Australia’s landscape of web start ups is littered with the broken dreams of entrepreneurs and smells of burned investor cash.
But while the internet did not prove to be the goldmine it was hoped to be 10 years ago, that has not stopped a hardened group of Australian entrepreneurs carving out successful businesses. Some of course have hit the big time quickly, but for every one Atlassian there are dozens more for who success has been longer in coming.
With the April 2010 anniversary of the infamous tech wreck fast approaching, many entrepreneurs are poised to finally reap the success they have strived for. Some are championing new technologies, others are leading their industry, a few have won big clients, and all are making money.
We present 12 online entrepreneurs worth watching – the 2010 Digital Dozen.
Patrick BarrettCompany: E-DIARY
Website: www.e-diary.com
Patrick Barrett created his first online event diary in 2005. Now his E-DIARIES are being used by more 120,000 people, and those numbers are expected to grow quickly thanks to deals signed with all AFL, Super 14 Rugby and NRL clubs, which will see fixtures, events and player birthdays loaded into personalised diaries.
Barrett has also signed the 14 leading UK jockey clubs, World Wrestling Entertainment in the US, and the English Cricket Board, and has received interest from Premier League football teams. The business is profitable and heading to its first million in revenue. Barrett’s goal is to have a million users by the end of this year, and he is now out looking for at least $500,000 to build on opportunities abroad.
Campbell Dobbin & Connie PandosCompany: The ADWEB Agency
Website: www.adweb.com.au
Campbell Dobbin and Connie Pandos founded the ADWEB Agency in 1995 as one of Australia’s first specialist web design companies. In 2000 they began developing a company information management product called Intranet DASHBOARD. That product is now used by Mars International, the United Nations Environment Programme, the US Food and Drug Administration, the City of San Jose, and a heap of small businesses.
Dobbin says the company will report revenue of $5 million and a solid profit for the current financial year, and that growth will accelerate as the company ramps up a developer program. ADWEB’s fortunes have been recently boosted by the recruitment of former CEO of Hitwise, Andrew Walsh as non-executive chairman, to spearhead its development in the US and assist in raising expansion capital.
Company: Remember the Milk
Website: www.rememberthemilk.com
Few people have been as surprised at the success of Remember the Milk as its co-founder, Emily Boyd. What started off in August 2004 as a hobby has now become a full-time project, with a team of developers spread between Australia, Russia and the US.
“We didn’t start it as a business,” Boyd says. “It kind of grew into that.” Remember the Milk now has nearly two million registered users – strong growth over the 250,000 it reported in 2007 – with many of them paying. More importantly, the company is profitable. Boyd says the goal for now is to grow the user base organically, while adding a stream of new features.
Nick Crocker & Ben JohnsonCompany: Native Digital
Website: www.nativedigital.com.au
You don’t need to be Gen Y to understand Gen Y consumers, but it sure can help. Nick Crocker and Ben Johnson collaborated with Wotnews to create We Are Hunted a Twitter-powered online music chart that since April 2009 has helped 10,000 members and two million visitors discover more than five million articles about music on the web and won a bunch of NextWeb Awards.
The technology has also underpinned new services for Condé Nast and Macquarie Bank’s Edge. The team also worked with EMI to create the first blog by a major record label, The In Sound from Way Out, and Crocker is now in New York working on a project to connect with other Gen Y entrepreneurs.
Ian Gardiner & Ron McCullochCompany: Viocorp
Website: www.viocorp.com
Online video might be one of the biggest things on the internet, but as Google knows, making money from it has not been easy. UK dotcom veteran Ian Gardner started the online video services business Viocorp in Sydney in March 2002, and spent four years in what he describes as hell before YouTube showed customers what could be done.
Viocorp makes its money from selling a video content management system called Viostream, and is starting to deal with broadcasters in addition to its corporate and government customers. The company has grown to 40 staff in Sydney and Melbourne, with revenue doubling for the past three years. “There’s something in this online video, you know,” Gardner quips.
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