Episode 12: Startups + Business Innovation, with David Masefield (Part 2)

“One of the things that incubators and accelerator programs are looking for is the team. Who has the entrepreneur got around them? [It’s said that] the five most important things for a startup in accelerator program are team, team, team, team and idea.”

In this episode, Sam interviews David Masefield, the founder of ShedBlog.com.au and Startup Toowoomba, and President of Canvas Coworking here in Toowoomba. This is Part 2 of the conversation so if you haven’t already listened to the first part of the episode, do that before you listen to this episode.

This episode is all about startup innovation, the absolute importance of your team, and the benefits of incubators and accelerator programs for status and business owners. Sam and David also discuss the importance of transparent and future-focused conversations between cofounders early on before there’s vested interests at play and the qualities David identifies in people who will be successful entrepreneurs, either now or in the future.

Finally, Sam and David share their thoughts on future business models and challenges from society’s point of view. It was an unexpected turn in the conversation but it’s one worth listening to.

Connect with David on LinkedIn or Facebook, or via ShedBlog.com.au or CanvasCoworking.com.au or StartupToowoomba.com.au.

Listen to a snippet

What we cover in this episode

• What elements make the difference between innovative startup success and failure

• The problems of founder bias and building a business in stealth without validating business models first

• Why innovation hubs exist and the benefits of incubators the accelerator programs

• The power of team, pivots and iterations for startups and new businesses

• David’s advice on the minimum viable paperwork (i.e. protection and compliance) that startups and new cofounders need before they get going

• The challenging space of valuing, structuring and having a vesting schedule for new companies and startups

• The importance of transparent and future-focused conversations between cofounders early on before there’s vested interests at play

• Why give-first attitude of people who are genuinely interested in supporting startup programs to get going is so beneficial for people starting out in business

• The qualities David identifies in people who will be successful entrepreneurs, either now or in the future

• What science fiction can teach us about ideas for the future

• The challenges and opportunities of advances in technology for our businesses, communities and relationships

Quotes

“One of the things that incubators and accelerator programs are looking for is the team. Who has the entrepreneur got around them? [It’s said that] the five most important things for a startup in accelerator program are team, team, team, team and idea.” ~ David

“The important thing is to validate the concept, validate that you've got an idea that can potentially work and that there's customers out there that are prepared to pay for it. Then get some [legal, accounting] advice once you know that you've got something worth getting some advice for.” ~ David

“The way that you can avoid [mistakes] is to get involved in a place like Canvas Coworking or Startup Toowoomba or an incubator or an accelerator program. They have in-house mentors that specialise in working on trademarks, intellectual property, commercialisation, partnerships and shareholder agreements and all those things. They know what's happened before, they've seen it all happen, they know how you can avoid making those mistakes. But if you are doing things in stealth, hiding yourself away, not getting involved, then you're not exposing yourself to those mentors, you're not getting that advice, which is often free in these early stages [of business].” ~ David

“I think the biggest threats from technology currently is the malpractice that we see politicians and political organizations, terrorist groups and things like that [utilising] technology to bring along people in the wrong direction.” ~ David

“It goes back to that ability to have conversation and connect with people. And the more we do that, the more we will solve problems quicker.” ~ Sam

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