So they decided to take on the global ticketing industry and launch Humanitix.

Their second crazy big idea was to give away all the company’s profit.

They’ve succeeded on both fronts. Since Humanitix was founded in Sydney in 2016, it’s given away $21 million to charities and projects, including ethicist Peter Singer’s The Life you can Save. The Atlassian Foundation has helped the pair take on a cutthroat industry and thrive.

Humanitix now operates in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada and UK, and Hollywood superstar and kindred spirit Hugh Jackman recently signed on as head of impact.

Josh sits down with Simon on Startup 360 this week to talk about that adventure and what it means to have a not-for-profit social enterprise - something that doesn’t fit the normal philanthropic model.

It’s inspiring and uplifting story of how impact and happiness comes not from the money you make but what you do with it next.

And it turns out that Josh and Wolverine read the same books.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson, and supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Altitude AI founder Aimee Armstrong has, transforming the industry to help smaller businesses save time and money thanks to AI.

She's Simon and Majella's guest on episode 55 of Startup 360 this week.

Her story is as fascinating as her ambitions, having previously worked as a motorcycle mechanic and raced Yamaha 600cc motorbikes - so Aimee knows a bit about risk and moving fast too.

She also worked at some of Australia's top tech companies, including Siteminder, Go1 and Domain.

Using AI to redefine how the business world moves, she's companies lower their travel spend and making it easier for employees using an AI travel agent that can book entire trips via work tools such as Slack, and helping them deal with fiddly details such as company travel policies.

It's a great conversation with some travel tips from Aimee too.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo Media production, produced by Mikey Marren and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

In the middle of all those competing demands, they're also trying to build their careers and the pressures can make it all feel overwhelming.

The numbers are stark - caregiving is a second job taking an average 31 hours weekly, in a journey that typically lasts 5+ years. The cost to the caregiver is estimated at around $567,000. The burden falls overwhelmingly to women, who are 70% of caregivers.

That challenge is the problem Melissa Reader set out to solve with her AI startup, Vera.

Episode 54 of Startup 360 focuses on trying to be everything, for everyone, all at once in a heartfelt conversation between Melissa and host Simon Thomsen, spanning work culture, maintaining focus, grief, dementia, family conflict and even voluntary assisted dying - something in the news this week with the loss of broadcaster and musician James Valentine, aged just 64.

Melissa faced tragedy early in her career after losing her beloved husband Mauro, aged 40, to cancer, just after the birth of their third child. She cofounded Vera with Yaniv Bernstein. It's an agentic AI platform that listens to your specific situation and helps turn those pressures into action to help you navigate a range of situations, from your parents to your family dynamics and other constraints.

It's all about tracking what matters, connecting the dots between decisions and most importantly, using AI that never advises, but rather interprets and builds context for human experts to guide you.

Melissa also produces the excellent Club Sandwich podcast with Sarah Macdonald, talking to people on the frontline of caring. Make sure you have a listen after Startup 360.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo Media production, produced by Mikey Marren and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Never mind the education, even being told when to have lunch got on his goat. And Malachy likes to have control of his destiny.
"I like building cool things," he explained to Majella and Simon, having launched his first business - making and selling Valentine's Day card, when he was just 12.

Venty is an AI‑powered emotional support and journaling app that offers structured, conversational “venting” rather than clinical therapy, positioned as a low‑friction way to process day‑to‑day emotions in 5‑minute sessions.
It's not a replacement for professional mental health help, Malachy explains, but helps a range of people address the daily life anxiety they feel, using AI.

AI is a big theme in this week's show, with Majella and Simon discussing the attacks on the home of OpenAI's Sam Altman in the wake of a critic New Yorker article, and Anthropic's Mythos, a new model so dangerous it can only be offered to corporations, who no doubt will use it wisely for the benefit of all.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo Media production, produced by Mikey Marren and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Shruta Satam left nearly 20 years as a corporate consultant for the likes of Deloitte and PwC to become a startup cofounder last year.

Pustakh (the Sanskrit word for books), launched in Sydney in late 2025.
The idea came from a pattern Shruta watched repeat during her consulting career.

"The smartest, most well-read leaders I worked with would finish a book, feel inspired, cite it in the next meeting, and then change nothing. The gap between knowing and doing was everywhere, and no platform was built to fix it," she said.

Pustakh is an AI-based applied learning platform for non-fiction books. It's not just a summary of 80,000 words handed to you in bite-sized pieces. It gets to know the reader to create personalised action steps, based on their specific goals, challenges, and career stage, so two people reading the same book get two entirely different action plans

She's also building a habit tracker to close the loop by tracking whether Pustakh users are implementing what they read.

The conversation roams from her favourite books to the metaphysical and beyond - and of course the impact of how AI is reshaping the ways we learn.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo. Media production, produced by Mikey Marren and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Airtasker cofounder and CEO admits on episode 51 of Startup 360 that when a man wanted someone to fly from Australia to the US to pick up an engagement ring and bring it back, they deleted, thinking it was a hoax.
A slightly indignant, but also very anxious and hopeful future fiancé set the record straight and the Tasker who said yes is probably still a hit at dinner parties with that story.

Tim shares his story with Simon and Majella this week, from Airtasker's origin story to the lessons of leading for more than a decade, and going public on the ASX in 2021.

The entrepreneur and father has some honest insights on what it takes to build a category creating business and the perils and triumphs that entails, including learning what you can and can't say when you're the the typically open boss of a public company.

As Christians and Jews mark Easter and Passover, Simon and Majella also discuss the latest news: the big Meta court cases in the US over child safety and addiction; and locally, the eSafety commissioner's battle with the social media giants over the under 16s ban.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

It was so long ago that two new inventions, Twitter and the iPhone, played a central role in Jeremy's next two decades after his co-founder-to-be, Fred Schebesta, asked on the social media site whether to buy the new Apple product or Nokia N95. Jeremy already had an iPhone and shared his thoughts with Fred. That moment would transform what was then known as Credit Card Finder into one of the world's most successful comparison sites, last valued at $680 million.

He spent the next 16 years as COO driving Finder's global growth, before stepping down from an operational role in September last year. Jeremy remains an advisor to the Finder team, led by OG CEO and cofounder Frank Restuccia. 

"I'm driven by 3 things, connection, growth, and helping people. They're my 3 values," Jeremy told Startup 360's cohosts, Majella and Simon. He "accidentally ended up becoming an advisor to businesses" after he posted on LinkedIn and more than 170 companies reached out for help. He's now a startup coach and growth advisor. 

It's a long and fascinating episode covering the lessons of building Finder, Jeremy's ambitions for the future and where he things tech is going and what it takes to build a great business. Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick. 

This show is a SmartCo Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson. 

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read ⁠StartupDaily.net⁠ for all the ANZ tech news for free!

With WiseTech Global cutting 2,000 jobs, nearly a third of its global workforce, the Commonwealth Bank shedding 300 tech roles, Block reducing its workforce by 40% - 4,000 more jobs gone, the employment landscape is changing faster than ever before as artificial intelligence transforms how people work.

Dexter wrote about it for Startup Daily earlier this month, and founded Tier One People a decade ago, which helps fintechs find the people they need. He's now pondering his own role over the next decade.

Having grown up in Northern England in some tough times, Dexter's used to being blunt, but he also brings incredible insights into what it means to be a valuable employee in his conversation with Simon and Majella.

The pair also discuss the biggest news of the week - the fact that the "mystery weekend" Majella's partner, Brendan, flagged last weekend turned out to be an M&A deal. She's engaged! And has a very heavy ring finger to prove it. Congrats to the pair of them.

In other news this week, the release of the Denholm report into Australia's R&D policy is also unpacked, along with Advanced Navigation, has raised $158 million in Series C (although Simon initially shortchanged them $5m).

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free! 

The triple Olympic gold medallist and a former World Champion's had a bit of a career pivot since Paris. She's now CEO of the sustainable activewear brand after competing in four Olympics - her first as a teenager in 2012.

Bronte and cofounder Libby Babbett are now raising capital for Earthletica on the crowdfunding platform Birchal, having already generated more than $200,000 in revenue, selling out its first-year products.

She decided to tackle a key problem in the $600 billion activewear market - it's made from virgin plastics and harsh chemicals. Earthletica uses recycled and organic materials, avoids PFAS (the forever chemical) treatments, and is designed with end-of-life recycling in mind.

Startup 360 hosts Simon and Majella talk to Bronte about what a winning mindset and focus in sport brings to founder life, overcoming setbacks and discussing a subject close to her heart, creating a winning team culture.

Bronte's delved deep into it, having dealt with the worst and helped create one of the best cultures in Australia's Olympic swimming team, and what she has to say about the science is fascinating.

