Australian Business Podcast

Australian unicorns: $1 billion startups you've never heard of

4 snips
Nov 23, 2025
Thomas Derricott and Wenee Yap, co-authors of "Riding the Unicorn," share their journey through the startup world. They define what makes a unicorn and explore why Australia excels in this space compared to Silicon Valley. The duo introduces a six-stage founder framework to guide aspiring entrepreneurs. They discuss the nuances between startups, small businesses, and side hustles, and Wenee recounts the lessons learned from launching a cat café. Additionally, they highlight the significance of storytelling and learning from failures in building successful ventures.
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INSIGHT

Australia's Unicorn Definition And Examples

  • A unicorn is a private startup valued at $1 billion or more and Australia produces many per capita.
  • Examples include SafetyCulture, Culture Amp and Canva showing local potential.
INSIGHT

Australia's Capital Efficiency

  • Australia is extremely capital-efficient at producing unicorns per dollar invested.
  • The ecosystem is the second fastest growing in the world, after India, by some metrics.
ADVICE

Use A Stage-Based Startup Framework

  • Use a stage framework to find the exact guidance you need rather than reading everything sequentially.
  • Target chapters to your stage: idea, MVP, product-market fit, fundraising or scaling.
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