Upcoming Workshops in Sydney as part of Vivid

Hey Purpose gang!

 

After a gap of almost nine months while we were getting our new platform launched amongst other things I'm holding some of my award-winning* Crowdfunding for Good workshops as part of Vivid Festival in Sydney in June.

Crowdfunding for Good Workshops

Two introductory workshops which cover all the basics you need to know to succeed at crowdfunding over two action-packed hours, on Thursday June 9 and Friday June 10.

By the end of this workshop you'll know exactly what you need to do to succeed, what projects that succeed remember to do that those that fail ignore, what sorts of rewards work and so on. Tickets are just $30 ($25 if you're quick!) and available here.

Masterclass for Project Creators

A newly-created half-day masterclass for just 6 projects or organisations, each of which can bring two people. Over the four hours we'll work through the key decisions you need to make, what rewards will work for you and most importantly, how to architect your story and design an outreach strategy which will inspire the support you need. This is for project creators with a clear idea of what they need to raise funds for, and is limited to six projects so that I can give each of them focused attention and custom advice.

By the end of this workshop you'll have a detailed plan to run an awesome crowdfunding campaign. Only six tickets (each of which entitles two people working on the same project to come together) are available from here. The first two are $99 after which they're $129.

*okay I haven't won any awards for my workshops. But people really like them! Check the quotes on the booking page.

A Sydney for All

Last week, it was my honour and privilege to speak at the launch of the City of Sydney's draft Social Sustainability Policy, "A City for All."

This draft is the culmination of months of consultation and now opens the policy up to feedback from all members of the community. This opportunity reflects one of the key pillars of the policy - Engaged City - with its emphasis on transparent decision-making, public participation and civic skills. It was this pillar that I focused my remarks on.

Civic participation is not just a meaningful end in itself, it strengthens many of the other principles and priorities expressed in the plan. If Sydney is to be an inclusive, equal, resilient and vibrant city, if it is to be a place where everyone has the chance to fulfil their potential, it is going to be democratic participation that creates and defends all these goals.

By Social Entrepreneurs, For Social Entrepreneurs

At StartSomeGood we are very clear on why we exist: to support social entrepreneurs, non-profits and community groups to rally the community support they need to make a difference.

This comes directly from our founders, Tom Dawkins and Alex Budak. It’s not just that they founded StartSomeGood with the intention of support world changing initiatives, it’s that they had founded such initiatives themselves previously and so intimately understood the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs and community groups to raise the funds they need to make a difference.

Celebrating 30 Days of Gratitude

Celebrating 30 Days of Gratitude

At StartSomeGood we have spent the past 30 days focusing on gratitude. Each day across our social media we have acknowledged a project, partner, person or community which has made our progress and success thus far possible.

This is important, because truly, without the support from so many people we would not be here. To often in business and life we get caught up in our own challenges and needs and forget to give thanks for what we have. And like everyone else, we have challenges. Running a social enterprise startup is hard. The crowdfunding industry is brutally competitive and the impact investing ecosystem very nascent. Our hours are long, our stresses are many.

But we have so much to be grateful for. 

Rising to the Challenge of Change in 2016

Rising to the Challenge of Change in 2016

I spent the last night of 2015 sitting in the dark of the bush on the Western edge of the Blue Mountains. The sun set late, but when it did it was dark. Really dark. The moon hadn’t yet risen and the Milky Way splayed out above us. I always forget how spectacular the stars are when you get away from the city lights. And as a seemingly-larger-than-usual near-full moon edged above the ridgeline above us, suddenly illuminating the valley around us, I felt a fierce belief in the possibilities of this year.

Make 2016 a Year for #StartingGood

Make 2016 a Year for #StartingGood

I don't know about you guys, but 2015 was a pretty massive year here at StartSomeGood.

There were some great wins this year. We raised investment for the first time and launched a worlds-first collaboration with an impact investor. Our partnerships such as ING DreamstarterFreoMatch and Pitch for Good were huge successes. Our success rate remained a near industry-leading 53% and we launched our popular masterclass as an online course at Udemy.

We also made a lot of mistakes, learned a lot, and fought hard to make the progress we did, like most startups.

We ended the year with two huge milestones: 1. the launch of our new platform and brand and 2. reaching 600 successful projects and $6 million AUD in processed funds.

