the attendees, it's a great chance to mingle with some exceptional people, to hear from three exciting and innovative businesses and to "give something back" to Australian entrepreneurs who need our help. For everyone involved we expect there to be investment and talent-gathering opportunities.
The price will be $100 payable on the night - cash (the folding stuff) preferred.
Our thanks to NICTA for sponsoring this event.
The Twitter hashtag for this event will be #ibayangels
If you are a start-up and would like the opportunity to pitch your idea to this amazing group, email us here.
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Full event details here
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Tuesday 8 December 2009
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Ray Ryan - "Here Comes The Cloud"
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December has historically been a quiet time for Innovation Bay. However, when an opportunity to hear a great speaker comes along, we grab it.
On Friday 18 December at 7:30am (that's the morning), we will be hosting a breakfast with Ray Ryan, one of Google's senior engineers. Based out of the Googleplex HQ in the US, Ray will be talking about Cloud Computing, Google's thoughts on the matter and why thin client computing will actually happen this time round.
It's often feels tough to get people from Google to talk, so we are delighted that Ray can join us.
NEW VENUE - we will be running this from Viocorp's new HQ in Pyrmont - 47 Murray St - near the Pyrmont end of Pyrmont Bridge. Map here - http://tinyurl.com/viocorpmap
Ray is a senior software engineer at Google, where he is part of the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) team. He has been goading people into writing software the way he thinks they should since the 1980s.
Ray was a founding member of Lighthouse Design Ltd., and worked there through that company's acquisition by Sun Microsystems (alongside Sun's current CEO Jonathan Schwartz). At Sun he was part of the team that created Swing, Java's cross platform user interface framework.
He later joined other Lighthouse alum at America Online, where he worked on AIM Express, a JavaScript client for AOL Instant Messenger. AIM Express pioneered JavaScript Ajax and Comet techniques before those terms were coined.
He left AOL for Google in 2004, where he worked on the AdWords user interface for advertisers. After helping to shape the architecture of the new GWT-based user interface for AdWords, he joined the GWT team full time in 2008.
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Full event details here
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Thursday 8 October 2009
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Coming to America
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Innovation Bay in conjunction with our partners, Mitchellake Consulting (www.mitchellake.com), KPMG, Southern Cross Ventures, Pollenizer (www.pollenizer.com), Technation (www.technation.com.au) and Progressiva are running a very special event called Coming to America.
“Coming to America” is an interactive forum where Australian entrepreneurs, businesses and investors can learn from and leverage the experience of their peers and predecessors. It is about educating, networking and supporting Australian entrepreneurs, businesses and investors that are seeking to export Australian intellectual property and expertise into global markets.
Practical focus on questions such as; How to raise capital in the US, What does it take to be successful there? How difficult is it to move a company the US and will you have to? Plus key tips for pitching to Venture Capitalists and Angels.
The aim of this event is to provide great communication and engagement between local technology entrepreneurs and successful San Francisco/Valley based Australian entrepreneurs.
The event will be a live web stream between Sydney and San Francisco where we will have our expert panel of successful entrepreneurs. If you are an entrepreneur interested in raising funds from the US or opening up an office, then Come to America with us via this very special event.
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Full event details here
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Tuesday 15 September 2009
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Spring angel dinner
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After our hugely successful first Angel Dinner in June, we are going to repeat it and hold another one on Tuesday 6 October 2009.
We are delighted to announce that one of the presenting companies from the June dinner, Posse.com, secured four new investors as a direct result of pitching. In addition, they've invited one of these investors onto their board, received invaluable advice from Innovation Bay members and been able to make international connections on a commercial level.
Once again, this is an invitation only event, even for members. If you are a member and feel that you should be invited, please let us know.
The aim is to bring together a select group of individuals who have been successful within the Australian technology market to engage with the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The format of the dinner will be in true Innovation Bay style, relaxed, open and with a focus on knowledge sharing. The venue will be at our private dining location (Tablefor20 in Surry Hills) where no more than 30 guests will gather to hear and engage with three technology entrepreneurs.
For the businesses, they will gain a tremendous opportunity to pitch their idea to a hugely accomplished talent base.
For the attendees, it's a great chance to mingle with some exceptional people, to hear from three exciting and innovative businesses and to "give something back" to Australian entrepreneurs who need our help. For everyone involved we expect there to be investment and talent-gathering opportunities.
The price will be $100 payable on the night - cash (the folding stuff) preferred.
Our thanks to NICTA for sponsoring this event and the last one.
The Twitter hashtag for this event will be #ibayangels
If you are a start-up and would like the opportunity to pitch your idea to this amazing group, email us here.
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Full event details here
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Monday 4 May 2009
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Angel dinner
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We have something completely new coming up. On Tuesday 9 June we will be hosting an "Angel Dinner". This will be an invitation only event, even for members.
The aim of this dinner will be to bring together a select group of individuals who have been successful within the Australian technology market to engage with the next generation of entrepreneurs. In the main, this group will be made up of previous Innovation Bay speakers.
The format of the dinner will be in true Innovation Bay style, relaxed, open and with a focus on knowledge sharing. The venue will be at our private dinning location (Tablefor20) where about 30 guests will gather to hear (and discuss) three technology entrepreneurs talk about their businesses.
For the businesses, they will gain a tremendous opportunity to pitch their idea to a hugely accomplished talent base. This talent base will share their thoughts openly. We expect there to be investment and talent-gathering opportunities to arise for both the presenting businesses and the attendees.
Each business currently exists, and has clients and revenue. What they are searching for is advice and assistance on that critical next step from initial concept approval to multi million dollar entity.
We all appreciate that Australia lacks the support mechanisms and networks to assist young technology entrepreneurs. This is a first step in solving that problem.
If you are a member and really feel you should be there, please let us know.
And more importantly, if you are a start-up and would like the opportunity to pitch your idea to this amazing group, email us here.
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Full event details here
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Thursday 12 March 2009
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Craig Blair, netus
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Our next event on Tuesday 31 March 2009 will be a dinner with Craig Blair, Executive Director of Netus, www.netus.com.au. Craig's role is to source investments and partnerships, and to establish and support the management teams within netus's investments.
Craig will be speaking about his experiences in building high growth technology companies in the Australian market place, within the context of our current economic environment and the current mood around capital raising.
Netus is actively continuing to search for investment opportunities and this dinner will provide insights into Craig’s personal perceptions and expectations for the coming year.
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Full event details here
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Tuesday 3 February 2009
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Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum
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Not strictly an Innovation Bay event, but Ross Dawson is a member and this really is an excellent event. Discount available for Innovation Bay members too.
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Full event details here
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Thursday 13 October 2008
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Ryan Junee, Omnisio/YouTube
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Listen to an interview with Ryan that our own Randal leeb-du Toit conducted back in May 08
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We have quite a treat coming up on the 25 November - dinner with a true internet entrepreneur, Ryan Junee.
Ryan co-founded Omnisio about a year ago, and, within 8 months had sold it to YouTube/Google for $15m and a plum job. Ryan has now assumed the role of Product Manager at YouTube, responsible for community engagement.
We have a new venue, Table for 20, which is absolutely fantastic.
As the SMH put in in a recent article on him:
"If you have a technology idea, don't dawdle or doodle. Move to Silicon Valley and sell it to Google."
As CEO and Co-Founder of Omnisio, Ryan was responsible for driving the company's strategic direction and helping to push the envelope in online video innovation.
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Full event details here
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