This week's guest was Michael Trail, the co-founder of Macquarie Group's private equity business, Macquarie Direct Investment, and was also the founding CEO of Social Ventures Australia (SVA).   Currently Michael spends his time as Executive Director at For Purpose Investment Partners, is the Chair of the Paul Ramsey Foundation and is a director at multiple organisations such as Sunsuper, MH Carnegie & Co, and Australian Philanthropic Services.   Michael details his enormous career across finance, social impact and in non-profit organisations in his book 'Jumping Ship: From the World of Corporate Australia to the Heart of Social Investment'.   You can get the book here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Jumping-Ship-Corporate-Australia-Investment/dp/1743792573

This week we sat down with one of Australia’s startup icons, Airtasker founder and CEO Tim Fung. Most of you will know Airtasker, a platform where you can connect with experts to get any job done. We discussed when Tim decided to leave the corporate world, the origins of Airtasker, what it means to be a good ‘executor’ and technology trends. You are in for an amazing episode. Books mentioned by Tim Change Your Questions Change Your Life- Marliee Adams Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts- Annie Duke Thinking, Fast and Slow- Daniel Kahneman

This week we sat down with Sean Stuart, author of ‘The Curious Ape’, a book that explores the 25 most powerful ideas on the Joe Rogan Podcast. In true Rogan fashion we had a free flowing conversation about everything from our versions of a utopia, tribes, the war on drugs to mental health. Sean also studies science/law at USYD and interns at the venture capital firm Blackbird. Happy 2021 and enjoy!

This week we sat down with the incredible Michael O’Leary to talk about his career and all things impact investing. We discussed the current downfalls in capitalism before considering what the average citizen can do to make a difference. Michael has studied at both Harvard and Stanford and was one of the founding members of Bain Double Impact (the firms social impact arm). Michael has also written the book ‘Accountable-The Rise of Citizen Capitalism’ which was one of our favourite reads of the year. Enjoy this thought provoking conversation! Accountable: The Rise of Citizen Capitalism: https://www.amazon.com.au/Accountable-Citizen-Capitalism-Michael-OLeary/dp/0062976516

Adam Milgrom, partner at Giant Leap Fund, discusses impact investing, sustainable living, and investing in startups. They explore the challenges of measuring impact, the distinction between impact investing and entrepreneurship, and the future of socially responsible investing. They also delve into a day in the life of a venture capitalist and discuss future trends in technology and influential recommendations in the investing space.

Philip Chan has had a phenomenal career spread across human rights law, academia, being a policy advisor and working in the corporate sector. He is currently the Academic Dean of Wesley College and a lecturer of human rights law at Western Sydney University. Previously he worked as an advisor at the UN, was a senior consultant in human rights consulting at KPMG, worked in human rights law for one of the worlds top pro bono law firms, has provided legal advice on the frontline of the refugee crisis and served in public diplomacy at the Australian Embassy. We talked with him about his passion for human rights, what working for the UN was like, global issues and what is necessary for human rights leadership.

This week we got to chat with the incredible Evan Wong, founder of Checkbox. At just 25 Evan has started two successful companies and was recently enacted as a Forbes Top 30 under 30 in the Enterprise Technology section. In this episode we dived deep into how Evan suggests anyone finds their purpose, his plans to turn Checkbox into a $1B company and the pressures of entering a 'prestigious' career at university. This was one of our favourite episodes yet!Checkbox: https://checkbox.ai/ Follow Evan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theevanwong?originalSubdomain=au

This week we talked to David Lu who is a partner at 256 Capital Partners and Virgil Capital, which are both investment firms which specialise in cryptocurrency assets. David became partner at those firms just a few years after finishing his Bachelor of Law/Commerce degree at UNSW. At university he co-founded a venture capital firm called Textbook Ventures and also worked at a number of other VC's such as Golden Gate Ventures in Singapore. We talked to David about his career journey, the experience of being a partner at an investment firm at such a young age and trends in the world of technology, with an emphasis on cryptocurrency. David's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daluie/?originalSubdomain=au

This week we dived into the world of Angel Investing and Venture Capital with local legend Les Szekely. Les is the son of refugees and believes that he had business in his blood from a young age, selling clothes at Paddy's Market. Fast forward a few years and Les was a partner at Deloitte and began angel investing, investing in HotelClub and SiteMinder, the later which is now worth over $1B. Les is also the co-founder of the VC Equity Venture Partners and is an active part of the Australian startup community. We dived into Les’s views on career, his transition from corporates into angel investing and the future technology trends he predicts. You are in for an amazing episode.

This episode features John Treadgold who is a communications and strategy consultant who works with major companies and governments to pursue greater sustainability in their investments. In his career he has worked with the UN, The World Bank and many fund managers. John also has a podcast called 'Good Future' where he interviews business leaders in sustainability, impact investing and social enterprise who are re-defining economics and building companies as a force for good.Much of our focus on this weeks episode was on impact investing, how to combat the issues of capitalism and sustainability.  2:18: What does re-capitalism mean for John? 6:48: What are the problems with capitalism right now? 11:18: The role of ESG policies in shifting business behaviour 17:48: Reframing impact investment from a risk perspective 24:30: Impact in private equity vs public investing 28:08: Are there enough public companies that can be sustainable? 34:42: Is the trend of impact investing here to stay? 39:52: Other examples of public market activism and private impact investment 45:43: Is the future of public companies CSR? 48:04: What does impact mean? 55:55: Advice for university students