James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Could we be about to create Australia’s first reader-generated magazine article?

Probably not.

Many magazine articles are already written by readers.

But! We might be the first Australian magazine to produce a magazine article as a group.

Here’s what I’m proposing…

Over the next few weeks, I had (emphasis on ‘had’) intended to call on experts from a range of fields to help prepare an article on all the many small but necessary steps a startup company must take in order to stage a successful launch.

I had envisaged a title something akin to, “The 168 Steps to Launching a Successful Startup in Australia.” (Or “The 16 Steps…,” if time got the better of me.)

But, of course, while reading through some of the many erudite, informed, intelligent, articulate, whimsical and witty comments that have recently appeared on the Anthill blog, it suddenly occurred to me…

That would be silly!

I already have my experts.

You!

As such, if you’re interested, we’d like you, Anthill readers, to put forward whatever steps, any steps, you can think of that are integral to the formation of a company.

For example…

Purchase a URL
Register for an ABN
Decide which business structure is best for you
Purchase a shelf company (limited by shares)

You get the idea (too easy).

Perhaps contribute a step that really saved your bacon? Or a step you didn’t take but wish you had?

In return, we’ll publish your name and company URL next to your contribution (and you’ll be helping to educate fellow business owners).

If you are a professional adviser, we’re also inviting you too to apply your knowledge here. If your comments are used in the article, we’ll also publish your name right next to these inspired words of wisdom.

No step is too basic. No step is too banal. If you have a step, we want to hear it.

For the sake of clarity and consistency, there will, of course, be some ground rules.

1. Name your step. Explain why that step is important. Try to explain how to take that step. And don’t forget to provide helpful advice.

2. While doing all that, don’t yabber on. Try to explain your step and provide advice in less than 60 words. While we haven’t set a strict word limit for this exercise, the average A4 magazine page holds 600 words. (Think about it.)

3. No gratuitous self-promotion, please. If you’re an expert or entrepreneur keen to get your name in print, just remember this: People will look you up if you say smart stuff. Not because you managed to use your company name five times in 60 words.

4. When posting your comment use the exact name that you wish to see published and the URL of the company that you wish to see published next to that name.

5. If two people run the same or similar step, we’ll choose the one best suited to our purposes or we’ll combine the two and attribute the step to co-authors, with two names and two URLs (See Ground Rule #6 below, regarding sub-editing).

6. We’ll be deeming your participation in this exercise as consent for us to use your comments for publication, permission for us to sub-edit as required and as a demonstration that you have agreed to our T&Cs (click here).

Lastly, if this is a big flop, we make no promises. But, of course, the worst case scenario is that you will have helped educate and inform other readers of this blog. (A worthy cause.)

Tap away, Anthillians! Left-of-field suggestions are welcome, too.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Rumours of my spinal injury have been greatly exaggerated.

Well…. Not really.

When you see the words ‘potential impotence’ among the risks of surgery, you know that things are about to get serious (a state of mind I’ve never been fond of).

Fortunately, the risks have passed. And in my convalescent state, I’ve had plenty of time to brood. It will still be some weeks before I’m no longer home-bound but that won’t prevent me from finishing what we (you and me, my friends) have started.

At the end of this month, the extended period of the Innovation Review will come to its conclusion. That doesn’t leave much time to get a clear and helpful message across.

Below are just some of the interesting comments left in response to my post two weeks ago:

Allan Aaron said:
“It’s imperative that anyone with an interest in seeing this situation redressed makes a strenuous argument to the national innovation review at innovationreview@innovation.gov.au and, of course, to their government representatives.”

Tim said:
“Perhaps James or Chris could offer a place where participants could contribute their thoughts.”

Paul Cheever said:
“I now want to prepare and distribute across the governments and the Panel a profile of active venture interests stories.”

Liesl asked:
“If we want to take an active role in lobbying government, and show quantifiable national benefit of the grants, and the loss to the country of CR dying, where should we make a noise?”

After reading these blog comments, while stuck at the Epworth, I had a number of epiphanies. (Thank the good soul who invented Morphine. Hopefully, not another Commercial Ready casualty).

Epiphany #1… Hassle the Hasslers

Anthill’s proactive stance would not have take shape unless our readers had hassled us first. Of course, we were naturally dismayed at the scrapping of CR. We have encouraged and promoted many, many CR success stories in our brief history.

But it was not until you, our readers, asked us to take a stand that we began to review our options.

