Open the Pod Bay Doors

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Join us for part 2 of our “studio on the road” at Sunrise, Blackbird's annual festival of the startup ecosystem.   Armed with his roving podcast mic, Innovation Bay's Co-Founder and podcast host, Ian Gardiner, was lucky enough to tap the mind's of some of Sunrise's stellar speakers.    During this ep, you'll hear from:  

A few weeks back Blackbird held their annual conference Sunrise - a festival and celebration of the the startup ecosystem in Australia; or as Ian describes it “real life LinkedIn”.   Our fearless Co-Founder, host of Open The Pod Bay Doors, and arguably one of the most connected humans in the ecosystem, Ian Gardiner, took the studio on the road.   Ian chatted to 9 incredible speakers who featured on Sunrise's epic line up, to pick their brains on their area of expertise and the industry at large.   During part 1, you'll hear from:   Adam Gilmour, Gilmour Space Technologies - discussing the challenges in the space industry, Gilmore Space's upcoming first orbit launch and future plans including reusable rockets and lunar missions (SO COOL!)   Kristen Durham, Zendesk - about her recent promotion, the integration and future AI in Zendesk's customer support strategy.   Tova Angsuwat, Series Build (ex-Google) - about her transition from Google to founding Series Build, insights on effective recruitment strategies for startups, and the importance of diversity in startup teams.   Bronwen Clune, Capital Brief - on her background and shift to Capital Brief (one of the newest and fastest growing tech and innovation focused media outlets), about Capital Brief's mission to cover the new economy, and the challenges and highlights in startup journalism.   It's a mixed bag of brilliant minds, set against the backdrop of the electrifying hum of Sunrise 2024.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest for episode 176 is Clive Burcham, a highly influential, philanthropic and impact driven individual. Clive is one of the founding partners of Global Citizen, $46bn New York based juggernaut whose mission is to end extreme poverty. He is also the founder of what he terms a “side hustle” called Compadres, where he works with founders and CEOs to help them achieve "a better life, a better business, a better you".    From growing up in a beef and dairy farming family in regional West Australia, to jumping into TV at 15 and becoming a media executive at the age of 25, to moving to New York to run the Search for a Supermodel television show and working with leading advertising, design and branding agencies. Clive's life has been varied and rich with experiences.    Armed with a whole lot of technical knowledge from his time in NY, Clive moved back to Australia to undercut the local advertising industry to create better quality creative and content for clients. Taking his company from zero to hero in just 3 years, Clive sold a large stake to leading advertising holding company WPP, later buying it back to rebuild it.    With a penchant for giving, a captivating and wise mind, a values-led existence, and a heart of gold, Clive has founded and aligned himself with organisations that aim to make better and illuminate the human experience. “We're put on this earth to make a difference to other people and to live in a community and be connected,” he says.    Tune in to learn of Clive's fascinating journey, one we could all take a leaf from!    Quickfire Round:  Book: ‘Who Not How', Dan Sullivan  Podcast: Your Move with Andy Stanley  News Source: Reuters  Productivity Tool: Calendar  CEO: Dan White, Luke Harris, Steven Marks   App: Instagram  TV Show: WeCrashed  TEDTalk Topic: How do we use our power to influence good       Get in touch with Clive at https://wearecompadres.com | and follow along on Instagram @wearecompadres   This episode is brought to you by Vanta. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest this week is Leah Kaplan, APAC Sustainability Business Lead at Google Cloud. Leah's passion for sustainability stems from her deep love of nature. Leah held a number of consulting technology roles before her dream job came up at Google Cloud - where she now sits at the nexus of technology and sustainability.    Sustainability has been a core value at Google for 25 years who are looking to minimise their impact on the planet while helping others to do the same. In 2007, Google became the first major company to become carbon neutral. In 2017 Google was the first company to achieve a 100% renewable energy match - this means purchasing renewable energy that covers all energy usage for all of Google which they've done every year since. Google has data centres running 24/7 solely on carbon free energy. One of their key goals by 2030 is to have every data centre around the world run on carbon free energy. Google is forecast to spend $10B on renewable energy this year alone!    As  the whole world struggles with climate change, how do businesses begin to understand the impact climate change is going to have on them in the future? Leah's role as Sustainability Business Lead for APAC at Google is fascinating and impactful, with an emphasis on encouraging and helping corporate customers to achieve their sustainability goals via the Google Cloud platform. There are myriad sustainability areas to focus on - not just gas emissions. These include water stewardship, waste reduction, circulatory in products, optimisation - all areas that technology can help with - particularly AI.    One of the pressures Leah observes with the customers she engages with is that many of those in younger generations are willing to pay more for products that are sustainably sourced and will show loyalty to brands that have a sustainability mission. Leah helps companies tackle these challenges by working with them to assess a measurement framework and benchmark, help them to become compliant against regulation, assist companies to make data-driven critical business decisions, guide them in optimising with what they do have, and help to seek out aligned sustainability growth opportunities. She also emphasises that companies with strong sustainability initiatives attract top talent.   This hugely educational and fascinating discussion cover so much more... take a listen.   Interested in learning more about how Google Cloud can assist you to reach sustainability goals? Head to Google Cloud's website, sign up for free and receive $300 in credit, or reach out to your Google rep or Innovation Bay who will put you in touch.     Book: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen and Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie Podcast: The Energy Gang and Stuff You Should Know  News Source: The Guardian  Productivity Tool: Calendar and Kanban Board  CEO: Melanie Perkins, Canva  App: Signal  TV Show: The Wire  TEDTalk Topic: Geospatial analytics and its impact on sustainabilitySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest this week is Bernadette Olivier, CEO & Co-Founder of The Volte - a groundbreaking peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace that's redefining the way we experience fashion globally. From its humble beginnings to its dazzling rise, The Volte seamlessly connects borrowers and lenders, while promoting a sustainable, circular economy.   Bernadette takes us through the evolution of The Volte, from its early days catering to fashionistas to its transformation into a platform embraced by mainstream consumers. She reflects on the complexities of remote work, the importance and challenges of strategic partnerships, and the challenges faced during the tumultuous times of COVID-19. The Volte not only weathered the COVID storm, but has since experienced remarkable growth in orders and active users.    She candidly reflects on the importance of trust, dedication, and alignment within a startup team, where she shares co-founder duties with four other women - Genevieve Hohnen, Kym Atkins and Jade Hirniak. From bootstrap beginnings to securing funding from Angels and VCs including eBay Ventures,The Volte defied the odds to become a trailblazer in the fashion rental industry.   Bernadette shares the uniqueness of The Volte's model - which is focused on occasion-based rentals rather than traditional subscriptions - as well as insights into the company's distinctive unit economics. From leveraging strategic investments, harnessing the power of AI for personalised customer experiences, and visions of international expansion into Europe, Bernadette paints a compelling picture for The Volte's future.   Quickfire Round  Book: 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan, 'Burn Book' by Kara Swisher Podcast: Hard Fork, The Business of Fashion  News Source: New York Times  Productivity App: ClickUp  CEO: Anthony Eisen (Afterpay)  Favourite App: Calm  TV Show:  'Vanderpump Rules' and 'The Morning Show' Movie: ‘Barbie', ‘Oppenheimer'  TED Talk Topic: Changing consumption habits - moving from disposable, one-off usage to reusing, safekeeping and passing onto the next owner. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Proud Canberran and past North Carolina coleslaw wrestling competitor, Olympia Yarger is an incredibly resilient, dedicated, inspiring and super hands-on Founder & CEO of Goterra, a waste management technology company that uses autonomous robotic systems to process food waste using insects. The company enables a circular economy by creating agricultural commodities from the waste stream.    Goterra is paving the way for a circular economy by transforming waste into agricultural commodities, all while significantly reducing truck movement and processing costs. Learn about the remarkable environmental impact of Goterra's technology, which eliminates noxious gasses and slashes emissions by an impressive 97%.   Having spoken to her on the podcast 3 years ago, it was our pleasure to touch base with Olympia again on her fascinating journey from sheep farmer to maggot farmer, the incredible growth Goterra has had over the past 3 years while being incredibly efficient with the capital they have raised (just $20M since 2019) all with a laser focus on Goterra's mission to redefine waste management for a more sustainable future.    On the topic of mental health, Olympia has been working from home more frequently to limit distractions and, after a tough year personally in 2023, has made a commitment to ride her horse at least 5 times a week. As part of Innovation Bay's Summit community, Olympia has had some of her most meaningful experiences at Summit events. Though it can be difficult to get to the events amongst the day to day commitments of running the business, each time she's gone she mentions it refills the bucket and gains perspective from other founders doing the same thing.     Olympia and Ian also spend some time unravelling the State of Australian Startup Funding report, particularly around the pressing issues of gender inequality and diversity in the ecosystem that the report reveals. Olmypia says, “It's disgusting and we should be ashamed.” She calls out that as an industry we shouldn't be using any female founder as an example because the number of female founders receiving funding is still far too low and this needs to change. With deeptech, an even more polarising sector of the industry, Olympia adds: “The sheer limited number of women “making it” are an anomaly, not an attribute and we've got to change something.”   Quickfire Round:  Book: Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés Podcast: Agtech So What  News Source: Al-Jazeera Productivity Tool: Notion  CEO: Tom Loeffler or Keaton Okkonen  App: Instagram  TV Show: Yellowstone, Vikings  TEDTalk Topic: What building climate tech means    Connect with Olympia Yarger and visit https://goterra.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest for episode 172 is Tom Amos, CEO and Co-Founder of Sidekicker - a platform that matches thousands of businesses to pre-qualified temporary staff.    During this chat, Tom reflects on Sidekicker's journey from the genesis of the idea as sparked by 'The 4-Hour Workweek', through to the milestone of turning over a million dollars in a month. Tom's journey is not just about business but also about building a culture where caring for each other is at the core.    Sidekicker has been backed with $40million in funding, the initial amount of $100,000 primarily from Seek Investments. They have not only disrupted the market but have also become a vital player in the space. Sidekicker work with around 2,000 customers per year, ranging from small catering companies to large organisations like Australia Post.    From the nuts and bolts of Sidekicker to the broader landscape of business and innovation, Tom offers valuable insights into:  the future of work the role of AI - sharing how Sidekicker innovatively uses AI for data automation, matching engines, and award compliance the potential challenges the economy may face in the next 24 months   Quickfire Round:  Book: 'The Year of the Locust' Podcast: 'No Laying Up', 'Acquired'  News Source: Twitter Productivity Tool: ChatGPT Favorite CEO: Elon Musk App: Uber TV shows: ‘Slow Horses', ‘Boys Swallows Universe' TEDTalk Topic: Golf OR How to kick a standard career away and begin a startup without technical experienceSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest this week is James Bowe, the Co-Founder of OwnHome alongside Tim Harley. With shelter as a fundamental human need, OwnHome aims to transform access to homeownership in Australia, allowing aspirational homeowners to enter the property market without a 20% deposit, helping them get there for just 2% upfront.    With enviable and impressive resumes and backgrounds across consulting and consumer tech with the likes of Bain & Company, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Macquarie, Wise Ltd, and Herbert Smith Freehills between them, James and Tim were driven to start OwnHome after reflecting on some of the biggest challenges they personally face (financial security being at the top of the pile) and how they want to spend the brief period of time they have left on this planet.    