Open the Pod Bay Doors

Welcome to the OTPBD News Special, our fortnightly podcast analysing the news that matters for Australian and Kiwi startups.Meet the panel...Founder: Billy Tucker, OneFlareInvestor: Melissa Widner, NAB VenturesEcosystem Leader: Gavin Appel, Ignition LaneTopics we discuss:In this episode our panel covers both ANZ happenings and global headlines. Some local topics covered include local funding news, people moves, the best Aussie employers of 2020 and TikTok scrutiny from the Australian government. We also talk about world news like the international boycott Facebook movement, Bitcoin scammers, and COVID app woes around the globe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

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

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

Sam Chandler is the Founder and CEO of Nitro, a software company developing commercial software used to create, edit, sign, and secure Portable Document Format files and digital documents. Nitro is Australian-founded and is now listed on the ASX and headquartered in downtown San Francisco, with offices in Melbourne, Australia; Dublin, Ireland; and London, England.Sam grew up in Tasmania and started his first business at the age of 16. He started Nitro back in 2005 with a seed round of $1M and a $5M valuation after a few years of bootstrapping. The company went on to complete a Series A with Starfish Ventures and a Series B/C with Battery Ventures in San Francisco. Nitro launched in the US in 2008. The company has grown significantly in the past decade; Nitro has nearly 2 million licensed users in 144 countries and over 10,500 business customers, including over 65% of the Fortune 500 and two of the Fortune 10.In this episode, Sam talks aboutThe journey of building and growing Nitro form the ground upAdaptations Nitro has made in wake of COVID-19The process of designing a global team..and more! Give this episode a listen for insights from a dynamic Aussie founder.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

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

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