This document outlines lessons learned over a 20 year period by Charlie Gunningham. It discusses launching an Australian real estate website in 1999 and lessons around making buying easy but selling hard. Key lessons include solving problems for customers to build a business, change happening slowly, costs and timelines being longer than expected, having a clear strategy, maintaining optimism in difficult times, and enjoying the journey. Traffic and subscription income for the website grew substantially over time.

1. Charlie Gunningham
“Innovation
Flearnings”
… stuff-ups and learnings
over a 20 year journey

2. Lesson 1
No Real estate? Tech? Biz?
No worries!

3. Launch of aussiehome.com, 6th Dec 1999

5. 5

6. Lesson 2
Buying Easy
Selling Hard

7. Lesson 3
Solve problem, got business
1. Solve big hairy problem
4. Got business
2. Creates Value
3. Customers pay for value

8. The most important question…
What problem
are you solving
for whom?

9. At aussiehome.com
What problem
were we solving
for whom?
(we got this
wrong)

10. Lesson 4 Change is
Slow

11. Lesson 5 The Unexpected

13. Lesson 6
3 x Cost
2 x as Long

14. Lesson 7
Boil the
Kettle, not
the Ocean

15. Business News

16. Next challenge

17. What problem
are we solving
& for whom?

18. Lesson 8
Clear
Strategy

19. Lesson 9 Keep the faith!
“I’m not making light of my situation, but
I have unyielding belief I will prevail”
~ Jim Stockdale
The Stockdale Paradox

20. 169,000
169k
30,000
Unique
Monthly
Visitors
 Web Traffic x 5
 Subs largest income

21. 10. Enjoy it!

22. “Innovation Flearnings”
… stuff-ups and learnings over a 20 year journey
1. Yes you can
2. Selling Hard (buying easy)
3. Solve problem, got business
4. Change is slow
5. Expect the unexpected
6. 3x cost, 2x as long
7. Boil the kettle
8. Clear Strategy
9. Keep the faith
10.Enjoy it!
Charlie Gunningham
Accelerating Commercialisation
Dept of Industry, Innovation & Science
Charlie@damburst.com.au
0411 092 669
@ChazGunningham