After participating in Commonwealth Bank's accelerator program from overseas, working their day jobs during UK day time and the accelerator program from 10pm - 4am, they finished in the top spot for the accelerator and received $150,000 funding. Now armed with little to no excuses to jump into OwnHome full time, the pair returned to Australia, and raised their seed round while in hotel quarantine in Sydney. Own Home has since received backing from Entrez, Global Founders Capital, Square Peg, and Commonwealth Bank's X15 Ventures and recently raised $31 million in their series A round.    OwnHome combines technology and human services for a seamless experience. Through OwnHome, aspiring homeowners can wave goodbye to renting forever and forgo intergenerational support as the only avenue to owning a home. Their offer allows those with just 2% deposit on the home value access to a licensed buyer's agent, split loan structures, choice of home loan and comprehensive support through the process. Over the past two and a half years, they have received well over 20,000 applications and supported 50 families in becoming homeowners. Across the next 12 months, OwnHome aspired to support $500 million of property purchases in the next 12 months.    Quickfire Round  Book: Amp It Up!, Frank Slootman & Black Belt, Joseph HealyPodcast: All-In Newsource: The Economist, Twitter App: Twitter Productivity Tool: Siri CEO: Jeff BezosTV Show: SuccessionTEDTalk Topic: Solving the challenges of housing affordability in Australia  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Human beings have an innate need to belong to a group or tribe. Large parts of our brain are dedicated to engaging and interacting with others. Belonging triggers the release of chemicals in our brain that promote trust, empathy, and social bonding. Building belonging is essential in a fractured world and requires understanding and addressing our default setting. During this very special episode recorded during the Innovation Bay panel at SXSW Sydney's inaugural event in October 2023, an all star panel featuring Phil Morle (Main Sequence Ventures), Jenny Li (Scarlare Partners), Joel Connelly (Blackbird), and Skye Riggs (Ripple Opportunities) join moderator and guest Open The Pod Bay Doors host, Cameron Webb (Innovation Bay) to share insights on how to build belonging at speed and scale. They share strategies for welcoming new members and creating meaningful connections that keep people engaged over the long term. This episode is proudly brought to you by propodcast.com.au See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest this week is Dan Sturrock, Investment Director at Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). With a decade of experience at ARENA, Dan has witnessed the organisation's remarkable evolution and growth. As an ARENA board observer representative, he provides invaluable insights into the exciting work of propelling startups towards solving colossal challenges - companies like Sundrive and RayGen, who are making huge strides in the solar energy sector.   ARENA's mandate is to accelerate decarbonisation with a focus on renewable energy. By providing grant funding for groundbreaking projects in renewable energy, energy storage, and electric vehicles, they are taking the battle against climate change to a whole new level. The monumental task of decarbonisation requires an all-encompassing approach across various sectors, and both the government and corporate giants are stepping up to the plate. ARENA's core focus is reducing risks and igniting innovation in renewable energy generation.   The fourth installment of the Innovation Bay & ARENA Renewables Startup Showcase for 2023 happens next week on Wednesday 1 November at Melbourne's Cargo Hall. This event brings together 100+ of the country's leading angel investor, VC, PE and CVC community. Get ready to be blown away by four of the most remarkable founder pitches from the renewables, cleantech, and climatetech sectors. It's not just an event; it's a spark for networking and an education in the latest developments in the renewable startup universe. This year's stars include Renewable Metals, Hysata, Sicona, and Novalith.    Tickets are limited and available now https://innovationbay.com/event/arena-november/    Quickfire Round:  Book: Love Stories, Trent Dalton Podcast: Positive Climate News Source: New York Times  Productivity Tool: turning off notifications and avoiding distractions Favourite CEO: Allan Moss, Nick Moore Favourite App: Spotify  TV Show: Alone Australia TEDTalk Topic: Alternative approaches to creativity in children and challenging some of the accepted paradigms around education   Connect with Dan Sturrock via LinkedIn or email.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cath Rogers is a Partner at Antler, a global fund with 900 portfolio companies, have dealt with 5,600 founders, with $4 billion in total portfolio value, working across 27 locations. Cath's career trajectory showcases an interesting and diverse path into the venture capital industry.    Starting in a Goldman Sachs venture-backed startup in London in the very early 2000's during the original dot-com boom, bubble and bust. She later worked in investment banking and strategy consulting before moving into venture capital. Cath spent three years in Abu Dhabi, working in a sovereign wealth fund focused on global cleantech VC - her foray into VC investing.    Upon returning to Australia in 2011/2012, Cath had a stint in Private Equity. After leaving to start her own business, she crossed paths with Daniel Petre and was offered to join him at a fund he was starting up - Airtree. Here she gained valuable mentorship and firsthand experience in early-stage VC before taking a period of time to raise her children - after which she joined Antler, the world's day zero fund. Antler's approach to due diligence is unique whereby they observe founders over a 12-week period. The VC firm aims to institutionalise early-stage venture capital and provide founders with a near-term path to capital.   Among so much more, Ian and Cath discuss, how the path to becoming a VC is now incredibly diverse, how the fundraising environment for VC funds has become more challenging, how investors are more cautious and have higher expectations in terms of risk appetite and exits, that quality funds and founders can still find capital, and how VC funds offer attractive returns compared to traditional investments.   Quickfire:  Book: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace Podcast: Pivot - Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway, Serial  News Source: Axios, Capital Brief  App: Blinkist Productivity App: Tactic, Calendly, Motion, Asana  Favourite CEO: Warren Buffett, Kate Morris (Adore Beauty)  TV Show: The Bureau (SBS)  TEDTalk Topic: What children learn at school and how that positions them for creativity, innovation and adaptation to the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's podcast episode features our special guest harrison.ai, CEO and Co-Founder, Aengus Tran.   harrison.ai started with the problem statement of healthcare capacity. According to Aengus, one of the biggest problems of our time is how to look after such a huge population with increased health needs. harrison.ai is looking to scale the global capacity of healthcare by building automation with AI systems and providing clinicians with superpowers of scale. Aengus says, "of all the things being done in in healthcare, scale will be the solution of quality healthcare globally."   After moving to Australia from Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Aengus was one of very few Vietnamese students at an English-speaking Australian school so quite quickly had to learn the English language. After school Aengus went on to study medicine at university after advice from none other than Paul Ramsay of Ramsay Healthcare - a company that has gone on to invest in harrison.ai.   While working through his medical degree, Aengus realised how much in terms of scale was missing from medicine. During his final years of training, Aengus was involved in a research project building technology along with Vertex Health to select human embryo; opening his eyes to the capabilities of AI systems and how they can scale.   After starting out in Australia and New Zealand, harrison.ai's radiology arm is regulated with FDA clearance in 38 countries with 1 million live touches and one in four radiologists using their technology in Australia alone. Their north star is to touch 1 million lives per day with their technology. harrison.ai has gone on to raise $US120M in series A and series B with investments from Skip Capital, Blackbird, Horizon Ventures and specialist, strategic, corporate investors Sonic Healthcare and Ramsay Healthcare.   Quickfire Round: Book: Prediction Machines, The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence, Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, Avi Goldfarb Podcast: Lex Fridman on YouTube News Source: Medium, mainstream news App: VS Code, Rise Productivity Tool: very basic reminders app and keeping notes, Slack Favourite CEO: Mark Zuckerberg TV Show: House TEDTalk Topic: The health equality and impact that is possible through the scalability of AI   harrison.ai are continuously hiring in their AI teams. If you'd like to learn more or are you're curious about the tool, reach out to harrison.ai. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest this week is Max Cunningham, CEO of FCX. FCX is Australia's only end-to-end registry, capital raising and trading platform for private companies whose aim is to make owning and transacting private company shares simpler.    Max is an industry veteran. From his early career experiences to the development of a groundbreaking technology platform, Max's story is one of passion, expertise, and innovation. His LinkedIn profile is short, though his tenures have been long held - spending approximately 10 years each at Macquarie, Goldman Sachs, and the ASX before developing and launching FCX.    Max takes us on a journey through the realms of public and private markets, shedding light on the fundamental differences and the rapid growth of private markets in Australia. He explains how FCX was born out of the need for simplifying ownership of private company shares and the revolutionary concept of regularly trading private company shares.   With a firm belief in the FCX ecosystem, Max outlines the platform's unique features and its ability to provide instant atomic settlement, granting companies immediate access to capital. He delves into FCX's vision of creating a secondary market for privately listed tech companies, offering liquidity to staff, early investors, and shareholders.   Plus so much more…    Quickfire Round  Book: Arafat: The Biography, by Andrew Gowers and Tony Walker Podcast: Unholy: Two Jews on the News News Source: New York Times App: RunKeeper Productivity Tool: Empiraa CEO: Yuval Rooz, Digital Asset  TV Show: Succession TEDTalk Topic: Tokenisation of capital markets   Check out FCX https://fcx.com.au/  And get in touch with max@fcx.com.au or josh@fcx.com.au to find out more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's special guest is Silvija Martincevic, CEO & Board Director of Deputy. Silvija is a passionate advocate for purpose-driven companies and brings a wealth of experience to Deputy from her background in socially responsible investing and previous roles at Groupon.   Deputy, founded over a decade ago, is a leading company specialising in smart scheduling and workforce management. Their software solution is used by over 1.3 million shift workers in more than 100 countries, empowering 330,000 businesses with tools for compliance and communication.   Silvija's journey from Croatia to the United States, combined with her experience in socially responsible investing, has shaped her leadership approach. She aims to take Deputy to new heights by creating a more flexible and transparent workplace for hourly workers.   Deputy's mission is to become a global platform for hourly workers, providing technology solutions to increase productivity and engagement. Despite the significant number of hourly workers in the world, there is a lack of tailored technology tools for them. Deputy is addressing this gap, currently serving over 1.5 million hourly workers and 330,000 workplaces.   Silvija's insights on responsible scaling, company culture, and bridging the gap between employers and hourly workers are valuable for understanding Deputy's approach. Their focus on diversity and exploration of AI to improve workforce management and customer support are also noteworthy.   Quickfire Round: Book: Leading Lightly by Jody Michael Podcast: Pivot with tech journalist Kara Swisher and NYU Professor Scott Galloway News Source: Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Fortune, CNN, Buzzfeed, The Australian  App: Spotify  CEO: Alison Deans Productivity Tool: WhatsApp  TV Show: Working: What We Do All Day (Barack Obama)  TEDTalk Topic: Resilience and grit   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's very special episode was recorded at our recent full community event. The Globe, hosted by Macquarie, brought together our four communities of early and later stage founders and CEOs, VCs and angel investors, to connect, learn, discuss and shape the future of our industry. Ian sat down with five of our incredible members for this all star line up featuring: Yash Varma, Founder & Partner, Empress Capital (Aurora & Horizon member) Phil Morle, Partner, Main Sequence (Aurora member) Georgia Barkell, Managing Partner, Sprint Ventures (Aurora member) Lisa Vincent, CEO & Founder, HowToo (Summit member) Alon Greenspan, Partner, Mind Ventures (Aurora member) Cameron Webb, SVP of Member Experience and Managing Partner, Innovation Bay (Innovation Bay team) With the taste of celebratory champagne at our cocktail party on their lips, Ian and our members discuss (among plenty more): Their own background, progressions and evolution in the ecosystem Some of the recent challenges they've faced Their pulse on the current market and focuses in their respective roles Their experiences and takeaways from this year's incredible The Globe event The benefits and why being a part of the Innovation Bay community is awesome For more information on our events, or to apply for membership, visit innovationbay.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