So… it seems sensible to bring this matter to the people and outlets (other media) that can further emphasise the need for CR or a CR alternative to the decision makers and the broader public.

Here’s my first test suggestion…

Text Q&A en masse.

Q&A is an ABC Television program that brings together political leaders and asks viewers to text their questions. We now have over 200 people who have registered to use SMS as a tool for a ‘flash protest’. Why not unleash the power of 200 on the ABC and see what happens?

If successful, I propose that we hit Sunrise (K Rudd has a weekly spot), then talk-back radio. Maybe even The Seven-Thirty Report?

Readers, I’ll need your help.

Please tell me if you think this is a good idea (or have I simply exceeded my prescribed dose of painkillers for the day?). If so, I’ll SMS the number to text and a sample message. (Perhaps you can let me know what you think a helpful question might be?) Also, what radio and television programs feature our political leaders in your neck of the woods? (I hung up my PR hat many moons ago.)

In short…

1. Is this a good idea?
2. What’s a good message or question?
3. What other outlets should we take our message to?

Epiphany #2… Make our anxiety known to the political decision makers

On this issue, many a buck has been passed.

I don’t want to name names, but… Oh heck…

According to various newspaper reports and comments made publicly during speeches (and a virtual sack of email messages to Anthill), the following two political representatives have voiced disappointment at the scrapping of Commercial Ready.

• Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
• Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

However, if you ask who is to ‘blame’, it seems that the trail invariably leads back to a bunch of faceless number-crunchers in Finance (Lindsay Tanner’s portfolio).

• The Hon Lindsay Tanner MP, Minister for Finance and Deregulation.

But! I personally elect my officials to make decisions. Yet, I cannot find an official happy to concede that this decision was made under his/her mandate of responsibility.

Here’s my second test suggestion…

Phone or mail each of the leaders’ branch offices.

Once again, en masse, on a prescribed day (announced by SMS). If you deem this suggestion a good one, we’ll text the numbers. All we’ll need from you is to open the text and hit the call button twice. Most mobile phones will do the rest. We can also send a sample message (or, once again, please make any suggestions you like below).

Unfortunately, this second suggestion requires that we make a pest of ourselves, which can be counter-productive. That’s why I’m suggesting branch offices. Each branch office takes a log of calls, which carry through to the elected representative and their advisers. A call is more powerful than an email (email lost its currency as a political tool when it became too easy to tap and send).

It’s easy to imagine that 200 phone calls in one eight-hour day (that’s 25 calls an hour) would be enough to make an impression without forcing the cogs of political branch-office politics to grind to a halt.

But if anyone has a better idea, we’re all eyes and ears. Maybe a template Letter that can be downloaded and sent via snail mail would be a more effective idea? After all, they say a letter is worth 10,000 constituents.

In short…

1. Is this a good idea?
2. What’s a good message or question?
3. Are there others that we should be contacting as well or instead?

Epiphany #3… Make all this count

The sad truth is that cancelled programs rarely, if ever, get reinstated. They are more likely to be resurrected in a different form or not at all.

This is partly because politicians are extremely reluctant to ‘back-flip’ on a decision (as any opposition will describe a public change in position, no matter how sensible, as just that: a back-flip).

So… while all these activities will demonstrate that a CR alternative is necessary (and that the electorate is unhappy and watching), positive suggestions are required, preferably ideas that are not simply opportunistic (like many of the 630 submissions to the Review already received).

Applications for the Innovation Review officially ended in May, but ‘unofficially’ the Review has indicated that it is prepared to accept late submissions of high importance.

Please do as Allan Aaron suggests above and mail ideas and suggestions to the National Innovation Review at innovationreview@innovation.gov.au and, of course, to your government representatives.

At Anthill, we will be packaging up all your comments from my previous post and submitting them to the PTBs (powers-that-be). We also recommend that you visit the Review website to check out the suggestions of others.

Last words…

If CR is unlikely to get a reprieve, why should we do this?

Firstly, because despite the ‘efforts’ at engagement (Forums, Submissions etc), which were based on genuinely good intentions by a group of smart and well-meaning people, the whole process, nevertheless, still stinks of an innovation system that is no longer innovative (in my humble opinion).

Forums and Submissions attract opportunism of the worst kind. Who else wants to spend hours in a town hall? Or weeks devising a submission except people with something to gain? This is something that I’ve climbed on my old soapbox about before (“Did you get your say at Senator Carr’s Innovation Review?”).

