I was back in UQ on Wednesday to be one of four panellists for UQIES Innovation panel. It was fun, especially since I got to stir the pot a bit!

Also, I hadn’t met my fellow panellists before, at least so far as I could recall, and so it was always nice to meet new and interesting people. The other panellists were:

Pauline Fetaui, the current General Manager of River City Labs
Indi Tansey, the chief officer of people, product and planet
Amelia St Bake, the Digital Strategist of St Baker Energy Innovation Fund

Below are the questions that were emailed to me before the event. I think we got through most of them with some variations and some additions from the audience. I am sure you can see where they gave me the opportunity to say some very controversial things!

Your background and the journey you guys have taken to get to where you are now?
What does innovation mean to you and why is it such a critical component of your life?
Touching on successful entrepreneurs for a second do you believe there is a pattern of behaviour they all exhibit that makes them successful? And if so, what are they?
Is consulting or experiences in other “traditional career paths” a requirement in the start-up world or is that a misconception or does that consulting experience add extra value?
What opportunities are available for business students in the fields of start-ups & technology, bearing in mind a lot of us have little to no technical knowledge?
All of you have amazing experiences and projects you’ve worked on. Thinking back to one of those many journeys or projects you’ve worked on or built, firstly what was/is it and what’s something you wish you knew at the start?
What valuable gem of a resource has helped you in the past and that you’d recommend to students?

A good time was had by me, and hopefully by the audience. I had some great conversations with the students over the cheese platter. I have also seen a few people connect with me on LinkedIn. Finally, having nothing in particular to promote, apart from Kyco and The Great Australian Rip-off, I decided to finally go ahead with that podcast I have been thinking of launching for some time now. Episode 1, out now!