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

Small Monopoly, Dominate, Move to Next Market

Bowling Alley

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

Get Started

● Apply for Incubate● Be an Intern● Start some side projects