What a way to end the season! Amanda Price is one person I have been dying to connect with for such a long time. To my absolute delight she shared so much of her journey and importantly herself, one I think so many in this space will resonate with and perhaps share her lived experience. 

Amanda’s background as a startup operator put her at the forefront of the nascent Australian startup world back in the 2000s. Amanda was the CEO of AirWORKS Media in 2003, before relocating to Los Angeles to become EYE Corp’s Vice President of Business Development, Partner Relations and Operations.

Amanda then founded Ausemerge in 2010 representing Australian-based ventures, working with 80 high growth technology-enabled companies to accelerate their entry into the US.

Along with Advance, Amanda developed the elevate61accelerator and ran it for 3 years before joining KPMG as the Head of High Growth Ventures in late 2016, a role she continues to hold today. 

Amanda not only shares so much of herself in this episode but also some fantastic tips on the importance of self awareness, working with people NOT like you, coaching and the icebox concept on staying focused.

If you loved this season and our Connect to Capital podcast, let us know and send an email to [email protected] on who you want to hear from in 2024. If there is enough interest, we will run season 3.

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Tracey Warren has busted into the startup scene like a lotus flower, currently flourishing at significant speed! If you didn’t know, Tracey is the CEO at F5 Collective, the newest women focused fund to enter the Aussie market. Her energy is infectious and I vibed her passion and conviction on backing women founders. 

F5 Collective invests in women building high-growth tech ventures at early stage from Seed through to Series A. There on a mission to catalyse change for 1 BILLION women across the Asia Pacific region.

Trace talks to me about her recent trip to India for Startup20 in Delhi. Completing an Executive private equity and venture capital course dominated by men at Harvard business school and the work she is doing across the ecosystem including the Female Founder Circle a partnership with The Startup Network. As well as her lived experience as a Founder. 

The alignment with Scale Investors is electric as is the conversation. We always say picking apart early stage businesses is easy, building conviction however, is, what sets apart the best in the biz. Tracey's institutional grade business development background really shines through in her articulate high conviction in women founders and I loved every single moment!

Links and Resources

F5 Collective

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We, and by we I mean my business partners co-CEO Chelsea Newell and CIO Roo Harris always say, if we could clone Phil Dolan we would do it in a heartbeat. He is our number one advocate and supporter.  

Phil Dolan’s list of credentials are akin to the super long list of credits at the end of a great movie. He has played a multitude of roles over his illustrious career and is at the cutting edge of how the latest tech can permanently and fundamentally shift ways of working. This is particularly evident in his current role as Executive Director of the Institute for the Future of Business at The University of Melbourne.  

Phil begun his foray into academia after running the research team at Macquarie for 15 years, an extremely prestigious role in the world of finance. He then transitioned into Professor life, starting in the role of Professor at Macquarie University. He completed his PhD from Stanford University under Bill Sharp, was the Dean at The University of Western Australia and adjunct Professor at both Monash and La Trobe Universities. 

Phil talks to me about some of extensive angel portfolio of Scale companies and why he invested in them. Phil is also a member of our inaugural Investment Committee for our new fund, The Scaling Women’s Fund. We couldn’t be more honoured to have him. 

I am sure you will find this conversation as intriguing and insightful as I always find my conversations with Phil. Thank you Phil for being our number one fan and most loyal advocate. Carol would be so proud.

Resources and Links

Phil Dolan on LinkedIn

Persuasion by Robert Cialdini 

Noise by Daniel Kahneman

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Shift 

The Rest is History 

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Jodie is the co-CEO and co-founder at Tractor Ventures, I was really looking forward to learning more about Jodie to better understand how she got to where she is today. I find Jodie one of the most interesting people in the startup ecosystem, she has a humility about her and a voice I could listen to all day! 

Jodie’s passion for helping businesses start and grow is evident throughout our conversation. Before founding Tractor Ventures with Matt and Aprill Allen she was the General Manager at SBE Australia, she also set up the Innovation Bay community in Melbourne and is an advisor to multiple startups and mentor at Statemate. 

Jodie also has experience as a founder of Occasional Butler, a two-sided marketplace that was acquired by rival Airtasker, and founded depo8 a coworking space. 

In this chat you will hear about how knowing your strengths, trying something new and what you focus on expands are all mantras Jodie lives by, not to mention learning who inspires her most. Truly a humbling and super fun chat! 

Links and Resources

Jodie on LinkedIn

Tractor Ventures

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Born in South Africa and living in the Middle East in his formative years, instilled a level of risk management and always having a plan B. This alongside sailing and the philosophy of water clarity has translated into Neil’s investment style. 

Neil Stanford is a highly accomplished executive and currently the Executive Director of heading up the Venture Capital team at Breakthrough Victoria. A $2 billion initiative to invest in innovative startups that make a positive impact in Victoria. 

Neil’s impressive career spans across his role as the Head of Private Equity and Venture Capital at HostPlus, where he led a remarkable investment team. Over the past decade, Neil's team has provided backing and support to a greater number of Australian venture managers than any other group in the industry.

