Aaron Dufall is a Perth local who’s spent the last couple of years in Vancouver working on a startup over there. He got back here a few months ago for a visit so we caught up to get his views on the Perth scene.
//SN: You attended the first Startup Weekend in Perth. What team were you in and how was that for you?
I was on the Thredster team, a crowd funding platform for fashion designers. I originally signed up as a developer, but ended up doing more of a project management/bis dev roll. We were one of the runner ups and won an award for being the most productive team. The best part was when we got kicked out of a fashion fair being held in South Perth Community Centre, where we were trying to recruit designers for the site. As they say ask for forgiveness not permission. All in all, the weekend was a lot of fun and affirmed my decision to start my own tech company.
//SN: What happened to the team after that?
Riding on the high from the weekend we all met up and decided to continue with the project. We got a little bit of press coverage in Perth Now, that was pretty cool. After a few weeks we didn’t see much progress and the project fizzled out.
//SN: And then you went to Canada? How did that happen?
I was accepted to attend Dev Bootcamp in Chicago and discovered it was fairly easy for Australians to get a 2 year working holiday visa. I thought it would be fun to live in another country and get experience in tech.
//SN: So what’s Vancouver like for an Aussie?
I’m a bit of an anomaly myself because most Australians are in Vancouver for the snow and down hill mountain biking. Vancouver is a nice city to live in, and the tech industry here is quite welcoming.
//SN: And what’s the startup scene like there?
It’s pretty good, there are a few larger tech companies there like Hoot Suite and EA games and several active co-working spaces. Because of the proximity to San Fran, a lot of good speakers and investors come to town quite often.
//SN: What are the main differences you can see between the Vancouver and Perth startup scene?
I think one of the main difference is the influence of mining on the Perth economy. The relative ease at which you can earn over six figure’s in mining stunts entrepunership and at the very least, prevents diversity in the kinds of ventures that are started in Perth. I have always had an entrepreneurial streak since a young age, I had started a few businesses over the years and constantly found my self falling into the easier lifestyle of working in a high paying industry, either mining or construction. To quote some guy who’s name I can’t recall “the good is the enemy of the great”. Life is very comfortable with the income that these jobs provide and even if you have a great idea for a business why would you want to go through the roller coster ride that comes along with it? I think Perth has some very innovative minds and people who would make great start-up founders but are currently living too comfortably to consider taking the plunge. Having attended startup weekend in both Perth and Vancouver; the attendants at Perth startup weekend would make better founders than those I came across in Vancouver.
Good jobs are hard to land in Vancouver, advancement up the ranks can be tough too. This makes building a start up an attractive alternative. Being close to to San Fran and within a 5hr plane flight to Toronto, New York and Chicago doesn’t hurt either. That is if you can put up with bad coffee, bad weather and terrible beaches. Lets be honest those quite a large sacrifices.
//SN: If there’s something we could do here that you’ve seen work well there, what is it?
Many of the co-working spaces and HQ’s of Vancouver based start ups are all in one area. I think this makes a huge difference in the cross pollination of idea’s and sharing business tactics with founder’s who are at different stages in companies growth. I have found being able to talk to someone who is 6 to 12 months ahead of where we are at now can sometimes yield better advice than of founders who are much further down the road. I know Perth has a few co-working space and start ups, but from what I remember they are all quite spread out.
//SN: You tried a couple of startups there? How did that go?
I teach web and mobile development at Lighthouse Labs, a coding bootcamp in Vancouver. Through that I met my two other now co-founders, one who has since left us to work at Google. We decided to bounce around a few idea’s and see if we could get any traction. We have been calling it the summer of start-ups. I learnt a lot about how to apply the lean process in the real world, It’s not quite as clean cut as the books make it seem. One of best things I learned was how to do real mvp’s, by the end we were able to test 2 prototypes a week as opposed to one a fortnight when we began. You really don’t need to build much or anything at all to test a lot of ideas.
//SN: What’s your current startup? How’s that going?
The one that finally stuck is called Homeplate. It’s a private chef service, you get a minimum order of 5 meals delivered to your home or office once a week. People are busier and don’t have as much time to do groceries and cook for themselves. It can be just as expensive for singles and couples to buy groceries as it is to eat out. We wanted to create something that felt like coming home to your mom’s cooking; tasty, healthy, wholesome and already made. It’s currently only available in Canada You can check us out at www.gethomeplate.com
//SN: What’s your plan for the future? Is there anything you need help with from the Perth Startup Community?
We hope to expand into other cities in across Canada this year, so lots or hard work ahead, but I’m very excited for the future. I would be very interested in In catching up with some of the local Perth entrepreneurs and bouncing ideas of each other.