WHERE ARE ALL THE WEB ENTREPRENEURS?
James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine
When we launched our inaugural 30under30 Awards in April (Anthill’s award program to recognise young entrepreneurs), we were immediately surprised at the lack of female entries (initially three percent).
We threw out a rally-to-arms, posing the controversial question: Are women less likely to self-promote? Quickly, our three percent figure jumped to over 30 percent.
The question has since been rendered moot (or at least proven wrong), as our women readers have embraced the Cool Company Awards with gusto, representing 42 percent of companies entered.
What we have found surprising is the low number of web companies to enter. This completely contradicted our expectations.
Firstly, it would be no surprise to our readers that we are borderline obsessed with online business models. We try to moderate our exuberance and cover a range of industries, but due to the internet’s power to radically disrupt traditional business models, we often can’t help ourselves and keep coming back to those three influential Ws.
Secondly, our 30under30 Awards attracted online entrepreneurs in droves. Among our young entrepreneurs, by far the greatest interest in the awards came from online business owners. We even went so far as to create a section to recognise in our magazine online economy finalists (‘Behold the New Economy’).
Thirdly, we made a concerted effort to make the awards easier for online businesses to enter, reducing the requisite time in business from 24-months to 12-months. We recognise that many companies in this space may not have existed 12-months ago. Indeed, the technology may not have been available for them to exist 12-months ago.
Lastly, so many online businesses are very, very cool!
They are innovative, they are constantly reinventing themselves, they are generally driven by entrepreneurial ‘futurists’, they are born global and often they have the X-Factor (frequently like no other).
So, why the absence?
It could be the $49 application free.
Online businesses have grown accustomed to ‘free’ goods and services, a staple of internet businesses, from new media to open-source tools. But a barrier to entry is sometimes necessary. It sorts the leaders from the also-rans. (If you can’t afford $49 to gain a better understanding of your business and maybe even win some accolades, there’s something intrinsically wrong with your business.)
It could be the cynicism of online entrepreneurs.
While the web community often likes to ‘stick it to the man’, I don’t think Anthill yet qualifies as ‘part of the establishment’. (To check out a video about our humble beginnings, click here.) The irony is that it is currently easier than ever for an online entrepreneur to come up trumps in the Cool Company Awards, simply due the lack of competition.
What we desperately hope is that the poor showing is not a reflection of the industry as a whole. We voiced our anger at the close of Commercial Ready and I recently heard rumour that the ICT Secrets program has also been put on hold.
What is going on?!
Should we simply close this category and give up on our webtreneurs?
- If you would like to nominate an online business (maybe your own), click here.
- If you represent an industry association and would like to help, click here. (Does anyone have any contacts at AIIA or AIMIA?)
- If you represent a popular blog, why not click here and join our ‘League of Champions’.
- If you have any thoughts, leave ‘em below.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:50 am
I guess we are just so cool that we just didn’t think we were cool enough to enter!!
July 9th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Hey we are entering, just trying to get the questionaire filled out!
Wish us luck - http://www.wasabitv.com.au
Cheers
Ananth
July 9th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Yep .. give us a ‘mo! Will be pounding on your door shortly …
July 9th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I don’t think we’re big enough to enter this year maybe next
July 9th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Nice piece of online marketing James. Instant response! challange our egos and get us to bite - you’d make a great fisherman.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:02 am
So busy launching, that we havent had time - but we’ve launched in public beta now.
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July 9th, 2008 at 11:04 am
just saw aaron spence from the gold coast do an amazing presentation at BARCAMP gold coast for his amazing business/concept: www.panedia.com
brilliant!
July 9th, 2008 at 11:09 am
DealsDirect.com.au will definitely be entered. Mike Rosenberg and Paul Greenberg from DealsDirect.com.au are cool as ice!
