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