Sydney entrepreneurs perfectly positioned for start-up launch

Those looking to launch a start-up business in Sydney should act now, according to a visiting tech entrepreneur.

Marcus Segal is in Sydney as part of the City of Sydney’s visiting entrepreneur program, and is urging other entrepreneurs to make the most of the opportunity.

The visiting entrepreneur program launched on 20 November and continues for 10 days with 35 free public and industry events, including mentoring sessions, seminars and workshops.

The City has created the two-week program in partnership with the NSW Government and Sydney’s tech start-up ecosystem to strengthen the start-up ecosystem and support entrepreneurs to start and grow successful global businesses.

“I believe we’re living in the greatest era of entrepreneurship in history. Many of the barriers that used to block great ideas from being built and tested have fallen away thanks to open source code bases, a global skilled workforce and cloud services,” Segal said.

“The women and men who go through this program will go on to start and lead exciting companies both here in Australia and abroad. Their minds will be expanded and they’ll form a community that will work together to help each other.

“Each success story will inspire another 100 or more would-be entrepreneurs to chase their dreams.”

Having a supportive government and community has proven essential to grow start-ups around the world. Office space, mentorship, capital and favourable tax schemes are all essential for making new businesses grow.

“I hope to share some of what I have learned on my start-up journey and to work hands-on with some of your country’s top start-ups to help prepare them for their next phase of growth,” Segal said.

“The program will help foster a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation, and raise awareness of Sydney’s tech start-up ecosystem locally, nationally and globally,” said Lord Mayor Clover Moore.

“This is an invaluable opportunity for our local entrepreneurs to tap into a flourishing industry and learn from those with a deep knowledge of the global tech landscape.”

Segal will be joined by Jager McConnell, who is in Sydney for a series of seminars and mentoring sessions. McConnell is CEO of Crunchbase, a leading data search platform used by millions of entrepreneurs and investors. Segal is general partner at Upshift Capital and former senior vice president of operations of global gaming platform Zynga.

Image caption: Visiting entrepreneur Marcus Segal.

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