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Been watching these guys closely for the past 8 months or so. These guys are based out of Perth, Australia and offer some pretty compelling prices, especially

by thejosh 13y ago

Been watching these guys closely for the past 8 months or so. These guys are based out of Perth, Australia and offer some pretty compelling prices, especially the email they sent them morning where their monthly pricing went down to $9 a month (instead of $50). They use ruby on rails, and offer a JSON API.bEE

buro9 13y ago
Would love to hear their story. For those who don't know, Perth is the most remote city in the world (according to Bill Bryson), and has a population shy of 2 million mostly in a sprawl that hugs the coast. I spent over a month there and a couple of weeks exploring the area around Margaret River, lovely place... but reading this, what strikes me is how hard it must be to find support, raise money, and build a startup with reach in a city of such remoteness and with only a limited pool of angels and tech resource to call upon. So... knowing the city and WA as briefly as I do, I think this startup would probably have a good story behind it about the adverse environment (for startups) in which they emerged and what it took to get to where they are, and where they're going from here.
- djtidau 13y ago
  I too would love to hear the story. Australia isn't known for being all that startup friendly, and with WA being the mining sector predominantly I found it quite refreshing to see something so tech focused coming out of there. It looks like they have a great team and in my limited experience their customer service is really good. Hopefully some of them chime in here though their director seems a little HN shy from one of his latest tweets.
  - gbpin 13y ago
    I'm a co-founder of Pin Payments. Not shy, just on HN-sabbatical :) There's a story to tell! Building something like this in Perth is hard, but that's part of what makes it such an opportunity. We're by no means the only tech startup here too - given the population and isolation, Perth is well represented in Australian startup crowd.
    - primitur 13y ago
      Hi! I'm from Perth (Subiaco) but have been an ex-pat for over 20 years. The reason is, I've always considered Perth a mining town, and have managed to live in many other big cities around the world during an active professional life, working as a systems software developer. I'm quite ex-pat, but fondly dream of days in the sun.. So I take this opportunity to ask someone, sensibly: Is there a thriving tech scene in Perth? Software businesses, catering to a local market, that sort of thing? Like most major cities, there is probably an 'IT sector', consisting of hardware and systems support companies, probably -and of course the Uni's of WA are all very well connected in the F/OSS/Academic systems software departments. But, whats the local software economy like? Much custom, Business to business, software? I imagine that with the Perth Mint and the Mining banks involved in all this, its going to be a solid way to do business in that part of the world, as well as Internationally. I'm, anyhow, off to get my family to set up their Pin Payments accounts asap .. :)
      - thejosh 13y ago
        The tech scene here is quite thriving. We have "Port 80" meetups[1], as well as many other meetups for a vary of topics. As you said the universities here and quite tech-focused (Curtin, Murdoch, UWA) which is great, and the TAFE courses are usually full (for IT/Web/Programming). There is quite a lot of businesses who want customised web solutions (not just in mining, but would account for a large portion), so as a result there are quite a few web companies here in Perth who do anything from small business websites all the way up to customised systems. The industry does go quiet sometimes, however it's usually pretty busy especially as more people over east bring business over to Perth thanks to the thriving web market here :). [1] - port80.asn.au
        primitur 13y ago
        Hey, thanks for the info about port80, perfect way for me to get some intel done .. so next time I'm in Perth I'll be sure to include a Wednesday meeting in the schedule.. alas, it'll be a year or two yet (young un's) but the time will come .. ;)
    - 13y ago
- thejosh 13y ago
  Perth has a really active web scene, I feel like one of the most talkative in the country sometimes.. We are remote yes, but we have so many events going on here that it makes up for it. They have support from the banks and also the Australian Government so would love to hear how that all went, if/when I meet them I'll ask them to blog about it then post on HN.
  - threeseed 13y ago
    Perth is at a disadvantage though being so far from all the angels/VC in the eastern states so kudos to Pin. And being originally from Perth it is fantastic to see it show that it is so much more than just a FIFO mining town.
- hhandoko 13y ago
  They're in Perth? I didn't know that. In addition to the tyranny of distance, what's working against startups here is the high cost of living.
- vacri 13y ago
  Perth is rolling in money - that's where the mining industry has boomed, dragging the Australian dollar up with it. It's remote, but that doesn't mean it's poor.
  - buro9 13y ago
    Is Perth rolling in money the way that London is? Here, the financial money favours financial startups. Perth is wealthy, but is the money mostly poured back into mining related ventures?
    - vacri 13y ago
      Unlikely, given that London is rolling in money, and that Greater London is ten times the size of Greater Perth. Though I really couldn't tell you what the VC culture is like there, because I don't move in those circles :) I have seen a few decent techs coming to Melbourne with places in WA on their resume though.
      - SamuelKillin 13y ago
        There is a PHENOMENAL amount of money out in Perth. It may be small, but some of the wealthiest in the world (and the world's wealthiest woman) live there. Largely due to mining, Australia's average wage is around $70k but our median wage is around $45k. Pretty crazy. It's a similar atmosphere to Texas oil culture (I hear, anyway). Lots of secessionists saying Western Australia is keeping the country afloat. This is somewhat true (but not entirely), and they tend to forget 20 years ago WA was a shitheap with nothing going for it.
  - damncabbage 13y ago
    It also has a VC culture of not funding anything that isn't pulling valuable things out of the ground. :(
    - buro9 13y ago
      Yeah, that's basically what I was getting at with my comparison as the London VC culture as that isn't greatly interested in stuff that doesn't involve high frequency trading, forex, markets, and anything that basically processes money and transactions.
- discodave 13y ago
  There is lots of mining boom money in perth.... lots.
jscn 13y ago
I don't know what your email said, but mine said it was $9 if you sign up this month, otherwise $50.
- damian2000 13y ago
  Mine says before the end of June - so you have a full month try it out and decide.
toast76 13y ago
Most of the team is in Melbourne these days.

