The push for more effective policies that support the needs of startups must centre on the job creation potential of these high-growth tech companies, StartupAus chief executive Alex McCauley said.
Mr McCauley will use a speech at the StartCon conference in Sydney starting on Friday to position startups as the new jobs engine for Australia’s economy. He will present some findings from the StartupAus Crossroads 2019 report, to be released in early December.
Australian startups already employ a wide range of people, both in traditional roles and in positions with job descriptions many people would not have heard of, he will say.
The Crossroads data identifies the location of the jobs generated by global tech firms, including Spotify, TransferWise, Atlassian and Canva, finding that even when much of the team is based elsewhere, a big chunk of the team still remains where the company was founded.
StartupAus also looked at the types of roles and positions that startups are hiring for, identifying the job creating potential of these companies that comes with their rapid growth.
Mr McCauley will also look at the transformational impact that venture capital funding has to jobs at startups, with data showing that these cash injections directly leads to new jobs being created.
StartCon is Australia’s largest startup and growth conference, and will be held on 22-23 November at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney.
The annual forum, which focuses on startups and disruptive technology, will this year be headlined by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Mr Turnbull will speak on Friday morning on innovation and opportunity in an environment of rising authoritarian populism, anti-global and protectionist agendas.
He will also look at the current problems facing the Australian tech industry, his signature policy in the National Innovation and Science Agenda, and the failures of government innovation policy.
Other speakers at the conference include McAfee founder John McAfee, who will appear via video link, NASA deputy director for tech and research investments Dr Christyl Johnson, Uber global product operations manager Joe Fahed and Lyft director of design Jenny Arden.
Local speaks from the Australian tech sector will include Mr McCauley, Power Ledger co-founder Dr Jemma Green, AirTree Ventures managing partner Craig Blair and former Data61 chief executive Adrian Turner.
StartCon is Australia’s largest startup and growth conference. It will be held November 22-23 at the Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney. You can reserve your tickets here.
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