E163 - Clément Aglietta, Co-Founder & CEO, Edda    Our guest this week is Clément Aglietta, Co-Founder & CEO of Edda, a collaborative tool for private equity investors. Edda is an all-in-one solution for deal flow, portfolio management, and LP's relationship management. The tool is designed to be user-centric and integrates with external databases and other tools. Edda has recently launched into the ANZ market via a partnership with Innovation Bay's VC community, Aurora.    Clément began his career at CERN, the biggest physics laboratory in Europe, where he learned about quantum physics. He then went on to study design. This gave him the opportunity to join the dots between physics and design and discover a new method of solving problems - a passion that led to the creation of Edda.    Clément's desire to be an entrepreneur led him to attend conferences and meet investors. He worked at Rebag, a luxury handbag marketplace, and was later invited to join LG Labs as a VC. As a designer turned VC, he noticed the lack of advanced technology in the industry and decided to create Edda. Edda raised the first funding round after building a team and creating the first version of the product.    Edda helps investors manage their deals and portfolio companies by capturing information from emails, synchronizing data, and providing collaboration tools. It provides statistics and creates profiles for companies, while allowing users visibility on the true value of investments and the impact they create, in real time. With a team of 33 (growing to 40 imminently), Edda now has 130 clients in 26 countries and manages around $30 billion in assets across the private and public equity markets. With lofty ambitions to be the global industry leader, and a passion to make a positive impact on people, society and the planet, Edda has big plans for the future.    Quickfire Round: Book: Build by Tony Fidel, Civilizations by Laurent Binet Podcast: audio books News Source: VC news via LinkedIn Productivity App: Turning off phone notifications  Favourite CEO: Demis Hassabis from DeepMind  TV Show: n/a TEDTalk Topic: Financing impact Get in touch with Clèment via LinkedIn and learn more about Edda here https://edda.co/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Our guest this week is Fintech expert Alan Tsen, Head of fmX, IAG's corporate accelerator program.    Currently in the middle of its fifth season, fmX invites 8 startup companies per cohort to engage in a 12 week program giving participants a unique opportunity to learn how to infiltrate their product successfully into the insurtech ecosystem.    Across the entirely free program, participants gain hugely valuable knowledge through training and face to face workshops to learn how to structure and position their businesses while giving them access to internal technical and design outlets to explore insurance use cases. One unique element of fmX is the potential for startups to partner with IAG.    With an enviable resume which includes practicing international tax law, a tenure as the GM of Stone & Chalk Melbourne, Chair and board member of Fintech Australia and Director of Revenue for startup Chipper Cash, Alan is also a lover of fine wine, even studying to become a sommelier, and writes a hugely knowledgeable Fintech newsletter Fintech Radar.      Quickfire Round Book: Unreasonable Hospitality, Will Guidara  Podcast: Got Somme - Aussie wine podcast  News Source: Twitter  App: Tana, Oura  Tech CEO: Andy Grove   TV Show: Ru Paul's Drag Race TEDTalk Topic: The State of Fintech in Africa   While recruitment for the next season of fmX won't officially kick off until October this year, Alan is always on the lookout for startups with amazing ideas that might fit the fmX mould. Get in touch with Alan alan.tsen@iag.com.au or follow along on Twitter @alantsen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that dogs get cancer at the highest rate of any mammal in the world? Or that 80% of dogs get dental disease? How about that 50% of cats and dogs are overweight or obese? Pretty startling statistics, right?    Well, Anna Podolsky, Founder & CEO of direct to customer pet wellness business, Lyka, is on a mission to make our furry friends healthier and live longer, more fulfilled lives. Named after Anna's 14 year old border collie, the concept for the business was borne when Lyka showed signs of being unwell and, after not recognising any of the ingredients in her generic food, began cooking for her fur baby.    Lyka employs 160 staff - doubling almost every 6 months - each with a deep love and care for animals. The company has so far raised $40 million in funds and has created 15 million meals for their loyal and very sticky customer base of furry friends and pet parents.    Ian and Anna cover a range of topics including:  Building the foundations for business success as a management consultant at Bain  Traveling around the world with a border collie  Practicing 10 thousand hours of gymnastics  Her Dad's kitchen as first production facility  The importance of building a purpose-led culture  And lots more…  Quickfire Round: Book: The Power of Moments - Chip Heath, Dan Heath  Podcast: Masters of Scale  News Source: Morning Brew  App: Headspace  Tech CEO: Bob Iger  Productivity Tool: Remember The Milk  TV Show: The Block (guilty pleasure)  TED Talk Topic: Kibble is the new cigarette   Get In Touch:  Lyka are always recruiting, check out their open roles: https://lyka.com.au/careers  Have a pup and ready to make the switch? Head to: https://lyka.com.au/  Connect with Anna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-podolsky/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest this week is Anuj Goel, Head of Technology Sector and Executive Director at Macquarie Capital.    Anuj joined Macquarie's Technology, Media, Entertainment and Telecommunications (TMET) team in 2006 following a short period working as an actuarial consultant.​   Today, Anuj focuses on helping Technology companies with M&A, IPO, trade sales, capital raising and other strategic priorities. In addition, Anuj is actively involved in Macquarie's principal investing activities having been involved with companies such as Seek, oOh!media, PEXA and Temple & Webster. ​Leading a team of 22 staff across advisory and investment, some days Anuj will be solving complex problems with a large ASX company - the next - helping a Series A company think about their growth and investments.    Anuj and his team have a broad technology coverage across online businesses, classifieds, FinTech and software, and are building capabilities in emerging sectors like AgTech.   Ian and Anuj discuss a number of topics including:  Macroeconomics and a potential continuation of a flat economy Trends in the tech debt market and how corporates are going after growth  The difference between VC and PE and the relationship between them   Pre-planning for the IPO market  Investment opportunities in AI And so much more!    Quickfire Round:  Book: Total Recall - Arnold Schwarzenegger Biography  Podcast: Alan Watts on YouTube News Source: Letter of Intent, AFR  App: YouTube, Outlook  Tech CEO: all CEOs bring different things, Shemara Wikramanayake (Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie Group) is inspirational.  Productivity App: n/a  TV: Carl Pilkington  Ted Talk: How do you find your purpose?    Learn more about Macquarie Capital HERE  Connect with Anuj Goel HERE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