Secondly, while the Panel is made up of some of the smartest innovation experts Australia has produced, the members also only represent representatives of the baby-boom generation.

Yet, the technologies now available to drive real collaboration and engagement are largely created, driven and preferred by the people who have the most vested interest in a nation with robust innovation capabilities – Gen X and Gen Y.

Finally, not everyone has the luxury of being able to lie at home, writing blog posts and making cracks about prescription medicines (or fighting for innovation in Australia). And it would burn my soul not to use this opportunity (the scrapping of CR) to rouse interest in this debate and put innovation in the hands of the innovators.

If you think any suggestions seem too demanding, off-track or unlikely to engender an appropriate response (or your involvement), please let me know. In return, I’ll try to keep things as simple as possible (via SMS).

What say you, Anthillians? Is this the way forward or am I quietly turning into a crack-pot recalcitrant, going insane with only soft-toys, Tremazapan and my laptop for company?

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Have you ever heard of a ‘flash protest’? It’s similar to a ‘flash mob,’ where a group engages in seemingly spontaneous but actually synchronised behaviour.

The concept has been attributed to Bill Wasik, an editor at Harper’s Magazine, initially as a kind of street performance. Popular examples of the ‘flash mob’ concept involve getting dozens of people to perch on a ledge stone in Central Park (all making bird noises), a ‘zombie walk’ in San Francisco and an incident where over 100 people ‘froze’ perfectly still in New York’s Grand Central Station for one minute.

But it can also be used for political purposes. Let me give you an example…

Not so long ago, a small group of Belorussian citizens decided to stage a protest against the autocratic President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. The country had cut loose from the USSR after the collapse of European Communism. While many former Soviet states embraced the democratic process, Belarus retained a state-run economy and a President reluctant to give up his own brand of unchecked power.

So, what would you do if you were part of a small group eager to bring about political change in a state-run country like Belarus?

Option A: Stage an angry protest, with placards and organised chanting, where you would most probably be arrested during the planning phase, before even the first slogan could be shouted.

Option B: Stage a ‘flash mob’ by inviting participants through email and SMS to ’spontaneously’ show up at a public location and join other disenfranchised citizens in the act of eating… wait for it… ice-cream!

The second option is exactly what happened in Belarus in May 2007, soon followed by a mass ‘reading’ protest, and later a mass ’smiling’ protest. The two main benefits are obvious: 1) The plan cannot be ‘thwarted’ by the establishment due to the viral and instantaneous nature of new communication technologies; and, 2) It’s hard to arrest someone for eating ice-cream, reading or smiling without attracting international condemnation.

Of course, there’s also nothing more liberating (and nothing more politically destabilising to an autocratic state) than the public’s realisation that other’s are equally dissatisfied with the status quo.

Back to Commercial Ready…

According to the AFR, on 19 May 2008, at least 220 aspiring technology entrepreneurs were caught in the surprise axing of the four-year $700 million Commercial Ready program in the federal budget.

For a full grants overview (the good, the bad and the ugly), click here.

These people had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars collectively on their applications, and were offered little more than a letter explaining what other funding programs they might be eligible for.

However, according to many industry pundits, the closure of this program also has significant longer-term implications for innovation in Australia.

As reported by Slattery’s Watch, Ian Birks, CEO of AIIA, recently stated: “SME innovation and growth is a critical component of Australia’s aspirations in the information economy… and we cannot afford to fall behind in these areas.” While TVP General Partner Mike Zimmerman commented that he believes the death of Commercial Ready “will be an enormous blow to SMEs in the ICT sector… Many of the industry’s successful start-ups (and their investors) had seen the CR grant as THE critical government program supporting innovation.”

And from Perth-based venture capital investor Matt Callahan, published in the AFR: “Wow - that is probably the biggest damaging stake into the start-up companies’ heart I have ever heard of. I am stunned.”

Anthill also received an alarmingly large number of anonymous and public comments. Hence, this blog post.

So, what’s the plan?

Step #1: Add your comments below. Is there a genuine complaint to be made? If so, where should this complaint be directed? Your feelings, thoughts, opinions and suggestions will shape our actions.

Step #2: Join us in the first stage of a ‘flash protest’. You won’t be required to go anywhere or do anything complicated - just make a phone call when prompted by SMS.

To leave your mobile number and join the ‘flash protest’, click here. (Of course, we won’t pass on your private details to anyone else. This is all about activism! The power’s in your hands.)