It's an inspiring conversation with a sporting great, now doing amazing things on the founder field.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Chris recently announced he was stepping down as CEO after three years, and 11 with the organisation since it began in Sydney.

It's not so much an exit interview as a rumination on what he's learnt about what it takes to be a great founder and also leader. Chris took the top job at a time when the not-for-profit's finances were in a perilous state, with losses in the millions, and has returned the innovation hub that's home to more than 500 startups and scaleups in three capital cities to financial stability in an $9 million turnaround.

Simon and Majella also talk to Chris about what he learnt from his first CEO role, the support he gathered around him to succeed, and when it comes to holding yourself accountable, how the father of two also does that for family while in a high-pressure job.

Chris also talks about the role he plays as regimental sergeant major to hundreds of founders at Stone & Chalk, and knowing when to step in to help and advise someone who might be struggling with "the 57 things you've gotta deal with today to keep your business alive".

Episode 47 of Startup 360 is an open and honest conversation about staying the course and knowing that leadership is a marathon and not a sprint.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Simon and Majella also cover Growth Summit in Melbourne, where Aconex cofounder Leigh Jasper offered advice on staying the course in business, and VCs explained what "you're too early" means.

The pair also crack open a can of Australian Coffee Culture's Australian-grown coffee. Cofounder Shreya Gupta was a guest on the show in November, and Majella had an update on Dome - founders Sophie Greiner and Bella Filacuridi were guests in August - with the podcasting community engagement startup launching with its first podcast, all about tackling the juggle between work and raising a family.

They also discuss Uber after Simon made a post about surge pricing on LinkedIn that's had more than 60,000 impressions in just 48 hours. What's your take - just the free market working or a price gouge that's outside the acceptable boundaries of business?

This show is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Karlie wrote a book about it - Don’t Lead like a Jerk - and Simon and Majella talk to her about the ups and downs of being the boss, confessing the jerk bit can happen to anyone - what you do next is what matters.
Karlie reminds us that first and foremost, we're not machines, we're humans and that means there are good days and bad ones. It's a fascinating dive into what it means to lead and hang around to the end, when she reveals the simple trick that transformed one CEO's life, both at work and home.

The news Simon and Majella discuss this week includes digital twins platform Neara raising $90 million to become Australia's newest unicorn, Startmate's plan to back social enterprise startups to create generational businesses that make the community better, and Deel's $21 million global Seed-stage startup comp, The Pitch.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay - anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

·       The sudden collapse of parcel delivery platform Sendle

·       The end of SXSW Sydney

·       Airwallex calling in lawyers to ask media to take down critical stories

Our guest for episode 42 is Maddi Ingham, cofounder of GreenPay, a social enterprise payment processor that donates 50% of its profits to biodiversity and conservation.

Maddi started her career in management consulting at BCG, working with Australia’s largest companies to solve their most pressing problems. She admits she likes chaos and the adrenaline rush of dealing with things when they go wrong.
She was also Chief of Staff at Verve Super, supporting the launch of their investment product, and leading Verve’s sale to Future Group, and talks about the role and how it’s the perfect training ground for life as a founder.
Startup 360 is more founder fun than founder mode. It’s all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.
This show is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson. This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay - anyone, anywhere.
Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Now he loves it, but the former Sydneysider is back "home" for Christmas and in his shorts, to share his experiences on the final Startup 360 episode for 2025.

Jim, who coaches an AFL team in Orange County, not far from Disneyland, has some strong thoughts on the Australian mindset and how to hustle.
"We've only got really one metric and that is at the end of the fourth quarter, we've got more points on the board than our opposition," he said.

"So I treat every single startup as if it's three-quarter time with five goals, two, down, and we need to do something in the next 20 minutes to turn this game around so that we can win it.

He also believes tall poppy syndrome is a thing in Australia and tells cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell it's holding us back, alongside the "report economy" endless reports, and no action.

"We gaze inward, we see what we're missing and then we do very little about it except write a report. We don't address the problem head on. We like to be safe and we like to say a lot of safe things in Australia," he said.

"We like to be very comfortable and polite. We don't like to tell the hard things that people don't like to hear. We can't confront that in Australia and I think that's a real fault of ours, being on the outside looking in and kind of seeing that now, you know, it makes me, it makes me cringe. It kind of makes me a little bit angry as well."

And don't get him started on aphorisms like "punch above our weight".
Episode 41 of Startup 360 is an extended Summer edition, diving into what Jim Cooper's learnt about startup life - he first launched accelerators in the US in 2010, and has worked and advised around the world on innovation and company building.

It's also the last episode for 2025. Have a wonderful Summer and happy new year! The show will be back at the end of January, just as everyone packs up the beach umbrellas and heads back to work.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don’t forget to read ⁠StartupDaily.net⁠ for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Now he's back in Melbourne and the founder of Lightning Ventures has plenty of stories to tell and advice to share on episode 40 of Startup 360.

Explaining Lighting, his no-code innovation studio, which helps early-stage startups rapidly build, test and launch software without needing a technical founder or large amounts of capital, Dave describes it as "the IKEA model of software development".

"The way people build software is they go out, they find the tree, they chop the tree down, they hack the tree in half and they hand whittle all the pieces for the chair," he said.

"Whereas the new model is out of the box, bang, click, click, bang - the pieces assemble a chair and it looks pretty much the same, does the exact same thing, hosted on AWS, with the exact same infrastructure that your custom-coded dev's doing without headaches, for like, a 10th of the price."

Lightning has worked with more than 60 startups, combining lean product strategy with no-code tools.

Cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell were keen to know more about Dave's experience in San Francisco.

"I think the Bay Area is very open and accepting of people, especially if you're having a go, it's amazing," he said.

"I think they've got an advantage in San Francisco - seven miles by seven miles - so it's such a small area and you've got so many successful people. The personal life and the business life kind of intertwine. You could be at a house party having a chat with someone - and this actually happened to me in the kitchen at a house party - saying, 'Oh, what are you doing?' They're like,'Oh, I work in tech'. I'm like, 'Oh cool'.

"Anyway, turns out that guy was the cofounder of Weebly that sold to Square for like $300 million. He was like the most modest, humble guy. So yeah, you get the opportunity to meet incredible people."

On the penultimate show for 2025, Majella and Simon also talk about the leaked details of Blackbird's investor day, "AI slop" as word of the year, and the ban for life on GetSwift's cofounders to prevent them being company directors in Canada.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don’t forget to read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Like a Marvel movie spinoff, he's now enjoying even more success, as Alex explains on episode 39 of Startup 360.

Cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell asked Alex about the lessons and mistakes along the way and how startup No. 2 came about.

"What we discovered [in Hudled] is that accounting firms were managing hundreds of thousands of dollars on behalf of their clients. And in the Hudled dashboard, which was supposed to help them track all of this, they were hiding it," Alex recounts.

"And we just couldn't work out why because it was coming off their credit card, it was their spend, but they didn't consider it as their own."

So so they launched, Rechargly, so accountancy firms can bill clients quickly and correctly for software disbursements - a pain point that, surprisingly, many neglect or get wrong.

Rechargly now delivers the bulk of the revenue and Majella and Simon wanted to know how to spot an opportunity and go all-in.

"It's always tricky, isn't it? Because things were working with Hudled and to take a step back in order to go forward faster is always a really hard decision," Alex explained.

"And when our team sat down and we were evaluating what was in front of us with what we knew versus what we discovered about what could be, it was, it was really challenging at the time."

As well as a great convo with a serial founder who kicked off with a paddleboard importing business with a mate, this week's show discusses the latest from Blackbird-funded New Zealand startup Kiki, now starting out again in London after being shut down in New York, having paid $224,000 in a settlement - 3x the total revenue generated there - with the city over Kiki's illegal operations there.

Also getting Simon riled up are 350 researcher jobs being cut at the national science agency, CSIRO, in the face of flatlined federal funding.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don’t forget to read ⁠StartupDaily.net⁠ for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Sangvhi sold his company, Medical Benefits Australia (MBA), to StrongRoom when it had no cash, having already rented the company's IP to the startup, which is was also, frequently unable to pay for on time.

Simon recounts how Mito told the court that they company's approach to board minutes was "informal", and when one director raised concerns that the acquisition had gone through, Mito explained that "We had a bit of an issue with board members not always remembering details."

What also emerged was that both MBA and StrongRoom were behind on the tax obligations, and the ATO was chasing both companies for money, as well as issuing Sangvhi with Director Penalty Notices for non-compliance.

The details emerging from the public examination into the company's failure left both Startup 360 hosts a little gobsmacked, especially when it came to company governance, and the liquidators appear to be taking a close look at the actions of both men and their compliance with the Corporations Act.

