Open the Pod Bay Doors

Federico Collarte is the co-founder and CEO of Baraja, a rapidly growing startup creating LiDAR technology for self-driving cars. Baraja recently closed a $40m Series B, is scaling globally, and is quickly approaching a headcount of 200. Prior to co-founding Baraja, Federico worked in product development and systems engineering, with experience spanning the industrialisation of high volume telecommunication devices at Finisar, to the end-to-end systems engineering of an implantable hearing solution at Cochlear.In this chat with Phaedon, Federico discusses:The ins and outs of Baraja's most recent raiseAdvice for founders who are fundraisingBalancing the urgency of hiring with finding the right personLessons from building out overseas teamsCreating a culture that attracts problem solversManaging the co-founder relationship...and more!Quickfire Recommendations:Book: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne & The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben HorowitzPodcast: Lex Fridman Podcast & The Joe Rogan ExperienceNews source: The Information & TechCrunchTech CEO: Elon MuskProductivity tool: DaylioTed Talk topic: Resilience vs. Going All In_____________Baraja is hiring! And so are many other fast-growing Australian tech companies. Find the hottest jobs in #startupaus on Innovation Bay's new job board.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to another edition of the OTPBD News Special, our fortnightly series which analyses the news that matters for Australian and Kiwi startups.Meet this week's panel...Elicia McDonald, Airtree VenturesJohn Croll, TruescopeTopics we discuss:Ian and the panel discuss the new Sydney lockdown, why Andreessen Horowitz is getting into publishing, a new early-stage fund, confusingly called "The Fund" is launched in Australia. Plus a few juicy deal announcements and some good news for employers with technology jobs being added to the government's visa list. Plus much more.__________________KPMG High Growth Ventures surveyed 120 Australian startup founders about their satisfaction, work-life balance & future outlook. The report uncovers important insights into the state of founder health & wellbeing in Australia. Download the report here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Darren Miller is the CEO of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Darren Miller has more than 25 years’ experience across a range of sectors including renewable energy, electricity retail, technology, finance, media and entertainment. Prior to joining ARENA Darren was the co-founder and CEO of Mojo Power, an innovative electricity retailer.In this conversation with Phaedon about Australia's renewable energy future, Darren discusses:ARENA’s investment track recordThe future role of hydrogen in Australia’s energy infrastructureThe rise of electric vehicles and the challenges of the charging networkHow startups contribute to the energy systemARENA is co-hosting the upcoming Renewable Energy Founder Forum with Innovation Bay this October. This event brings together clean energy startups, investors and industry stakeholders, opening up future pathways to funding and partnerships. Pitch applications for the event close Friday 25 June. If your renewable energy startup is shaping Australia’s clean energy future, apply to pitch here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to another edition of the OTPBD News Special, our fortnightly series which analyses the news that matters for Australian and Kiwi startups.Meet this week's panel...Cheryl Mack, Stone & ChalkRichard Lin, AirTreeThis week our panel talks about some of the massive acquisitions and rounds recently raised in the Australian ecosystem, including the $2b acquisition of A Cloud Guru, the $1.7b acquisition of MessageMedia, and new funds from Tenacious Ventures and Investible....Our friends at KPMG High Growth Ventures just published their annual report about startup founder health and wellbeing. The founder journey can be physically, mentally and emotionally draining so it's so important to have data like this available so we can better understand how to support founders. View the report here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to another edition of the OTPBD News Special, our fortnightly series which analyses the news that matters for Australian and Kiwi startups.Meet this week's panel...Hannah Field, Folklore VenturesAndrew Coppin, FarmbotTopics we discuss:Our panel discusses the newest COVID lockdown in Victoria, Artesian's new report about the growth of Australian VC over the last decade, workplace comms startup Pyn's $8m seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (the firm's first Aussie investment), and what Anil Sabharwal, Google's Australia-based star product leader, is up to next.__________________Innovation Bay is hosting the Renewable Energy Founder Forum this October in partnership with ARENA. This forum provides a unique opportunity for renewable energy startups to pitch to the Australian investment community and key industry stakeholders. If your startup is shaping Australia's clean energy future, apply to pitch here.