Notably, Neil played a crucial role in introducing venture investing to Hostplus in 2014, initiating a wave of early-stage investments into superfund portfolios across the country. His visionary approach and unwavering support have been instrumental in driving the success of The Female Leaders Fund, a series A and B fund Scale investors has partnered with Artesian VC on with HostPlus serving as one of the cornerstone investors. 

Neil consistently seeks out untapped opportunities and unconventional strategies. His ability to identify overlooked prospects has been key to his track record of success. 

I am sure you will enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I did hearing it.

Links and Resources

Against the Odds: An Autobiography

Interested in learning more about Scale? Head to our website to find learn more!

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Michelle Deaker loves doing hard things. She has a first class honours degree in science, a masters majoring in physics and chemistry, a PHD in applied science and has represented her country in a super demanding sport.

But Michelle is best known for her outstanding contribution to innovation that can make a real difference in people’s lives. Michelle co-founded OneVentures one of Australia's leading Venture Capital firms (with 600M in funds under management). Michelle brings unique insight to the healthcare and technology companies in which she invests, having herself built and successfully exited a global technology business in arguably the most difficult environment of the early 2000’s dot com bubble.

Michelle’s passion for innovation, entrepreneurship, women in business, diversity and ethical leadership are clear in everything she does.

Links and Resources

Portfolio company - Vaxxas

OneVentures

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Yish Koh is the managing director at Kit, a smart money app for kids and their parents, which is part of x15ventures, CBA’s innovative corporate venture operation.

Despite having 1st Class Honours and University Medal in Chemical engineering and commerce from Sydney University and being described by those she works with as an inspiring leader, Yish is a recovering insecure overachiever who has had to work hard to find balance.

Her road to founder CEO took a circuitous path via management consulting, not for profit and venture investing. She is a passionate believer in the power of diversity and is a shining demonstration that it is possible to do well by doing good.

Links and Resources

Kit App

Masters of Scale Podcast

Happiness Lab Podcast

X15 Ventures

Academic Research In Your Hands

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After growing up in Texas, Hannah Parton Cyr studied chemical engineering and nanotechnology at the University of Southern California. Following that, she began her career in the Transportation sector in Australia where she worked across corporate strategy, safety and supply chain. After completing her Masters of International Economics and Finance from the University of Queensland, she joined the Black Sheep investment team. 

At Black Sheep, Hannah is involved in all parts of the investment life cycle, from taking first meetings with startups, progressing due diligence and post-investment engagement and bespoke project work with portfolio companies. She is an active member of the local Queensland ecosystem, organising the Women in VC SEQ events and conducting regular office hours with local startups. She has a love for all things early stage, particularly companies with an impact lens.

Links

Hannah’s profile on LinkedIn

Black Sheep

Llamalife

Book an Artist

The Gist (Podcast)

Comments by Celebs (Podcast)

Dune (novel)

Victoria E Schwab

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Tracie Clark GAICD CPA is an active Angel investor and investment professional with over 25 years’ experience in investment management, financial services, accounting and business strategy.

After early roles in accounting and investment banking she founded two successful financial services companies. She is heavily involved in Perth’s startup community and has a passion for supporting innovation and mentoring future entrepreneurs. 

In addition to investment, Tracie brings invaluable tools for financial discipline but she is all about delivering benefit not creating bureaucracy. At Scale we are delighted that Tracie will be an inaugural member of the Scaling Women’s Fund Investment Committee.

Links and Resources

Tracie Clark on LinkedIn

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Melissa Widner is the CEO of Lighter Capital, the pioneer and leading provider of revenue based financing to SAAS companies. She has a deep understanding of the entrepreneur's journey and the importance of growth capital.

Previously, she was the Managing Director of NAB Ventures, the venture capital arm of National Australia Bank, where she invested in and served as a director for several global fintech companies. This was preceded by her role as a general partner at SeaPoint ventures, a US based venture capital firm focused on mobile technologies and SaaS enterprise software solutions. She is an active angel investor who served on the board of US based Alliance of Angels, one of the longest running and most active angel groups in the world. She was a lecturer in the subjects of Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship at University of Washington’s MBA program.

Melissa is a classic example of founder turned funder, having led two companies to successful acquisitions that provided over a 10X return to investors, including enterprise software company, 7Software (acquired by Nasdaq listed Concur Technologies.

Melissa has helped transform the Australian startup sector since her relocation here with her Australian husband in 2009. Passionate about female entrepreneurship, Melissa co-founded and now chairs of Heads Over Heels, an organization that works with women entrepreneurs leading high growth companies. And at Scale investors, we are thrilled that she has recently joined our investment committee.

Links/Resources/Companies

Wave to be acquired by H&R Block for $537 million

Clarisonic

Car Next Door acquired by Uber

Iivy

Books

Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big

Podcast

What Fuels You

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