On a happier note, the also shared some excellent advice from the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, now 95, in his final shareholder letter as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

His excellent advice includes: "Don’t beat yourself up over past mistakes – learn at least a little from them and move on. It is never too late to improve. Get the right heroes and copy them."

Their guest this week is Shreya Gupta, cofounder of Australian Coffee Culture, which is championing Australian-grown coffee - it accounts for just 1% of the 6 billion cups of coffee we drink annually - in a new range of ready-to-drink pick-me-ups.

Shreya takes about moving from corporate life to startup founder and why Australian coffee beans deserve a special place in our cups.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don’t forget to read ⁠StartupDaily.net⁠ for all the ANZ tech news for free! Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production.

Technology is transforming the art of giving - with companies such as Atlassian, Canva and now Airtree cofounder Daniel Petre, founder of StartGiving, leading the way.

StartGiving is not-for-profit, funded by Petre, who was inspired by his time working with Bill Gates, to change the culture of giving in the local startup sector.

As Antonia explains: if you just look at the top 50 biggest philanthropists in Australia, a few years ago, 1% of that giving came from the tech sector, and now it's 21%. And just looking at the commitments that have been publicly made by those, particularly those sort of wealthier end of the tech founders, we think there's the potential for $20-30 billion dollars of untapped potential giving to come through the pipeline in the next few years."

The research commissioned by StartGiving also found at people working in the tech sector were more than twice as likely than others to already be giving to charity, with $19 billion in commitments already made.

English-born Antonia has had her own remarkable career in philanthropy and social impact over the past two decades, starting out of the Prince’s Trust - now the King's Trust after its founder, King Charles, took the throne.

After moving to Australia, her roles have included CEO of Australian Philanthropic Services, and nowadays, she's a director of UNICEF Australia and chairs The Giving Academy Advisory Committee at the Centre for Social Impact, among several other hats.

Last month she joined Pledge 1%, now chaired by Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar, who was instrumental in establishing it a decade earlier, to lead its first team outside of the US.

More than 1,800 companies across Australia are part of a global community of 19,000-plus Pledge 1% members in 130 countries. They include the unicorns Atlassian, Canva, Airwallex, Culture Amp, and Employment Hero. Their commitment is to give 1% of equity, profit, product, or employee time to projects and causes that help others.

Simon and Antonia spend time discussing leadership, kindness, and how to support others to make the world a better place in an inspiring 40 minute conversation.

To learn more, check out StartGiving and Pledge 1%.
Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don’t forget to read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production.

"I was doing lots of fancy work on the outside, but dead on the inside," the founder of Luna tells Startup 360.

"It was funny because no one took me seriously. Founders didn't take legal and accounting seriously. It was a startup helping startups start up."
But it worked and Luna, his professional services advisory firm, which has worked with the likes of LaunchVic, Rampersand and Fishburners, was recently acquired by Tiger and Bear.

Byron Bay-based Ronen talked to cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen about what he's learnt about startup life advising 1000s of startups and their founders about getting their legal and financial house in order to succeed, and his own experience as a founder going through a merger and acquisition.

They also took a deep dive into leadership and masculinity. Ronen's been an associate professor at Monash University for the last five years with a focus on men’s leadership and how to best support younger males as they find their way in the world.

Simon asks Ronen what founders can do to set a good example for the next generation.His advice is simple - work on yourself to be a better leader

"You're going to have young people who are going to follow you, people are going to join you. This is going to be their first place of work. Your influence on them is far bigger than you think," Ronen said.

"The interactions they see - there's a male founder who even says, 'Hey, you know what, let's think about gender diversity on our board', such a small thing to say - and the impacts like that ripples out in different ways to different things."

Simon and Majella also talk about Elon Musk's Wikipedia AI ripoff - he's literally lifted large slabs of the original for it - and NZVC's new $50 million Fund II , which aims to back up to 60 early-stage startups in Australia and Aotearoa.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human. Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don't forget to read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free! Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production. This episode is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

"It's a really vicious irony that the main solution that we're relying on to mitigate the change is also accelerating the change faster than nearly anything else," he explained on the Startup 360 podcast.

"I mean, there's 864,000 new air conditioners being installed every day from now until 2050."

Forget AI data centres or any other power consumer on the planet, air conditioning, something we don't think about because we mostly don't see it, is the only game in town, he explained.

"Air conditioning is actually the sector that's expected to drive most of the growth of demand of electricity," Sam explained.

"In fact, 50% of the growth of electricity over the next 30 years is all going to be air conditioning. And we're talking about comfort here. We're not even talking about food chains, pharmaceuticals, or the other applications."

Startup 360 this week makes air conditioning sexy again as a major climate tech issue. Sam and his eponymous cofounder, 60-year industry veteran Ron Conry, raised $3 million in venture funding this week for their latest revolution, BullAnt, an air-conditioning system that has completely rethought how cooling is delivered, with the potential to save up to 50% of consumption and power bills for users.

And if you think it all sounds sedate, Sam recounts the time their engineers were followed home and robbed and factories in Melbourne and Canada were ram-raided, with files and computers stolen in moments that sound like a spy thriller.

Sam and Ron were responsible for the last great innovation in air conditioning 25 years ago - back when the Nokia 3310 was the world's best-selling phone, so HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) is overdue for disruption and if anyone's going to do it, it's these two with Sam's wife, Brenda, alongside as Conry Tech cofounder.

Also on the show this week, cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen talk about the latest Cut Through Venture funding report for the September quarter.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don't forget to read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production. This episode is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Saara was a finalist in the Best New Founder category of Startup Daily Best in Tech awards (the winner was Rebecca Keeley from Yarn Speech), and in a special extended episode, they spoke to the Brisbane mother of two about how her own journey to becoming a mother led to Cool Beans.

It's an important dive into male reproductive health that had Simon rearranging himself when Saara talked about the impact of sitting for 20 minutes or more and how how the additional heat down below has an impact on male fertility and testosterone levels.

While reproductive health and fertility tends to focus on women, Saara has taken a deep dive into what blokes need to do to hold up their half of the conception bargain. And the simple truth is that their "beans" are running hot and that's not good for them.

Helping her own husband take care downstairs transformed their attempts to become pregnant and the mother of two is now spreading the message to all who'll listen, building a scientifically-backed deep tech startup in the process.

An explainer: Cool Beans undies keep the testes away from the body, as nature intended, so they don't become too warm, which can lead to reduced fertility and testosterone. Her product now has TGA approval and she has plans for FDA approval in the US.

Simon and Majella took a deep dive into what's going on, as well as discussing being a solo founder, first mover advantage (is there one?) and the impact building Cool Beans has had on other families and the health of men.

And Simon couldn't resist asking what it was like to talk to a room of NRL execs earlier this year about a different kind of ball handling skills...

The Startup 360 cohosts also discussed the closure of ANZ's VC project, 1835i, the new home for Fishburners at the Tech Central Innovation Hub, and the wash up from the Best in Tech awards.Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production. This episode is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don't forget to read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

It's a fun conversation spanning customer feedback - Ash would head to bars and pubs in Newtown and approach patrons to get them to download the CarSavvy app - to what makes a good, sustainable cofounder relationship and marketing car maintenance. Simon also digs a deep hole for himself attempting to mansplain what makes a great car for women. Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human. Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production. This episode is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance. Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don't forget to read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Engineer Nick Hazell is back with his second climate tech startup, Algenie, having previously raised $120 million as cofounder of plant-based meat venture v2food.

Also on the couch is Ana Belgun from CSIRO-developed digital twin pioneer Terria.

They were among 23 founders who shared their startup stories at the annual deep tech expo, in Sydney.

Cohost Simon Thomsen was there and keen to share their ideas with the Startup 360 audience.

Cohosts Simon and Majella Campbell talked to Nick, an engineer who came from R&D in the food sector, about the lessons be brought to a second go, at tackling the problem of carbon emissions. Algenie is an algae biotech company using groundbreaking technology for algae production at scale at an affordable price. The term describes everything from plankton - a vital part of the marine food chain - to seaweeds, and as well as being a major oxygen producer, it also soaks up CO2.

His hope is that Algenie can help replace fossil fuels and last year the startup raised $1.1 million in pre-Seed funding.

Nick talks about gardening leave from v2food, going from a startup in a "hot" sector for investors, to having to go back an educate people from scratch; why he's driven to tackle big problems and the nexus between engineering and science and how "innovation of having different voices in the room sort of looking at the same problem from different angles and solving it together."

Ana spent nearly a decade at CSIRO's Data61 before cofounding Terria in late 2024.

Terria makes it easy to build advanced maps and digital twins, for faster, smarter decision-making, and she talks about their potential for big ideas, including Australia's much talked about high-speed train.

