Open The Pod Bay Doors

Stephen Thompson is a founding partner and managing director of Brandon Capital Partners, the largest life science healthcare fund in Australasia. Brandon Capital raised their first fund in 2007 with the mission of commercializing Australian medical research. Stephen and his co-founder noticed that Australia was home to loads of world-class medical research but didn't have the weight of local capital to bring projects through to market, so they stepped in in to provide the funding and expertise to get ideas out of the lab and into the global market.In this episode, Ian speaks with Stephen about...Shifting from technical work in product development and immunology research to investingThe story of how Brandon Capital came to beAn overview of the Brandon Capital portfolioThe incubation model the firm uses to identify and commercialise researchThe process of building a highly trained teamSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello and welcome to the 8th edition of the OTPBD News Special, our fortnightly podcast analysing the news that matters to Australian and Kiwi startups.Meet this week's panel:VC: Alan Jones, M8 VenturesFounder: Kath Hamilton, Loop+Ecosystem: Annie Parker, MicrosoftTopics we discuss:This week we cover the latest funding news and discuss hot topics like the impact of the Victorian COVID-19 outbreak on the startup sector, India and potentially the US banning Tik Tok, venture reports on funding throughout the pandemic, and Tesla's surge in valuation. We also talk about Who Gives a Crap's $6M donation to charity in the wake of TP panic-buying, the government's investment in cybersecurity, toxic workplace culture, and the classification of Huawei and ZTE as "National security threats" by the US.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're joined this week by Vuki Vujasinovic, Founder & CEO of global PR and communications agency Sling & Stone. The agency has quite the rockstar client roster; some current clients in the US, AU and NZ include Twitter, Uber, Xero, Hubspot, CultureAmp, Slack, Stripe, CSIRO, Domain...the list goes on. The agency launched in 2010 and exclusively works with disrupters, challengers, and entrepreneurs, helping tell their story to the world with comms campaigns that blend tech and creativity.In this chat with Ian, Vuki talks about...Launching the agency at the age of 23The process of slowly growing the business over the past 10 yearsEncouraging entrepreneurial instincts within his teamThe process of growing with startup clientsHow sometimes the job requires him to be like a VC when selecting early stage clientsAdvice for companies on how to alter communications in a crisis like COVID-19See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the 7th edition of the OTPBD News Special! It’s our fortnightly podcast analysing news that matters for Australian and Kiwi startups.Meet this week's panel:VC: Sarah Nolet, Tenacious Ventures & AgThenticFounder: Adam Theobald, OrdermentumEcosystem: Paul Smith, AFRTopics we discuss:We cover funding news, the acquisition of self-driving startup ZOOX by Amazon, the federal government's big investment in cyber security, Atlassian's announcement of brand new headquarters at the Sydney Innovation and Technology Precinct, Canva's latest $8.6 billion valuation, the future of coworking, and Sydney's dropping in the startup ecosystem ranking.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sam Chandler is the Founder and CEO of Nitro, a software company developing commercial software used to create, edit, sign, and secure Portable Document Format files and digital documents. Nitro is Australian-founded and is now listed on the ASX and headquartered in downtown San Francisco, with offices in Melbourne, Australia; Dublin, Ireland; and London, England.Sam grew up in Tasmania and started his first business at the age of 16. He started Nitro back in 2005 with a seed round of $1M and a $5M valuation after a few years of bootstrapping. The company went on to complete a Series A with Starfish Ventures and a Series B/C with Battery Ventures in San Francisco. Nitro launched in the US in 2008. The company has grown significantly in the past decade; Nitro has nearly 2 million licensed users in 144 countries and over 10,500 business customers, including over 65% of the Fortune 500 and two of the Fortune 10.In this episode, Sam talks aboutThe journey of building and growing Nitro form the ground upAdaptation

Welcome to the 6th edition of the OTPBD News Special. It’s our fortnightly podcast that anaylses the news that matters for the Australian and Kiwi startup ecosystem.Meet this week's panel:VC: Dean Dorrell, Carthona CapitalFounder: Gemma Lloyd, Work180Ecosystem: Mark Pesce, This Week In StartupsTopics we discuss:We cover the latest funding news and discuss the Black Lives Matter movement and how tech companies have responded, such as IBM's decision to stop selling facial recognition software to police. We also discuss startup job losses and revenue hits as reported by VC firms, what type of help startups will need post-Job Keeper, and the recent rapid progress of telehealth due to COVID.