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Had the opportunity to tour River City Labs last week after Young Entrepreneurs Night, where three young entrepreneurs (one high school student, one university student, and one university graduate) shared their startup journeys. It was very interesting to see how their experiences shaped their decision to start a company at such a young age. One, specifically, used the annoyances she came across in pursuit of athletic excellence to start a business solving those very same problems that she despised so much.
Another speaker during the night was Timothy Barraudi of Indooroopilly State High School who spoke about the entrepreneurial initiatives starting in high school to expose the next generation to the possibilities through entrepreneurship. When I was in high school I never would have thought about entrepreneurship as a class to take because it doesn’t fit in any particular bucket (e.g. arts, sciences, etc.) similar to business courses. However, thinking back to then, if I had been exposed to entrepreneurship in high school I think my path in college would have been completely different. Starting a business never crossed my mind because my purpose was to become educated; but looking back, I think it is even more beneficial to start a business while in school than just after. There are an incredible amount of resources available to students that disappear, or are no longer free, once you graduate. Not to mention that when you are young people genuinely want to help you and see you succeed.

As for after graduation in Brisbane, River City Labs (RCL) would be an incredible place to try to start a business. It is a startup accelerator and incubator and also the main tenant of The Precinct, which I mentioned in my last post, was sponsored by the Advance Queensland initiative. RCL boasts 1300 sq. ft. of co working space and considers itself the “central hub” for Brisbane. It hosts a minimum of five free events a week and also has members only events every night of the week as well as 10-15 meet up groups for different industries. Not to mention the facilities are extremely nice, there should definitely be more places like it!

There are some incredible things going on at every level in Queensland to springboard the state into future by driving entrepreneurship and innovation. The Advance Queensland initiative is the start of what will hopefully lead to a much stronger economy is Queensland. It is a $518 million investment in the Queensland economy focusing in five main areas: inspiration, discovery, connection, investment, and growth. Advance Queensland has taken the approach that everyone needs to be involved to make it truly successful, from startups and small businesses to large companies and institutions.

In addition, the Queensland Government has also opened the position of the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur; a position Alex Osterwalder, creator of Business Model Generation and the Business Model Canvas, has been advocating to be started in large companies as well. The current Chief Entrepreneur happens to be Stephen Baxter, a well known entrepreneur, investor, and “shark” on Shark Tank Australia.

One of the first things that was set in place by the Chief Entrepreneur was to develop Brisbane’s brand new entrepreneurial hub: The Precinct. Founded by the Queensland Government with $6 million from the Advance Queensland initiative, The Precinct is designed to support, grow, and develop the entrepreneurial community in Brisbane. It is a space in the heart of Fortitude Valley, right next to the Central Business District, that brings startups, incubators, investors and mentors together in a stunning, new co-working space. It truly is just the beginning for Queensland.

Welcome to u.osu.edu/brisbaneentrepreneurship. Where I will be completing a study of the entrepreneurial culture of Australia’s third largest city during the duration of my study abroad! I will be engaging with the newly funded startup precinct in the Central Business District (CBD) of Brisbane as well as startup hubs at the University of Queensland (UQ).

As a starting point, last week I made my first contact with the iLab at UQ which helps students turn their ideas into startups by running them through their 3-month Germinate accelerator program. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend Germinate Pitch and Investor night but the startups were focused around Robotics, Social Enterprise, Health, Drones, Education Technology, Consumer Products, Investment and Analytics.

I hope to make contact with other organizations in the startup precinct in the coming week!