Lithium-sulfur battery research with Dr Mahdokht Shaibani

We chat with Dr Mahdokht Shaibani from Monash University about her research into batteries made with a lithium-sulfur chemistry.

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahdokht-shaibani-29868440/
• https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/supercharging-tomorrow-australia-first-to-test-new-lithium-batteries
• https://newatlas.com/energy/lithium-sulfur-battery-smartphone-five-days/

Danielle and Vlad have a conversation about mentors; getting started being a mentor, what to expect, and what you have to offer.

Michael Cooper from Cooper IP joins us and talks about what startups need to think about to protect themselves and their business ideas.

You can find Michael's website at cooperip.com

• Michael talks about protecting your competitive advantage

Today’s episode highlights humanity and technology coming together. We are joined by Shaj and Paul from deoblockchain. deoblockchain is the winner of the Eastern Innovation 6 for 6 Pitch Night.

We discussed how blockchain awareness will solve many issues we have today in various industries and the importance of culture of service. Paul stressed on using the blockchain technology as a platform to utilise the  interfaces of different system visible across the supply chain. Shaj touched on the personal aspect of doing things better and finding ways to improve and innovate further. deoblockchain would like to lead the conversation, document it’s vision to help grow businesses and create global solutions. It was also mentioned how the business is based on technological solutions but the basic foundation is focused on relationships, communication, understanding and clarity.

Check out the links below to know more about deoblockchain, Shaj and Paul:

Website - https://deoblockchain.com/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/deoblockchain/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/deoblockchain/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaj-narayanan/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-tesoriero/

Today’s episode talks about clever ways to help households and businesses be more sustainable and efficient. We are joined by Erik Zimmerman, entrepreneur and CEO of Echo Group. Echo Group is the winner of the Monash Business Awards in the innovation category.

Erik talked about how his previous experiences with other companies such as Sara Lee, Unilever, ANZ and AGL and what made him realise the three elements of success in business:  (1) Strategy, (2 )Effort and (3) Talent. He also discussed how important it is to have metrics and scoreboard to identify their "Must Wins". Erik along with his colleagues identify their 5 Must Wins every year and share them with the entire company. Through these "Must Wins", employees are made aware of what needs to be done and are also encouraged to contribute to achieving the goal. Erik stressed the importance of involving everyone in the company and giving them a chance to express themselves.

Check out the links below to learn more about Echo Group and Erik Zimmerman:

Website - https://echogroup.co/#

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/echo-group-australia/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-zimmerman-292540/?originalSubdomain=au

Niccii Rossouw is the founder of Exaptec. Exaptec is a scaling venture that’s bringing telepresence and social robots to Australia and the world.

We talked about how technology and social robots are enabling human connections and changing the world. Exaptec has been a huge part of the robotic solutions in a lot of sectors including industrial and education. Learn more about the Temi robot and why it’s called “Alexa on wheels”.

Check out the links below to learn more about Nicci Rossouw and Exaptec:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NicciRossouw.Exaptec

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicci-rossouw-015a44110/?originalSubdomain=au

Exaptec - https://www.exaptec.com.au/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/exaptec/about/

Temi - https://www.robotemi.com/

BeanstalkAg

Guest: Will Taing

This episode is brought to you by Eastern Innovation, where we talk to entrepreneurs, founders, start-ups, industry experts, and people who are helping our start-ups and our innovation in the ecosystem all throughout Australia and the world.

Will Taing is one of the co-founders of Beanstalk Agtech. Beanstalk Agtech is a group of people doing amazing things for start-ups in Australia and the Australia-Pacific region.

Tune in to this episode where we talk about some of the things that start-ups really need to know from the team at Beanstalk Agtech. And you will learn how to be a part of the  Graft Challenge and discover what’s happening across Australia, India, and the Australia-Pacific region in agriculture.

Check out the links below to learn more about Will Taing and Beanstalk Agtech:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamtaing/

https://www.beanstalkagtech.com/

https://www.graftchallenge.com/

https://www.livescience.com/58790-crispr-explained.html

Language your way (Pawan Lalwani)

• http://www.languageyourway.co/
• https://au.linkedin.com/in/pawanlalwani
• Gamifying learning to motivate students
• Started in China (learning English)
• Transitioning from web, to app based learning
• Attended four Meetups a week
• Learnings:
  • Life’s not going to be fair as competitors will always have advantages over you
  • Check to see if someone wants to buy your product before you start
  • People are happy to help but we tend not to ask for it
  • Never mention your core IP in your presentations
  • You need to get your branding out
• Stage innovation
• Other links mentioned:
  • Founder Institute - https://fi.co/
  • Survey Monkey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/
  • The Infographics Show - https://www.youtube.com/user/TheInfographicsShow
  • Gary V - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCctXZhXmG-kf3tlIXgVZUlw

• Gil Hidas (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilhidas/) from Kesem Health (http://iuflow.com/)
• In 2005, Gil was in the travel industry as part of the first few business ventures he embarked on (as featured on Getaway TV).
• Created Paperact Electronic Filing Cabinet as part of his corporate software background.
• Family of doctors, and is the primer to get into the medical field. 5 years ago, speaking with his brother who’s a urology specialist, one of the major problems with patients are keeping an accurate urinary diary.  6 months after that initial discussion, Gil decides to create a solution, iUFlow.

Ideas and Tips:

• Go to the source and speak to people who will be the champion of your product. Ensure these champions are passionate about what you do.
• Understand what your target market values.
• Spend time and resources with investors.
• Start-ups need to consider: Idea, team, business model, funding, timing (most important).
• More successful startup CEO’s are in their 40’s!

Links and resources mentioned:

• https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/medicare/physician-financial-transparency-reports-sunshine-act
• https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gross_the_single_biggest_reason_why_startups_succeed

• Sarah Leung from ALG Seaweed (http://algseaweed.com/)
• Promoting healthy cooking and eating, wanted create a brand to do this
• Started researching her market simply by asking how they consume seaweed products
• Professional divers harvest Tasmanian Wakame (kelp) from Spring to October every year
• Farmer’s market as a distribution channel
• Produce the product at Monash Food Innovation Centre (https://www.foodinnovationcentre.com.au/) and found a great network there
• Sarah’s learnings:
  • Spend more time to research your biggest market
  • Have a prototype (minimum viable product) and test quickly
  • Doing the farmer’s market, realised that the product needs to be packaged into a smaller jar
  • No work/life balance just yet! Still learning J
  • When it comes to family time vs work, need to set boundaries and priorities
• Links:
  • http://algseaweed.com/
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-leung-15601a28/
  • https://www.foodinnovationcentre.com.au/
  • https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/chris-rockley-ethnobotanist-and-scientific-illustrator-6302143345
  • https://www.xero.com/au/
  • https://www.rocketseeder.com/