__________________KPMG High Growth Ventures surveyed 120 Australian startup founders about their satisfaction, work-life balance & future outlook. The report uncovers important insights into the state of founder health & wellbeing in Australia. Download the report here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew Nunn is Co-Founder, Chairman and Executive Director of JBS&G Australia—one of Australia’s largest privately-owned environmental consulting companies. Andrew also acts as Director for several companies focussed on property development, private equity investments, and entertainment opportunities. In partnership with his wife Alexandra Dimos, he founded the Nunn Dimos Foundation, a philanthropic fund focussed on supporting key social and arts causes in South Australia. As the South Australian Chief Entrepreneur, Andrew provides high-level, independent advice to the South Australian Cabinet and the business community to enable entrepreneurialism across all forms of business, industry, and the public sector.In this chat with Ian, Andrew discusses:His own entrepreneurial journeyWhat exactly a Chief Entrepreneur doesHow South Australia is growing into a startup hubWhy he is passionate about giving back to his communitySouth Australia's key strengths, including space, defense, agtech, and renewable energyQuickfire recommendations:Book - by Bill BrowderRed Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for JusticeFavorite tech CEO - Flavia Tata Nardini of Fleet Space TechnologiesApp - SpotifyProductivity tool - coffeeTV show - SeinfeldTed Talk topic - "The role philanthropy can play in innovation and entrepreneurship"______________________________________If you're interested in joining Horizon Six Degrees, our community for angel investors in South Australia, email membership@innovationbay.com....KPMG High Growth Ventures surveyed 120 Australian startup founders about their satisfaction, work-life balance & future outlook. The report uncovers important insights into the state of founder health & wellbeing in Australia. Download the report here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to another edition of the OTPBD News Special, our fortnightly series analysing the news that matters for Australian and Kiwi startups.Meet this week's panel...Danny Kennedy, New Energy NexusImogen Baxter, Square Peg CapitalMatt Pearson. AirspeederTopics we discuss:Our panel discusses the open letter regarding climate change Aussie tech leaders penned to the government, whether or not founders should heed Scott Farquhar warning against bootstrapping, the recent plunge in Bitcoin and SafetyCulture's latest funding round.__________________Innovation Bay is hosting the Renewable Energy Founder Forum this October in partnership with ARENA. This forum provides a unique opportunity for renewable energy startups to pitch to the Australian investment community and key industry stakeholders. If your startup is shaping Australia's clean energy future, apply to pitch here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Warrick Cramer was most recently the CEO of Vodafone’s Global Centre for Innovation in Europe, known as Tomorrow Street – a joint venture between Vodafone and the Government of Luxembourg to scale late-stage start-ups, assisting them to reach key global markets and make real change. Warrick sits on the board of a Silicon Valley based venture capital fund and is a Non-Executive Director for Advance.org.Prior to moving to Europe, Warrick was an established entrepreneur in Melbourne. Among the businesses he founded was Micro P, a mobile payment company which developed a highly successful payment security authentication system that still used by several banks today. Since returning to Australia in early 2020, Warrick has been consulting a number of organisations in the start-up sector.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to another edition of the OTPBD News Special, our fortnightly series analysing the news that matters for Australian and Kiwi startups.Meet this week's panel...Mike Zimmerman, Partner at Main Sequence VenturesAndrew Horsley, Co-founder & CEO at Quantum BrillianceSarah Nolet, Partner at Tenacious VenturesTopics we discuss:Our panel discusses Main Sequence Ventures' new $250m deep tech fund, the huge $221m raise by Brisbane-based Octopus Deploy, a $34m raise by seaweed livestock feed supplement maker Sea Forest and the Ingenuity helicopter flight on Mars.__________________If you are a prospective angel investor based in Adelaide interested in joining Horizon Six Degrees, Innovation Bay's new community for angels, email membership@innovationbay.com to discuss your potential candidacy as a founding member. More info here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Peter Dunne is one of Australia’s leading venture capital and private equity lawyers, specialising in private capital raisings and M&A. Peter has advised on multibillion-dollar transactions, including acquisitions, buy-outs, disposals, joint ventures and recapitalisations, involving some of Australia’s largest public and private organisations; his clients include Atlassian, Canva, Deputy, Culture Amp, Linktree, BigCommerce, Campaign Monitor, Expert 360, SafteyCulture, Tyro, Zoox...the list goes on.In this conversation with Ian, Peter talks about...Why he became a lawyer and how early experiences shaped his careerWhy he's more interested in people than the size of dealsKey differences between private equity and venture capitalHow he got involved in Atlassian's first capital raiseHis approach to building a tech practice and choosing clientsHis advice for startup founders who are fundraisingWhat "legal debt" is and how to avoid itQuickfire recommendationsBooks: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez & To the Lighthouse by Virginia WoolfPodcast: This American LifeNews source: The Economist or The GuardianTech founder: Luke Anear of SafetyCultureProductivity tool: Atomic HabitsTV show: Dr. WhoTed Talk topic: How we can inspire and help each other____________________If you are a prospective angel investor based in Adelaide interested in joining Horizon Six Degrees, Innovation Bay's new community for angels, email membership@innovationbay.com to discuss your potential candidacy as a founding member. More info here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.