E158 - Adam Schwab, CEO and Co-Founder at Luxury Escapes   Adam Scwhab runs at a million miles an hour - literally, he runs barefoot marathons! The CEO and Co-Founder of Luxury Escapes, Adam Schwab is our guest this week.    Outside of running one of the country's most successful, bespoke travel sites, and running really far without shoes, Adam is also a contributing journalist and writer, podcast host, father of two young children, is on the investment committee of Save The Children, and is an angel investor.    An ex-lawyer, Adam and Luxury Escapes co-founding partner Jeremy Same (an ex-banker), started their first business in 2004 - apartment accommodation for backpackers. Fast forward to 2023, Luxury Escape has 510 staff on its books across Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Brazil, Ukraine, and New Zealand and will turn over close to $1b this year.    Ian and Adam discuss a heap including: Taking asymmetric risks  How COVID affected the business and helped them pivot their product offering  That every great founder balances incredible self confidence with consistent paranoia  His podcast From Zero  And so much more.    Quickfire Round  Book: The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon Podcast: Pivot, What The Flux  News Source: AFR, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg  App: BOM  Tech CEO: Jeff Bezos  Productivity Tool: WhatsApp  TV Show/Movie: WeWork, Super Pumped, The Crown - fact based fiction  Ted Talk Topic: n/a  Luxury Escapes are always hiring and Adam's DM's are open. Hit him up on Twitter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

E157 James Petrie, CEO & Co-Founder, Nourish    There's a shift happening in the food that we eat. That is, we're seeing a transition to plant based food. According to Bloomberg, the plant based food industry is projected to hit $162 billion in the next decade. With a projected population of 10 billion people on earth by 2080, it will be impossible to feed that many mouths with animal-based proteins. Enter Nourish.    Our guest this week is James Petrie, the CEO & Co-Founder of Nourish. Cutting his teeth as a research scientist at CSIRO, James was part of the lipid engineering team, and responsible for one product that mimicked fish oil - all from a canola crop. These learnings inspired the formation of Nourish.    Though not a trivial exercise to make plant-based proteins delicious, Nourish is responsible for the production of fats that have made a breakthrough in the taste and experience of alternative proteins. Nourish engineer yeasts and fungal streams that behave in the same way as animal fats - and taste just as good!    During this chat, Ian and James cover:  How the growth opportunity lying with carnivores  James's founder story and the transitional changes that come with moving from early to late stage in a startup  Nourish's raising journey to date  The monolithic size of the market  The importance of demonstrating tangible customer traction to investors  Plus so much more…    Quickfire Round Book: Stephen Webb - If the universe is teeming with life, where is everybody  Podcast: Gaming podcasts - Min-Max  News Course: ABC, AFR  App: Slack  Tech CEO: not one specific person but James respects those who make the journey from startup through scale up and beyond stating “the start of the journey is very different to the middle is very different to the late stages” Productivity Tool: Miro  TV Show: Death In Paradise  Ted Talk Topic: How to make food real using the right ingredients / Transitions from early to late stage in startups  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our first guest of 2023 is Adam Theobald, CoFounder & CEO of Ordermentum, a double sided marketplace and platform for hospitality suppliers and venues to make orders and payments.    Despite a potentially promising career in cricket and a desire to become a physio, Adam studied Computer Science at university going on to complete a Master degree in Commerce. Beginning his career as a stockbroker focusing on technology stocks, Adam moved into roles with voiceover IP company Freshtell (comparable to Skype) and web-based video conferencing company Parkslide (akin to Zoom). With a love of coffee, Adam founded order ahead app Beat The Queue (since rebranded to Hey You who have recently merged with delivery app Yello).    Ordermentum was born in 2014 with 10 customers signed up - the first being Lion Nathan. Despite the COVID curveball that threatened to all but completely wipe out the entire hospitality industry, the company became a savior to locked down dog walkers ordering coffees.    Ordermentum now boast a hugely profitable business that caters to 35,000 venues (or half of the venues in the country), have 650 suppliers signed up, move over $1billion in G&V and process $4million in payments.    Ian and Adam cover topics including:  Raises (one of which occurred during the pandemic!) Cricket (of course) Why he supports in-office in a remote moving world The importance of noticing emotional burnout in staff Plans to double his workforce in the next 12 months  The network effect  How important being part of a community is - Adam is a member of Innovation Bay's Summit (Series A+ Founder Community)  And so much more…    Quickfire Round  Book: Radical Focus, Christina R. Wodtke + Working Backwards (Amazon)  Podcast: Serial  News Source: Sydney Morning Herald  App: Hey You Tech CEO: The Hard Thing About Hard Things  Productivity Tool: Woop  TV Show: Yellowstone, Line Of Duty  Ted Talk Topic: Ability to think on three trajectories - running the right balance between a short, medium and long term success trajectory  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 10 and 11, Sunrise, Australia's leading ideas and innovation festival run by our friends at Blackbird, returned to Sydney for their most ambitious event since its inception in 2014. Taking over Sydney's iconic Carriageworks, Sunrise opened its doors, inviting around 1,000 of its closest pals, all primed to explore the optimism and wonder of human achievement. Armed with a microphone, and less a wisdom tooth (which was removed around halfway through the festival - by a professional dentist), Innovation Bay's Co-Founder and familiar host of Open The Pod Bay Doors, Ian Gardiner, tapped 21 people on the shoulder for series of pow wows about business, innovation, a retrospective at what has got them to now, a fast forward of what's to come for our industry and what's exciting them, and of course…what they're hearing, seeing and feeling at Sunrise. Part 3 features an admirable group of people including Flavia Tata Nardini (Fleet Space Technologies), Andy Tsao (Silicon Valley Bank), Matthew Pearson (Fleet Space Technologies & Airspeeder), Lucy Wark (Normal), Tim Moore (Investor), Matt Allen (Tractor Ventures), Alex McCauley (Tech Council of Australia).   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 10 and 11, Sunrise, Australia's leading ideas and innovation festival run by our friends at Blackbird, returned to Sydney for their most ambitious event since its inception in 2014. Taking over Sydney's iconic Carriageworks, Sunrise opened its doors, inviting around 1,000 of its closest pals, all primed to explore the optimism and wonder of human achievement. Armed with a microphone, and less a wisdom tooth (which was removed around halfway through the festival - by a professional dentist), Innovation Bay's Co-Founder and familiar host of Open The Pod Bay Doors, Ian Gardiner, tapped 21 people on the shoulder for series of pow wows about business, innovation, a retrospective at what has got them to now, a fast forward of what's to come for our industry and what's exciting them, and of course…what they're hearing, seeing and feeling at Sunrise. Part 2 features a bunch of incredible humans including Joel Connolly (Blackbird), Alex Apoifis (Blackbird), Jekaterina Viktorova (Syenta), Andrea Gardiner (Jelix), Damon Klotz (Culture Amp), Mick Liubinskas (Climate Salad), and Kate Glazebrook (Blackbird).   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 10 and 11, Sunrise, Australia's leading ideas and innovation festival run by our friends at Blackbird, returned to Sydney for their most ambitious event since its inception in 2014. Taking over Sydney's iconic Carriageworks, Sunrise opened its doors, inviting around 1,000 of its closest pals, all primed to explore the optimism and wonder of human achievement.    Armed with a microphone, and less a wisdom tooth (which was removed around halfway through the festival - by a professional dentist), Innovation Bay's Co-Founder and familiar host of Open The Pod Bay Doors, Ian Gardiner, tapped 21 people on the shoulder for series of pow wows about business, innovation, a retrospective at what has got them to now, a fast forward of what's to come for our industry and what's exciting them, and of course…what they're hearing, seeing and feeling at Sunrise.    Part 1 features a bevy of incredible humans including:  - Matt Fairhurst (Skedulo)- Al Coleman (Folklore)- Kristen Durham (Zendesk)- Mary Minas (Sense of Self)- Mark Dombkins (Forever Projects)- Jason Neave (Punt Club)- Nan Ransohoff (Stripe)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest for episode 152 is Mina Radhakrishnan, Co-CEO & Co-Founder of Proptech startup :Different. Mina co-founded the company alongside her husband, with whom she shares CEO duties. :Different is property management as a service for real estate agents with their mission being to take care of homes and the people in them.    Born in Canada, Mina has spent a lot of time in the US, kick starting her career at Goldman Sachs in New York. She chose a role as Product Manager at Google over Business School and was one of the first employees of Uber, where she went on to become Head of Product and was part of the team that introduced surge prices during busy periods. While running her consultancy on the side to keep close to product and startups, Mina worked with a couple of venture firms (Cowboy Venture and Redpoint) as an advisor and entrepreneur in residence. Through all of this wealth of experience, she knew she wanted to be a founder.    During a round the world trip, Mina and her husband came up with the idea for :Different. They raised their Seed round with Airtree - during the birth of their first child - launched publicly in 2017 and raised their B round last year (2021) - during the birth of their second child. :Different now manage tonnes of properties with efficiency and high quality via their customers that make up the likes of Ray White, LJ Hooker and many other top real estate agencies, and in doing so, have become one of Australia's fastest growing agencies.    During her chat with Ian we learn about:  Her time on the board for Airtasker Her advisory role with Antler Her position on the board for Australian Tech Council - a lobby group working with gov to create 1.2 million tech jobs by 2030  Her founder journey and the double edged emotional rollercoaster of decision making  Her advice for founders and investors in the current and coming climate (Winter is coming - like it does every 3 years) How much she values the written word    Quickfire Round:  Book: Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austin  Podcast: Wait Wait Don't Tell Me (NPR News Podcast)  News Source: Twitter App: Calm  Tech CEO: Mina doesn't want to put anyone on a pedestal, everyone has something to learn   Productivity Tool: BarTender. BetterSnapTool  TV Show: Star Trek: The Next Generation   Ted Talk Topic: Power of the written word to persuade people See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Tanner is the Co-Founder and COO of Qwilr - an online platform that allows the customer to easily create visually compelling sales and marketing collateral at speed. The aim is to deliver a better buyer experience by combining content, price quotes, e-sign, and sales transactions into a single, mobile-friendly webpage. It's the ultimate productivity boost for sales and marketing teams, with automation, analytics, code-free design and collaboration capability, all in one platform.   In this episode we hear about Mark's passion for politics and study of History, Government & International Relations at Sydney University. How Google poached him from a startup to help launch Google Play Books, Google Play Magazines & Google Newsstand. Returning from a couple of years in New York we learn how reconnecting with old school friend Dylan Baskind led to the creation of Qwirl.    Ian and Mark discuss Qwilr's journey and deep dive into Mark's expertise in sales and go-to-market plan. Tune in to hear more on: Choosing a company name and re-branding Founder-led sales, the importance of a sales team  Building and scaling your team Fundraising process International expansion The hardest and best parts of building a startup   Quick fire round: Book - ‘How Will You Measure Your Life', Clayton Christensen Podcast - Acquired News Source - Twitter App - Twitter Tech CEO - Joe Thomas, Loom Productivity Tool - Loom TV Show - White Lotus  Ted Talk Topic - ‘The journey of sales' or ‘wisdom on how to measure your life' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

WinVC is a women VC investor-led initiative aiming to facilitate the success of women VC investors and women-led VC firms, and attract more women from diverse backgrounds into VC investment roles. WinVC's aim is to bring together women in VC to learn from one another, develop new opportunities, facilitate collaboration and help foster female talent in the industry.  On this week's episode, our guests are WinVC's incredible founders, Andrea Gardiner, CEO & Founder of Jelix Ventures; Ingrid Maes, Founder & Managing Director of W23; and Michelle Deaker, Founding Partner & Managing Director of OneVentures.  According to a recent report by Deloitte and SBE titled Accelerating women founders: The untapped investment opportunity, only 0.7% of all private start-up funding in FY22 went to solely female founding teams, despite funding increasing tenfold between FY18 and FY22. A separate AIC report highlights that just 25% of VC investors are female, with VC female partners sitting at 15%. Andrea, Ingrid and Michelle have joined forces for WinVC to tackle the issue of diversity in VC head on. They firmly believe that diversity leads to better decision making and fund performance. And that having more diversity (ie women in VC) will lead to better investment decisions will being made which will help our startup ecosystem in Australia, in turn bolstering the county's economy.  Quickfire Round:  Read - The Economist, Atomic Habits, Harvard Business School Website Watch - The Power of the Ring, Blacklist, Extraordinary Attorney Woo  If you're a woman in VC and are interested in membership, please head to the WinVC website (https://winvc.com/) to express your interest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Weingarth is the CEO and founder of Slyp - a fintech startup and platform sitting between retail/merchant services and banking. The vision of Slyp is to completely reimagine what a receipt could be used for. Rather than a receipt being the end of a transaction, Slyp are developing a network allowing a relationship between the merchant, bank and customer to begin at the end of the transaction.    We hear about Paul's study of agri economics at uni (where his nickname was Urban Cowboy), his first full time role at Equigroup, how he helped to set up the team at Microsoft Financing in Australia before moving over to PayPal in 2010. Deeply passionate about the customer experience, and now with an enviable resume of experience, Paul co-founded Slyp in 2016 alongside Spiro Rokos and Mike Boyd.      With just a prototype, Paul and Slyp were able to engage all four major Australian banks as both investors and current and future customers - the only Australian fintech to have done so. Slyp's merchant list extends across almost all verticals with the likes of Chemist Warehouse, General Pants, JD Sports, Harris Farm and the Rockpool Group all on board.    Having raised $40mil, Slyp currently employs 50 staff with ambitions to have Slyp in the hands of 1 in 2 Australians by the middle of next year. The purpose-led company are also working on amplifying their sustainability by offering a recommerce space (reselling preloved items). Paul's goal is to see Slyp as an Australian made global proposition, hoping to get offshore into the US, UK and European markets.    Quickfire Round:  Book: Good To Great by Jim Collins Podcast: The Howie Games (Mark Howard) News Source: LinkedIn, AFR App: Milkrun Tech CEO: Jeff Bezos Productivity Tool: Outlook Mail app TV Show: Billions, Super Pumped, WeCrashed Ted Talk Topic: The ability to leverage game theory to drive network effects and innovation   Learn more about Slyp here & connect with Paul Weingarth via LinkedInSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining us for Episode 148 is the fascinating George Peppou, Founder and CEO of Vow Food, a cultivated meat company, founded and operated in Sydney. Vow is made up of a multidisciplinary team of scientists, technologists and designers, working together in the relentless pursuit of better food.By making meat with animal cells, and not the animals themselves, Vow is creating the world's most tantalising and unique culinary experiences without compromising on ethics or our planet along the way. Ian and George dive into George's career path so far, from studying Biochemistry and Immunobiology at Sydney University to Founder and CEO of Vow Food. Tune in to hear more on: The effects of the meat industry and food production on the Global greenhouse gas emissions  How Vow as a product is produced and when it will first go to market The investment and growth stages of Vow  Georges business and personal challenges Quick fire round: Book: Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Handbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell, By: Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle Podcast: Lex Fridman and The Constant News Source: ABC/AFR for local news and The Atlantic App: Vimcal - Lightning-fast calendar for remote work Tech CEO: Elon Musk TV Show: Jerrfey Dahmer on Netflix Ted Talk: Woodwork and a mindfulness practice. George is a member of Summit Community at Innovation Bay.  You can find more at VowFood.com, Twitter or Linkedin. Vow Food is hiring so be sure to keep an eye out on their careers page. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining us for E147 is Angela Clark, Co Founder of Wallet Nation. Angela is a specialist in business transformation, customer experience, innovation and digital platforms. Angela's experience spans multiple industries, customer segments and services, across education, media, payments and financial services. Angela has previously led companies as a CEO and Managing Director, founded her own start-ups and led transformation of divisions and customer strategy within larger companies.Tune in to hear Ian deep dive into Angela's fascinating career journey plus so much more as the pair cover off topics such as: The transition from corporate to start up Wallet Nation - How was it founded, where is it at currently and what is the vision Crypto Winter and the evolution of blockchain and web3 The benefits of being apart of a community Quickfire Round Book - Cloudstreet by Tim Winton News source - NY Times Tech CEO - Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Best productivity tool -  Weeding tools for the garden TV show - ESP News Tedx talk - Importance of citizens taking active interest in media and how it affects society.   Angela is also an Innovation Bay member and part of the Canopy Community. You can reach Angela via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelaclarkaustralia/?originalSubdomain=au See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest for episode 146 is Australian politician Hon Ed Husic MP. Elected to the House of Representatives as the Federal Member for Chifley in 2010, Ed is currently serving as Minister for Industry and Science.  Passionate about the digital economy creating the jobs of the future, Ed has a long-standing interest in the impact of tech on our economy and community and his portfolio appointments and parliamentary interests have focused on this. For a number of years, he has been part of the Federal Opposition's team developing policies to promote early stage and digital innovation.In this episode, we dive into Ed's top priorities for policies within the startup ecosystem. Ian and Ed also touch on the Research and Development tax incentive, the positive impact migration and visas can have on growing the economy, as well as discuss politics in general plus the impact inflation and rising interest rates may have on small startups.  Tune in to hear more from Ed! Quickfire RoundBook - System Error by Rob Reich and Starling Grad War by Antony Beevor. Series - Narcos and Kenobi (Starwars)TV Shows - The A TeamGadget - New generation airpods This is Ed's second time on the Open The Pod Bay Doors podcast. You can check out his first appearance here.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a two year hiatus, Innovation Bay and ARENA teamed up once more for the ARENA Renewable Energy Founder Forum.    Across the course of the evening, four promising founders from a pool of 40 applications in the renewables space were invited to pitched their business to a room of experts and enthusiasts in the industry.    We heard from ARENA's Darren Miller, past alumni 5B's Dr Nicole Kuepper-Russell and an expert panel, recorded the night, featured Renate Egan from the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, Kate Vidgen of Macquarie Group and Kristin Vaughan from Virescent Ventures.   Today we're thrilled to share the panel discussion with you for this week's episode. Across this educational and eye-opening conversation, Innovation Bay's own Ian Gardiner alongside renewables experts Renate Egan, Kate Vidgen and Kristin Vaughan cover a range of topics.    We investigate the renewable energy industry shifts across the last 12-18 months, Australia's evolution relative to other international markets in relation to EVs and hydrogen and where Australia is going to win within the emerging technology space. We also discuss how the world is recognising the need to globalise the supply chain, export opportunities for Australia's energy commodity or IP and the increasing need for negative omissions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Louise Nobes is the founder of the Australian arm of 42 - a globally innovative software engineering and coding trade school. 42 is free to attend with entry criteria being that you must be 16 to attend and either undergo a strenuous 2 hour logic test (and pass) or a 4 week intensive bootcamp (and pass).    An ex-social worker, Louise is incredibly passionate about supporting underprivileged and underrepresented people. While teaching at Flinders NVI, Louise became fixated on wanting to push into work of the future and how it would look to bring in the best educational model that focused on coding and jobs - and one that was open to everyone. After looking up 42 on the advice of a colleague, Louise contacted the French headquarters to ask if she could become the Australia license holder. Within 24 hours they agreed.    Louise looks at everything with a lens focused on diversity and equality. She is driven by a desire to solve some of the really complex problems in society - one problem in particular being youth unemployment. Through 42, she's also looking to squash some of the statistics currently running through the tech industry. Stats such as only 25% of people in the tech sector identify as female; the number for software engineering dwindling down to 12%. At 42, 30% of intake are women, 40% are neurodiverse and 28% did not finish grade 12, all proving that 42 is open to all.    Running for just over a year in Adelaide, 42 has seen 450 students pass through its ranks and move straight in employment via a red hot recruitment market. The learning philosophy is all practical without any theory with students working across around 200 projects during the course of their learning curriculum. With a long term goal of being first and front of mind for digital apprenticeships, Louise plans on setting up shop in Sydney as a second Australian market very soon with a goal of 1500 students through the door.    Quickfire Round  Book: Jacinda Ardern (I Know This To Be True): On kindness, empathy & strength Podcast: The Game Changers  News Source: YouTube  App: Spotify  Tech CEO: Allison Nikula (CareApp) Productivity Tool: My brain + team use Airtasker   TV Show: Peaky Blinders  Ted Talk Topic: What will it take to get equality in tech and are we prepared to really listen to what that is.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wayne Gerard wears a number of hats. By day, he is the Co-Founder & CEO of RedEye and the current Queensland Chief Entrepreneur. He lives on a working farm outside of Brisbane, is a trail runner and is deeply passionate about innovation, entrepreneurship, the climate, helping others and making a difference with the time we have!  Wayne spent 10 years in the ARMY straight out of school, first as a tactical communications officer and later with a key role to build the ARMY's first drone. This opportunity led to a job offer with Boeing, then a Queensland tech company (Lincom) before starting his own consultancy company. Following a devastating flood that affected his property in 2011, Wayne reevaluated his position, wanting to move away from being the product of his business.  During a trip to the US, Wayne came up with an idea for a SaaS business - a single instance multi tenant cloud as a solution for engineering companies. RedEye was born with BHP the very first customer. Fast forward 10 years and Wayne has taken up position as Queensland Chief Entrepreneur - a position he will hold until the end of 2022.  His key focus priorities in this role include:  To help the existing industry to be as sustainable and successful as possible by partnering with QLD innovators, entrepreneurs and researchers  To build the next emerging industry and new economy To focus on regional - entrepreneurship and innovation can happen anywhere, from Longreach to Gladstone or Cairns  To unlock partnerships with the Brisbane 2032 Olympics During their chat, Ian and Wayne cover a range of topics, all highlighting Wayne's desire to make a difference and help others - particularly those in the innovation and entrepreneurship space. One of the key takeaways: Resilience is learnt as you go on your journey. Know you're not alone. It's hard work but keep going. What you're doing is going to make a difference!  QUICKFIRE ROUND  Book: Lifespan by Dr David Sinclair  Podcast: Rich Roll, The A16Z Podcast  News Source: tries not to focus on the news - prefers to focus on customers  App: Garmin, Strava - for trail running  Fav Tech CEO: Elon Musk  Productivity Tool: Redeye  TV Show: The Terminal List  Ted Talk Topic: Building resilient economies for innovation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining us for E142 are Katie Heathcote, Associate Director Technology - Export Services for Investment NSW and Ryan Edwards-Pritchard, CEO and Founder of Fintech company Cape.Katie's role at Investment NSW sees her meet hustle with NSW tech companies that are at the right stage to scale globally. Investment NSW provides advice and mentoring to companies into which markets they should select to scale into, with one of Katie's role responsibilities to ramp up exports for NSW. Investment NSW also has a department specialising in export assistance grants, an MVP team that focuses on the local ecosystem and helps companies get to the point of scaling and a tech precincts team that offers rental and subsidies among so much more.Ryan is the CEO and Founder of Cape, an expense management platform that will work with businesses to spend smarter, reduce wasteful spending and grow their business. Cape are currently in the closed beta phase of their timeline, having onboarded their first 34 customers and are about to move into the open beta phase with a public launch to happen at the end of the year. Cape currently employ a team of 25 predominantly across Sydney and other parts of Australia and around in the UK. They recently raised $30mil with a focus on a warehouse facility in Sydney - where the physical cards will be created - and an equity component - essentially where credit is coming from.Ian dives into Katie and Ryan's chance meeting, how Katie has assisted Ryan with the success of Cape and also covers:Investment NSW's areas of focus which include Fintech, Cyber, Blockchain, Smart Cities, GreenTech, EdTech, AdTech, HealthTechDifferences between the tech ecosystems in Australia and the UKHuman and financial capitalThe importance of Australian startups thinking global from the get goScottish tiesQuickfire Round Book: Katie - Sally Rooney, Normal People | Ryan - Homer's IliadPodcast: Katie - Bankless, 11FS | Ryan - Lex FreemanNews Source: Katie - Reddit, Financial Times | Ryan - AFR, The Australian, The Economist, National GeographicApp: Katie - Spotify | Ryan - HeadspaceTech CEO: Katie - Sarah Biller | Ryan - Mike Cannon-BrookesProductivity Tool: Katie - Monday | Ryan - TrelloTV Show: Katie - Toast of Tinseltown, Obi-Wan KenobiRecent Movie: Ryan - Top GunTed Talk Topic: Katie - Music on the brain and mental health | Ryan - Marine conservation