Working in the service of Innovation

Working in the service of Innovation

I recently had the pleasure of representing StartSomeGood at the Australian and New Zealand Internet Awards, a joint venture of the domain administrators from both countries which recognises outstanding projects enabled by the internet. I was happy enough just to be there as a finalist for the Innovation Award and was thrilled and surprised when we were announced as the winner.

A world first scheme for Australian social enterprises to access finance

A world first scheme for Australian social enterprises to access finance

The social enterprise sector in Australia is growing strongly, but most social enterprises struggle to make it from an initial launch, no matter how promising, to gaining access to the capital they need to scale their operations and impact.

A gap exists in the social enterprise funding ecosystem between the most innovative social entrepreneurs on the one side and investors interested in funding them on the other.

StartSomeGood exists to help get more social enterprises across this gap so we’re thrilled to announce a world-first collaboration with one such investor, the Social Enterprise Finance Australia ( SEFA) to use crowdfunding to help you quality for a loan to fuel your growth.

Announcing our angel funding round

Announcing our angel funding round

Today is an incredible day. I’m very pleased to announce that we’ve closed a funding round with a couple of great investors and are excited to take an important step in our journey, which will include the launch of a new version of the StartSomeGood platform in June.

Leading the round is Trimantium Capital, a Melbourne-based technology and impact investment management company led by serial entrepreneur Phillip Kingston, who is joining the board. Phillip specifically and Trimanitum generally have incredible experience taking companies to scale and are at the forefront of the impact investing and social enterprise movements in Australia. We couldn’t have better or more aligned partners and we’re very grateful for their support for our vision.

At milestones like this it’s impossible not to look back at where we started.

Vivid Festival Time!

When K and I got back to Sydney after four years living overseas in April 2012, we weren't aware of Vivid Festival beyond a few facebook updates noticed and then forgotten over the previous two years. I accepted a speaking invitation even, without really realising what I was getting involved with. And then May rolled around and the city lit up. Literally.

Image

Vivid wasn't just a bunch of talks, it was a showcase of the most amazing digital projection technology I'd ever seen, complimented by Burning Man-style installations around the Harbour foreshore. It was extraordinary. And that was just the "Light" part of it; there's also a brilliant Music program and, yes, a bunch of talks which comprise the Ideas stream. Each would be an awesome festival in its own right; together than seem to energise the whole city.

Despite my rockstar fantasies it's the Ideas section I find myself involved with again. This year I'm thrilled to be part of four events, two of them organised by my friends at Vibewire, one put on by StartSomeGood ourselves and the last a panel on the funding of creative projects organised by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

Here's my personal program if you want to come along to any of them:

  • #fastBREAK: Save the World: A special edition of Vibewire's monthly #fastBREAK sessions made up of rapid-fire ideas from interesting people. Instead of the usual 7.30am Friday start this is at the very civilised time of 10.30am on Sunday May 25 at the Powerhouse Museum. It also features an incredible line up of speakers, from activists to politicians to hip hop legends to and entrepreneurs. It'll be my please to introduce them all as MC (yo yo!). Get your tickets now!
  • Funding Creative Work Now: a panel on the new ways creative work is being funded, featuring a bunch of awesome creative entrepreneurs and me! 1.30pm Thursday May 29 at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
  • Be Awesome at Crowdfunding Masterclass: I'll be teaching a 3-hour crowdfunding masterclass sharing everything we've learned while helping people raise millions of dollars through crowdfunding. Find out everything you need to know to be awesome at crowdfunding and how you can use it to launch or grow your initiative. For creative or social entrepreneurs, community organisers or non-profit fundraisers. 1-4pm Thursday June 5. Some tickets still available, book now!
  • Pitch the Future: A pitch event for ideas which could change the future, hosted by Vibewire in partnership with StartSomeGood. I'll be hosting. This should be really fun and is free so come along! Sunday June 8.

And I'll be in there with the family tonight when they turn the lights on at 6pm.

If you're in Sydney have a great Vivid Festival! If there's particular events you recommend please share them in the comments below.

Photo of the Sydney Opera House lit up during Vivid Festival by Jason Meaden shared on flickr with a creative commons license.