Ana also explained by the Terria team banned all meetings on a Wednesday, and why having "a really good product mindset and go to market and brand" is essential to be a successful deep tech startup commercialising research.

Simon and Majella also talked about the big news of the week - PsiQuantum's $1.5 billion raise. When Majella asked him what he'd do with $1 billion, Simon said he'd share it among the startups at Tech23.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta and is a SmartCo Media production.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don't forget to read StartupDaily.net.

His eldest sister, Jo, was born blind, autistic, and with an intellectual disability. That experience shaped the way he views the world, as he explains to Majella Campbell.

As a child, Pete loved showing off Jo’s talents, like her uncanny ability to tell you the day you were born from the date. It taught him an important lesson: value doesn’t always look the way society expects.
Pete is the founder of Remarkable, the accelerator backed by the Cerebral Palsy Alliance supporting startups building technology for people with disabilities.

He’s also a passionate voice for inclusive design, reminding us that technology we take for granted — the keyboard, speech-to-text, touchscreens — were first created to solve accessibility challenges.

Pete shares why disability isn’t about “some of us”, it’s about all of us. When we design for diversity, we don’t just build better products, we build a better world.

One of the latest startups supported by Remarkable is Hailo in Brisbane, cofounded by Santiago Velasquez.

Born blind, he quickly discovered that public transport wasn’t designed for people like him. Buses would pass by because he couldn’t hail them, or he’d be dropped off at the wrong stop late at night with no easy way to get home.

Hailo is an app that will transform the way people with disability navigate public transport. A major trial in Victoria is about to get underway and as Simon remarks, the idea has the potential to make public transport easier for everyone.

Santi's visual impairment inspired his life as an entrepreneur - the only blind startup CTO in the Southern Hemisphere, he jokes. After failing a uni subject in his electrical engineering degree because the course materials weren’t available in an accessible format, he sent out to invent a solution. It was the spark that lit his first startup and set Santi on the path to solving problems not just for himself, but for millions.

His ambitions are boundless, including being the first blind person on the Moon. If anyone can, Santi will.

Also this week, Simon and Majella discuss the latest data from Blackbird on investing in female founders, and the end of the Sydney Startup Hub as we know it.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance. Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don't forget to read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free! Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

So we've picked out two of our favourite interviews of the last six months to shine a light on them once again.

Irish-Australian teenager Liam Fuller starred on Startup 360 in April, as one of our most watched and listened to episodes. He was 17 at the time, and came to Australia, birthplace of his equally entrepreneurial dad, Shane, for a holiday after being suspended from high school over a viral photo taking a client call sitting in a toilet cubicle.

While here, he started cold-calling local VCs to raise for his second startup QuickFind AI, an agentic AI ordering system for retail procurement, and made a three-hour train trip to Sydney for a 20-minute meeting with Square Peg’s Paul Bassat.

Liam ended up banking a A$2.15 million pre-Seed round led by Square Peg - not a bad 18th birthday present.

The 10x we wanted to share once more was from episode 3 with high-performance coach Veronica Mason. She's a member of the NSW LGBTIQ+ Advisory Council and last year organised Australia’s first Pride Pitch Night for founders from LGBTQIA+ backgrounds.

After being outed in high school, Veronica broke her back in several places, aged 23, learnt to walk again, and now focuses on helping others.
She's a font of wisdom, from what to look for in a mentor to how your mindset shapes the world. It's a wonderful, inspirational conversation.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don't forget to read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

The CEO of inTruth Technologies, the world’s first emotion bio-tech, is a very special guest on Startup 360 this week, sharing her journey from teenage student struggling with serious health issues and the profound impact one educator had on her life, to how she hopes we can all be better people by coming to understand who we are using tech.

She's on a mission to reshape the future of personal well-being, leadership, and human connection, having served as the youngest Commonwealth Commissioner for Mental Health, and also founding Love Out Loud (also writing a book with that title), a movement dedicated to fostering authentic human connection and conscious leadership.Nicole's conversation with cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen is one of the rawest, most authentic and generous discussions Startup 360's seen in 27 episodes as she talks about bridging the gap between AI, emotional intelligence, and human potential.

Meanwhile, Simon takes the chance to quiz Majella about her day job as CEO of Fishburners, as it prepares to move out of the Sydney Startup Hub, which is being shut down by the NSW government, and the new direction and vision she has for the Fishburners community of hundreds of startups, as well as the broader ecosystem.

Also joining them for 10x, the show's rapid-fire questions, is David "Dutchie" Holland from Employment Hero. The man in charge of talent solutions at the HR tech unicorn has been there since it was a team of 12 back in 2016, which has now grown to more than 1,600 people. Dutchie shares his insights into scaling a startup, and the joy of nicknames.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

It comes as Fishburners prepares to move out of the Sydney Startup Hub after seven years, as the NSW government shuts it down.

This week's guests are Paloma Newton, cofounder of Elita, a pet genetics and stem cell therapy startup; and Aakash Gupta, cofounder of boostrapped remote work team building and wellness startup Hooray Teams.

Motivated to by the health issues her own dog, Edgar Allen Paws, faces, she launched Elita (which raised $1.1m, pre-Seed) with her partner-in-life, biomedical engineer and dog coparent Jackson Gritching.

Paloma talks about her varied career - from hospitality to deep tech navigation startup Baraja, and cofounding the workplace advice site Grapevine - the leadership challenges of going from manager to founder, and how to get on with your cofounder when you also go home with them at the end of the day.

She's a powerhouse of ideas, but as a proud and focused feminist, reveals some telling moments in what she's experienced as a female founder, and how to cope on those days when you "feel like a genuine failure".

Meanwhile, Aakash is dealing with one of the great issues of modern workplaces - managing remote teams and keeping everyone inspired.
He launched Hooray Teams, which runs virtual team-building events for remote, distributed and hybrid teams two years ago.

His global customer base includes one company with people in 23 locations, and Aakash shares his tips on how to get everyone getting along - trivia is popular - and the challenges of dealing with diverse cultures.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta.

He was in a caravan travelling in outback NSW with his family, with his two cofounders in Sydney, when they built their developer platform, which takes care of "the boring but essential stuff" to help founders move faster.

Kinde in a rare-breed, with two technical cofounders, and Dave adventures led him to settle in the hinterland behind Byron Bay to raise his family of three kids, which the startup's team also stretches from Sydney to London.

Episode 25 of Startup 360 discusses his love of music, the importance of creativity for founders, and life as a country dad running a high-tech business - he keeps his kids well away from screen addiction, arguing that if his parents can get proficient on an iPhone, there's no need for their grandkids to be early adopters.

Cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen also caught up with industry legend Murray Hurps from UTS Startups and the founder of the annual national ecosystem survey Startup Muster.

There's a songline between Murray and Majella as the former and current CEOs of Fishburners, and how evolving technology is transforming the role of founder.

For a kid who dropped out of school to play around with software, and now runs a thriving university startup community, Murray has some firm views of learning and education, as well as  entrepreneurship as the "exploitation of privilege".

Majella asked him for advice on how to be a successful founder and Murray turned to the wisdom of Fishburners cofounder Pete Davidson.

"Find someone that shares your circumstances, that has done what you're trying to do, figure out how they did it, and then copy them quickly and do it better," he said.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

The way the cofounders of podcasting community engagement startup Dome met is positively old-school in an era of swiping left and right.

Sophie Greiner and Bella Filacuridi met at an International Women's Day event in Sydney, and the mutual love for the pop culture podcast Shameless launched their friendship.

Six months later, their idea for Dome became the Australian entry in the global final of the Red Bull Basement startup competition and they were headed to Tokyo.

Sophie and Bella are the first duo to sit on the Startup 360 couch and share their stories.

Both in their early 20s, they discussed the yin and yang of being cofounders, explained the problems they're looking to solve in the $130 billion podcasting industry, and talked about the influence of family - Sophie's grandfather is a former NSW Premier - and the appeal of being a startup founder (while trying to finish a uni degree).

Startup 360's second guest, for 10x, our rapid-fire questions, is Will Hayward, CEO of Private Media, the independent publisher that last week acquired Startup Daily and assets of its publisher, Pinstripe Media.

British-born Will, whose wife is Australian and works in tech, has spent his life in media, working on the admin side at prestigious titles such as The Economist and Wall Street Journal, as well as next gen brands such as Buzzfeed.

Startup 360 cohost Simon Thomsen couldn't resist asking his new boss about the nexus between tech and media, his advice for Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos as the paper comes under fire from readers and key staff depart the loss-making title, and, perhaps went too far in bringing up the Melbourne Demons after the side's shambolic loss lass weekend.

