I've been to all of Australia's mainland capitals (sorry, Hobart). I've lived for long periods in Darwin, Sydney and Perth.
I prefer Melbourne to Sydney based on the time I've spent in each. Melbourne seemed a bit more cosmopolitan, the people a bit less artificial.
I'd rather live in Perth than either, but the startup scene here is quite anaemic. You can round up some geologists and raise tens of millions to do some mining exploration; but raising a few thousand for a startup is, from what I've heard, nigh on impossible.
I prefer Darwin most of all, but it's a government town and FIFO base. There's some IT service outfits but that's it.
I'm a native Sydneysider, but I have to agree that Melbourne would be the place I'd go to start a startup. Apart from the costs (lower) and the general frictional costs of life (getting around takes less time) and the coffee (oh, the coffee!), Melbourne just has a much better atmosphere for creative work. Sydney seems to have mutated into a town where all the smart people are either in law or finance, and the highest ambition a person can have is to have a slightly better view.
It seemed to me, as an ignorant bumpkin who visited from Plant Normalperson, that social status in Sydney is based entirely on the square metres of the harbour you can see from your home.
I'm from Perth as well, and this is almost word for word how I respond when people ask me about Perth.
I get the feeling that there's much cooler stuff happening elsewhere more and more these days.
Which is a shame. Perth has awesome Californian-style weather, plenty of cashed-up mining millionaires for capital, 4 halfway decent universities and relatively low costs.
Back in the '90s, there were a few reverse takeover attempts, where some Australian Mining companies - already on the stock exchange but with negligible value - looked to buy aspiring dotcoms. Risk profile kind of matched, and it was a hack to get listed on the stock exchange without going through the IPO process.
"where some Australian Mining companies - already on the stock exchange" ... "to get listed on the stock exchange"?
I heard that it was the small dotcoms that were looking to get on the stock exchange would buy enough shares in the inexpensive mining companies and then as majority shareholders have the mining company buy out the dotcom (or at least merge with it)... or something like that.
I'm guessing it's the same thing that you heard, but the way you worded it confused me. Or my coffee hasn't kicked in. Either way.
I have to agree, Melbourne is just too cold to live in year round.
Huh? I thought... well let me go check Wikipedia:
Melbourne is colder than other mainland Australian state capital cities in the winter. The lowest temperature on record is −2.8 °C (27.0 °F), on 4 July 1901
−2.8 °C - Ahaha! Oh my sweet summer child, what do you know of cold? Today I learned the secret weakness of Australians - so called "cold" weather.
I am actually Canadian complaining of how cold Melbourne was when I lived there. And I was there during the record breaking 47C day and the Victoria fires.
The problem with Melbourne is a combination of no humidity to retain the heat a wind chill from Antarctica. The combination of these means that 27C, on a sunny afternoon, requires a light jacket and the evenings/nights are never warm. I am used to 80-90% humidity and going out at 3am in shorts and a t-shirt in the summer. Melbourne rarely has this.
Granted, there are two months were the weather is very nice (january, february), but that is about it. Yes, it never gets to -40C, so cold is very relative here, but for a city that you would expect to be comparable to Sydney, Perth or Miami, it is cold.
I make no bones about being raised in a tropical climate and being unable to deal with cold effectively. In the same way that people who come from a cold climate can't deal with a bit of tropical summer heat.
I was recently in Sydney and Melbourne, and you're probably about right. I don't know how to say it, but Sydney seems very, ahem white and very English.
It depends where in Sydney you are. According to the statistics Sydney is very diverse, though in practice people from different countries, or with different professions/politics, tend to wind up in different districts.
oh, tharunka, the life saver in those boring lectures :)
I really miss Sydney (specifically UNSW and the eastern suburbs), but there is just no start up in Sydney. If you are a top CS grad from UNSW or USyd, there are only two options: Google or Macquarie bank (maybe three, but I heard that Canon research is not doing so well these days).
Since the comments seem to be full of Australian nationals, I'm curious if anyone can help me out with something. Any advice on the best way for an American to get onboard with an Aussie startup?
My family and I would like to emigrate to Australia in about 2015, and I'd prefer to get hooked up with a startup instead of trying to get on with a big multinational.
Based on talks I've had while planning this, it sounds like the point-based immigration system isn't as sure of a thing as sponsorship. Are startups in Australia in a position to sponsor a visa? Would an incubator be interested or able to help with something like that? Anything I can do now to help ensure that I'm employed with a startup down under in 2015?
I would say the best way to get to know Australian startups and (virtually) meet relevant people would be by participating in the Silicon Beach mailing lists (http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/ )
Regarding immigration visa, if you qualify for a point based point based independent visa (175 in your case) I would go for it any day over a sponsored visa.
Email me if you have any specific questions. (obtained 175 without an agent while being in the US)
It is awesome whats happening in Australia around tech startups and the support for the community. Im running Startup Weekend at the YBF Melb Nov 4-6th where Ive managed to secure 5K from Optus for first prize and JFDI want to do a S15k equity deal with a team and take them to a Singapore bootcamp.
Two teams (Native Tongue and IndexMedia) from the previous Melbourne Startup Weekend are now based in YBF. I've just pivoted (RentWant-TaskWant) in a new incubator called AngelCube based out of inspire9 in Melbourne. Im one of four teams there. It is pretty exciting times.
I'm keen to hear about this type of thing, but co-located space is nothing special. Is there mentoring, access to angel investors and alumni and events like the YC demo day?
I can raise my own $20k seed money and I can find working space. What I can't do is get decent mentoring and access to networks, which, to me is the secret source of YC.
Still, it's early days, I'll keep track of this with interest.
I'm very glad to see this as a Melburnian. With so much emphasis on San Francisco as the startup-mecca, one almost feels disadvantaged living elsewhere in America, let alone in a country like Australia.
Perhaps with things like the new IBM R&D Centre, Melbourne might become a tech-hub in the South East Asian region (although I somewhat doubt it).
It's great to see this in Melbourne! I'm an ex-Perth-ite and I made the move to Melbourne nearly 3 years ago. It was the best decision as the culture, coffee, people and general positivity is amazing (less tall poppies).
Over a few months I've come to know the Inspire9 crew and startups within - and also just recently went to the party at York Butter. It's a brilliant building and hosted by a group of people who passionate about the Melbourne tech scene (you couldn't ask for better than that!).
I think right now is definitely the time to be in Melbourne with all the buzz from these spaces (and big events) and if you are focusing on the weather you're missing the point.
As an Australian in London, I never get to hear about things like this. It's exciting that Australia has this type of stuff going on, it's taken long enough!
As an Australian who left some time ago for all the experience SF startups bring, this almost has me considering coming back to Melbourne. Great to see but hedging bets for now. Good luck :)
I prefer Melbourne to Sydney based on the time I've spent in each. Melbourne seemed a bit more cosmopolitan, the people a bit less artificial.
I'd rather live in Perth than either, but the startup scene here is quite anaemic. You can round up some geologists and raise tens of millions to do some mining exploration; but raising a few thousand for a startup is, from what I've heard, nigh on impossible.
I prefer Darwin most of all, but it's a government town and FIFO base. There's some IT service outfits but that's it.