Step #3: Forward this blog post to everyone you know who will be detrimentally affected by the scrapping of Commercial Ready (and anyone you know who is likely to feel strongly about the impact it’s closure will have on Australian innovation).

Step #4: Wait. Over the next five days, we’ll form a plan based on your comments and suggestions and the volume of responses we receive, and then alert you via SMS (see Step #2).

Here’s our ‘out’ clause…

If this ‘call-to-action’ fails to generate a significant response, we’ll drop the cause and move on. If the Federal Government introduces changes that will circumvent the complaints, we’ll again move on. And lastly, if this begins to get beyond us (we’re a small team at Anthill), we might need to review our position (and get back to work, so the next issue comes out).

Whatever the outcome, we’ll keep you posted, as we’re sure that whatever path we take, the outcome will present an interesting story on the rise of social networking technologies and ‘digital activism’.

What next? Get active, Anthillians.

To join the ‘flash’ protest, click here.

Leave any comments or remarks you might have below.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

A couple of days ago, I caught up with an old school friend. When the topic of Anthill came up, he said with obvious but ill-directed admiration, “You must be a millionaire!”

‘If only that were true,’ was all I could think, before delivering a suitably ambiguous Cheshire grin and dropping a generous tip (the service was exceptionally good).

So, why am I not a millionaire? Anthill must be doing OK? (You might think.)

Well, to be frank, a business is only worth how much someone else is willing pay for it. And, until that time, it is worth the amount of profit it delivers to its owner or shareholders.

It’s also worth the pleasure it brings to the entrepreneur, of course (which is why I described my friend’s admiration as ‘ill-directed’, as it reflected his measure of success, not necessarily mine).

However, to get to the point, this harmless and well-meaning comment by my old acquaintance got me thinking. It initiated a ripple of thoughts, culminating in one final question…

How much is Anthill actually worth?

Understanding the value of any given business or opportunity is, of course, vital to its long-term success.

Firstly, because financial valuations are useful as a sanity check. (Am I treading forward or backward?)

Secondly, because knowing the value of a business allows you to reward staff with equity. (How can you allocate options without knowing the company’s fair value?)

And thirdly, because the value of your company is the first thing a potential investor or buyer will ask in the event of a capital raise or trade sale.

Yet, even the most sophisticated investors still describe private company evaluation as a ‘black art’.

So… over the next new few weeks, I plan to review five different aspects of valuing a private company. And, of course, I’ll be seeking your comments and observations along the way (call it learning by teaching).

Therefore, if you are interested in the value of your business, or if you are interested in the potential value of your business opportunity, read on. If you are an expert in this area, please join the conversation and help inform our readers (including yours truly).

To get the ball rolling, I propose that this blog series consider the following five topics:

Terminology (Liquidity Event, Hurdle Rate, Pre-Money Value, Post-Money Value)
Comparable Method of Valuation
Discounted Cashflow Method of Valuation
Profit Multiple Method of Valuation
Strategic Buyer Method of Valuation

If you have any further suggestions, please don’t be shy, as together we attempt to explore the ‘black art’ of business valuation.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

The high number of phone calls and text messages sent my way in the early hours of this morning had me quite panicked.

What had possibly gone wrong in the world that had people texting me before breakfast?

Well, it seems that Anthill lovers (or maybe just ant lovers) Australia wide felt that I should be made aware of BRW’s foray into ant-related visual metaphors.

Despite the aggrieved tone of some of the emails sent my way, I don’t think anyone can blame BRW for using a compelling image (and, we must admit, common metaphor).

In answer to the most common question…

I don’t think it suggests that BRW is looking for ways to emulate Anthill, even if the image does ever-so-slightly echo the Anthill brand. (It’s a very faint echo in a very long tunnel.)

Nevertheless, thanks to all those people who felt passionate enough to touch base.

We love you ’cause you care.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Not so long ago, I was visiting a fairly mainstream website (owned by one of Australia’s larger media companies) when a banner ad popped up with an unexpected proposition… “Would I like a Hummer?”

Despite my moderate take on most things, I was surprised.

We’ve all been made lurid offers at one time or another while trawling the never-ending abyss of expressive freedom that is the World Wide Web. But I never expected this from one of the mainstream players.

Until I realised that the puerile part of my brain (that bit that makes me giggle when I hear the word ‘Titmouse’ and has me work in ever creative ways to get my friends from New Zealand to say the word ‘Six’) had led me astray.

Of course, this is exactly what the advertisement had intended.

