by Michael Cradock on May 11, 2009
Port Warratah Coal Services - Largest Coal Export Facility in the WORLD
For anyone lucky enough to be taken on a tour of Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS), in Newcastle NSW, last Friday, you would be left in no doubt that this was a pioneering venture on a grand scale.
PWCS is a continuous 24 hour a day operation utilising:
- computerised management control systems to monitor and organise coal movement from mine to port;
- advanced quality control techniques; and
- modern environmental controls.
Showcasing the world’s largest coal terminal operations, PWCS opened an all-access tour as part of the Hunter Central Coast Innovation Festival. On Friday 8th May, a small group of 15 of us were told how 99% of all the Hunter Valley coal moved into PWCS terminals via rail transport.
Get this. The rail mounted shiploaders operate at a peak rate of up to 10,500 tonnes per hour for each loader!
In terms of exports, this map of the world demonstrates the major customers of Hunter Valley coal. Interestingly even the Europeans receive some of the coal (2%). Not surprisingly Japan and Taiwan account for 72% of the total export.
The scale of the coal reclaimers would have been unimaginable 100 years ago, and now look. If that isn’t significant innovation in automated manufacturing supply chain then what is.
by Michael Cradock on May 1, 2009
The Hunter Central Coast Innovation Festival launches on Monday 11th May 2009 and there are several events, seminars, workshop and activities for the community to get involved with. Please register your interest on the HCCIF website.
Neville Sawyer, Chairman of the HCCIF, says this about the festival in his opening letter:
Welcome to the Hunter Central Coast Innovation Festival ‘09
As Chairman of the Hunter Central Coast Innovation Festival Committee (HCCIF), it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the 2009 Festival event and this Website. We have been inspired by the success of our first Innovation Festival in 2008 and invite you to participate in the Hunter Central Coast Innovation Festival for 2009.
The HCCIF has been well supported through business, industry and government in the delivery of an exciting program for the 2009 Festival. We welcome our major sponsor GHD and look forward to a continued relationship to showcase the incredible diversity of innovation the region has to offer. We also acknowledge the role that the Hunter Economic Development Corporation has played in managing the project and securing important funding from the NSW State Government through the Department of State and Regional Development.
AusIndustry has been sponsoring the Australian Innovation Festival since 2002 and a variety of events across the country during the month of May. This year we are fortunate to, once again, have AusIndustry’s support and continued involvement.
This is the second formal Innovation Festival for our region with events running across the Hunter and Central Coast Regions. The Festival dates for 2009 are Friday 8th May to Friday 22nd May. The events are being programmed to ’show off’ the region’s special talents for innovation.
Innovations that fit the themes of Science and Mining; Health and Wellness; Education; Energy; Industry and Business; Environment; and Diversity currently being sourced to ensure that the scope of innovation is highlighted to the broadest audience including community members, business leaders, students, government, investors and developers.
I invite you to support the range of organizations and companies opening their operations to show and demonstrate their innovations, as well as those that are having seminars/open lectures, to explain the innovations they are currently working on.
This is your opportunity to hear about and/or see products, services, equipment, technology, science, engineering, innovation, emulating from this region and it’s highly skilled, dedicated and inventive workforce.
The HCCIF has the support of several sponsors, and as Chairman of the HCCIF, I would like to acknowledge these organisations for their commitment to the region. Many of the sponsors will also be hosting events and seminars which further illustrates the stakeholder commitment we are so fortunate to have in our Hunter and Central Coast areas. The logos for these organisations appear on this page of our web site.
I encourage you to visit website over the coming weeks to keep up to date with the Festival as it develops.
The Committee members and I look forward to encountering you at Events during the two weeks of this Hunter Central Coast Innovation Festival. Enjoy the festival and its ‘occasions’ and tell us about your experiences at the events/visits undertaken, so that we may improve our performances in 2010 and beyond.
Neville Sawyer AM
Chairman - HCCIF Committee
by Michael Cradock on May 1, 2009
Fast Thinking is undoubtedly the pre-eminent innovation magazine in Australia.
We wanted you to get some additional value and this is a great way of doing just that. Click the image to claim your free online subscription to Fast Thinking.
by Michael Cradock on April 27, 2009
Have you heard the buzz…
For the first time in Australia the methodology that has proven to help entrepreneurs, scientists and technologists in the US, Canada and in Europe will be launched at the upcoming Hunter Central Coast Innovation Festival.
