TechNation Australia - Latest Comments in The Australian Startup Index - Tell Us What You Think!

Re: The Australian Startup Index - Tell Us What You Think!

Simon — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:23:57 -0000

Kim,

It is awesome that you are promoting Aussie Startups. Many of the sites listed I had not heard of previously so I am sure most are just happy to be get further exposure and to be recognised as an Australian Startup.

Clivir is not quite on the list yet as we are unranked in compete, so a chance at a "wild card" inclusion would be cool :).

Re: The Australian Startup Index - Tell Us What You Think!

kimheras — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:21:23 -0000

Thanks for all the comments, everyone.

I'm going to sit down with Geoff Evason and we'll work out how to best do this

If you haven't commented yet, feel free to add your 2c.

As promised, everything will be considered

Re: The Australian Startup Index - Tell Us What You Think!

Cardy — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:56:57 -0000

My Two Cents....

Traffic - YES!

I think Quantcast is much better than compete and Alexa, but a combination of all 3 is better than just Alexa and Compete. In fact, I would probably take Compete out of the equation, because it is just USA traffic (but I might be a little biased as they appear to have us ranked much lower than we should be, lol)

I think that any other publicly available analytics data should be thrown in the mix, but probably just global (I agree about Aussie start up taking on the world!)

In terms of coolness, business success, column inches (in the press, blogosphere, etc) and most influential, they would be nice to have but as already pointed out, probably just too hard to measure.

Overall, I think it's worth understanding that this is really useful as it is, but no one is really going to make a serious commercial decision based on the data in this list. It is informative, useful and great to have though, so please keep up the good work

Colin (CEO of 3RD sense, who run fizzy.com who came in at no 9 this month but probably should be no 6, lol)

Re: The Australian Startup Index - Tell Us What You Think!

Mandy — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:15:51 -0000

Hi Kim,

Leaving aside all questions of how the measures would be obtained, I think the key measures are:

+ innovation
+ targeted offering that's been accepted by the market
+ revenue
+ sustainability

When I think success, I think long-term success, not simply something that makes a big splash upon launch. Fred Wilson has a great post on sustainability here:

http://www.disambiguity.com...

Cheers,

Mandy

Re: The Australian Startup Index - Tell Us What You Think!

Dan — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:42:53 -0000

Kim,

Good questions, but be wary of making a rod for your own back. Compiling these extra stats will be costly (time and $$$$).

the current rankings are flawed but relatively easy to compile, so stick with them, enhanced measurement tools will become available overtime and you can evaluate and include when appropriate.

and yes, keep international traffic as a measure, many of these sites are taking on the world, not just oz.

Re: The Australian Startup Index - Tell Us What You Think!

Mark Harbottle — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:38:03 -0000

Measuring by Aussie traffic only is limited. What we're looking for here is a list of Aussie born startups that are taking on the world. Measuring global reach is therefore more important. I also think that there needs to be a clear definition for "what is a startup?". A company that has been around for more than 5 years is probably not a startup anymore.

So in summary, let's celebrate new companies coming out of Australia that have built a significant global following and a successful business in less than 5 years.

Re: The Australian Startup Index - Tell Us What You Think!

garazy — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:26:27 -0000

Hi,

Maybe consider only measuring traffic from sites that are registered with Quantcast.

Gary

Re: The Australian Startup Index - Tell Us What You Think!

Scott Carpenter — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:22:51 -0000

Thanks for asking Kim! :) My comments below -

> Do you want it to be a measure of traffic?
Yes - and keep international traffic. I speak for myself with Invoiceplace since my market is international given the small size of the Australian market. I am sure this is the same for many other Australian start ups. Although we are based in the great sunburnt land it doesn't necessarily mean our customers are.

> Do you want it to be a measure of coolness?
How would this be measured? This is very subjective and IMO swayed by the current fad which doesn't necessarily translate into something useful for business or consumers.

> Do you want it to be a measure of business success?
Possibly - but whether companies will share such data is questionable.

> Do you want it to be a measure of who’s being talked about the most?
Yes - but can be influenced by the cool factor.

> Do you want it to be a measure of who is the most influential?
How would this be measured?