The Australian Startup Stack

J O I N T R E S E A R C H I N T O T H E T E C H N O L O G Y T O O L S P O W E R I N G T H E A U S T R A L I A N S T A R T U P E C O N O M Y.

W H A T I S T H E S T A R T U P S T A C K ?

A suite of cloud tools designed to help entrepreneurs easily automate the fundamentals of running a business.

“When you’re growing from one to 10 million in revenue, you don’t build a stack for a company growing from 10 to 50 million. The business changes very quickly and will have different needs at each stage of growth. It’s important to know where you’re going and pick the right tools to get you there. ”

D A M I E N W I L L I A M S , H E A D O F F I N A N C E , C U L T U R E A M P

150+ tools are used across 10 business functions. The average Australian startup uses 6 - 10 technology tools to power their business.

T H E T O O L K I T O F H I G H - G R O W T H A U S T R A L I A N S T A R T U P S

A C C O U N T I N G A N A L Y T I C S

C U S T O M E R S U P P O R T C O D E R E P O S I T O R I E S

C R M C Y B E R S E C U R I T Y

H O S T I N G A N D D A T A S T O R A G E H U M A N R E S O U R C E S

M O B I L E A N D W E B P A Y M E N T S T E A M C O L L A B O R A T I O N & C O M M U N I C A T I O N

T H E S E T O O L S A R E M A K I N G I T C H E A P E R A N D E A S I E R T O S T A R T A T E C H B U S I N E S S I N A U S T R A L I A .

strongly agree that tools have made it easier to start a tech startup in Australia.

strongly agree that tools have made it cheaper to launch a tech startup in

Australia.

startups believe they couldn’t exist in their

current form without tools.

0

25

50

75

100 253325

75%67%75%

T H E Y A L S O M A K E T H E F U N D A M E N T A L A S P E C T S O F G O I N G G L O B A L E A S I E R .

68% of startups say that entering new markets is one of the greatest challenges for Australian startups. Top barriers include:

Access to capital

Access to talent

Regulation and compliance

97% agree these tools have made it easier to go global from Australia.

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

15%

23%

31%

“While on the surface we make designing custom shoes look simple, we have an immensely complex business model behind the scenes. Tech tools have come a long way since we first started out 8 years ago, but we've been early adopters of any tools that understand the needs of fast growing startups and allow us to simplify.”

J O D I E F O X , C O - F O U N D E R O F S H O E S O F P R E Y

H O W E L S E A R E T H E S E T O O L S H E L P I N G A U S T R A L I A N S T A R T U P S ?

25% Quicker entry into market

18% Reduced operating costs

17% Quicker product development

17% Increased productivity

13% Easier to work remotely as a team

The top three tools having the biggest impact on startups’ growth are hosting and data storage, team collaboration and communication and online payments.

26% Hosting and data storage

22% Team collaboration & communication

14% Online

Payments

“Scaling a high growth technology business requires razor sharp focus. Today, startups shouldn’t reinvent the wheel but rather leverage software tools and platforms that have been designed to make their team’s lives easier so they can focus on what matters.”

G A V I N A P P E L , C O - F O U N D E R O F O N E S T A C K

One in four of the tools most favoured by Australian startups were launched within the past six years.

S T A R T U P S B U I L D I N G F O R S T A R T U P S

W H E R E I S T H E R E D E M A N D F O R M O R E T O O L S ?

The following categories emerged as the top 3 areas in need of better tools:

16% Cybersecurity

14% CRM

12% Analytics

The full startup stack is greater than the sum its parts. When selecting tools, startups are prioritising the following factors:

W H A T D O S T A R T U P S L O O K F O R I N T O O L S ?

Ease of integration

Reliability/stability

Interoperability between tools

Affordability

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

15%

15%

17%

30%

“We always look at cost and accessibility and whether we’ll be able to scale up as we grow. It’s sink or swim, we’re a small team and training staff to use new tools takes time. It needs to make an effect straight away.”

A S I M B R O W N , F O U N D E R O F B O U N T Y E

U N B U N D L I N G C U L T U R E A M P ’ S S T A R T U P S T A C K

Mobile and web paymentsCRM

Accounting Hosting and data storageTeam collaboration and

communication

Cybersecurity Human resources

AccountingTeam collaboration and

communicationHuman resources

Stripe conducted research in December 2016 in partnership with a cohort of leading VCs, accelerators and startup hubs across Australia.

Responses were gathered from 208 startups, with one in three responses coming from founders. Most respondents were from early-stage startups that employ five or fewer staff.

A P P E N D I X

Research background

W H E R E O U R S U R V E Y R E S P O N S E S C A M E F R O M

Startups from around Australia participated in our research.

34% Sydney

11% Brisbane

2% Canberra

3% Perth

0.5% Darwin

36% Melbourne

7% Adelaide