Josh Nicholas
The Chainsaw
Australia
Contact Josh
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Past articles by Josh:
Here's how the next wave of tech advances will transform small business in Australia
The desktop and smart phone revolutions were really just the beginning. From conversations with giant tech companies like Cisco, Google and Xero, you get the impression that we have only scratched the surface of what technologies like the cloud, the Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence have to offer. The business world has already been transformed but small businesses and… → Read More
How Ruslan Kogan used the internet to create a $160 million business
The past couple of decades have revealed many different ways to make money through e-commerce. The ability to scale almost infinitely saw the birth of Amazon, which took on bricks and mortar retailers with a gigantic product range. Dollar Shave Club captured huge market share by working lean and going direct to consumers. Kogan.com, founded by entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan as a small business in… → Read More
Entrepreneurs share where to focus critical effort to make sure your business succeeds
Time is the most precious resource when you’re running a young business. You’re juggling a whole bunch of things, begging for more hours in the day. Being a successful entrepreneur requires balancing all of these priorities, and knowing what to really focus on. We consulted a raft of successful entrepreneurs to find the critical areas that lead to business success. Balancing your resources “The… → Read More
3 successful business owners reveal how they picked the right time to expand
When we talk about startups we often do it in multiples. Revenue growth, customer growth, funding growth, etc. etc. But expansion isn’t something to be taken lightly. Do it too early, or without the right foundation, and you can overextend yourself. If you don’t have the supply chain to handle an extra batch of orders, or the infrastructure to handle those extra users, your customers won’t be… → Read More
10 mistakes to avoid when youâre growing a young business
Part of being a good entrepreneur is learning from the mistakes others have made. So we consulted a group of entrepreneurs to find some mistakes they made when starting out, and common pitfalls that can be avoided. Caught up in the exuberance of a new venture, it can be hard to see where you’re going off track. But that doesn’t mean you’re destined to repeat what others have done. 1)… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: Why knowing 'the problem you're trying to solve' is a vital question for any startup
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been talking to some of the sharpest minds Australia’s technology sector, drilling down into the best practices for startups. From creating a technology plan, to building a business plan and knowing what investors are looking for, our panel of mentors has regularly returned to a single theme — focusing on the problem you are solving. This, then, is one of the… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: What every startup founder should know about explaining their technology to investors
When you’ve come up with an ingenious solution, it can be easy to get carried away. Your technology idea may be what makes the startup viable and worth doing in the first place. But a typical startup goes through several rounds of funding, and they won’t all be lead by technically literate investors. In early rounds, for example, it’s common to seek funding from friends and family. Even later,… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: These inspirational stories show the scale of opportunity in global e-commerce
The last couple of weeks have been big in the e-commerce world. First Unilever bought Dollar Shave Club for more than $1 billion. Now it looks like Walmart will snap up Jet.com for more than $3 billion. But these big deals only highlight something we’ve long known about the internet — it completely overturned the laws of economics a couple of decades ago, allowing for niche and ridiculous… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: The business basics all developers should understand in the modern age
The power and reach of modern technology has altered the dynamic of starting a business. Whereas once you may have needed an MBA, now coding experience and a good portfolio can set people apart. Some of today’s biggest, most exciting companies were founded and run by technologists — Google, Facebook, Twitter and so on. But no matter the aptitude of the people involved, certain business basics… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: 6 consumer tech trends all businesses should be thinking about
Less than a decade into the smartphone revolution there’s incredible turbulence in the consumer technology space. Especially for those looking to build and position businesses within it. The tussles between the heavyweights, dominated by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android in recent years, is largely done say some analysts. New battle grounds are opening up — social networks and messaging apps are… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: What all CTOâs and CEOs should know about handling the board of directors
Company boards can be daunting to the uninitiated. And startup lore is littered with stories the likes of Digg, whose board talked the founder out of a $60M pay day. But especially for a new company, a board stocked with experienced directors can be a vital font of expertise, guidance and contacts. In a segment as fast moving as the startup space, a good board can be a critical comparative… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: How and when to adjust strategy to take account of changes in the market
“Pivoting”, or changing a company’s course to take into account changes in market or other conditions, has become a core part of startup lore. It has even been enshrined as a principle of the lean startup methodology — which includes building a feedback loop into your plans, so you can learn and adapt. But while the likes of Groupon and Twitch have pivoted with extraordinary success, changing… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: 5 features all businesses need in a technology plan
No two companies are alike, and technology plans shouldn’t match either. Capability, cost, and need are just three aspects that go into your technological decision-making, but there are also some other questions to ask. For example: is yours a company that uses technology? Or is it a technology company? We spoke to our panel of leading Australian entrepreneurs and investors to find out what they… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: Investors share the tech trends all businesses should know about
Today’s shortened innovation cycle brings both opportunities and challenges to businesses. The mobile revolution has taken less than a decade. We stand at the cusp of several new disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and smart devices which will shape the businesses of the future. But there is no shortage of ideas and theories on the future direction of product… → Read More
How to be as agile as Silicon Valley's best
Being “agile” is about more than imitating a process or best practice. Silicon Valley, like the great cities that have come before — think Athens, Glasgow and Vienna, is more than the sum of its rituals. It has fortuitously aligned its culture, talent and incentives with what is required in the digital world. What makes Silicon Valley agile in other words, is a mindset, a way of approaching… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: 25 app and e-commerce terms every startup investor and founder should know
Websites and apps have become the foundation of all 21st century businesses, no matter how analog they may seem. Knowing what goes into their creation and maintenance, then, isn’t just important when interacting with a developer. It is an integral part of every businessperson’s toolkit. Here, then, are 25 terms everyone in business should know to help you compete – and have more effective… → Read More
AUSTRALIA'S BUSINESS CHALLENGES: What millennials are looking for in future workplaces
Brought to you in partnership with BOQ, connecting the dots for SMEâs. Empowering businesses to connect with banking solutions thatâs right for them. Workplaces have never been static experiences, constantly shifting to reflect the expectations, technologies, industries and workstyles of the day. The shift from agricultural to industrial economies, from industrial to informational; the rise… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: What all founders should understand about developers
Developers are fast becoming integral to every company, from department stores and banks to the latest tech startup. Modern software development is unlike many other aspects of business, however. Not only is it a highly creative pursuit, with its own culture and methodologies, but it also sits at the nexus of everything you do, and its product is never finished, living as it does in a complex… → Read More
DISRUPT HQ: The qualities investors look for in a startup founder
Starting a business has never been easier. Technology has lowered the cost and skills required to find extraordinary reach. The entire political spectrum is backing programs to spur on entrepreneurs. And through initiatives like crowdfunding and the wide array of venture capital, there are plenty of options to find financial backing. But from the other side, the investor point of view, not every… → Read More
AUSTRALIA'S BUSINESS CHALLENGES: What small businesses should know about currency movements
Brought to you in partnership with BOQ, connecting the dots for SME’s. Empowering businesses to connect with banking solutions that’s right for them. Despite having just 24 million people, Australia is the 12th largest economy in the world, sitting just behind South Korea and just ahead of Russia on the global economic size league tables. Part of the reason that Australia is such a large… → Read More