Because, despite the sexual double-entrendre, the advertisement was, in fact, for something less exciting. It was for a service as dull and completely asexual as financial lending.

Yup, a Hummer is a very large American Four-Wheel-Drive and the business behind the advertisement is called, I kid you not, Debbie Does Carloans, fronted by a website reminiscent of that staple of yesteryear, the old auto-shop calendar (women draped over cars, holding various odd mechanical apparatus, with expressions suggesting that life could never be better).

I’ve included the link above because I’m sure that you’re mature enough to decide whether you want to click through or not.

Plus…

I’m conflicted.

Despite my initial surprise (and obvious curiosity) and even though I was honestly amazed that this sort of blatantly sex-centric advertising still exists (I thought John Singleton had retired?), I can also see the merits of the marketing angle.

The brains behind Debbie Does Carloans clearly knew what they were doing.

In short, they identified a demographic (young, male rev-heads), then created a product specifically designed to appeal to that demographic. Further, the entire concept is based on a history of sexual marketing that brings another dimension to the campaign.

It reeks of parody, with a touch of retro (two powerful tools strong enough to soften even the hardest of cynics).

And, of course, that makes me want to write about it (despite the possible inference that I am cheapening the Anthill brand by leading this blog and our weekly email newsletter with the risqué headline above).

More than one Anthill author has already made the observation that the sex industry is one of the most powerful litmus tests of where technology and business is heading.

We’ve all heard that Gutenberg’s printing press was quickly pressed into service by pornographers, after he failed to make a commercial go of it, assisting massive widespread adoption of the device.

It’s also been suggested that the battle between Betamax and VHS was won as a result of the porn industry’s wide adoption of the cheaper format, VHS.

And finally, the decision by Toshiba to cease production of HD-DVD earlier this year was apparently partly influenced by the fact that Sony’s Blu-Ray alternative has greater disc capacity and, therefore, allows more camera angles, which is of greater appeal to a certain high-volume category of viewing customer.

Yet, the question remains…

Was my initial reaction prudish or justified? While this sort of advertising is blatantly sexual, is it gratuitous? Or more to the point, is this the sort of information Anthill should be writing about?

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

It’s often said that entrepreneurs see the world differently.

It has been observed that entrepreneurs have a higher tolerance for risk. They are also able to see opportunity where others might only see peril. Or, at least, that’s the common wisdom.

They are said to be creative, right-brain thinkers, big-picture people.

This is an assumption I’d like to test.

When we interview a new prospective employee at Anthill we ask the following question…

Q1: If a turtle loses his shell, is he naked or homeless?

Of course, there is no correct answer. But the thought process behind the answer can tell you a lot about a person. Ask a friend what they think the answer is and how they reached their conclusion.

You’ll see what I mean.

We also have a simple way to test honesty. (Entrepreneurs are often said to be inherently flexible on matters of honesty, a vastly erroneous claim in our experience.)

Here’s a factual scenario: My sister lost her purse eight times between the ages of 12 and 18 (true story).

Q2: How many times do you think the purse was returned?

Q3: Of the times the purse was returned, how many times do you think it still contained her money?

The answer will depend on your level of trust and distrust, which is usually a reflection of your own capacity for honesty (the degree to which you might have been tempted to do the wrong thing if you had found the purse).

For example, ask a child under 10 this question and then ask a gentleman of eighty. You’ll get a vastly different answer. Ask a priest, then a criminal and you’ll find a similar disparity.

So, how did you rate? How many times did my big sis’ get her purse back?

Eight out of eight.

How many times did the purse still contain her money?

Eight of eight (again).

So, here’s my final test. And I’m seeking your participation (through an online poll).

Below you’ll see an image of a girl turning.

But is she turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

If clockwise is your answer, then you use more of the right side of your brain (the creative side). If she is turning anti-clockwise, then you use more of the left side of your brain (the analytical side). Most people see the dancer turning anti-clockwise.

But what is the natural reaction of the Australian innovator and entrepreneur?

Help us find out by taking part in our online poll. Are entrepreneurs left brain or right brain thinkers? Is the girl turning clockwise or anti-clockwise? To join us in our not-so-scientific experiment, click here.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Around this time last year, I dedicated my editor’s note (in the print edition of Anthill Magazine) to the re-telling of one of Anthill’s many business blunders.

It was the sort of forehead-slapping, groan-inducing error that you think (at the time) you’ll laugh about later. It was such a simple mistake that you could almost call it an oversight.