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leigh Jasper is the co-founder and CEO of Aconex, the world's most widely used cloud collaboration platform for construction, engineering and infrastructure projects. Aconex was acquired by Oracle in 2018 for $1.6B. Leigh started the business back in 2000 with school friend Rob Philpot, after working at McKinsey & Company where he consulted for clients in the financial services, media and information technology sectors. The duo founded Aconex with the view of transforming the construction industry and raised a $1.6M seed round pre-product. Leigh is now an active angel investor with over 20 investments in tech startups.In this episode, Leigh discusses:-Managing the co-founder relationship-The value of an executive coach-Advice for businesses managing through COVID-19, drawing from his dot-com bubble and GFC experiences-The journey of building and growing Aconex-Tried and tested fundraising lessons for foundersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fred Schebesta is a serial entrepreneur, best known for co-founding finder.com, one of the world’s leading comparison websites. Before launching Finder, he started Freestyle Media, a successful digital marketing agency, while at university. In 2007, Freestyle was sold to a public company and the funds were used to start Finder.com. Fred, with his co-founder Frank Restuccia, have grown Finder organically without funding to $100M+ revenue, 1,000+ products on the platform, 83 countries, and 360 employees around the world.In this episode, Fred discusses:-His entrepreneurial journey from Freestyle Media to Finder-Observations and predictions for how life and business will change post-COVID-How Finder is constantly reinventing itself to stay alive-His advice for managing the co-founder relationshipSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the fifth edition of OTPBD News Special, our fortnightly podcast looking at the stories behind the headlines of the news that matters for the Australian and Kiwi startup ecosystem.Today, our panel features...VC: Elicia McDonald, Principal at AirTree VenturesFounder: Joe Forbes, Co-Founder of BiarriEcosystem: Stephanie Palmer-Derrien, Startups and Technology Editor at SmartCompanyTopics discussed include the latest funding news, Amazon's acquisition of Zoox, the SpaceX launch, the drop in startup valuations, and the boom in quantum computing. Listen in for thoughtful commentary on relevant startup and technology headlines by a fantastic panel.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dan Phillips has spent most of his career building up Macquarie Capital's Venture Capital Group. Somewhat of a well-kept secret in the Australian startup ecosystem, in the past 25 years the Venture Capital Group has done 36 deals and deployed almost $600 million dollars of capital into some fantastic companies. The group has 11 companies currently in the portfolio.In this pod interview, Ian and Dan discuss:-The implications of COVID for Australian startups-Some success stories from the past 25 years-How their hands-on investing model works-The sectors and geographies the group focuses on-The strategies that lead to a 90%+ success rate with investmentsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello and welcome to the fourth edition of the OTPBD News Special. It’s our fortnightly podcast looking at the stories behind the headlines of the news that matters for the Australian and Kiwi startup ecosystem.Meet this week's panel:VC: Mike Dovey, Firemark VenturesFounder: Justin Webb, AgriWebbEcosystem: Imogen Baxter, Square Peg CapitalTopics we discuss:We discuss the flurry of new investments these past few weeks including; Doctor Anywhere, Judo Bank Qwilr, The Yield, and Verteva. We also cover Nura's long awaited Loops hitting the market, Atlassian acquisition of Halp, the UK's first week of zero coal power, and Twitter's announcement that employees can work from home forever.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeremy Liew was named by the Sydney Morning Herald as Silicon Valley’s “Most powerful Aussie”. One look at his track record, and it's no surprise why. Hailing from Perth, Jeremy is a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. After spending the ‘90s and early 2000s working for web pioneers such as Netscape, AOL, CitySearch, and Interactive Corp, Jeremy joined Lightspeed in 2006 to help the firm, which traditionally was B2B-focused, expand to the consumer. He was the first VC to invest in Snapchat and has recently invested in direct-to-consumer shoe startup Rothy's, consumer goods maker The Honest Company and online lending platform Affirm.In this episode Jeremy...-Talks us through how his career led him to VC in Silicon Valley-Tells the story behind investing in Snap-Discusses best practices for choosing board members-Explains his criteria for investing in consumer tech-Shares tips for founders looking for the right venture partner matchSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the third episode of the OTPBD News Special. It’s a fortnightly podcast looking at the stories behind the headlines of the news that matters for the Australian and Kiwi startup ecosystem.Meet this week's panel:VC: Daniel Petre, AirTree VenturesFounder: Antony Ceravolo, SineEcosystem: Rachael Neumann, AWSTopics we discuss:Will superannuation funds continue to back Aussies VCs, the launch of the Governments COVIDSafe app and do we trust them with our data, how Elon Musk wiped $14bn of Tesla's stock with one tweet, and why founders like Jeff Bezos and RedBubble's Martin Hoskings stepping back in to take the reins in a crisis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jaime Bott is a partner at Sequoia Capital, managing their Talent Advisory function. She leads a talent team of 14 who help Sequoia's portfolio companies hire amazing talent, assemble a recruiting function, and build a board. Since Jaime started at Sequoia in 2010, talent evolved into an essential function for VC firms. 