Startup Weekend winner hails new Adelaide start-up spirit

Adelaide is building itself a thriving start-up ecosystem, according to the winner of the city’s recent Startup Weekend.

Vinh Giang, part of the 360 Magic team that triumphed at the event, says that the strong showing of wannabe Adelaide entrepreneurs at the event shows that the city is beginning to assert itself as a force in Australia’s start-up scene.

“We’ve been in touch with so many people since the event, which has shocked me as I didn’t know there were so many entrepreneurs in Adelaide,” he says.

“There’s this idea that Adelaide is some kind of hole, but a lot of people came out of the woodwork for the event and there’s a lot of enthusiasm to create a start-up ecosystem here.”

“We need events like this in Adelaide. Not only are they good for morale, but they also provide a real energy and bring good people together.”

The 360 Magic team was picked as the winner, scooping more than $13,000 in prizes, from a total of 19 groups at the speed start-up event.

The winning team was spun out from an existing business, Encyclopaedia of Magic, which provides video tutorials for budding magicians who want to learn new tricks.

The team’s idea is to take this concept and apply it to an iPad app, with multiple camera angles for viewers to learn how to tackle a certain trick.

Giang denies that the business breaks some sort of magician ethical code, claiming that it will have benefits for the industry and beyond.

“If magicians don’t teach anyone their tricks, no one will get into it, which is what’s been happening – there aren’t as many magicians around these days,” he says.

“We want to bring this model into the classroom, as it’s a great way to foster self-development. Now that Australia has a national curriculum, this idea has a very large potential.”

“It’s potentially a very powerful platform. Plus, usually when you get 3,000 customers, you have to spend more on marketing to get 3,000 more, but once you’re in the schools, you’ll have those customers again and again.”