Cohost Majella Campbell wanted to know how Will stays chilled, especially when a billionaire from the Murdoch family is gunning for you.
It's a chance to hear more about the future of media from someone on the frontline.

Simon and Majella also discuss Gilmour Space's first attempt to launch Vegemite into space on a home-grown rocket, Build Club's massive win with Swedish vibe coding platform Lovable, and the Australian government's YouTube ban for under 16s.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

We also keep the celebratory theme going with two phenomenal guests behind some significant raises from the past week. 

Chris Wirasinha is the founder of Linkby, the mediatech that just closed a $23M Series B raise. After a successful exit from his first venture, youth media business Pedestrian.tv, Chris shares how different the experience is the second time around. Not only is he at a different stage of life, Linkby is already an international business, having setup already in New York and aggressively growing in the US market. 

The conversation with Chris spanned everything from hustle culture to NBA teams to founder fashion. 

From founder we move to investor, welcoming Brendan Hill from Ten13 into the hot seat to discuss two of his portfolio companies who were in the news this week. Everlab, a medtech with a fresh $15M raise, and Liam Fuller, the 17 yr-old Irish sensation who had a whirlwind tour of Australia that helped him land $2M seed capital for his startup Source.

Brendan’s inner database of startups, raises, and investors in unmatched, and the discussion gives a good insight into how an investor goes about their business, builds community, and stays in the loop. 

This week’s episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

His mum , a 157cm (5' 2") powerhouse, laid down the law to everyone who came to visit Kish in hospital.

"She's like, no tears, zero emotion, rational conversation only positive thoughts only. No one's allowed to cry in front of Kish," he recalls of his life and death battle with blood cancer on Startup 360 this week.

Kish, now in remission after 18 months of brutal treatment, including a bone marrow transplant, is preparing to launch a new startup, Hey Buddy, with longtime collaborator Stevan Premutico (me&u, Dimmi).

Cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen were left in awe of Kish sharing his story.

His career moved from management consulting to startups with HelloFresh, me&u and now Hey Buddy, an AI concept for hospitality that's still in stealth mode.

Kish talked about what drives him and how he sees the world after facing a life-threatening illness, his passions and love for his partner, Paul, in a moving conversation about founder life and the fight for life.

Majella and Simon discuss this week's news, including ASX-listed Scalare Partners acquiring Tank Stream Labs, Elon Musk's Grok going generative Nazi, and Linkby's $23 million Series B raise.

Their guest for 10x, the rapid-fire questions, this week is Jack Rathie, cofounder of DDLoop.

The AI-based legal due diligence platform helps lawyers make sure all bases are covered when doing a deal and when Jack shared the story of how they pulled up the details for StrongRoom.AI when it imploded, revealing a range of tells that flagged problems, Simon's mind was blown.
A science fiction fan, Jack also shared three books he recommends sci-fi fans should read.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

The self-confessed "proudly woke" data nerd, who believes that bringing empathy to the numbers is vital, sat down with Startup 360 cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell to talk about workplace inclusion, how business is dealing with the impact of Trump's war on woke, and her own experiences as a former US citizen who now calls Australia home.

It's a fascinating conversation about creating kinder workplaces and how she thinks about DEI - it has a branding problem - and her business Mathpath, a combination of math and empathy.

Aubrey had "a front row seat" as Atlassian listed on the Nasdaq and became a force across the Pacific, and the cultural differences.

"I learned so much about the deceptive levels of difference between American and Australian business culture. And it was something that really took me by surprise when I first came to Sydney," she said.

"One thing to note is that Americans come across as incredibly arrogant to Australians, but it's really important to say to Australians that it's not necessarily that we're all sociopaths, but rather that there is such a level of competition that self promotion is a survival strategy in American business in a way that there's just a different set of norms here."

Aubrey believes you need to measure to management and talks about the asking the right questions to get the best out of your teams and how focusing small details can make a big difference for everyone.

Simon and Majella also discuss the latest VC funding numbers, which saw women founders receive just $1 in every $200 invested in Australia in the June quarter.

On a brighter note, accessible beauty tools startup ByStorm is collaborating with celebrity Celesete Barber's makeup brand Booie, to ensure sisters are doing it for themselves.

Joining Simon and Majella for 10x, their 10 rapid-fire questions is founder turned VC investor Ben Chong from Right Click Capital, who talks about why he launched the Founder Institute in Australia, and how asking the hard questions early on reaps bigger rewards for founders and investors down the track.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

It took 90 days to develop and launch Bebop, the latest product from his New Zealand listed tech company, and within 45 days, it hit $1.2 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).

Black Pearl's previous innovation, Pearl Diver, took 45 days and within two years hit NZ$10 million.

Nick, the company's CEO (and briefly CTO), is Startup 360's first international guest, joining cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell from Aotearoa to talk about everything from AI to investing, rugby, music and his belief in teamwork. He describes Bebop as like ChatGPT, but built for sales and revenue growth.

The Black Pearl boss, who could have been a professional musician had he not blown his audition in the UK studios of Sir George Martin (of The Beatles fame), is funny, fast-paced, a wild card, focused, stubborn, and jack of all trades. It's a cracking conversation filled with plenty of great insights on what it takes to run a listed company from Wellington
He also revealed their currently exploring a dual listing in Australia, for the 13-year-old tech business, and how hard it was to find the funding to back Black Pearl Group (NZX:BPG), heading to the US and refusing to come home until he had the cash.

Black Pearl shares jumped 30% on the NZ exchange this week after he announced the success of Bebop and the potential the company sees in artificial intelligence products.

In other news, Simon and Majella talked about philanthropy by tech founders, and how Australian founders are among the world's best when it comes to turning small amounts of VC funding into valuable companies.
Also joining them for 10x, the rapid fire questions (but they lost count so it could be more) is Spanish-born design guru Miguel Anton from Xeito Studios, who explained how hard it is to make things look simple, why great design matters, and how to think about luxury in a conversation that spans his time working for billionaire Bernard Arnault at LVMH, to the genius of Apple and Labubus.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don't forget to read ⁠StartupDaily.net⁠ for all the ANZ tech news for free!

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

But making it has been energy intense - until an accidental scientific discovery at the University of Newcastle created the potential for a more environmentally friendly way to produce it.

That discovery is a new startup, Facet Amtech, and cofounder James Bradley joined Startup 360 this week to explain how it works and talk about life as a second-time deep tech founder

Ammonia is normally produced a high temperatures under high pressures, but when a materials science was sawing samples in half to examine them, he noticed a smell. It was ammonia, created at room temperature just with water and ambient air.

Scaling up that discovery is the goal of Facet Amtech, which recently completed CSIRO's annual ON accelerator program, which helps scientists turn research into commercial ideas.

Facet Amtech is also one of 23 startups chosen for Tech 23, the annul deep tech showcase by Cicada Innovations.

Bradley, who's been entrepreneur-in-residence at Newcastle Uni's startup hub, I2N, previously founded a climate tech hub he was forced to close because of Covid-induced supply chain problems and talked about the lessons from that and getting back in the saddle with a new idea, as well as a family with three kids.

Cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell also talked about Kiwi accomodation startup Kiki's move to London after being forced to shut down in New York, and fellow Aotearoa agtech scaleup Halter's $155 million Series D, and the NSW budget for startups, with Simon arguing the $80 million worth of announcements isn't nearly enough.

Also joining us for 10x, the rapid fire questions, is Tennille Eyre, head of CSIRO’s ON Innovation Program, to talk about the importance of science and what hanging out with super smart people as they develop ideas that can transform the world is really like.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It's all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don't forget to read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Kirkham, who worked for pioneering tech brands including ClassPass, Uber and Airbnb, had plenty to say about women in tech on episode 18 of Startup 360 this week.

Cohost Simon Thomsen asked the mother of two what advice she'd give to classroom of young girls.

"I think a lot of girls and a lot of women question themselves all day, every day and question their path and question their role in society and question what they should do based on the mark they got or their parents expectations or just what society is throwing at them," she said.

"And I think my biggest thing is trust your gut, because I do think if you follow your passion and you follow what you're good at, then a success will naturally flow your way. I genuinely think that. The second thing I would say is that there's no wrong turn... I encourage girls and women to not put that pressure on themselves that they have to get every step right and to know that there isn't a wrong turn and you can always pivot and move into something else and actually take value from what you learned in a previous step."

It was a spirited conversation about women founders and what F5 Collective has learnt from studying their success and how it falls outside traditional VC models. Looking at the data around why women aren't receiving funding led them to write A Theory of Change, their thesis on backing women.

Simon and Majella discussed the big news of the week, including Canva's acquisition of Magic Brief, Sally-Ann Williams stepping away from Cicada Innovations after six years at the helm, and the latest twists in turns in Blackbird-backed short-term rental startup Kiki, which is shuttering in New York for a second time.