10 years ago there were less than 5 people in the Bay Area working for venture firms in a talent function; now there are at least 280 venture talent partners around the world.In this episode, Jaime shares her expansive startup talent expertise, touching on important topics like:How to create and run functional boardsDriving diversity with recruitmentCommon recruitment mistakesHow to build an in-house recruitment functionTools, systems, and software for working in talentSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we speak with Michael Pryor, co-founder, CEO and current Head of Product for Trello at Atlassian. Trello was acquired by Atlassian in 2017 for $425M and stands as Atlassian's largest-ever acquisition. Trello is one of many products developed by Fog Creek Software, a company Michael co-founded with Joel Spolsky back in 2000. Michael's co-founder pitched Trello at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2007 with the lofty goal of attracting 100 million users. Now, 13 years later, over 50 million people are signed up for Trello and that goal doesn't seem so lofty anymore.In addition to the birth and growth of Trello, this episode also focuses on how to effectively work remotely. Two thirds of Trello's workforce is remote, so Michael shares his tested strategies for how to build, manage, and grow a remote workforce.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to episode two of the OTPBD News Special. It’s a fortnightly podcast looking at the stories behind the headlines of the news that matters for the Australian and Kiwi startup ecosystem.Meet this weeks panel:VC: Paul Naphtali, RampersandFounder: Rob Loewenthal, WhooshkaaEcosystem: Yolanda Redrup, AFRTopics we discuss:VC investment activity since Covid-19 hit, including latest Aussie startups to raise capital, Google and Apple join forces to fight coronavirus, the decline in podcasting listens and ad spending, and is this the end of WeWork and the SoftBank vision fund?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick Carter is one of Australia's leading energy experts; he is currently Senior Vice President of Energy Tech and Solutions at Macquarie in Australia. He joined Macquarie from Tesla, where he managed APAC business development for the Tesla energy software suite. Nick has a long career in the energy space and has also worked with electric vehicles at AGL Energy, environmental policy and strategy at Toyota, and engineering at General Motors.In this conversation with Nick, we talk about:-What's happening in energy markets-Major emerging trends in the energy sector-Virtual power plants-The role that startups and tech like AI will play in the future of energyIf you're a startup doing exciting things with alternative energy, apply to present at our upcoming Renewable Energy Founder Dinner with ARENA: http://bit.ly/RenewablesDinner.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to our first Innovation Bay News Special. It's a fortnightly podcast looking at the stories behind the headlines of the news that matters for the Australian and Kiwi startup ecosystem.Alister Coleman (Tempus Partners), Emma Lo Russo (Digivizer), Fleur Brown (TechSydney, Launch Group)Meet the Panel: Topics discussed include how are startups faring in these tough times, what is government doing to support the ecosystem, what are some companies (or trends) that are doing well. Plus a look at some of the news that you may have missed.We hope you enjoy it. Any feedback or suggestions please do let us know.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Phaedon chats with Luke Anear, founder and CEO of SafetyCulture. Luke founded SafetyCulture in his garage in Townsville back in 2004 and has gone on to scale the company globally, attract thousands of customers from a wide range of industries and complete millions of inspections with SafetyCulture's iAuditor app. The last time we interviewed Luke was October 2017. Since the last time we spoke:Luke has grown the team from around 140 people to just over 360.The customer base grew from 11,500 to 27,000 customersSafety Culture's market valuation has grown to $1BIn this conversation, we dive into many different aspects of scaling up a business including Luke's shifting responsibilities as CEO, maintaining culture throughout growth, building a board, establishing a recruitment function, the importance of having a coach, and making customer engagement a central focus. We know you'll enjoy hearing about this dynamic founder's journey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

February 2020 saw the launch of new venture-building entity X15 Ventures, part of the CBA group.Ian sat down with Toby Norton-Smith the new Managing Director of X15 Ventures to chat aboutlaunching the initiative and what this will look like in the future.Toby oversees the portfolio of ventures in development and in market. He’s been at CBA for 5years, pushing new innovations, partnerships and features in Digital, including the launch ofnew ventures like Beemit. Prior to this, Toby led a Fintech business in the wealth managementspace.X15 are looking for entrepreneurs, to present, receive funding and work in a derisk environment,to scale quicker; with support, guidance and access to the CBA customer base and distributionnetworks.Many of this new team have felt the pain of creating a company. Toby goes into what it was liketo be in the creation team for Beemit; spinning a technology team out of CBA core and how theywere set up off stack to get them away from everyday business and start building in a verydifferen