Australian Investors Podcast Shopify, YouTube, AI & Instagram: how to invest in digital businesses, ft Flippa CEO Blake Hutchison
Nov 10, 2025
Blake Hutchison, CEO of Flippa and expert in online asset marketplaces, shares insights on the booming digital business landscape. He discusses how Flippa became the largest platform for buying and selling digital ventures. Blake highlights the rising interest in Shopify, YouTube, and AI businesses, alongside the challenges of lower valuation multiples for small digital firms. He also explores the unique infrastructure supporting online M&A, the importance of deal flow, and shares valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
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Career Path To Leading Flippa
- Blake describes his career from Lonely Planet to startups, to Xero and Luxury Escapes before joining Flippa.
- He sold his earlier marketplace on Flippa and later was recruited to turn Flippa into a global platform.
Flippa Is M&A For Digital Businesses
- Flippa is essentially an M&A marketplace for online businesses, trading $10k–$10m across 130 countries.
- It pulls verified platform data (Shopify, Stripe, Google Analytics) to provide buyers integrity and comparability.
Investor Demand Follows Platform Trends
- Most-searched asset types have shifted: AdSense blogs, then Shopify e‑commerce, now YouTube and AI-influenced businesses.
- Investors follow platform shifts and search behaviour, so category demand guides Flippa's expansion.