So what did we do? What was our mistake?

In short, we forgot to renew our domain name.

The reminder arrived, along with a small pile of fraudulent renewal letters (the way that it is with respect to most publicly available snippets of private information these days). The legitimate letter was tossed away with the junk letters and the matter was overlooked.

‘But what about the email reminder?’ you might reasonably ask. Anthill was set-up while I was working for another company and I can only assume that the reminder was sent to a now defunct email address at my place of previous employment (but that’s a story for another day).

It was a simple mistake, a head-slapping, groan-inducing, something-to-laugh-about-later, insignificant error, right? Right!?

Well… no.

Within days our website disappeared, only to be replaced by a message stating quite bluntly that our domain had expired and was now available for purchase. And this was the message that greeted Anthill web-visitors for the next five days (an entire working week).

So, what was the fallout from this mini business disaster?

Firstly, we lost a chunk of subscription revenue (many Anthill subscriptions are purchased online). Secondly, we raised the ire of our web advertisers for not fulfilling our obligations. And thirdly, I can only assume that we disappointed the spectrum of people who frequent our website.

But the real damage was done to our credibility.

Many visitors assumed that we had gone belly-up. Magazine publishing is a precarious game at the best of times. The burden of feasibility is on publishers, particular within advertising circles, because most people know that the mortality rate among new magazines is extremely high.

However, like all hard-working business operators, we pressed on, fuelled by the scepticism of the doubting Thomas’s, dogmatically determined to prove our critics wrong. We also caught a glimpse of the goodwill Anthill has fostered since its inception, and became energised by the phone calls and emails of concern from our more enthusiastic readers.

Ultimately, of course, we came out stronger, with better systems, better reader relationships and the knowledge that most ‘business disasters’ can be overcome.

Making mistakes is all part of business. We never like to admit it. But it is often the fallout from mistakes that initiate growth and help us to excel.

We’ll be exploring this oft neglected area of business in our Aug/Sep edition.

This is our invitation to you. Why not regale us with your groan-inducing business follies? The best will be published in our Aug/Sep edition. Your disaster can be simple (”I forgot to put ink in the fax and lost a massive purchase order.”) to the complex (”We tried to launch bottled water into Alaska using a refrigerated truck, instead of a heated one, and discovered that it is, in fact, very hard to sell ice to the Eskimos.”).

We have but one simple request… Please, no PR agents allowed. We only want to hear from genuine business owners with genuine business disaster stories.

Remember, what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

The inevitable has occurred.

Some smart publisher has bought The Bulletin. Sadly, it wasn’t me.

Sydney Funds Manager Peter Hall is the new owner. He also reportedly has a stake in international current affairs periodical Monocle and UK political science journal Prospect.

In Saturday’s Age he makes the comment that he would like the new editorial culture to be “spiky, irreverent and fun, not stodgy.”

Hmmm… It sounds eerily like the Anthill Media Kit. But we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt (simply because we look forward to seeing the new look Bulletin, in its next incarnation).

We’ll be watching with interest.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Like many growing businesses, technology is our greatest friend. But it can also be the cause of enormous frustration.

You may have already noticed that parts of our website disappeared over the weekend when our host upgraded its infrastructure. One of those parts was our 30under30 application form, only days before our application deadline.

We resolved that problem. And now that’s it’s back up, it seems to be overloading! Very frustrating.

As such, we’ve decided to extend the application stage by one week. Instead of closing on Monday 14 April 2008, applications will now be open until next Monday 21 April 2008. We commend the early-birds who have already submitted their application and apologise to those who are still waiting to get their submissions in.

We hope to have our technology ‘issues’ resolved over the next 24-hours (watch this space). But in the short-term, here’s a sneak preview of the type of person who has already entered 30under30.

How old are our 30under30 applicants so far? It seems that more were born in 1979 than any other year. Is that when fluoride was introduced to drinking water?

In the early days of the awards, we coordinated a massive call to action (eg. I sent out an email), questioning the lack of female entrants (see blog post here). It seems to have worked. Female entries quickly jumped from 3% to over 30%.

How experienced are our entrepreneurs, Grass-hopper? According to the stats, 45% have started multiple businesses, Sensei.

If you still wish to nominate a friend (or yourself), because of our technical hiccup, time is on your side (nomination form here). If you have already nominated and wish to submit your application, watch this space (application form here).

Apologies again. We hope to have the matter resolved soon.