To secure your seat at this limited capacity event visit our sign up page.
See you there…
by Michael Cradock on March 16, 2009
With the doom and gloom of large corporates failing to meet their debt covenants, big brands ceasing to exist, how has the world of start-up capital raising changed?
And what value does a matching service (a connector of great investment opportunites with investors) provide for both sets of customers?
In this capital raising podcast we talk to Angela Hartnett of Enhance Equity in Perth, Western Australia, about:
- the value a matching service provides to companies seeking capital
- the value a matching service provides to investors who are time poor and cash rich; and
- how milestone funding protects investors needing to see value creation between equity rounds.
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We hope you enjoy this podcast and come back for more!
Thanks for listening, and we’ll chat again soon.
by Michael Cradock on March 12, 2009
by Michael Cradock on March 8, 2009
Entrepreneurs should never want their business to be fully-funded (from outside financing) to the point where they are cash flow positive based on revenues.
- The risks at the outset are unknown and very daunting
- There are multiple paths with multiple opportunities that are unknown at the beginning
- To cover the risks and options all in one hit an investor would want a big chunk of the company ownership
By spreading the investment out over three to four stepping-stones the investor can:
- Match the risk-reward profile of the stage of investment
- Effect change in the business if needed
- Limit the loss in the event of business failure
To end up with a good share of the company ownership the entrepreneur needs to take risk. This risk is the possibility that they might not get funded at the next stepping-stone. And so the objective becomes, for any outside backed company, to get to the next funding milestone.
by Michael Cradock on March 3, 2009
Getting the right management team before you start capital raising
Many companies start a capital raising process only to spend 9 months to a year chasing their tail. Before you start raising capital you will need to get the right management, directors and Board in place to maximise your chances of success. The reasons why are explained in this podcast between Michael Cradock (host) and Gavin Loyden.
Both Michael and Gavin are independent accredited members of the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board; which is a leading matching service and platform for primary and secondary share issues of public unlisted companies in Australia.
We hope you enjoy this podcast and would really appreciate your feedback and suggestions for more podcasts to further explain capital raising.
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Enjoy!
Michael Cradock
by Michael Cradock on March 1, 2009
It’s critical to get out into the market and have conversations about commercial value – the sooner, the better. This doesn’t require talking about intellectual property or disclosing trade secrets; on the contrary, it requires asking questions related to the commercial attractiveness of the outputs of the IP. Read more….
This content is kindly provided by Wendy Kennedy and her website is www.wendykennedy.com
Early in the market assessment phase, you want to engage industry experts, potential partners/licensees, and other organizations in the space to “test the waters” about the commercial potential for the invention. It’s up to you to probe, listen and learn from customers to determine if the invention has the potential to become a solution to a customer’s needs and wants. You need to find out if the invention has the potential to be a commercial winner. Keep in mind that the word customer here implies the person or organization who will pay you money – it could be a licensee, development partner, or an end-user customer.
Below are a set of questions to guide the conversation with organizations in the market.
Customer Conversation Starters
1. Would a final product that had these characteristics (name 2-3 key attributes of your idea) be of value?
2. In your opinion, does this invention address a real need? Do you see it as a “must have” or a “nice to have”?
3. When you think about this idea in terms of using it yourself, is there something that stands out as being unique?
4. In your opinion, what would you add or remove from this invention to make it “market ready”.
5. Can you name similar products on the market?
6. When you evaluate a product/prototype/idea such as this, what criteria do you use?
7. If you could change one thing in this product/prototype/idea, what would it be? How would you change it?
8. What barriers, if any, do you think would exist to bring an idea like this to market?
9. Test your problem statement – are you describing it appropriately? Ask the customer/prospect to critique how you describe their pain to others.
10. Never be afraid to ask, “What is a typical price point in the market for products that include an invention such as this?”
by Michael Cradock on February 27, 2009
Use these ten questions to guide your analysis of an early stage invention. Remember, inventions are not products and, therefore, you need to ask a different set of questions to assess the opportunity.
1. What business problem does the invention solve?
2. Is the market “ready” for this idea? (Timing)
3. … To read more sign up for more information below:
