#Disruption
How The disruptive Uber Business Model Is Changing the Way Business Owners Think
“Uber changed the way business owners think and work in more ways than are instantly noticeable,” says Maria Bellissimo-Magrin, CEO of creative marketing agency Belgrin. Here she examines what business owners can learn from Uber’s actions. Launched in San Francisco in 2010, Uber quickly became one of the world’s most valued tech companies and widely-known brands and their […]
Why some businesses thrive while others fade into obscurity in the age of constant change
The pace of change is set to become even faster during 2018. Technology, globalisation and shifting workforce demographics are completely altering the way business is conducted. According to business consulting firm McKinsey and Co[1], every occupation that exists today has the potential to be at least partially automated, and the firm estimates half of all […]
‘It’s a lonely place being an entrepreneur’: meet the startup CEOs going global with EY
A trio of entrepreneurs whose startups are harnessing disruptive technologies to solve big challenges in business, health insurance and other sectors have been selected to represent Australia at EY Global Accelerated Entrepreneurs in Europe. Trumping 68 other program applicants from Australia, Michael Kruger, Trent Clews-de Castella and Justin McArdle will fly to Amsterdam, next month, […]
Will Atlassian have to relocate overseas?
The recent 457 Visa changes are impeding Australia’s capacity for innovation and they could force Atlassian to relocate its headquarters overseas, warns the home-grown software giant’s co-founder and co-CEO, Mike Cannon-Brookes. In an address to the Senate Committee on the future of Worker and workers in Melbourne on Tuesday, Cannon-Brookes said that technology had taken […]
Businesses are earning $2 for every $1 spent on innovation, Commonwealth Bank study finds
Innovations implemented by Australian businesses over the past year have contributed $110 billion to the economy, according to research undertaken by the Commonwealth Bank The second annual CommBank Business Insights Report, which looks at innovation practices and performance of companies with two or more employees and an annual turnover greater than $500,000, indicates that businesses […]
Feed unconscious minds, embrace good failure: Dr Amantha Imber talks innovation strategies
Businesses risk being disrupted if they don’t create environments where people can sit in their ‘challenge sweet spot’, have freedom to express crazy ideas and feel safe to fail meaningfully, according to Dr Amantha Imber, the CEO of innovation consultancy Inventium. Prior to founding Inventium a decade ago, Imber – a 2016 inductee into the […]
Can Technology Improve Workplace Diversity?
I don’t know that the technology sector has a greater or lesser demand for diversity despite recent headline grabbing issues like ‘the Google email incident’. However, according to a recent report by Australia’s Chief Scientist, women currently comprise just 16% of our total STEM workforce. That’s jobs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and […]
Why more people should take on a monopoly industry and transform it for the better
Choosing a monopolised market to enter with a new business idea is tough, most people find industries with a major dominant players and high barriers for entry an instant turn off. For instance, the NSW rice industry is the last remaining government controlled monopoly in Australia, meaning rice farmers don’t have control over where their […]
Straight out of science fiction: the emerging technologies that will transform business
You might sometimes feel like you’re living in a science fiction movie. And with headlines declaring advances in deep learning AI, space tourism and even artificial wombs, it’s easy to see why. The convergence of new technologies is having a multiplicative effect and no industry is immune. After more than five decades, Moore’s Law – […]
Airbnb and Uber ‘paved the way’ for MiSale’s DIY approach to real estate, co-founders explain
The real estate market is ‘over ripe’ for disruption, especially in Sydney, according to the brains behind MiSale, a Queensland-based startup that recently expanded into New South Wales and Victoria. Launched in Queensland earlier this year, MiSale is a freemium real estate platform enables people who wish to sell their homes to remove real […]
Amazon is coming, so get busy – invest in knowing your customers, up your game
When it comes to Amazon’s entry to Australian retail, there are many and varied opinions on the likely extent of its impact. No one knows for sure what will ensue. Will Amazon disrupt Australian retail? And if it does, to what degree? Or will it resort to a competitive fight with retailers in this diverse […]
Energy startups have to be ‘very smart’ in how they challenge the big retailers: Evergen’s CEO
Evergen is taking advantage of a “once-in-a-hundred-years” opportunity for startups to gain ground against Australia’s legacy energy retailers, its CEO told Dynamic Business. Launched in August, last year, Evergen sells intelligent home energy systems that utilise solar power, batteries and CSIRO technology, which has been exclusively licensed to the energy services startup. Co-founded by Emlyn Keane […]
