Rising StartUps - A new podcast series about Startups, for Startups, byStartups on ..... (you guessed it) Starting Up

I live & love startups. Like the small of a new car, every new startup has their own unique appeal. A (hopefully) needed possible answer to a real-world problem, or a new market not yet identified. Each founder like a wide-eyed child with their vision of the future, and their startup a part of changing their part of the world.

And every new founder, whether first time out, 'up-at-bat' again, rookie, or experienced professional, is going to have some challenges; actually, lots of them. More than they can yet imagine.

When I broke free from a corporate career in 2004, there wasn't even a startup eco-system in Australia. Now, we have one that is burgeoning, but the stories that I hear are from overseas imports or from long-time-ago successes, most of whom that are way past the early days of their first hires, the challenges of early-stage funding, finding great mentors, and trusted advice, of connecting with co-founders, and mistakes, and bootstrapping and........, ok, you ge the picture.

So way past, that the stories might not yet (and might never) be of much help to the many people who are about to, thinking about, or have just started. (Though they are often inspirational, which is why I continue to go to select meetups to hear them.)

But mostly, I wanted to hear the stories of my peers; their challenges and successes, their gains and pains, their learnings and yearnings. But these stories didn't seem to exist. 

Which is why I started 'Rising STARTupS'.

At Tim Reid's suggestion (yes, Small  Business - Big Marketing -thanks Tim), and inspired by Nathan Chan of Foundr, I decided to try my hand at interviewing. After all, how hard could it be for some-one whose done a few startups already?

And what I found out is, that apart from having 'a good head for radio' (and a reasonable voice for it), it was a natural fit for my style of conversation. 

Before cutting the first of them, we agonised long and hard about the questions, trying to determine just what could draw out the greatest of responses. And I wanted to use a consistant format & questions, so that you, the audience, can compare the answers of each person, and take from each, just what you need.

We've already taped 14- (and have a another 36 planned for this year) which we will be publishing next week.

The first four so far (each with links to twitter) are:-

• Justin & Andre of Vinomofo 
• Troy & Martin of Care Monkey
• Barry Nguyen of SolarX Car Company
• Julie-Anne Black of Be Brilliant Now

And I have to say, they are each unique, all brilliant, packed full of tips, gems & advice; timely, relevant, and helpful.
As well as the 25 min interviews with each founder, we've added a special topic, relevant to the content of each interview, and a review of some of the key points. As well, there will be links to some bonus downloads, cheatsheets, upcoming events and other startup news and views.

So subscribe (above) to this blog and we'll give you advance notice of the podcasts as soon as they are ready to go to air.

And one special request - if you like the interview series, tell your friends (whether by social or word). 

And if you have ideas about how we can improve, or know of a great Rising STARtup whose story is just begging to be told, tell us (there should be links on the right for both).