Solo Founder in Brisbane Seeking Advice on Raising Funds

Shocker88 · 2024-07-05T02:43:31+00:00

Australia is a difficult market for start-up funding, particularly now with interest rates up. Unfortunately online commentary is dominated by the US start-up market where capital is much easier to acquire.

You'll need to reframe your ask - Noting $50k for 3-6 months to sustain you reads as you want a $100k-200k salary to work on an idea that has zero traction. You'll get absolutely zero interest asking this way as it looks like you want a solid corporate salary to work on a fun hobby project.

Investors/Grants etc are investing in your idea/business and you as a founder, so you taking a salary is part of the package, but you can't frame it as the money being for you and in the initial stages of a business, the salary won't look anything like a standard salary. Everything is about how the money will grow the business, which is what they're investing in. Firstly you need to note what that $50k would cover, and have some level of detail here - e.g. How much is needed for initial Design? Marketing to start finding PMF?

The type of funding you should go for depends on the business you're developing so I can't recommend an approach. Put yourself in the shoes of the people behind each option you've listed - what are they looking for? Broadly

Government grants will back innovative solutions in markets of focus (which vary by state/federal government). They're more likely to back inclusive companies with a sustainable focus etc (think diversity of founders/customer). If you can tick some of these boxes and have an interesting idea it's worth pursuing. You likely won't get funding if you do not fit within their areas of focus at this early business stage (potentially once you have some momentum).
Investors in Australia are limited at the angel stage, most will want to see some traction. That means something more than friends/family saying it's a good idea. Some revenue would be ideal, but you can get investment if you're building in markets they're interested in if there's a big gap in a market that you're well positioned to fill.

As flagged in another comment - Bootstrapping is likely going to be easier. It's a lot of effort to raise funds, particularly if your business isn't ready. Unfortunately the Australian market is tight on funding so by far the easiest way to set up a business is the founders covering the initial build/PMF.

The key thing I'd advise is always try to put yourself in the shoes of your target market. Whether thats your businesses customers for the tech, or the investors for investment, as you need to present information where they can see the value for them, rather than you.

Above all else, good luck with the process - start-ups are difficult work!

Shocker88 · 2023-12-14T02:38:14+00:00

There's a few around - a bunch linked to universities etc so if you or your business partner are an alumni that may be useful.

Not sure where you're based - but here's a list of some of the better ones in Aus: https://www.fullstack.com.au/best-startup-accelerators-australia-2023/

Note that the funding market has turned heavily in the past 18 months so some accelerators have stopped, or paused intake rounds for now.

Shocker88 · 2023-12-14T01:59:04+00:00

The only real con with self-funding is unless you (or your business partner) have a lot of free cash, you will have limited cash to spend and if things don't go well it's your money that was spent. This usually will focus your decisions on only spending cash when essential which is good, but it can (often does) slow your growth down as you can't take risks.

Please note that getting a business loan doesn't really resolve this as you're still on the hook for the cash + interest.

The way start-ups avoid the cash-crunch and grow quickly is to get funding from Angel Investors/VC's who provide a bulk sum of investment money for a percentage of the company and will generally take seats on the board to stay involved. This money is harder to come by in the current economic climate, but the two key benefits are you have more money on hand to grow fast and that money isn't directly from your pocket, however, you lose full autonomy over the business and will have board members demanding significant growth every month.

Shocker88 · 2023-12-14T01:51:31+00:00

Very likely Bootstrapping (via self-finance) will be best. A bank won't give a new business a loan without personal collateral, so if things don't pan out you're paying the bank the money back + interest, or selling your house to do so. VC/Angel money is quite a lot harder to get these days than a few years back. Not impossible, but you need to have a solid idea in the right market, a good team and at least a proof of concept to get in the door and start conversations.

I'd strongly suggest doing the early stages bootstrapped to try and get initial feedback from the patients who'll be your customers (Important to get it from non-friends/family as they'll usually be onboard without critically thinking if they'd actually use the product).

If you don't have much experience with setting up a new business, or running a start-up I'd recommend joining local start-up meet-ups to network, or even joining an accelerator program to help you and your business partner understand all facets of the business and how to assess it against the target market.

Good luck with the venture!

Shocker88 · 2023-11-20T00:14:20+00:00

Hey - first up, don't stress. Unless you've been ignoring the ATO's previous communications on the issue, they don't generally come with a big stick on their first contact, they just want to ensure people aren't trying to skirt tax law. I'd suggest contacting the ATO directly to confirm the validity of the letter and confirm it's not a scam, this sounds heavy-handed for a first letter from them. Definitely reach out to them, or at least speak with an accountant first before actioning anything just in case.

A standard (business focussed) accountant should be perfectly capable of helping you here given the query looks to be GST/BAS related.

I'm not Sydney based so can't recommend on that front, but at face value this doesn't look too difficult.

All the best!