Just last month (June) Innovation Bay spent 3 days and 3 nights in Noosa, Queensland with over 100 of the country's leading VCs for our VC community Aurora's annual cornerstone event, Venture Downunder (VDU). After a learning day full to the brim with panels, discussions, keynotes and serendipitous conversations, we took the opportunity to sit down with three of the most illustrious and active VCs in the ecosystem right now to take a snapshot in time of the current state of affairs of our industry and to catch their thoughts, concerns and what they're most excited about right now.Joining Ian, around a small bar table in a quiet backroom, were:Karen Chan, Portfolio Manager, Perennial PartnersJohn Henderson, General Partner, Airtree VenturesStew Glynn, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, TEN13During VDU, Macquarie's Head of Wealth Management Investment Strategy, Jason Todd, provided attendees with an incredibly insightful, if not at times concerning, view into the current state of play. We took the podcast group's pulse on the keynote and how they see macroeconomics affecting the industry with Karen, John and Stew all wary but nevertheless optimistic about the industry at large. There was agreement that while there will be compressions throughout the market, innovation is here to stay, deals are still happening and the very best founders will continue to raise at impressive prices. We were reminded that in the last downturn companies like Slack, WhatsApp, and Groupon were born, and that this vintage could very well yield similar strong returns with the most resilient of companies pushing through.As VDU is an event to bring the Innovation Bay VC community together, the panel discusses the importance of community. Being brought together in a structured and unstructured way to learn from one another or chat “around the watercooler” is vital in this market. VCs are collaborative by nature but there is always an element of natural competition underlying. We also cover what everyone is most optimistic about - from Web3 to strong deal flow to investing in emerging markets like Africa, Latin America and Indonesia.We also had a chance for a couple of Quickfire Recommendations:Karen - Podcast: All-In PodcastJohn - Podcast: Invest Like The Best - Jeremy Grantham EpisodeStew - Podcast: 20VC - Quick Commerce EpisodeIan - Book: Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker

Dr Julio Ribeiro is the Founder and CEO of Inventia Life Science, a deeptech, biotechnology company. Inventia build instruments for the 3D printing of biomaterials (literal living human cells) to print 3D structures or models of tumors with an ultimate aim to accelerate the drug discovery process and speed up medical research.The impact Julio and Inventia are looking to have is life-changing. To date, the pharmaceuticals industry has spent billions of dollars in research. According to Julio, 90% of drug trials fail. Inventia's technology reduces the pipeline of unsuccessful drugs, speeding up the process of getting those that do work onto the market.Inventia have to date raised $35million with the likes of Blackbird, Skipp Capital, Main Sequence and angels as investors. Most of the Big Pharma companies already utilise the technology, with labs all across the world and a global waitlist eager to use the technology. The current funds and next few years will see Inventia exploring the market and scaling up, increasing their production facilities, and expanding their sales force in US and Europe and team globally.Quickfire Round Book: Carl Yeung - Memories, Dreams and ReflectionsPodcast: The EconomistNews Source: YouTube, French 24 ChannelTech CEO: Jamsetji TataProductivity Tool: Confluence, JiraApp: WhatsApp, YouTubeTV Show: Life is a movie - doesn't watch TV or moviesTed Talk Topic: What we can do to improve medical research with the right balance between regulations and safety.Inventia Life Science are on the lookout for talent in the fields of biology, software engineering and always welcome interns. Head to https://inventia.life/ for more information.