Their 10x guest this week is Sam Garven from Hello Canopy, a workplace reporting app that allows employees to raise issues in a way they can trust, as well as giving employers the ability to see issues and trends and respond.

The former environmental scientist was also a cofounder of Grapevine, the workplace harassment advice site launched last year.

The conversation spanned everything from office romances to red flags in the workplace and setting culture in startups, as what gives Sam the shits about dealing with HR.

Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

The local market grew by nearly 40% last year to around $250 billion, but a decade has passed since a new player appeared on the seen bearing a familiar name.

David Tuckwell is following in his father's footsteps with ETF Shares, which launched this month after taking part in the Macquarie University Incubator program.

The fintech is offering lower fees and access to US markets. Tuckwell says the sector will be worth more than $20 trillion within 20 years.

He sat down with Startup 360 cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell to explain ETFs - Simon compared them to buying a box of groceries - and what he learnt from his philanthropist dad as he follows his father's trade.

They discussed parenting, journalism - David worked in the sector before getting a real job - life lessons, the transformative opportunity of going to university, philanthropy and the bank of Mum and Dad backing your startup.

"There's those old three Fs about when you start a business, friends, family and fools being the ones that first back you," David said.

"We're no different in that regard. We've got a major family member, hopefully he's not a fool in my dad."

Simon quipped that Graham Tuckwell's financial success - he runs a VC firm out of London and donated $100 million to his alma mater, ANU in Canberra, for student scholarships - suggests not.
David also talked about how he wants his kids to grow up.
"I also want them to be strong and able to face the world because family is obviously loving and nurturing," he said.
"But when you're out there facing the market - I think startup founders understand this almost better than anyone - in fact, the real world can be a bit of a cold, hard place."

Their second guest for 10x, the rapid-fire questions is 2nd time founder Peter Cole, from legal tech startup CourtAid.ai.

He was inspired to launch the law research platform because of a legal dispute involving his first startup, Gathera, which ended up wasting four months of his time.

It launched 12 months ago and now has 14,000 users in Australia, New Zealand and UK markets.

Peter talked about the potential of AI and how it gives startups the ability to compete with the biggest tech companies in the world.

"When you're talking about these AI businesses, everyone, including the big boys, are using the same models like they're all using OpenAI," he said.

"No one has access to 300,000 GPUs to train a whole new model, except for the big end of town, which means it ends up becoming an even playing field in that sense, where suddenly a small company like myself have access to the same resources these big enterprise players have, which means we can build products just as good as the big enterprise players. So I think there's going to be a huge shift in startups coming through and competing with the enterprise players."

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by ⁠Vanta⁠, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

They wanted the acclaimed athlete to speak there.

It was "a pinch me moment to be on stage talking about investing in women's sport" and Branson is in the front row taking notes while she was speaking.

She hung out with the entrepreneur for the rest of the week and found out just how competitive he is, as Christie recounts on Startup 360 this week.
Having risen to the top of three sports - trampolining, CrossFit, and beach volleyball - Jenkins went to cut her chops on investing at Blackbird, before going on to help build Athletic Ventures.

She remains passionate about sport and the lessons it can bring to being a successful founder, which is one of the reasons why she returned from the US to run Techstars, which closes applications for its next cohort of 12 early-stage startups on June 11.

Christie explained to cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen that standards are more important than the goals you set yourself.

"We set goals and they're aspirational and that's lovely and they're exciting and they give us that juice of motivation at the beginning. But when it's 4am and your alarm goes off and 2 degrees outside, you don't feel like going to the gym, standards are much more powerful," she said. "Standards are the minimum level that we would tolerate."

Christie talked about her passion for supporting early stage founders to succeed, and shared her tips on everything presenting successfully to taking on new challenges.

Simon and Majella also talked about a Kiwi report on how much founders are paid, gathered from anonymous responses, for the New Zealand Founder Pay Report 2025.

Their guest for 10x, the rapid-fire questions, this week is Justin Wastnage, founder of Vloggi, although they spent several minutes talking about his remarkable career, including trans fats in Silicon Valley, being a aviation reporter accidentally breaking things on the private jets of famous people and coining the term vlogger 20 years ago.

And to celebrate our guests this week are two "Fishies" founders - Barb Woodruff Swanson from Done Life, and Mossy Taheri from proptech Rising Returns.

There's a bit of a travel theme to this week's show, and with Majella's parents currently cruising off the coast of Italy, Simon wants to know why they're not recording on the boat.

Barb's a veteran founder and single mother of three kids who's  led high-growth SaaS sales teams across the US and APAC, and had her first startup - a precursor to Uber Eats in the pre-smartphone era - more than 25 years ago. Having effectively managed global teams of hundreds of people across 9 countries, she was struck by the fact that she couldn't find a CRM-like product to deal with family life in a similarly efficient way (so you don't forget it's your turn to bring the oranges for sport on the weekend).

And so she's built Done Life.

Startup 360's talk with Barb involved tears, laughter and the practicalities of life in the startup lane while raising teens.

Mossy's also well travelled, having visited more than 40 countries.

While running his buyer's agency, he joined Fishies began spending more time around tech founders and recognised an opportunity to innovate. Mossy's now developing a proptech startup that leverages AI to help Australians make smarter, faster property decisions.

Given property is our national obsession, Majella couldn't resist asking him where to spend $2 million, the surprising answer is he suggested buying 3 houses in 3 different capital cities.

A mechanical engineer and data nerd, Mossy explained how it analytics reveal deeper truths when investing in property.

He also shared his adventures in Russia during the world cup and the famous name he'd employ if he could.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

And what better way to ease back into reality with a deep dive in to the Government’s proposed superannuation tax with startup legend Alan Jones of M8 Ventures. 

As two people at the coalface of angel investing, Cheryl and Alan have a LOT of thoughts about the potential for this new tax policy to wreak havoc on the fundraising landscape in Australia. Cheryl says that just the possibility of it coming in has already put off a lot of the investors on her Aussie Angels platform from joining raises, while they wait as see what happens. Alan’s surgical breakdown of the key problems with the proposed tax reform highlights just how misguided it is, and how the impact of it will be felt not only by the startup community, but my many more Australians for years into the future.

But it’s not all tax talk this week. We also welcomed the effervescent Jill Berry into the studio to hear about how the acquisition of her startup Adatree by payment giant Fat Zebra has panned out. After building a burgeoning business and signing on some major Government and enterprise clients, the courting began from multiple suitors across the finance sector. Jill talks us through some of the lesser-discussed realities of acquisition, from what happens to your giant cheques and memorabilia, to how a founder can finally focus on the things they love rather than managing payroll. 

As two powerhouses of the tech sector, both with young children, Cheryl and Jill also chat about the tough reality of pregnancy while juggling the demands of a business baby, right down to issuing share certificates will at the hospital being induced!

This week’s episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

While the action this week was in Melbourne for Digital Health Fest, we went under the hood of the medtech rollercoaster with two guests right at the coal face.

From a funding point of view, you would be hard pressed to find a more in-tune resource than Emerald Scofield of Main Sequence Ventures. Starting out with a childhood passion to “take down the pharmaceutical industry from the inside”, and a biotech degree under her belt, she now lives and breathes all things medtech and happily gave us a warts and all assessment of Australia’s issues and opportunities. 

Flipping it to the founder experience, our 10x guest is the founder of Xylo Bio, Josh Ismin, who took us through the radical world of psychedelic-inspired neurotherapeutics. Describing himself as someone who’s pretty “granola”, Josh is a fascinating character balancing a global startup at the forefront of healthcare along with a purpose-driven and conscious livelihood. 

As a startup who has split their team between Australia and the US, Josh was an ideal person to quiz about the impact of this year’s political and social turmoil. Interestingly, while he would think twice about doing it again, ultimately the opportunity for access to capital and customers is simply too great to turn away. For now at least. 

And of course we couldn’t leave out a conversation about the renewed Government’s ministerial dramas, which see a much loved and respected Ed Husic exiting stage left, leaving Tim Ayres with some big shoes to fill in the eyes of the innovation community. There were some strong comments made throughout the week criticising the decision, summed up by M8 Ventures’ Alan Jones bluntly stating, “We obviously care more about short term interparty factionalism than we do the innovation industries”. 

This week’s episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

But edge-of-millennial Kayla's not sure if she's heard Mental As Anything's song, If you leave me, can I come too? So he's leaving too - for two weeks to recover - and AJ Koch will step as guest host of Startup 360.

For Kayla's final show, their guest is someone she's long admired but never met, Doone Roisin from Female Startup Club.

