Australia, the startup capital of brunch, surfing and Frontier Tech

“From the beginning our goal was to build a long-term company. We want to build a company that will stand the test of time. That’s why we spend a lot of time on company culture.”— Scott Farquhar, co-founder of Atlassian

Melbourne brunch, Queensland beaches, the Sydney Vivid Arts Festival — there are many reasons to love Australia, but most don’t think of the startup scene, until now.

I spent 10 days on a startup tour in Australia thanks to the Visiting Entrepreneurs Program created by StartupQLD, a government consortium of the city of Brisbane and the state of Queensland.

What I found (in addition to the world’s best brunch) was a culmination of innovation-friendly regulations and a burgeoning startup infrastructure.

I also spoke more in depth about my Australia experiences in Sydney at a STARTCON fireside chat at Freelancer.com and during a Startup Daily Session, but will extract my four most important takeaways below.