Mike Casey :: Random thoughts on Startups

I was at a great startup party on Saturday with some of my great startup mates including @davidsoul, @tjoosgirl (Kim Chen), @mia_will (Michelle Williams), @rosshill and @trindaz (David Trindall), @aussie_ian (Ian Cumming) to name a few. It was heaps of fun but probably the most interesting conversation I had was with Ross Hill.

Why ask permission to do anything? In school we are taught to ask for permission for everything, but in the start up space, if you ask permission you will never get anywhere!

This especially applies to sales. If you get on the phone and call someone for the first time you are breaking this permission barrier. This is what actually makes it difficult.

Don’t ask permission, only for forgiveness. You will find you never actually have to apologise.

p.s. Andy Morris didn’t get a mention because he doesn’t have a twitter account. Get onto it loser!

So my mate Elias moved to San Francisco and, in the process, put the tech startup community in Australia back a few years. He is missed because of his innovation, his energy and his enthusiasm.

Exibit A: Elias’s Blog

Elias has started the startup bus. A concept where 12 random strangers hop on a bus and travel over 2 days, and create 3 startups to be launched at the biggest SXSW party of 2010. I think its a fantastic idea, but more importantly, so did TechCrunch. Elias has been flooded with sponsorship requests since this article went live.

Elias, with out a doubt, got his inspiration from Startup Camp. A awesome event where Australian entrepreneurs build a company in a weekend and then auction it off to the highest bidder. A concept grown by Bart Jemella and Kim Chen, founders of Tjoos.com.

I will post more about how the next start up camp goes in the coming weeks.