IT'S OUR BIRTHDAY! Today, Innovation Bay's Open The Pod Bay Doors turns 5! To celebrate, we've taken it way back to our very first guest. Daniel Petre is the Godfather of the ecosystem and has arguably been around longer and had more success than anyone else in the sector. In 2014, Daniel founded Airtree alongside Craig Blair but a year ago, made the move out of VC and into the philanthropy space.Daniel felt the need to step away from VC for a number of reasons - to make way for the next generation to shine, the business model of VC started to lose it's shine for where he wanted to focus his energies, and he became a grandfather - a milestone that has seen him appreciate so clearly how short life is.His move into philanthropy was initially driven by his time working with Bill Gates in the US whose mother's greatest value has resonated with Daniel over the years - that if you've been fortunate in life, it's your responsibility to give back, not your choice. Inspired, Daniel has founded StartupGiving - a concierge of sorts with a goal to inspire founders and tech execs (with upwards of $20m net wealth) to start up their own charitable foundations - to give back.During their chat on this very special anniversary podcast, Ian and Daniel cover:The transformation of the ecosystem since 2016 (including the positive impact both the ESVCLP Legislation and Canva have had on the industry at large)The most important sectors in the industry - Web3, AI, computer vision, the metaverse (though he's not hugely excited about it), drug discovery and creation using AIHow Australia needs to dramatically increase research fundingThat there is no reason we shouldn't be a renewable superpower, and that we shouldn't close minds to small scale nuclear, andDaniel lends some incredible insight into current market conditionsQuickfire Round:Book: 'Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World' by Anand GiridharadasPodcast: Open The Pod Bay Doors, Sam Harris' ‘Making Sense'News Source: The EconomistTech CEO: Impact over last 5 years - Elon Musk, Melanie Perkins (Canva) - will go down as one of the greatest tech CEOs of our timeTV Show: The Liar, (new version of) The Staircase, Ozark

Darren Miller is the CEO of Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) - whose purpose it is to support the transition to net zero emissions by accelerating the pace of pre-commercial innovation.Darren is deeply committed to net zero and improving our chances on planet earth. He believes we have all the technologies we need between now and 2030 - from solar, wind, lithium batteries, electric vehicles, rooftop solar, and household energy management - and if we can deploy these things at scale quickly in the economy, we'll overshoot what we need to do by 2030 in order to reach net zero.ARENA does this by utilising federal funding to invest and support renewable energy startups and projects for the Australian economy. ARENA and Innovation Bay have teamed up for the third year running for the ARENA Renewable Energy Founder Forum on 28 July. The event showcases Australia's most exciting early stage renewable technology startups and pairs them with Australia's leading venture capitalists and angel investors - to supercharge their growth through funding, connections, and advice.Founders in the renewable space are encouraged to pitch to apply (closing 31 May). Applicants will be considered from a broad scope including technology, software digitisation, and consumer behaviour - essentially anyone working on the transition. He states that trillions of dollars needs to be invested in this space and that we need the best people working on the problem. If this sounds like you, jump on and apply to pitch here https://bit.ly/ARENAapps.Mini Quickfire RoundBook: The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley RobinsonPodcast: Rewired (ARENA podcast)App: Snap Send SolveFounder: Michael LiebreichTV Show: InsidersConnect with Darren Miller:https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenhmillerhttps://twitter.com/darrenhmiller

Anthony Zaccaria is the Co-Founder of Linktree which is essentially a category creator for link in bio tools and a one-stop place to house entire online link ecosystems. In just 6 years, Linktree has gathered a massive global following with a user base of 24 million people - or the population of Australia (!!) - generating 1.2 billion Linktree visits per month. Earlier this year, Linktree reached unicorn status, with a $1.3 billion USD valuation following a $110 million USD raise.Anthony co-founded Linktree with his brother Alex Zacarria and mutual mate Nick Humphries in 2016. The company now employs 265 people across 12 countries and is growing rapidly. The model for Linktree is simple - in fact the prototype was built in 6 hours - the idea originating from their marketing business Bolster. While running marketing campaigns they thought there had to be a better way to consolidate all client links (think website, social media, Spotify etc) in one place. Linktree has since become a website replacement for many people, its simplicity solving the one link in bio issue of Instagram. It has been adopted by over 200 user groups including creators, influencers, musicians, small businesses, global brands, charities and everything in between.With a rebrand imminent, Linktree's growth across the next 12 months will see the launch of3 new product rollouts that will amplify integrations and partnerships and make the relationships between user and visitor closer. Anthony, who is also the father of 2 year old twins hasn't stopped there. Alongside 6 others, he has recently launched investment syndicate Side Stage Ventures. The syndicate focuses on the early stage backing of companies at the intersection of tech, creativity and culture - companies that can have an impact on behaviour, a paradigm shift or step change in something. Their initial investments have seen them back Heaps Normal, Mr Yum, Delegate Connect, Tixel, QSIC and Alts.Anthony's Quickfire Round:Book: What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben HorowitzPodcast: Song ExploderNews Source: News app on phoneTech CEO: Stewart Butterfield (Slack)App: Sonos, beta version of Linktree, baby monitoring appProductivity Tool: Notion, SlackTV Show: EuphoriaTed Talk Topic: How managing artists translates into building a businessGet in touch with Anthonyhttps://linktr.ee/anzac

Dale Brett is the Co-Founder & CEO at Fl0 - a low code platform for software engineers. Founded just a year ago (in 2021), Fl0 raised $11.5 million in its seed round with funding from the likes of Blackbird, Skip Capital and Jelix. Fl0's vision is to empower software developers and engineers to be 20 times faster and more efficient.Prior to Fl0, Dale founded payment startup, Tapify, which, after only 12 months, received acquisition offers too good to refuse. As a part of Tapify's acquisition, they were able to found Willow, a digital twin company that integrates real assets like stadiums and rail networks, analysing their data to help them optimise and run more efficiently. Dale has exited in the running of the business but continues to sit on the board for Willow.Fl0 is a remote first company, employing 22 staff across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Colorado, Vancouver and Europe. The company has been named “Canva for software engineers”. Its low code platform offers building blocks and tools to empower engineers and developers to do their best word. Even with a small team, a startup or tech can go from an idea to live in no time with scalable infrastructure to support. With the LA superbowl stadium as one of their customers, Fl0's market is vast with a key objective for the platform to engage a global stage. They want every team who are thinking about building a product to think about building it on Fl0.A jiu jitsu novice, gaming tragic and ambitious chess master, Dale and Ian cover a range of topics in this great episode.Quickfire RoundBook: Turn The Ship AroundPodcast: Flow StateNews Source: curated RSS feed - TechCrunch, blogs etcTech CEO: Elon MuskApp: Safari - because of Li ChessProductivity Tool: MotionTV Show: WeCrashed (the story of WeWork)Ted Talk Topic: Alternative teas to coffee for the mind - ie Lions Mane, Cacao Tea, ReishiGet in touch with Dale:www.fl0.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalebrett/

Laura is the CEO and Founder of SafeStack Academy, a community-centric online education platform on a mission to give software developers, analysts and architects all of the skills they need to build secure internet software.Laura entered the workforce at 16 after telling quite a few lies to become an apprentice software developer for EDS. She put herself through her qualifications to get to university and night school and then went back to do her degree in her early 20s. During 2005/2006 she took a year out to work for Cern in Geneva before taking up a post for British Intelligence. After a number of years working in counterterrorism and counter online harm, Laura took a trip to NZ for 6 weeks and never left - 11 years later, she holds a passport and has 2 small kiwi children.Fascinated with how fast software was being built, Laura found a niche seeing that security wasn't adapting to this speed. With a newborn in tow, she took a leap and after winning a couple of high growth NZ clients, began her startup at the same time co-authoring a book - Agile Application Security.SafeStack began as a consultancy, embedded with software development teams but quickly moved towards being a training company. When COVID hit they lost 94% of revenue overnight. The pandemic was the catalyst to take SafeStack from a service business to a software business. The company breeds diversity; its superpower as Laura admits. 70% of SafeStack Academy's team and 100% of the board identify as female. They see diversity as a strength, hiring from different backgrounds, countries of origin, languages, religions, sexuality and gender. Its youngest employee is 23 and oldest is 59. Laura lives by the philosophy that every day is a school day and that you should share your failures.Quickfire Round:Book: Atomic Habits by James Clear / How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men's FeelingsPodcast: Risky BizNews Source: more international news than local - takes a little bit from here and thereTech CEO: HashiCorp - Aaron BadgerApp: New York Times Puzzle App, Freeflow - things that can turn off brainProductivity Tool: Miro, AsanaTV Show: fantasy with a good story that takes you on an adventure and outside your worldTed Talk: Restoring vintage sewing machines / Teach everyone to be a little less well behaved - breaking the rules helps you defend.