by thejosh 13y ago

buro9 13y ago

Would love to hear their story. For those who don't know, Perth is the most remote city in the world (according to Bill Bryson), and has a population shy of 2 million mostly in a sprawl that hugs the coast. I spent over a month there and a couple of weeks exploring the area around Margaret River, lovely place... but reading this, what strikes me is how hard it must be to find support, raise money, and build a startup with reach in a city of such remoteness and with only a limited pool of angels and tech resource to call upon. So... knowing the city and WA as briefly as I do, I think this startup would probably have a good story behind it about the adverse environment (for startups) in which they emerged and what it took to get to where they are, and where they're going from here.

djtidau 13y ago
I too would love to hear the story. Australia isn't known for being all that startup friendly, and with WA being the mining sector predominantly I found it quite refreshing to see something so tech focused coming out of there. It looks like they have a great team and in my limited experience their customer service is really good. Hopefully some of them chime in here though their director seems a little HN shy from one of his latest tweets.
- gbpin 13y ago
  I'm a co-founder of Pin Payments. Not shy, just on HN-sabbatical :) There's a story to tell! Building something like this in Perth is hard, but that's part of what makes it such an opportunity. We're by no means the only tech startup here too - given the population and isolation, Perth is well represented in Australian startup crowd.
  - primitur 13y ago
    Hi! I'm from Perth (Subiaco) but have been an ex-pat for over 20 years. The reason is, I've always considered Perth a mining town, and have managed to live in many other big cities around the world during an active professional life, working as a systems software developer. I'm quite ex-pat, but fondly dream of days in the sun.. So I take this opportunity to ask someone, sensibly: Is there a thriving tech scene in Perth? Software businesses, catering to a local market, that sort of thing? Like most major cities, there is probably an 'IT sector', consisting of hardware and systems support companies, probably -and of course the Uni's of WA are all very well connected in the F/OSS/Academic systems software departments. But, whats the local software economy like? Much custom, Business to business, software? I imagine that with the Perth Mint and the Mining banks involved in all this, its going to be a solid way to do business in that part of the world, as well as Internationally. I'm, anyhow, off to get my family to set up their Pin Payments accounts asap .. :)
    - thejosh 13y ago
      The tech scene here is quite thriving. We have "Port 80" meetups[1], as well as many other meetups for a vary of topics. As you said the universities here and quite tech-focused (Curtin, Murdoch, UWA) which is great, and the TAFE courses are usually full (for IT/Web/Programming). There is quite a lot of businesses who want customised web solutions (not just in mining, but would account for a large portion), so as a result there are quite a few web companies here in Perth who do anything from small business websites all the way up to customised systems. The industry does go quiet sometimes, however it's usually pretty busy especially as more people over east bring business over to Perth thanks to the thriving web market here :). [1] - port80.asn.au
      - primitur 13y ago
        Hey, thanks for the info about port80, perfect way for me to get some intel done .. so next time I'm in Perth I'll be sure to include a Wednesday meeting in the schedule.. alas, it'll be a year or two yet (young un's) but the time will come .. ;)
  - 13y ago
thejosh 13y ago
Perth has a really active web scene, I feel like one of the most talkative in the country sometimes.. We are remote yes, but we have so many events going on here that it makes up for it. They have support from the banks and also the Australian Government so would love to hear how that all went, if/when I meet them I'll ask them to blog about it then post on HN.
- threeseed 13y ago
  Perth is at a disadvantage though being so far from all the angels/VC in the eastern states so kudos to Pin. And being originally from Perth it is fantastic to see it show that it is so much more than just a FIFO mining town.
hhandoko 13y ago
They're in Perth? I didn't know that. In addition to the tyranny of distance, what's working against startups here is the high cost of living.
vacri 13y ago
Perth is rolling in money - that's where the mining industry has boomed, dragging the Australian dollar up with it. It's remote, but that doesn't mean it's poor.
- buro9 13y ago
  Is Perth rolling in money the way that London is? Here, the financial money favours financial startups. Perth is wealthy, but is the money mostly poured back into mining related ventures?
  - vacri 13y ago
    Unlikely, given that London is rolling in money, and that Greater London is ten times the size of Greater Perth. Though I really couldn't tell you what the VC culture is like there, because I don't move in those circles :) I have seen a few decent techs coming to Melbourne with places in WA on their resume though.
    - SamuelKillin 13y ago
      There is a PHENOMENAL amount of money out in Perth. It may be small, but some of the wealthiest in the world (and the world's wealthiest woman) live there. Largely due to mining, Australia's average wage is around $70k but our median wage is around $45k. Pretty crazy. It's a similar atmosphere to Texas oil culture (I hear, anyway). Lots of secessionists saying Western Australia is keeping the country afloat. This is somewhat true (but not entirely), and they tend to forget 20 years ago WA was a shitheap with nothing going for it.
- damncabbage 13y ago
  It also has a VC culture of not funding anything that isn't pulling valuable things out of the ground. :(
  - buro9 13y ago
    Yeah, that's basically what I was getting at with my comparison as the London VC culture as that isn't greatly interested in stuff that doesn't involve high frequency trading, forex, markets, and anything that basically processes money and transactions.
discodave 13y ago
There is lots of mining boom money in perth.... lots.

jscn 13y ago

I don't know what your email said, but mine said it was $9 if you sign up this month, otherwise $50.

damian2000 13y ago
Mine says before the end of June - so you have a full month try it out and decide.

toast76 13y ago

Most of the team is in Melbourne these days.