July 9th, 2008 at 11:12 am
James,
I am sure there are many reasons for the lack of response, with one of them being, most people have become aware now that having a website doesn’t mean you have an online business and that to make an online business successful there is so much to be done OFFLINE that the business is no longer seen as just an “online” business
PC
July 9th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Maybe the problem is so many online applications are just that - not true businesses. With my reckoning, there are only 5 Australian online companies I would call successful businesses.
But personally, I didn’t even know the awards had opened, and hadn’t seen anyone mention it on twitter (until now, right after you sent an e-mail broadcast).
July 9th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Of all the awards I’d like to win, the Cool Company award is it … I’d like to think of us as cool. But right now we’re flat out with new business, so next year will be our first chance
July 9th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Next year - when we’ve got the online part of our business working properly!
July 9th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
To be honest, my perception was the business had to be more established. Perhaps that’s just a hang-over from last years awards that required the 24-month business life. But on closer inspection I’m now not convinced that’s a requirement.
And Luke is right, great way to stir it up. But then I think you’re now the masters in that space.
Cheers
Rich
July 9th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I think the main concern is that there is a lot of effort involved in the application, on top of which you have to pay to be considered. It seems a bit much to be paying to complete someone else’s market research.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
It’s difficult to know which category to enter, and at $49 a category it’s a steep fee compared to say, the Webbys which are internationally recognised.
Also over an hour to complete the application, for a competition one probably isn’t ready to win? Seems a bit too much of an ask for me at present.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Slow down….. we’ll be entering asap. One frustration i had was pressing the backspace button and losing all the data I had entered. My advice is to work through the questions on word (or open office for the open source buffs) and then copy-paste, its a drag to have to do it again.
Its also a little hard to work through the questions if entering multiple categories. It would be easier to see the questions in all relevant categories so as to not write the same stuff over and over.
great work though, keep it up!!
July 9th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Keep this section open! Brisbanecreativeindustries.com, here we come!
July 9th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
James, I re-read your plea … please do not close this category.
As mentioned in our previous post, we are finalising an important installation for a new client for tomorrow … this has kept us working 7×20 for a while. Otherwise we would have had a go at the awards.
We always read your magazine, we look at the Cool Company winners, and we hope that one day our name will be there.
Please do not close this category!
July 9th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Yeah my online startup is still work in progress so nothing to really show yet. However I have observed that Perth has very, very few web startups.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Great initiative guys. But it wasn’t clear to me what ‘cool’ really meant. Cool is all about doing right, not saying? Right now we’re working flat out to make ours a sustainable business in an online climate in Oz which is a few years behind the US.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Isn’t there a saying: if you have to say you are cool, you are by definition not cool?
We expect others to say it for us.
I had an email from someone at PWC encouraging us to enter. Their endorsement gives it a lot of credibility, and I dont think is played up enough. I did not even notice their sponsorship until I got the personal email.
I attended the ernest & young entrepreneur awards, and was disappointed enough at the banality of the selection in the tech sectors; that I thought PWC with their deep technology links, would be able to give them a good run for their money. I would play up this link a lot if I were you - put it on a par with E&Y awards, make it more royal blue with real gold edging, rather than appearing to be a bunch of people beating their chests and telling others how cool they think they are.
Ok, that, and we are all too damn busy.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Victor: Wow, “Perth has very, very few web startups.”
What about Minti, Gooruze (both run by Vibe Capital), Norg Media, Mig33, The Broth, Buzka, 88 Miles, Loconut, Buggerall, Scouta, Recommendation Ventures (both mine), to name a few. I’m sure there are more that I’m not aware of.
I’ve also only listed those classed as “web 2.0,” because we could add a number of development houses like Bam Creative, and companies like Quickflix, etc. to that list if we need to.
Head to the next Port 80 by AWIA event, the next Perth BarCamp, or even the Edge of the Web conference in November and I’ll be happy to introduce to a bunch of like minded locals. Or if you’re impatient, jump on Twitter and ask around.
Rich
August 4th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
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November 13th, 2008 at 10:19 am
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