Intuition trumps data when you truly know your customers, says Pet Circle’s co-founder
Despite operating in an era where data-driven strategies are the norm, the founders of rapid growth start-up Pet Circle have come to realise that trusting one’s instincts can often lead to better results. Launched in 2011 under the name ‘Paws for Life’, Pet Circle (as it is known today) is the brainchild of Michael […]
Collaborate with start-ups or risk being disrupted, Slingshot CEO warns corporates
Industries are at danger of disruption when the status quo is not just complexity, regulation, a lack of transparency and waste but also an absence of collaboration, according to Karen Lawson, CEO of corporate accelerator Slingshot. She spoke to Dynamic Business about how collaborating with start-ups will help a corporate to survive ‘the wave of disruption’. Lawson explained […]
‘Digital by default’ millennials are the most optimistic SME owners, NAB whitepaper shows
Amongst Australia’s SME owners, millennials are not only more optimistic about the future, they are also more likely to expand their business in the near future, according to a new whitepaper from NAB. Titled The Moments That Matter: Understanding Australian SMEs, the whitepaper reports on qualitative and quantitative research undertaken by IPSOS on behalf of […]
“The industry is frozen in time”– why Demetrio Zema founded his legal start-up Law Squared
Believing the traditional law firm model to be ill-suited to the needs of entrepreneurs, Demetrio Zema founded legal practice start-up Law Squared, determined to offer a better client experience. Since launching out of Cluster, a co-working space in Central Melbourne, in March 2016, the firm – Zema’s sixth business – has been named ‘Australia’s most […]
In the eye of the perfect storm: will marketers adapt to increasing demands or be swept Away?
Marketers are caught in the eye of the perfect storm. On one hand, we are being pummeled by a wave of new demands from business leaders, wanting the marketing department to take more responsibility for the ‘customer experience’, deep into parts of the business we have traditionally never set foot. On the other, like an incoming tide, […]
Weploy raises $1m in seed capital to help it disrupt an ‘inefficient’ recruitment sector
Bolstered by a $1 million seed injection, Melbourne start-up Weploy has launched an on-demand recruitment platform that connects pre-screened, talented employees to employers who need short term staff to manage peak periods or cover employee absences. Co-founded by serial entrepreneurs Nick La and Vince Luong, Weploy was conceived in response to the frustration they had […]
Why entrepreneurial thinking is needed in Australian boardrooms now more than ever
There is no hiding the fact that the rate of change in business makes our collective heads spin. No industry, no business, and no worker remains untouched by change. Many examples of how innovation and disruption has impacted businesses and industries exist – if you’re interested in finding these, a simple Google search can help […]
Tech trends that will dominate business in 2017
Information technologies are accelerating at an exponential rate, ushering in the fourth industrial revolution. This is a digital revolution and the pace of change is unprecedented. This revolution incorporates machine learning (think parallel processing and neural networks) and the concept of self-assembly or self-programmability. As technologies continue to advance, they accelerate the progress of other […]
What will be the most important business skill of the next decade? Being a Better Human
Hardly a week goes by without news of automation displacing humans from the workforce. Automation is a disruptive force that is transforming every industry, raising questions about the work that people do and the future relationship between man and machine. The recent study, ‘The Future of Businesses and Jobs in Asia Pacific’s Digital Economy’, highlights […]
Meet the start-up juggling Queenslander bringing a $19b industry out of the 1960s
If he wasn’t already busy enough heading up three manufacturing start-ups, Queensland’s Dave Biggars has set his sights on leading the $19 billion-dollar caravan industry out of the bygone era of timber into the era of smart design. Last year, the 32-year-old entrepreneur founded Zone RV, a manufacturer of built-to-order off-road and luxury touring caravans. […]
Robots, AI and the new economy: insights from this week’s Creative Innovation 2016 Conference
Disruption, particularly the rise of exponential technologies, is one of the greatest commercial and cultural threats all organisations will face in business over the next 5 years. In fact, it has been estimated that 47% of jobs will be lost due to new technologies. The Creative Innovation 2016 (Ci2016) Asia Pacific: The Exponential Shift: Making Transformation Happen conference commenced in […]
Data analysis: understanding emerging niche markets and the tribes that grow with them
Commerce rarely stands still. And online commerce is a beast in perpetual motion. We’ve all become accustomed to the idea disruption is the new norm and change is the only constant. However, beneath the seeming chaos we can still recognise patterns which help us as entrepreneurs create value. One of the most fascinating patterns to […]