Foxhound Developers

Looking for the Open Shed blog?

2011-08-09

A new name means a new domain! Come and visit us at our new home – blog.openshed.com.au

Introducing the Diggers Guide

2011-06-01

I’m very excited to announce that our first iPhone app – Diggers Guide – is now for sale on iTunes. You can buy it here.

The Diggers Guide is the first iPhone app designed for Australian army personnel, reservists, cadets and military enthusiasts. It is also helpful for civilians that need to decipher acronym heavy conversations with army friends and family!

The Diggers Guide is a quick reference guide, which includes:

the phonetic alphabet
army acronyms
appointment titles
rank insignia images, and
assists you to convert 12 hour time to 24 hour time.

Ok so I’m guessing you are thinking – what does the Australian Army have to do with peer-to-peer lending? Aren’t you guys developing a website that will help people lend their stuff, or rent other peoples stuff?

Yes, we are still developing a peer-to-peer lending/renting start up! No this app has nothing to do with that site! This app is a little side project Duncan and I started last year while we were working (long before we had our start up idea). We decided to give iPhone app development a go after I became a little obsessed with iPhone apps.

We brainstormed for weeks what sort of app we would develop, to no avail. Then I started asking everyone we knew, what app they wished existed? It wasn’t until my brother was home on leave from the army that the idea for the Diggers Guide was conceived.

My brother mentioned all the information that they need to remember and how it can be a steep learning curve, particularly at the start of their training. To someone completely new to the defence world it must seem like a foreign language – phonetic alphabet, acronyms, appointment titles!

I would love it if you would check out the Diggers Guide and spread the word far and wide!

What are we up to?

2011-05-18

I know you’ve been thinking… ok, so they have had an online business idea, quit their jobs, started house sitting, created a card wall BUT what exactly are they up to??

Drum roll please…

Foxhound Developers is joining the collaborative consumption revolution! Duncan and I are developing a website that will help people lend their stuff, or rent other peoples stuff. You know what I’m talking about, that stuff that is lying idle in backyard sheds and spare bedrooms: power drills, lawn mowers, tents, sporting equipment – the list is endless.

It is estimated that every year Australians buy $10.8 billion worth of ‘stuff’ they will never use – that’s an average of $1,250 worth of stuff lying idle in every Australian home! That ‘stuff’ is a waste of money, takes up space and is not particularly environmentally friendly. Our site will offer Australians the opportunity to save and make money while living a sustainable and community minded life. Our site will help you to:

lend out your rarely used stuff to other people near you. Make money lending out your power drill (how often do you really use it?) rather than just having it gather dust in your shed.
experience things you might not otherwise experience – you don’t need to own ‘stuff’ to experience it. Why don’t you borrow that kayak for the weekend and give kayaking a go!
try before you buy. We hope people will put their iPads, Kindles and Digital Cameras on the site and give others the opportunity to rent them for a couple of days, have a play and see whether it really is what they need before they buy.
build new or strengthen existing community connections.

This idea developed out of one of my favourite TED talks – The Case for Collaborative Consumption by Rachel Botsman – which you can watch here.

After listening to the talk I read Rachel’s book (written with Roo Rodgers) What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, and started researching collaborative consumption and peer-to-peer businesses in Australia. From there the idea just kept on turning over in my mind, until I had a business model that both Duncan and I really liked.

So in a nutshell that is what we are up to!

In future posts I will tell you all about how the site will work, planned features etc. I will also be writing here about the growing Australian collaborative consumption marketplace and sharing with you other cool opportunities out there to be living a more sustainable and community minded life.

I’ll also keep you updated with how the start up lifestyle is treating Duncan and I!

What do you think? Got any advice/ suggestions / feedback you would like to share?

Hello world...

2011-04-01

Welcome to the Foxhound Developers blog.

The basic look of this blog really reflects where we are at the moment – right at the start of our ‘start up’ journey. Our plan is to grow this blog, as our start up idea develops and grows into a fully fledged business.

Foxhound Developers is made up of Lisa Fox and Duncan Stewart. We are a couple, nearing our 30th birthdays, who have recently quit our professional jobs to give our big idea a go. Duncan most recently worked for Thoughtworks Australia, as a Developer and Lisa is legally qualified and has worked for the Commonwealth and NSW governments for the last six years.

This blog will follow our start up journey. Most of the time the blog posts will be written by Lisa, but occasionally Duncan will stop by and write a techie post.