Then Simon turned the tables and had Kayla as out 10x guest to answer 10 questions.

Kayla went out with a bang - and Bollinger. They talked about Blackbird's Sunrise, the 10th anniversary of philanthropic movement Pledge 1% and marketing alcohol, before Doone joined them to discuss the challenges women in tech face, and how her ADHD, shapes her approach to life as a startup founder.

Last year Doone was part of the Techstars Sydney accelerator program and reveals it was much harder and more challenging than expected. She also talked about what women need to do to take the first step in becoming an entrepreneur.

Doone then swapped chairs for 10x and the chance to quiz Kayla about her life and experiences.

Simon asked Kayla how she'd changed the startup ecosystem if she could wave a wand of Medica magic.

Less men, she said, in a show where they talked about how women still aren't funded despite data that says they're a better investment.

"I work with quite a wide variety of clients and startups, and most of the people who hire me are men. And when I get, like, a woman client, it's just so nice," Kayla said.

"Like, there's a sense of camaraderie and, like, it's different, but it's so rare. I just want more of that."

And Simon revealed that Startup 360 is the show founders VCs tune into, with recent guest, 17-year-old Liam Fuller, becoming the hottest investment potential in town after being spotted on the show.

Thanks Kayla, for making podcasting great again. We'll miss your wisdom, no fear views and laughter.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

As Australians head to schools and halls on Saturday (although around 20% of the population has already voted) to cast their verdict on the last three years of the Albanese government, Startup 360 cohosts Simon Thomsen and Kayla Medica took a look at the policies and election promises for the tech sector from both Labor and the Coalition.

It was a short conversation.

There's a sense of disappointment and frustration across the industry that both major parties have shown so little interest in innovation and tech, and organisations such as FinTech Australia are saying it out loud too.

It's mostly bad news from both the government and opposition, with Labor's plan to tax unrealised gains on personal super funds worth more than $3 million at 15% a potential disaster for early-stage startup investing.

The Peter Dutton's Coalition wants to kill off Labor's $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, but at least aspiring treasurer Angus Taylor is offering tax breaks to early-stage startup investors via Early‑Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnerships (ESVCLP) scheme.

The Liberals want to double the current threshold for startups involved to $100 million, and do a similar thing for thee Venture Capital Limited Partnership threshold, increasing it from $250m to $500m.

But there's not much else on the table on this front.

Simon, a Gen Xer, also wanted to talk about Mick McConnell's LinkedIn post about life as a Gen Xer at the end of the analogue era.

Luckily, we had two amazing guests this week, investor Danielle Haj-Moussa, from deep tech fund Main Sequence Ventures, talking AI, and Angentian-born, soon-to-be-Australian Ramiro Roman Loureyro, the cofounder of Yakka Labour, for 10x, our 10 rapid-fire questions.

Danielle talks about using AI as a copilot in her daily life, her love of DJing and how she thinks about investor in ideas to change the world.

Ramiro talks about the scourge of modern slavery, Yakka's global plans and answers one of life's most important questions: who's Argentina's greater player, Maradona or Messi?

Startup 360 is all about staying human. It’s a weekly show, talking startups and tech.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

ACS CEO Josh Griggs joined us on the couch for Startup 360 to talk about what matters: backing Australian R&D all the way to commercial success.

The 50,000 members-strong IT body has released an election position paper with 9 recommendations for the next government across 2 major pillars: skills and commercialisation.

Griggs talked about that and ACS’s role in uniting the sector and lobbying for effective policy.

But because the show is more about founder fun than founder mode, cohost Kayla Medica asked him about his passions, while Simon wanted to know what led him from a high-flying corporate career in companies like Optus to leading a national member organisation that backs startups with ACS Labs.

Simon and Kayla also talked about Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg’s evidence in the US FTC's monopoly trial against Meta. Turns out he tried to buy Snap for $6 billion and by 2018, was already worried about being forced to divest of Instagram and WhatsApp.

They also talk about idiolects, as Kayla reveals her love of linguistics and Simon, his love of Kath and Kim.

Their guest for 10x this week is another Kayla, who’s a first time founder.

Kayla Parry launched Job Matched - think Tinder with AI to find the people and workplaces with the best cultural fit - this week and the dual US-Australian citizen talks about life as a Kayla and what drives her as a startup founder and how her ADHD shapes her thinking.

Startup 360 is all about staying human. It’s a weekly show, talking startups and tech.

Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Xylo helps companies address environmental protection alongside development, and landed a major international client. The VC described it as “a fluke”.

Startup 360 cohost Simon Thomsen was gobsmacked, pointing out that the implication from the comment is that the client didn’t know what they were doing signing up with Xylo.

A warning: there’s a fair bit of weariness in this week’s show as Simon and Kayla talk to two amazing women founders, the other being Jenny Rudd from New Zealand AI-based legal tech startup Dispute Buddy, who’s grilled in 10x, our rapid-fire questions, explaining how she went from an overnight factory job chopping up lettuce to becoming a founder and mum making life easier for lawyers and their clients when it comes to gathering information for a case.

The conversations with Camille and Jenny span everything from looking after your health to be the best founder you can to what Bilbies taste like (but only if you get them from Haigh's, not the wild) to discovering your family’s indigenous heritage and growing up around the world with a dad who’s a fighter pilot and the best parts of life in Aotearoa - the land of the long white cloud - as Jenny explains how a Kiwi bach works.

She also explains how lawyers are incentivised for conflict, advising Kayla to take Simon for everything when they fall out, and how she came to be in Australia thanks to Techstars Sydney.

Kayla suggested she watch Fisk, the ABC comedy by Kitty Flanagan, set in a law firm, while Jenny, who loves swimming at Manly beach in Sydney when she’s in town, recommended Phosphorsence by Julia Baird, as an inspiring book to read.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

The world did too, with more than 1.5 million viewed his posts on LinkedIn. The school principal was less impressed and the 17-year-old was suspended for two days.

Now he’s wagging school in Ireland and currently visiting Australia, the birthplace of his equally entrepreneurial dad, and meeting with Australian VCs to raise money for his second startup.

And they’re backing him. Liam already has around $400,000 in commitments.

Startup 360 hosts Simon Thomsen and Kayla Medica talked to Liam about his ambitions and adventures, including a wild summer in 2024 when they built a Shopify app and now his cofounder works at Shopify.

It’s a great chat with an inspiring young man who explains why pitch decks are not a must have when you’re looking for people to back an idea.

Simon and Kayla take listeners through the biggest news of the week - no, not Trumps tariffs, but the Federal Court fight between Sydney VC EVP, which invested $10.4 million in Melbourne startup StrongRoom AI, only to discover a few weeks later that a claimed profit was actually a loss of around $800,000 a month. The VC alleges the cofounder and CEO admitted fraud.

EVP wants their money back, and had StrongRoom’s assets frozen after the company went into administration. Startup 360 takes you through the story so far and the lessons for all.

Our guest for 10x is American-born Richard Savoie, cofounder of logistics software startup Adiona Tech, talking about what makes a good cofounder, being a dad, great bands, magic tricks and why he loves founder life.

Startup 360 is about founder fun more than founder mode. It’s all about staying human.It’s a weekly show, talking startups and tech, published every Friday.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

American-born Julie has been helping startup teams around the world build their imaginations and sense of adventure for decades as the founder of Playful Purpose.

One way she does it is with “Yes…. and…”

She gives Startup 360 host Simon Thomsen and Kayla Medica a simple and powerful explanation of its impact.

“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they're almost indistinguishable,” Julie said.

“So when I hear someone yes-and-ing me - and it doesn't even have to be the exact words “yes, and” but I'm hearing what they're saying.

“They hear what I have to say. They added to it. I feel heard and loved and I can continue.”

Julie brought her playfulness to 10x, Startup 360’s rapid fire questions, on episode 7, where she was joined by Climate Salad founder Mick Liubinskas, a pioneer of Australian tech described as “a startup godfather” when he headed to Silicon Valley way back in 2013.

The two have something in common - they both led Telstra’s pioneering incubator program, Muru-D.

Mick talks about his journey and how family brought his focus to climate tech and wanting to lead the planet in better shape for the next generation.

He also talks about the price of being a founder, and understanding the sacrifices that need to be made.

Simon and Kayla talk about the Budget - a short chat since there wasn’t much for startups, and that White House Signal conversation.

And Kayla is in party mode, asking everyone for tips on what makes a great party.

Startup 360 is about founder fun more than founder mode. It’s all about staying human.It’s a weekly show, talking startups and tech, published every Friday.

This week's episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Startup 360 cohost Kayla Medica has a theory.