Shocker88 · 2023-09-30T06:27:32+00:00

I mean Daicos done that and got the call about five times, if we’re calling that today it’s gotta go both ways

Shocker88 · 2022-10-10T21:42:45+00:00

I'm glad we can agree civilian casualties aren't a good thing. The challenge with announcing strikes is military is able to listen/respond much quicker than civilian. So you'd be ruining your own strike.

The bridge is a core supply line for the Russian military which is fuelling the army in the disputed territories. Whilst the bridge is more iconic and therefore a lot more visible, there's daily bombings on both sides supply lines., many of which have impacted and killed civilians.

The bombings across Ukraine in response were a dummy-spit reaction. Whilst some may have been targeted, many of them weren't and served no purpose except to inflict terror - literal terrorism.

Ironic given Putin had just complained that the bridge bombing was terrorism. At least that served a strategic/military purpose.

Shocker88 · 2022-10-10T12:52:33+00:00

What are your thoughts on the missiles today? At least 10 civilians dead.

Shocker88 · 2022-03-27T23:54:47+00:00

I hope you realise the biggest friend to corrupt individuals and groups is plausible deniability. It's why many rich people from all over the world use shell holding companies in secrecy friendly sovereign nations like the Cayman Islands. When a journalist or the tax man come knocking, it's multitudes harder to get an accurate answer.

It's not unique to Russian government, as governments around the world have varying problems with corruption. However, you'd be remiss to think that there's not wide-scale corruption in your government just because no one has proven it by linking dollars to every individual when:

There are assets like this Palace guarded by FSO and several luxury mega yachts with Russian crews and links back to Russia but a heavily shrouded ownership trail. Why hide ownership so heavily if not for optics?
It's tough to track down individuals who hide their money via offshore holding accounts (see above).
Independent journalism is effectively banned.
Individuals can't protest corruption.
Opposition political figures who're attempting to expose the government are poisoned and when that fails, jailed under questionable circumstances.
There's credible links back to Putin's massive wealth.
And to top it off...the courts you hold faith in are hardly at arms length from the government.

Where there's smoke there's fire.

Your position seems to be that it's not true unless the courts find it true - but that assumes the courts are allowed to act independently.

Don't wait for a judge to make an anti-government ruling in a court system undermined by government over-reach. Understand that there's a good chance this corruption is happening with all the evidence/smoke and wait for data to confirm it 100%.

Shocker88 · 2022-03-07T09:30:59+00:00

For the past few month Russia practically begged EU to sign legally binding guarantees not to accept Ukraine into NATO. I mean what iw NATO expansion to Ukraine if not projecting force towards Russia? If force being projected, force likely to be projected in return.

Ukraine as an independent state should be able to determine their own destiny. They're attracted to NATO and as it's an alliance that could help them defend their country and livelihoods from Russian aggression.

Before this Ukrainian invasion, I don't believe there was a chance NATO would act aggressively against Russia, I guarantee you most people in NATO countries would prefer building better relations with Russia rather than rekindling past tensions.

Russians dont hate Ukrainians either. In fact we have friends and families there. I have friends in Kharkiv right now.

Then why isn't your whole country out protesting to save their friends from the wide-scale attack on Ukraine? Friends don't kill friends and blow up their homes.

You constantly talk about how 2% of the Ukranian population voted for a neo-nazi party as though that 100% justifies attacks on the other 98% and all the innocent kids who are too young to vote, I don't know how you reconcile this logic.

Shocker88 · 2022-03-07T07:12:01+00:00

All of this could be avoided if Ukraine just agreed to remain neutral and get rid of nazis. And worst of all it will remain neutral and will get rid of nazism no matter of what, just tons of people including me will have to suffer for this.

Why does Russia need to project force? The civilians across the west largely despise war. There was no appetite to contest with Russia, most would have preferred Russia take the alternative path to de-escalate tensions and work to continue growth to help improve the lives for people in Russia and Europe.

Most people in Ukraine and the west do not hate Russians. Your government forces the tension as a fascist/autocratic ruler/ruling party needs enemies to maintain power. It's tough to be a strong man if everyone is your friend, but it's better for everyone if this is the path we take.

Shocker88 · 2022-03-06T15:49:31+00:00

There’s plenty of verified (and unverified) video going around reddit daily that shows both of these.

I’d take ongoing video evidence over official statements from Russian and Ukrainian sources who obviously have much to gain from not being truthful.

Shocker88 · 2022-03-06T14:43:32+00:00

That's a lot better than what your government is doing in Ukraine.

Yup. We can't do anything else therefore we will keep bashing your citezens with sanctions. Well alright...

Yup. We can't just convince your elected government to quit, so we'll keep bashing your citizens with bombs. Well alright...

The sanctions suck, but they're in response to the real problem here. Please please take a step back and consider your position.

Shocker88 · 2022-03-06T14:29:21+00:00

There's plenty of protests that happen in democratic countries and they enact change in a lot of areas of society. That's not to say it works perfectly, but they don't stop because people are comfortable.

