Two generations and two communities of entrepreneurs joined together at UTS to put the DNA of Sydney’s entrepreneurship ecosystem under the microscope.
L to R - Margaret Petty, Olivana Smith-Lathouris, Danny Adams, Rod Bishop, Carly Stebbing. Photo by Alessia Francischiello.
608 Harris Street, the former home of the pioneering Fishburners startup community in Sydney, has witnessed more pitches from startup entrepreneurship than any other in Australia. And just in time to mark the first year of UTS Startups, 608 Harris Street has been refurbished and is now the new home of student launched startups at UTS - a buzzing community of more than 550 members working on 250 startups.
The Startups X Upstarts panel discussion, led by Executive Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UTS, Margaret Petty, featured Fishburners alumni, Danny Adams and Rod Bishop, alongside current UTS Startups founders Carly Stebbing and Olivana Smith-Lathouris who discussed the state of startup communities in Sydney and what the future holds for entrepreneurs in Australia.
Why startup communities fuel success
The discussion began with reflections from the Fishburners alumni on the beginnings of not only their startups, but of the entire entrepreneurship ecosystem in Sydney.
Founder of GOFAR, Danny Adams, recalled what he described as the “profound experience” of discovering a community of like-minded people at Fishburners during a time when entrepreneurship in Sydney was still in its infancy. At the time, Adams said he referred to his startup simply as his “project”.
“When I walked in and saw the people working here, I realised that I’d found my clan and I wasn’t alone anymore,” he said.
“It was the cooperation, the skills, the experience and the people here that were only too willing to help anybody at any time that made all the difference for me and what I was doing.”
Rod Bishop, founder of Jayride, said intrapreneurship and knowledge sharing you’ll find in a community of entrepreneurs as he did at Fishburners is key to building a successful business.
“When you’ve got subject-matter expertise in something you’re particularly interested in or good at, in order to succeed at it, you’re going to need all sorts of other peripheral expertise that frankly you don’t care about at all,” he said.
“But somebody in the room who’s done it before is available to you and will help you for free. Where else do you find that? If someone had promised me that I wouldn’t have believed them but you turn up and here it is.”
From then to now
Sydney’s startup ecosystem has grown rapidly over the last decade and for budding entrepreneurs today, the landscape is very different.
Founder of UTS Startup Resolution 123, Carly Stebbing, said growing a law startup in the shadow of highly successful tech startups has been an intimidating process.
“I’ve taken a much more cautious and grassroots approach to growing my startup and that’s not so glamourous anymore,” she said.
Carly Stebbing emphasised the importance of the support a community offers to succeed in today’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“Entrepreneurship can be lonely and it’s a rollercoaster of emotions every single day and that’s difficult when you’re trying to explain that to a partner or your family and they don’t get why you’re doing or what you’re trying to build.”
“For me, it was about being in a community where giving up wasn’t the answer. If you were going through a hard patch there were people there to say “how can we help you with that?” and who focused on the positives and ways to move forward.”
Olivana Smith-Lathouris, a third-year student and founder of a sustainability startup, suggested that for the younger generation just entering the ecosystem, there is still room for improvement.
With a background in Law and Communications, Olivana said there are still gaps to fill for students who don’t specialise in areas such as engineering, coding, tech, or science. But she’s confident she will find what she needs and the talent to work with in a community such as UTS Startups.
“Entrepreneurship itself is intimidating … once you’re in it you feel empowered to do it but it’s actually getting to that point where all students feel like its normal or achievable to become an entrepreneur regardless of your degree.”
The bigger picture
Questions from the audience prompted discussion over the current state of Australia’s startup ecosystem and where it’s headed in years to come.
Rod Bishop argues that there needs to be a shift in the Australian attitude toward startups. New startup founders should also have more confidence in the potential and value of their businesses.
“There’s a landscape of people out there looking to fund opportunities like yours that can’t find you but who wish they could,” said Bishop.
He added, Australian startup founders are sometimes too modest in seeing what they have to offer. Founders could turn that viewpoint around and start seeing themselves as “the prize” and adopt the attitude that there are investors looking for successful businesses.
Building the future
So, how do startup communities like UTS Startups and Fishburners ensure a successful future for our entrepreneurship ecosystem?
Speak louder, support each other, spread the word and don’t expect government is going to step in to help was the advice from the evening’s panellists.
Rod Bishop, said that whilst Australia has fewer financial resources being invested in startups, the responsibility is on communities like UTS Startups to pave the way for future founders.
“We simply don’t have the capital pouring into startups that others do around the world but we have to build it, it’s on all of our shoulders here tonight to create this future for all of us and as we get success more investment will come.”
“Tell your friends about it, try to get the people around you interested and enthusiastic about entrepreneurship and the businesses you work for because we need to continue to grow this community,” said Danny Adams.
“It’s what we all do in this very room that makes the difference, the government is not going to do it for us, it all comes down to what we do,” he said.
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