The first Hatchery+ Cohort

I was very proud to have worked with the startups in the inaugural Hatchery+ incubator programme at UTS. I was one of several mentors from all walks of life who attended the weekly standups with the teams as well as worked in more depth with some of them. The teams were also helped and kept in line by the great UTS team.

Inaugural Hatchery+ cohort, UTS team and mentors

The intensity and dedication of all the teams was great to see and the progress they made over the programme was fantastic. As always it was encouraging to see the way the teams made their needs known and helped each other out if they could.
Broad observations?

• Without exception the startups were keen to ask for help and listen. They synthesised sometimes conflicting advice and made their decisions.
• The broad range of mentors was useful in many ways. There were many “I know someone there I can put you in touch with” moments, as well as “Well I did that and this is what happened to me” war stories.
• A founder mix of business and relevant tech skills is always an easier path. Some of the struggles with outsourcing development were painful to see.
• Proving the concept as fast as possible by using a concierge approach worked well for the teams that tried it, and they then could work on refining the tech knowing they had paying customers waiting as well as what was actually needed.
• Trying to get the best out of an incubator whilst juggling anything else serious means something has to give.
• Being a sole founder is tough but not impossible. Use your mentors.

If you want to know more about Hatchery+ look here: http://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/opportunities/hatchery/hatchery

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The maiden Hatchery+ cohort was:

BeautyListed - beautylisted.com
Team: Sharon Liu & Duncan McEwin

Focusing on the many small beauty salons, hair dressers and related businesses, BeautyListed offers a free platform for them to present their business, specialities and prices. Interested users can search by various criteria as well as see reviews by other users.
Brad prize for the sexiest web site. I also now know what balayage means...

FindMyPlan - findmyplan.net
Team: Cameron Muller, Rabieh El-Kadi, Anmol Rajbhandari & Melih Asaroglu

FindMyPlan gives travellers, initially coming to Australia and NZ, the chance to find the best SIM for their needs and get it sent to them at home before they travel.
Brad prize for Cam and Rabi’s manic presentation style.
Also Brad prize for relentless and unstoppable hustling.

GetFoodi - getfoodi.com.au
Team: Adam Love, Johnson Su & Sia Sajjadi

Mmm. Cake.

The GetFoodi team have identified a great and profitable niche in providing home chefs that specialise in awesome cakes and desserts with an easy way to reach potential buyers so they can concentrate on what they love doing – making extraordinary cakes for special occasions. The guys have great business and tech nous as well as a clear vision for growth.          
Brad prize for the yummiest web site.
Also Brad prize for honesty by revealing that their first entirely automated sale lost them $50 due to glitch which Sia had fixed by 5am the next day.

LearnedHub - learnedhub.com.au
Team: Mahya Mirzaei & Mitchell Knox

Already a successful business, during the incubator LearnedHub put in place their online site allowing parents to locate suitable tutors for their kids.
Brad prize for actually making a good deal of money!

MyInterview - myinterview.com
Team: Guy Abelsohn & Benjamin Gillman

MyInterview is aimed at allowing job applicants to allow their personality to shine, as well as giving HR professionals a way to pose specific questions to be answered in a video format. The back end processing and selection process as well as API integration into existing systems gives the team a big competitive advantage.
Brad prize for a great and new B2B idea and some damn good deal making.

NeoWIP - neowip.com
Team: Leah Callon-Butler

Looking for an on-demand professional sales team? NeoWIP gives organisations the ability to put up a sales project brief which is then responded to by the stable of experienced sales people. After reviewing the responses, which may offer a strategy to address the project, select your sales person and off you go.
Brad prize for the founder with best grace under fire.

Psykinetic - psykinetic.com
Team: Jordan Nguyen, Louise Samios, Margareta Klianiva, Meg Stockwell & Nick Temple

Will it work? Will it go backwards? Will it catch fire?

Hardcore tech helping people with disabilities improve their independence and quality of life. And it’s really cool – eye controlled keyboards, wheelchairs and even music.
Brad prize for the wildest scope ever – electronics, sensors, hardware, software, graphics, sound, interfaces, bring it on! It’s amazing anything actually ever worked.