{"id":133,"date":"2007-11-03T23:10:13","date_gmt":"2007-11-04T06:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/Liako.Biz\/elias-bizannes\/"},"modified":"2023-07-28T15:18:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T23:18:14","slug":"elias-bizannes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/eliasbizannes.com\/blog\/elias-bizannes\/","title":{"rendered":"Elias Bizannes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve always thought people that write bio’s sound like narcissistic <\/span>twats<\/a>. Well since I get asked for it on a regular basis, here is my best attempt at twattery.<\/span><\/p>\n

But first, a note on what is the most asked question in my life.\u00a0If you want to know how to pronounces my first name: it sounds like the show Alias<\/a>\u00a0(but with an E) or go by my preference which is my actual Greek name which sounds like Homer’s Iliad<\/a>\u00a0(but without a D). My surname sounds like Biz-Ah-Knees, not be-zanes. Speaking of which, when any reference to my name is made online, please link to\u00a0http:\/\/eliasbizannes.com\/<\/a>. If you need a photo, use the one listed on my blog sidebar which allows you to embed and\/or download<\/del> let me get back to you.\u00a0If you’re wondering where my surname originates from, me too — here are my thoughts on the origin of the Bizannes surname<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Quick ‘n Dirty Bio<\/strong>
\nElias Bizannes is an Australian based in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

Standard Bio<\/strong>
\nElias Bizannes is a seasoned Australian\u00a0 entrepreneur and executive based in Silicon Valley.\u00a0 He joined as a member of the founding team of Darwinium<\/a> in 2021\u00a0 and is where he now focusses his efforts today. Prior to that, he was the CEO of ZoomSystems<\/a> a $22m revenue business between 2017 and 2021 (which has now been acquired and merged into Swyft<\/a>). He has also previously worked at venture capital firm CRV<\/a>, search engine startup Vast.com (acquired by Vroom) , and professional services firm PwC<\/a>. He is licensed as a Chartered Accountant globally.<\/p>\n

Bizannes has a history of creating businesses and communities, some of which are still operational.\u00a0 Still running is the “StartupBus<\/a>“, Aussie Founders Network<\/a> and the grass-roots movement of Silicon Beach that influenced Australia’s startup industry (such as inspiring Australia’s first accelerator Startmate and influencing the Australian senate in 2009 not to censor the internet with a controversial law) and continues to operate today as a decentralised community. No longer operational but with legacies that are still felt today: StartupHouse\u00a0 (due to companies that were incubated 2011-2017) and the DataPortability Project\u00a0 (the impact it had on user data rights, embodied now in GDPR).<\/p>\n

Links for additional backstory on my projects<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/StartupHouse.com<\/strong>
\n– https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/tv\/guide\/abc1\/201208\/programs\/NC1102H039D2012-08-25T120158.htm
\n– The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Foreign Correspondent<\/a>” interviewed me at the original location of one of my businesses (StartupHouse) and home for my views. I worked very closely with the team and gave them a deep insight into the trends and history and access to high profile interviewees<\/p>\n

http:\/\/StartupBus.com<\/strong>
\n– http:\/\/business.time.com\/2012\/06\/05\/startupbus-building-an-app-en-route-to-sxsw\/<\/a>
\n– StartupBus is a business that I started in 2010 and have grown into an international event that receives mass coverage in the media and (sometimes, rabid) global community. Time Magazine put a video journalist on one of the buses in 2012 to tell the story of the North American competition.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/siliconbeachaustralia.org\/<\/strong>
\n– http:\/\/www.brw.com.au\/Page\/Uuid\/3ada7f56-3e40-11e0-9e37-40cf8cc49926?et_lpid=118837<\/a>
\n– In 2008, I registered a domain name, started a weekly social event in Sydney that spread across Australia and created a mailing list that has grown to over 2000 people and has a high volume of postings. I did a podcast series and wrote a scathing letter on Internet censorship emailed to every single Australian senator. I subsequently was asked by the Australian Government to write a proposal that could guide policy development to support the Australian industry. Combined, all these efforts of mine are part of “Silicon Beach”, a brand I popularised that’s become the defacto brand representing the Australian tech industry.<\/p>\n

Work experience<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Charles River Ventures, 2011-2012
\n– I managed the seed investment program at a venture capital firm. The same firm that seeded Twitter.<\/p>\n

Vast.com, inc, 2009-2011
\n– I managed the accounting and finance function of an Internet search engine<\/p>\n

PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia, 2005-2009
\n– I spent nearly four years in the assurance practice, working on technology, media and entertainment companies. I was a Senior Accountant, that managed audit teams conducting the financial reporting requirements of companies.
\n– I successfully pitched, piloted, and oversaw the institutionalisation of social media tools at the firm, on a special piece of work I headed up that saw me drive a knowledge sharing and collaboration cultural-change program.<\/p>\n

DataPortability Project, 2007- 2011
\n– I was a founding member of an Internet workgroup seeking to evangelise user control over their data through the use of open standards
\n– I led the charge to turn this online community into an organisation. I was been instrumental in developing its governance model, workflow process, formal vision, and its most significant output (the Portability Policy<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Education<\/strong><\/span>
\nBachelor of Commerce (University of Sydney), 2002-2004
\n– Three year undergraduate degree (full time)
\n– Majored in accounting and finance. Additional subjects in statistics, marketing, information systems, audit, and business law.<\/p>\n

Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting, 2006-2008
\n– Two year post-graduate degree (full time)
\n– A requirement to enable admission into the Institute of Chartered Accountants (which also requires three years CA-mentored work experience)
\n– Subjects in strategic business management and management accounting; financial reporting and accounting; audit and assurance; taxation; and Ethics.<\/p>\n

If you would like to contact me<\/strong> : \"mail\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve always thought people that write bio’s sound like narcissistic twats. Well since I get asked for it on a regular basis, here is my best attempt at twattery. But first, a note on what is the most asked question in my life.\u00a0If you want to know how to pronounces my first name: it sounds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-133","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post-preview"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eliasbizannes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eliasbizannes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eliasbizannes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eliasbizannes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eliasbizannes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/eliasbizannes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2555,"href":"https:\/\/eliasbizannes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133\/revisions\/2555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eliasbizannes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}