“So many people now have glamourised being a founder, being an entrepreneur, that there's a whole host of people who just start businesses with that in mind, and they're not actually starting a business because they've encountered a serious problem that they're driven to solve,” she tells cohost Simon Thomsen on episode 6.

A lack of innovation is a key theme on this week’s show, featuring Zeina Khodr, founder of Paper & Spark; and fintech advisor and fitness freak Ben Ford.

Zeina, a mentor for women in tech, talks about leadership and team building and how AI is transforming marketing. She’s also an expert in residence for Innovation NSW, helping entrepreneurs find their feet and get their messaging right.

While Ben Ford gets into what makes good startup swag, he also talks about burnout and depression and the importance of looking after each other, having lost his sister-in-law, Vanessa, a high-powered UK lawyer, and recounts how two good friends in startups insisted on catching up with him to talk when all he felt like doing was curling up in a ball.

And did you know that 20 minutes of resistance training is better for your health than 20 minutes of running? We talk about health and well-being, joy and the guilty pleasure of English crime dramas on Startup 360.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

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It’s the question Startup 360 host Simon Thomsen put to Majella Campbell, the newly appointed CEO of Fishburners, Australia’s pioneering startup coworking space.

Majella talked about her mentor, Myles Baron-Hay, the former Sydney Swans CEO, saying “why not?” when she had her doubts.

"When I was unsure about taking on this role, he simply asked, ‘Why not?’,” she said.

“That moment shifted my perspective. A great mentor pushes you beyond your limits and helps you see opportunities where you only see obstacles."

She also revealed that she’s working on transforming Fishburners, which turns 15 next year, as the NSW government prepares to relocate the Sydney Startup Hub to Tech Central.

We also spoke to Zable Health cofounder Matt Gregory about his journey from real estate startup founder with Hey Agent, to healthcare Zable Health, which he cofounded in 2020 with his best mate, physiotherapist Scott Gentle.

Zable makes private healthcare simpler, faster and more accessible, giving patients the information they need and connecting them with the specialists that can help

While the duo are really competitive at the ping pong table and playing cricket, they complement each other in the business.

Startup 360 cohost Kayla Medica wanted to know about the biggest problem Zable faces getting an analogue health system onto a digital platform.

Matt talks about how to be pragmatic and take a bottom-up approach to that transformation to succeed.

He also gave some great advice on hiring - treat your potential employees like investors.

“The investor's putting in their cash, but the person working inside the business is providing their time,” Matt said.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Tomorrow, March 8, is International Women’s Day, and this year's theme is “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment. This week’s episode explores the challenges women face as founders, from funding to parenting and the self-doubt you can feel as a female founder (and even if you want to be referred to as a female founder).

Joining us this week are two amazing women: from Melbourne, Kaylene Langford, author of How to Start a Side Hustle and the founder of StartUp Creative; and in the studio, Jessica Baird Walsh, founder of Capital X, which is committed to supporting women founders.

Kaya and Cat discuss the challenges and experiences of being a female founder or minority entrepreneurs, including raising funds, as well as work-life balance and having a family.

As a parent, Cat’s open about the support she needs from family others to build a business while also raising children, and the challenge of maternity leave in a startup (since it doesn't really exist) and the tradeoffs involved in being a founder and working mum too.

Trace raised $1.5 million in 2022 from 21 investors and emerged from the Antler program.

Kayla asks both Cat and Kaylene about their advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, especially women. Kaylene says the way to overcome procrastination and self-doubt is to take small steps consistently, and the progress will compound over time. The trick is to take action rather than wait for everything to be perfect.

They also stress the importance of seeking advice and support from others who have been there before.

Kaylene also talks about the power of women’s intuition in business, and the need for persistence and self-care.

Jessica Baird Walsh started Capital X after facing her challenges in raising capital, particularly due to lack of access to networks. She talks about the power imbalance and gender biases in funding, as well as breaking negative stereotypes around women founders.

Jess is also a mother of three, and talked about sharing the load in raising a family, as well as her personal passion project - running every day. It started in 2022 as a 30 day challenge to run 5km. She’s now done it for 800 days straight and in late 2024, set a new goal - fundraising for the Indigenous Marathon Foundation.

She also discusses her mixed feelings about International Women's Day and gender disparities, advocating for more tactical and systemic changes.

There’s plenty to think about ahead of IWD in this edition of Startup 360. We hope you get something from it and go on to celebrate women and female founders for the other 364 days of the year too.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance

It’s all about founder fun, finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This week, Kayla and Simon celebrate Mardi Gras in Sydney this weekend talking about their favourite works by musicians and writers. Kayla recommends a Japanese all-women band, f5ve, loved by the queer community around the world.

Simon sounds a bit in love with Canadian singer Rufus Wainwright.

On the couch this week is politician Jacqui Munro, the youngest Liberal woman to be elected to the NSW Legislative Council, and the NSW Liberal Party's first LGBTQI+ woman Parliamentarian.

She’s also shadow assistant minister for the arts, innovation, digital government and the 24-hour economy, so we talk about the art of politics and compromise, acceptance, and startups.

Joining them for 10x, our rapid-fire questions, is Veronica Mason, a high-performance coach, with a passion for resilience and adaptive thinking and member of the LGBTIQ+ Advisory Council established last year by NSW Premier Chis Minns.

She’s also involved with The Pinnacle Foundation, which provides educational scholarships, mentoring and opportunities for young LGBTIQ+ Australians to realise their full potential.

After being outed in high school, Veronica broke her back in several places aged 23, learnt to talk again, and now focuses on helping others.

Kayla asks for the best piece of advice Veronica can give - watch your thoughts, she said, and explains why it’s important. She also shares what to look for in a mentor.

Simon asked the hard questions, like her favourite part of Mardi Gras.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

It’s all about founder fun, finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

For our second show, Kayla and Simon discuss exit strategies in the wake of KKR buying a $95 million slice of Employment Hero in a secondary market sale by OG investor Seek. With IPOs on the go slow, how do employees cash in on the success they helped build?

They also talked about how women are treated on social media after LinkedIn delayed taking down a post where a man compared marketing to breast sizes and talked about “A cup ideas and using verbal push up bras to attract eyeballs”.

Kayla revealed that what you see in public is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what women have to deal with.

Our guests this week are Tom Bruining cofounder of profitable, bootstrapped startup HowdyGo.

His cofounders are in Perth and the UK/Italy, catching up daily for 60 minutes.

Tom talks about changing expectations from taking on investors - an experience he had in a previous startup - life working from home, and how to include your partner in what you’re doing. (He just got married)

Joining us for 10x, our rapid-fire 10 questions, is Brian Swift, cofounder of Twine, which coincidentally, announced a $2.3 million raise backed by Airtree, just before he stepped into the studio.Brian’s CV includes time at Twitter, Atlassian, SafetyCulture, and Dovetail so we asked him about what he learnt, and what’s different when you become a founder, the favourite founder he worked for, and the startups he sees with unicorn potential.

He also revealed that they had between 50 and 100 names on a whiteboard before choosing Twine and explains how they chose it, as well as his favourite TV show.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

We want to have founder fun and find out what makes people tick - it’s not about GTM strategies and the next raise, it’s all about staying human.

In our first show, Kayla and Simon talk about the extraordinary success of Harrison.ai, the medical diagnostics analysis platform that raised a $179 million series C.

Kayla thinks they’ll be talked about alongside of wifi as a profound Australian tech development that goes global.

It’s Valentine’s Day and there’s a bit of talk about office liaisons.

Kayla, the show’s diversity hire, launches her new weekly advice section, Kayla’s Kareer Tip, delving into the tricky issue of workplace relationships, with the pending legal action at Dovetail between the CEO and an employee front of mind.

Rampersand senior associate Abhishek Maran posted about Investment at First Sight on LinkedIn (Simon watched MAFS this week for the first time and can’t stop talking about it), and Kayla shares the worst pitch she had.

Our guests this week are serial entrepreneur Steve Taitoko, talking about why he was happy when he lost his startup, losing sight of your values, how to get them back and the importance of family, while Vinisha Rathod MD of p3 Studio deals with 10x, our rapid-fire 10 questions, and shares her Spotify focus playlist of female Nordic and Celtic voices (with thanks to Ekaterina Shelehova).

She also explains what happened - and went wrong when she impulsively booked flights to go see someone while drunk in a gay bar.

Speaking of drinks, we launched with 6Ft6 prosecco ($20) from Victoria’s King Valley. We bought it for the label, which said “I’m kind of a big deal”.

Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Think of it as your startup guide to staying human.

It’s all about lifting the bonnet on people to understand how they see the world and what inspires and drives them, and what they’ve learnt from both success and failure.

And don’t miss 10x, 10 rapid-fire questions that will surprise and make you laugh.

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