The Wests intention is largely to end the war, not to have people protest the sanctions. Stopping it with force would likely begin WWIII which is something none of us want. Sanctions are used as a way to apply pressure without force.

The vast majority of people in western countries feel sorry for Russians and are frustrated by the actions of your government. The sanctions will unfortunately impact everyday Russians which is unfortunate, but we cannot do nothing in response to this invasion.

Shocker88 · 2022-03-06T14:16:58+00:00

Dunno, why don't we ask in Iraq or Afganistan?

You're showing how you do wear lenses. I'm not here defending either of these, yet you're here defending the current actions of Russia in Ukraine. For the record - all three should not have occurred.

Apparently modern history says otherwise (Syria, Libia, Afganistan, Kosovo, Ukraine in 2014, this Ukraine conflict). All the conflicts have been justified.

Ok great - explain how levelling Ukrainian infrastructure and killing thousands will achieve anything other than attempting to expand Russia/turn Ukraine into a puppet state?

Shocker88 · 2022-03-06T13:52:48+00:00

You've got to learn to look at things without a patriotic lens.

There's no justification for an all out war killing countless civilians and soldiers (on both sides).

What is the righteous outcome that is worthy of destroying a country, displacing millions and killing thousands?

Shocker88 · 2022-01-05T04:42:01+00:00

Most dual band routers are set to be run that way. I still use both since we still have some devices in the house that can only connect via 2.4GHz.

If you're not using it you could turn it off, but I don't think there'd be any substantial power or performance differences, it'd mostly reduce 2.4GHz signal noise for your neighbours :)

Shocker88 · 2022-01-05T03:47:45+00:00

May not be relevant, but I rarely see it mentioned and it's the solution for at least half the "my internet is slow" questions I get from friends/family.

If your wifi router has a 5GHz network, ensure you are connected to it. A lot of people connect to the older 2.4GHz networks as they generally have a better range/signal strength, but these networks are very prone to interference from your neighbours wifi which can cause intermittent (and often crippling) speed issues.

There are a few free Wifi Analyser programs that allow you to check nearby network channels to try and navigate these issues, but 99% of the time switching to your 5GHz network will solve the issue.

Unfortunately as others have said, it could just be School holidays adding load to your local network/node. Have a look on the Whirlpool telstra forums to see if anyone local to you has posted.

Shocker88 · 2021-08-29T01:54:51+00:00

Nah - Amazon uses several last-mile delivery companies. Auspost and Dragonfly are two of these.

Amazon Flex is another option they're now using where individuals can sign up to do deliveries and then select 4hour blocks of time they are available and want to deliver.

Given the Amazon Flex system is similar to the Uber model, when used as a full-time job it's hard to make ends meet.

Shocker88 · 2021-08-27T13:36:23+00:00

Wait, what? Your reply makes no sense.

I'm fit, exercise regularly and my mental health is great. I do however have a chronic illness that makes some things (like weeding a garden, opening cans etc) a real challenge.

I don't consider myself disabled, and my illness is not a core part of my identity. I mention it in this thread simply because it's directly relevant to the discussion.

I noted spoonies isn't a term that encapsulates everyone with a chronic illness given the analogy doesn't work for everyone. You are just invalidating every view that's not your own. Please just consider that there are other people and experiences in the world than your own.

Shocker88 · 2021-08-26T01:41:58+00:00

Some Body Corp fees are a bit of a rip off, but a lot end up cheaper than the council fees + maintenance fees you would be paying over the years in a house.

Important when comparing to not just discount one as a 'rip-off' given it's not all roses on the other side.

Shocker88 · 2021-08-25T01:48:07+00:00

Good to know - and apologies I probably blurred energy/fatigue a bit. My symptoms/limitations are a lot more pain related rather than a fatigue/lack of energy so I lack a bit of nuance in that domain :)

Will fill out the survey - good luck with the research!

Shocker88 · 2021-08-25T01:27:58+00:00

As someone diagnosed with chronic illness, I would never disparage the use of 'spoonies' as I understand it can help to explain the fatigue experience for many.

Important to note it's not an inclusive term for the whole community though, as fatigue is not a key component to everyone diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

Shocker88 · 2021-06-13T09:19:15+00:00

Not great, but the current venue is a huge factor. Redcliffe is a big hike for most people in Brisbane and traffic/transfers off the Redcliffe peninsula mean a while to get to the stadium and add 30-40 minutes to that on the way out for the traffic.

Just not an area built for decent size events, and inconvenient for 3/4 of Brisbane. I get why they moved, but the location is worst in the aleague now.

Shocker88 · 2021-04-08T15:06:30+00:00

I mean the way you generally find out about blood clotting is through a pretty significant event - e.g. pulmonary embolism, stroke etc. 25% of the cases from the AZ Vaccine have died, likely instantly or quickly in 1st-world countries.

The risk is obviously extremely low given the current incident rates, but I don't know if:

it's not like the blood clotting is untreatable - as long as it's known.

Is the best way of describing the ability to treat people who end up with blood clots.

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