An Open Letter about Innovation to Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten

 Dear Mr Prime Minister, and Opposition Leader

Australia has always been an innovation nation. From the stump-jump plough, the hills hoist, to wireless technology, it's what we've always done. We are prospectors, innovators, inventors, growers and risk-takers. Every big business (and small business) in Australia started with one person with an idea.

And yet, for many reasons, we are still missing out on many of the opportunities and benefits of innovation and creation of exciting new and successful businesses ventures, which create real growth, jobs and prosperity.

Citizens in the US last year invested over $50.9 B in new venture investment (excluding government investment), or $154 per citizen. In NZ & Israel, this number is around $40. NZ has a program of co-investing in every venture deal, as does many other nations. In Australia, we invested $2.62 per person on innovation businesses.

We attempt to attract foreign overseas investors to place their money here, whilst we , with the fourth largest capital reserve in the world, invest overseas or in safe havens. We are asking foreign residents to take the upside of Australian innovation, that we ourselves are not prepared to invest in. What is wrong with this picture?

Our economy and community is missing entrepreneurial collaboration, sector specialization, and market focussed enterprise-ready Startup opportunities. Whilst we try (and fail) to replicate silicon valley, the world will pass us by.  Unless we recognise the signs, we will miss the opportunities. 

Mr Shorten, I applaud you for your recent efforts to present a credible alternative for taking the opportunities of innovation for our nation. Highlighting a substantially-reduced small business tax, in setting up a co-invest function, and for encouraging learning in the areas of science, maths, engineering and technology.

And the bulk of your policies thus far for the startup ecosystem have evolved to be focussed on creating more worker bees and drones, such as in teaching school children to code.

But we are not a nation of coders;  we are, and always have been, a nation of risk-takers.And you've just blocked legislation that undoes a wrong around taxing employee shares (rewarding employees in foregoing salaries for taking a risk) that should never have been implemented.

And Mr Abbott, congratulations on trying to create a medical research fund that would drive innovation in that space right into the 22nd century. But you don't need to be a 'propeller-head'  to understand innovation - though it's obvious that this is something that still eludes you too.

You both are arguing about taxing pensions and superannuation and tax rates; about how to 'slice up the pie', whilst the answer is staring you both in the face. It's a pretty simple equation - we just need to bake more pies. That will solve the problems of our budget deficits, and pensions, and superannuation and currency/ fiscal crisis and aging populations and youth education, and unemployment etc etc.

And yet, as you both squabble, fight and score political points across the parliamentary divide, our nation waits for real leadership to emerge.

So why do you both struggle to recognise that opportunity is a fleeting window? With world class services, business infrastructure, and successful mature markets and industries, we have the opportunity to test and expand the boundaries of innovation from our core competencies and areas of expertise.

Whilst we have an aging population & a rising retirement age, all of the focus in the startup ecosystem has thus far been on the early-adopter participants - graduates.

Entrepreneurs are from not just universities, but are already in every field from which we, Australia, 'punch above our weight' on the world stage.

We need to create new models of investment, growth, and partnerships which recognise and reward value creation, authenticity & passion, rather than just 'good ideas'.

We need to attract the aspiring entrepreneurs already hidden within our society, with the deep domain knowledge of their space, who know the problems of their sector, who bring expertise credibility & connections. And we need to encourage investors to take a chance on the great idea 'prospectors' of our nation.

As it stands, those with a great idea already come to see how we as a sector can help them, & most of them out of disappointment, return to their space , or pitch to investors & get rejected, & return, or try & fail & return, but a few stay & succeed. 

Though fewer still make create enough success from which to pass down the lessons and learnings of success. Many of our best & brightest move offshore, to where they are recognised, valued and supported.

We don't need leaders to point to the one or two successes or a decade or more ago. We need leaders to recognise that Australians can and will create great ideas, and can & will invest in them. All we are waiting for, is a signal from you.

We need all our entrepreneurs of any age, to try, and to fail & to succeed, and to try again, until they succeed. 

• We need to incubate our entrepreneurs through the painful & challenging early stages.
• To help them find & fund their visions,
• to access markets that care about their real-world solutions to real-world problems.
• To address the challenges of planning, build and scaling their offerings, their teams and cultures
• To encourage investment, and co-investment in them.
• And we need to build an ecosystem that supports them to stay local, even as they grow & expand around the world. 

So rather than trying to 'pick a winner', why aren't we instead betting on the whole field?

Instead, what if we were to bring sectors together, with their own unique & individual business models; social entrepreneurs & capitalists alike. Younger & older, experienced & graduate, social & commercial, male & female, from every sector, for every market

Bring them together with the new factors of production; knowledge, creativity, innovation, services, capital & regulation, to create a powerhouse of innovation.

To become a nation that innovates, that reaps the rewards of its own harvest, that invest here and overseas, instead of trying to attract the money of others.

History will judge us, by what we do and what we don't do. If our nation is to whether through the storms that will surely come, it must be done as we have always done it; off the backs of visionaries, back even to the days of those attracted to our shore by the lure of our gold rush. 

Just as the 'Factors of Production' (Labour, Capital, materials, Regulation) all had to come together to support both the Gold Rush in the mid-late 19th century, and the transition in  the late 19th & early 20th Century from an agrarian society to an industrial economy, so must the Australia now bring together the factors for the transition from an extractive to an Entrepreneurial economy, including, Skills / competences, Creativity, Drive, Infrastructure and Investment.

The time has come, to act in the here & now, for our nation, and our creators and innovators

Its time to create a showcase of entrepreneurialism in Australia that shows the world what we do, what we've always done best; innovation.

It's time for a new century. The Australian century.

All we need is for you both to lead.

About Daniel Mumby
Also travelling under the alias of 'That Startup Guy' , I am a co-founder of StartUp Foundation (The Startup Accelerator for Experienced Professionals) and am intensely, deeply, passionately dedicated to "The intersection between personal mastery & business entrepreneurship".

My goal is to help you, by guiding you through the steps, and past the challenges and pitfalls, to turn that 'Great Idea' into reality, whether it's a business, a product, an app or just finding an answer to a common problem.

At the same time, I'll share with you my own journey, from which you might just draw valuable lessons of your own. I spent 20 years in corporate life before catching the startup bug. (My first venture as an intrapreneur still generates over $10 million in per year earnings). I've since designed, built & launched 14 startups across ecommerce, technology, hospitality, social networking, logistics, financial services and not-for-profit sectors.

If you've got an experience about startup success (or failure), comment about it. If you've got a question, reach out to me via your preferred social media. Other posts can be found here on Linkedin.