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Ask HN: Any Brisbane Based Hackers?

2 points by ctrand ↗ HN
Hello HNers,

I was just wondering if there are any other Brisbane (Australia) Hackers out there?

I am co-founder of a Brisbane based startup and I am wondering if there is any community presence here as my business partner and I would love to share successes, lament difficulties and learn as much as possible from likeminded people.

Reply to this and let me know!

Thanks,

Carl

8 comments

[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 32.5 ms ] thread
josephcooney
I'm based in sunny Brisbane. I mostly do consulting, but I'm trying to launch a product in my spare time.
ctrand
Cool! How is that working out for you?

I had to quit my job before any real progress was made on my venture.

My site has been live for a couple months now and is starting to get consistent and increasing levels of visitors thanks to riding the long tail :D

Very exciting!

josephcooney
I'm working on a windows desktop app (so I'm a bit of a contrarian to begin with). I think my biggest problem is that I keep adding features and polish, instead of jumping in and working on SEO & marketing.
zizee
We've been learning recently that we should have started building relationships with bloggers, media and potential customers a long time ago. I say "learned recently" but we really knew it all along as it is such oft repeated advice in the startup world.

Unfortunately we kept putting it off because developing the product felt a lot more tangible and progress came easily. The same cannot be said for building meaningful relationships that can be used as a launchpad come launch day.

So, my advice (which echoes so many other voices around HN): start writing about the space you are in. Start building real relationships with bloggers. Start a mailing list to collect email addresses. Start joining forums that are in your domain and build a rep. These things take a while to cultivate and you want to be able to harvest at launch.

As for SEO, get the basics sorted (domain registration, keyword heavy landing page etc), but don't spend too much time on it. The real SEO power comes from getting quality links. These only come when you have those relationships with bloggers etc pumping.

Goodluck with the launch!

-James (Carlo's partner in crime)

(edited for typos)

eoinmcc
Working in a startup at the iLab incubator in Toowong. Some interesting companies in here. There's a good meetup that meets here also, Upstarta, if you looking to chat about startups etc... http://www.meetup.com/upstarta-brisbane-qld/
ctrand
Hey mate,

I have heard about iLab before but it fell off my radar for some reason. How helpful have you found it? Do you need to give anything in return for the services they offer?

I just saw that meetup group today too!

eoinmcc
My company is just a "tenant" (just rent space), so we don't get the full incubator experience. However, the full iLab experience seems to be good for 1-2 man operations who are lacking areas of expertise - business expertise in particular. They'll set you up with a mentor that will help with writing business plans, discussing grant options, that sort of thing. They hold monthly CEO lunches, where they bring in a "successful" CEO to pick their brains.

"Do you need to give anything in return for the services they offer?" - except for cold hard cash (not sure of the pricing), not so much. They have virtual membership, which allows you to attend the lunches and sets you up with a mentor. No desk space though.

Do you attend any meetups around Brisbane? I've just taken over organizing the CocoaHeads one recently, always on the look-out for new recruits :)

ctrand
"1-2 man operations who are lacking areas of expertise"

Wow, you hit the nail on the head there!

That sounds like something my startup COULD benefit from, but I am wary of the cold hard cash bit as we don't have any :D

The virtual mentor thing could be good as my business partner and I are both from technical backgrounds and are business noobs.

Also I have as of yet not attended any meetups, but I plan to! One of the reasons I started this thread I suppose...