Hi-Tech Australian Sisters doing it for themselves

Nov. 9, 2011 - PRLog -- Unfortunately, a string of shattering family events sparked the move, with Dr Glassop's twin sister diagnosed with breast cancer and her younger sister's daughter dying.

Both sisters lived on the Sunshine Coast and the tragic events happened at a time when Dr Glassop was considering leaving the world of academia where she lectured in business management.

"I felt the academic world was a bit too bureaucratic and not for me, and also that I was a bit too entrepreneurial for that world," she said.

Entrepreneurial is an understatement for the 55-year-old.

She grew up in Sydney and trained as an accountant before honing systems development skills in IT during the 1980s.

She made up for not finishing high school by earning an MBA and a PhD in Philosophy.

"I always felt a bit inadequate in terms of my education and I hit the big corporate glass ceiling. I felt the only way to get past that was to get some formal education," she said.

"The PhD was multidisciplinary and it had a systems theory slant, so it was about developing theoretical models and modelling how you want to work."

Dr Glassop and her two sisters have formed a company called Kodus (sudoku spelled backwards with the U dropped), and partnered with local company iApps to create Karenji, a sudoku-based multi-player app.

The trio had played around with the idea of a sudoku board game as a distraction from the funeral of Dr Glassop's niece years before.

"I was a naive entrepreneur in a sense, because you think you can just walk in and say 'I'll have an app please'," she said.

"But I had business knowledge and we had to register a business structure, a trade name, organise a patent, a budget, an accountant and a lawyer.

"I force my two sisters to have business meetings with minutes. We attempt some formality."

Dr Glassop has also researched family business for past KPMG surveys.

"I have a very broad understanding of how to run a successful family business. It's about communication and having a degree of formality - have meetings, record everything, don't rely on hearsay or a feeling. You also need to know that you don't know everything," she said.

Dr Glassop is also working on a new word processing product to rival Microsoft.

She is planning a preliminary release next year, and will be looking to employ staff and set up shop at the same time.

She is keen to strengthen local entrepreneur and IT networks and highlight the Sunshine Coast as a great place to do business.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy59kXddc5M



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iApps, a member of the Apple Developer community, is an Australian based company specializing in the design of applications for the Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and other Mobile Device technologies.

We provide software design and development services for iPhone, Mobile, Mac and the Web. And the iPad, naturally.

Our customers include individual consumers, corporate, SME's and industry clients. Our teams of innovative and experienced industry professionals combine their technical skills with their innate ability to 'think outside the square' to deliver high quality, effective and user-friendly applications.

iApps work in partnership with recognized leading industry experts to develop software that meets the needs of the business and achieve greater profits by increasing the productivity and efficiency of employees, whilst reducing costs.

For more information, please visit http://www.iapps.net.au/