Allegra Spender, currently running as an independent candidate for the Senate seat of Wentworth in Sydney's east, is daughter to Italian immigrant parents - her father a barrister, politician and diplomat, her mother a renowned Australian fashion designer, the late Carla Zampatti.Allegra was Head Girl at Ascham School graduating with a HR score of 99.95 and went on to study Economics at the University of Cambridge in England. Her first job out of uni was as a consultant with McKinsey which she reflects was a great place to learn the trade of consulting and to think about business strategically, but Allegra wanted to use these tools for good and apply them to the social sector. Her ambition saw her work for the UK Treasury, in Kenya for a not-for-profit and as part of a huge teaching hospital.Upon returning to Australia in 2007, “the time was right” and Allegra was named Managing Director of Carla Zampatti, where she was able to apply her learned skills to this point back into the family business. Allegra successfully ran the business for 8 years, through the GFC and through it's transformation to online. While Allegra stepped down as MD 5 years ago, she remains on the board of Carla Zampatti - one of Australia's most successful fashion brands and the only Australian, family-led business that is transforming from one generation to another.Before her move into politics, Allegra was Chair of Sydney Renewable Power Company - an impact investment company that put 500kW of solar power on the roof of the Sydney Convention Centre - and the CEO of Australian Business Community Network which works with 47 leading businesses including Microsoft, Lend Lease and Optus, partnering them with approximately 200 low socio-economic schools matching student to real world mentors educating them on what's possible and within their grasp.Allegra is deeply passionate about business, education, community and the environment - “a better climate for Wentworth” is her key policy. She's an advocate for the tech and startup ecosystem, is a member of YPO and sees a strong tie and limitless opportunities between climate and tech - hoping to see Australia standing at the forefront of technology around climate.She is open, honest and transparent. Tune in to hear more!Quickfire RoundBook: Prepared: What Kids Need For A Fulfilled Life by Dianne TavennerPodcast: Harvard Business Review Podcast (HBR), Gund Institute, The Brookings Cafeteria, Education BookcastNews Source: Need to read things whether you agree with them or not, all online papers, The EconomistApp: Smiling MindsTech CEO: Scott Farquhar, AtlassianProductivity Tool: Trello, TeamsTV Show: The GameTed Talk: How business could be used in education to help kids to be ready for the world of work - make learning real.Connect with Allegra SpenderWebsite - https://www.allegraspender.com.au/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/allegra-spenderTwitter - https://twitter.com/spenderallegra

For the past 14 years, Tech23 has showcased and amplified the emerging deeptech talent coming out of Australia that have the potential to create new industries and smarter solutions. Tech23 is a national forum whereby 23 early stage companies are chosen to tell their story and speak about their innovation on stage to an audience of industry leaders, investors, potential enterprise customers and other up and coming founders.At the 2021 badge in November last year, Innovation Bay attended and flagged five of our favourites. In episode 133 of Open The Pod Bay Doors, we have invited these five companies to come onto the podcasts to tell us a bit about their business, their technology and what their future plans look like.The episode begins with Rachel Slattery, the mastermind behind Tech23, who explains a little about the forum's history and purpose. We then go on to meet the incredible humans behind our chosen five companies from last year's event.Josh Ismin is Co-Founder & CEO of Psylo - a psychedelic biotech business focusing on Psychedelic-inspired medicine to treat mental illness.Paula Burton is Co-Founder of Mass Dynamics - a company that has been helping global life scientists transform mass spectrometry data to knowledge since 2019 by integrating modern practices in business, software engineering, computational biology, machine intelligence, biostatics, product design and analytical chemistry.Warren McKenzie is the Managing Director and Ellen Gorissen is GM Commercial of HB11 - a company that aims to create a new source of clean, safe and reliable energy using laser technology to fuse Hydrogen and Boron-11.Steven Vassiloudis is the CEO and Founder of Novalith - a company that uses carbon dioxide to simply lithium chemicals refining for an electric era.Nancy Schellhorn is CEO and Founder of RapidAIM - a precision pest management tool for farmers to accurately pinpoint the location of pests in real time.Learn more & connect with our guests:Rachel Slattery - Tech23https://tech23.com.au/2021/https://au.linkedin.com/in/rachel-slattery-11209017?trk=public_post_share-update_actor-textJoshua Ismin - Psylohttps://psylo.bio/https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-ismin/Paula Burton - Mass Dynamicshttps://www.massdynamics.com/https://au.linkedin.com/in/paulaburtonngovWarren McKenzie & Ellen Gorissen - HB11https://hb11.energy/https://www.linkedin.com/in/warren-mckenzie-03b84614/https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellengorissen/Steven Vassiloudis - Novalithhttps://www.novalith.com.au/https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenvassiloudis/?originalSubdomain=auNancy Schellhorn - RapidAIMhttps://rapidaim.io/https://au.linkedin.com/in/nancy-schel

Duncan Anderson, along with his two friends Jeremy Cox and Ben Sze, is the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of EdTech company Edrolo. After some time working at Google, Duncan and his two business partners met while working at Goulburn and Sacs some 10 years ago. The original idea for Edrolo was as a two-sided marketplace - tutors on one side and students on the other - but quickly evolved into it's earliest incarnation as somewhat of a YouTube for learning for VCE students.Fast forward to now, Edrolo employs approximately 200 staff, is in 1200 schools and services around 30,000 students across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland and is backed by some of Australia's biggest VC's such as Airtree and Blackbird. It is a fully vertically integrated company - meaning they create all their own content, do all tech stack, sales and customer support in house.Duncan is driven by trying to make the world a better place through education. A self-confessed learning machine, Duncan's mind ticks at a million miles an hour, soaking up everything in his path and seeing every challenge as an opportunity to learn. He subscribes to 300 podcasts and listens to them at 6 x speed, hasn't missed a gym session in he can't remember how long and is utterly obsessed with writing, without fail penning a blog every single Sunday over here at Cloud Streaks.Duncan and Ian cover a tonne including:- If you have a good product and can explain it well you're setting yourself up for success.- How Duncan came to imbibe that the biggest risk is taking no risk.- If you want to help a mind grow you need time with that mind.- Somewhere between 70-90% of class time is influenced heavily by the textbook.- Habits are accumulated momentum.- Everything you do should be the best thing you've ever done.- You don't learn anything from anyone you agree with.Quickfire Recommendations:- Book: Principles by Ray Delio- Podcast: New York Times The Daily- News Source: A diverse diet is the most important thing - not any single one news source. TechMe for tech, Ben Shapiro for politics, New - York Times, The Guardian, Sky News in Australia- Productivity Tool: Google Sheets for tracking time or timesheeting.- Favourite TV Show: The West Wing (all time), Brooklyn 99- Favourite App: Gmail, Owltail- Favourite Tech CEO: Elon Musk- Ted Talk topic: The power of writing as a way to improve metacognition and problem solving skillsFollow Duncan's blog: https://www.cloudstreaks.comContact: duncan@cloudstreaks.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncan-anderson-252b2b20/

Ben Thompson is the Founder and CEO of Employment Hero. The company is Australia's newest unicorn, recently announcing a funding round of $181 million, valuing the firm at $1.25 billion. Ben grew up in Frenchs Forrest in Sydney and finished his schooling in Armidale, rural NSW. After finishing law and economics at uni, Ben took up a number of tenures in Australia including with Sydney Futures Exchange and Perpetual before jumping on a flight to London where he was employed by Interactive Investor International and ran theirs and lastminute.com's IPO and then by UK's largest property portal, Right Move. After a number of years in London working and playing hard in the excitement of the dot-com boom, Ben and his (now) wife married and moved back to Sydney to raise their family. Simultaneously, Ben decided he never wanted to work for anyone again and so started his own business. Employment Hero currently services 80,000 SME customers, managing 750,000 thousand employees. With 52% of the world's GDP spent on wages within SME's, Employment Hero's audience is huge and growing as they work on big plans to expand.

Rebecca Schot-Guppy is the Director of Investment Leverage and Portfolio Management at IAG Firemark Ventures. Previously, Rebecca was the CEO of FinTech Australia, where she made a significant impact on the ecosystem. Prior to Fintech Australia, she worked as a Community Manager at Stone & Chalk. Rebecca found her way into the world of venture through her background in law and biomed. She is a passionate and knowledgeable member of the startup ecosystem with many insights to share.Ian & Rebecca discuss…- Rebecca's path into the startup world- Why Rebecca chose to work on the venture side of the startup ecosystem- Rebecca's role and impact at FinTech Australia- Australia as a Fintech powerhouse- IAG Firemark Venture's thematic investments- The growth of the the VC sector in Australia- The Firemark Collective and its teams..and more!Quickfire Recommendations- Book: Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Sami Tamimi and Yotam Ottolenghi- Podcast: 7am Podcast- News Source: AFR & The Guardian- App: Superhero- Productivity Tool: Asana- Favourite Tech CEO: Katherine McConnell - Brighte- Favourite TV show: Sports- Ted Talk Topic: Female leadership

Ian sits down with Hugo Bieber, Partner at Think & Grow, and Jacqui Tucker, Head of Employment, Taxes & Reward, Enterprise, KPMG, to discuss the 2021-2022 Australian Startup Salary Guide by Think & Grow and KPMG High Growth Ventures. Supported by Tech Council of Australia, the guide was produced with 20 leading VCs, surveying over 3,000 positions across 140 companies and is designed for startups looking to recruit and retain the best talent in the ecosystem. The panel discusses a variety of topics around recruiting, attracting, paying, rewarding, and motivating talent.Ian and panel discuss the guide in detail, including…The need for the salary benchmarking guide within the startup ecosystemDifference in salary ranges between early stage startups and later stage startupsThe importance of transparency within the marketHow ESOPs can be used for attraction and retentionThe great resignation and what it means for Australian companiesThe trend toward flexible work arrangements...and more!Download the 2021-2022 Australian Startup Salary Guide here: Salary Guide (thinkandgrowinc.com)For more information on KPMG High Growth Ventures, check out their website: https://www.highgrowthventures.com.au/