The Valley Beat

We sat down with Andrew Barlow during a recent trip to San Francisco to chat about his journey with Hitwise, the state of the Australian digital media industry and what he is looking to invest in these days. Hitwise represents one of the biggest Australian digital media success stories of recent times and was sold to Experian last year for US$240M.

Decideware (www.decideware.com) is carving out a leadership position by enabling the worlds leading advertisers optimize their marketing and communication agency relationships. We sat down with Richard Benyon, who recently moved to California, to discuss Decideware's global market development strategy, how they won the business of the worlds largest advertiser, and the lessons they are learning growing a global business from offices in Australia and California.

Bruce Joy, CEO Vastpark (www.vastpark.com) is one of Australia's leading innovators and thought leaders in the Virtual World space. We caught up with Bruce when he was attending the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Bruce shared his thoughts about Virtual Worlds today and how they will evolve to become a ubiquitous component of the internet. Bruce believes Vastpark has the potential to lead this evolution.

According to Viki Forrest, since the launch of ANZA Technology Network (www.anzatechnet.com) in 2001, the organization has touched thousands of companies and actively assisted over 300 companies with its range of innovative market introduction programs. Viki talks about why the current Silicon Valley climate couldn't be better for Australian and New Zealand technology companies planning on moving to the US and what entrepreneurs can expect from the up-coming "Success in the US" tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Innovative new media companies are leading the migration of Australian companies to the US. We caught up with Christine Tutone, CEO of Ad it Last (www.aditlast.com) in San Francisco during her recent trip to the US where she plans to be permanently in the near future. Ad it Last were voted a Top 100 Always On company last year and are preparing to make a big impact on the US.

We sat down with Tan Lee, Co-founder and President of Emotiv Systems (www.emotiv.com) which has developed one of the coolest technologies to come out of Australia in recent times. Tan talks about her technology, her team and how they are going to revolutionize human interaction with machines.

We sat down with Campbell Dobbin, CEO Intranet DASHBOARD www.intranetdashboard.com. on a recent trip to Silicon Valley. Intranet DASHBOARD has compiled many international awards for its winning intranet solution and is responsible for one of the largest global corporate intranets for its customer Royal Dutch Shell. Campbell spoke about how he uses technology to attract, service and satisfy large global customers from his offices in Melbourne. Intranet DASHBOARD was recently was awarded an honorable mention at the 2007 Australian Anthill Coolest Companies Innovation Awards.

Jennifer Zanich has an impressive record of migrating and building technology businesses in the US since 1999. Her latest venture is Uiactive (www.uiactive.com), a mobile phone solutions provider, and is backed by two leading Australian VC's. We sat down with Jennifer in San Francisco to discuss the challenges of being a cross pacific technology entrepreneur including her tips on raising capital and growing companies in the US.

We sat down with Raphe Patmore, CEO Buzka (www.buzka.com), who was one of the two winners of the Guy Manson Award at the recently held ANZA Technology Network Summit in Silicon Valley. The award recognizes the companies which show the greatest potential for success in the US. Raphes company is preparing for a full on assault on the US market in 2008. We'll be watching his progress.

Over the last six years Gour Lentell has co-founded, built and sold two new media companies to 24/7 Real Media which was sold to WPP earlier this year for US$650M. He is now traveling the world in his role as SVP Global Strategic Alliances for 24/7 Real Media. We caught up with him during a recent visit to San Francisco and he shared his views on building a successful new media company from Australia and how the ever evolving advertising business is opening up a host of new opportunities for entrepreneurs.

After taking three years to develop an innovative Mass Personalization Advertising Platform, Qmecom (www.qmecom.com) is now taking its technology to the worlds leading advertising markets. We caught up with David Crothers, Qmecom's CEO, during a recent visit to San Francisco, where he met with leading VC's, Ad Networks and Advertising Agencies. We talked about the changing advertising landscape and how Qmecom is positioned to capitalize on the massive growth of online advertising.

Gower Smith, CEO ZoomSystems (www.zoomsystems.com) formulated a vision in Australia back in the 90's to create a network of automated robotic stores that would potentially change retail as we know it. Today, ZoomSystems is one of the fastest growing retail channels in the US and they've only just begun. We spoke to Gower about why he and his investors are very optimistic about ZoomSystem's future.

Larry is one of Australia's most prolific technology entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley having built and sold six companies since arriving in the US 18 years ago. Larry talks about the state of technology innovation in Australia today and why Aussie technologists are world class. Larry shares his thoughts on why he chose to list Arasor (www.arasor.com.au), originally a Silicon Valley company, on the ASX last year.

We sat down with Adrian to talk about how he is successfully building Mocana (www.mocana.com) after getting it started the unconventional Silicon Valley way – bootstrapping rather than taking VC. Adrian has also been instrumental in building ADVANCE  (www.advance.org) into the preeminent Global Aussie Expats organization and he provides some insights into why ADVANCE is adding significant value to Australia.

YourAmigo is a global leader in Search Engine Optimization. Operating in a highly competitive industry, YourAmigo has continued to innovate and grow from its headquarters in Adelaide and offices in London and San Francisco. The Valley Beat sat down with CEO Rahmon Coupe to discuss his success and how YourAmigo intends to stay ahead of the curve.

Multiple award winning Brookstone Technologies dropped by The Valley Beat to discuss why they are winning so many Microsoft and IBM Partner Awards and how they are aggressively building their US business after a few solid years of planning.and preparation.