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  • The Part No One Tells - WBGS Yas Grigaliunas (Part 1)

    Yas Grigaliunas turned a backyard charity garage sale into Circonomy, one of Australia's most recognised circular-economy companies — years before "circular economy" was even a phrase. In Part 1 of her Perspective X conversation with Pauline Fetaui, she traces the rise: from selling homemade cupcakes at 5am triathlon training and asking herself "how do you raise money without asking people for money," to $15,000 in a single day, to quitting her job with no plan B, to a $4 million raise in four weeks with Officeworks on the cap table.

    It's also a portrait of the engine underneath: a relentlessly data-obsessed, "burn bright, not burn out" founder who walked into rooms she was told she didn't belong in — including a memorable run-in with Steve Baxter at River City Labs — turned "surprise chain" into supply chain for Officeworks the weekend COVID shut the world down, and built a company on the conviction that idle assets, and overlooked people, are worth far more than anyone assumes.

    Part 2 is the harder conversation — the cost, and what happened when it all changed.

    Episode Summary

    Yas Grigaliunas, founder of World's Biggest Garage Sale and Circonomy, joins Pauline Fetaui for Part 1 of a Perspective X conversation about building a circular-economy company in Australia before the term existed. From a charity garage sale that did $15,000 in a day to a $4 million capital raise in four weeks, Yas unpacks the data discipline, the conviction, and the well-timed moments that turned "dormant goods for good" into a national enterprise — and the energy source that, after 30 years of people predicting her burnout, still hasn't run dry.

    Time Stamps

    00:00 - A garage full of stuff, and one question: how do you raise money without asking for money?

    02:10 - Welcome to Perspective X: Pauline's "love letter" introduction to Yas

    03:13 - The cancer-charity origin and "dormant goods for good"

    05:30 - The first World's Biggest Garage Sale: $15k in a day, 50 volunteers

    12:58 - Scaling the events: $15k to $60k to $150k in a single day

    18:06 - River City Labs, Steve Baxter, and "I'm not a tech founder, I'm a business builder"

    24:55 - 168 hours in a week: time, data, and consistency

    31:14 - Confidence, the seesaw, and falling in love with yourself

    36:57 - Coining "Circonomy" before circular economy was a buzzword

    41:29 - From events to a warehouse: building a real business

    48:07 - Officeworks, "surprise chain," and the Retail Rescue the weekend COVID hit

    49:54 - The $4 million raise and the "capital raise cave"

    51:13 - Raising $4M in four weeks as a female founder

    58:55 - Preparation, persistence, and watching who opened the pitch deck

    About the host

    Pauline Fetaui hosts Perspective X, the Day One Network show that goes beyond the highlight reel to explore the inner worlds, convictions and turning points of founders and leaders.

    About Day One Network

    Perspective X is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators and investors. Join our newsletter at https://dayone.fm/newsletter to hear about new and upcoming shows.

    Perspective X is powered by Deel.

    Sponsors:Perspective X is supported by our wonderful sponsors:

    Deel:

    Global hiring and payroll can be a headache. Deel brings HR, IT and payroll together in one platform, helping companies including Shopify, Revolut and ElevenLabs scale internationally.

    Ready to expand your business?

    Build your global team with Deel at deel.com/dayone.

    Follow Day One: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/dayonefm/ · Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dayone.fm/ · TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@dayone.fm

    Mentioned in this episode:

    Deel x PX_Script 2

    Deel x PX_Script 1

    1 hr 7 min
  • Building AI at Scale: Inside Australia's Largest Bank with Blair Hudson

    This is a #paidpartnership with Commonwealth Bank

    Episode Summary

    Blair is the Chief Engineer of Generative AI at Commonwealth Bank, overseeing nine to ten teams building the AI platform that powers Australia’s largest bank and its millions of customers. Including me, a Dollar Mite since primary school.

    His origin story is not what you would expect. He was a self-described hacker who grew up clicking through every system configuration setting he could find on his mum’s school computers after hours. That curiosity took him from building on GPT-2 before ChatGPT even existed, to the heart of one of Australia’s most important institutions.

    In this episode we get into:

    • The litmus test he uses to spot bad AI use immediately
    • Why context matters more than prompting
    • What an AI platform actually is and why your company probably needs one
    • Why software engineers need to take more accountability for what they build
    • The single security mistake most people are still making
    • Why it is absolutely not too late to figure AI out for yourself

    Practical, candid, and full of things you can action today.

    Time Stamps

    00:00 Intro

    03:05 What Does a Chief Engineer of AI at a Bank Actually Do

    06:02 How CBA Collaborates Across Hundreds of Engineering Teams

    08:56 How to Keep Up With AI Tools Without Getting Overwhelmed

    12:04 Why Tool Consistency Matters in Enterprise AI

    14:56 Why Blair Shares His AI Insights Publicly

    17:51 What Being a Hacker Really Means in Tech

    20:50 How Blair Hudson Went From Startup AI to Commonwealth Bank

    23:59 Why CBA Starts Every Sprint With a Real Customer Call

    27:06 Why Over-Engineering Is Killing Your AI Projects

    29:47 Where AI Is Actually Moving the Needle in Banking Right Now

    32:15 Why the Year of the Agent Was Overhyped

    34:41 How to Build AI Fast Without Cutting Corners on Safety

    39:28 What Is an AI Platform and Why Does Your Company Need One

    41:49 How CBA Handles Shadow AI and Tool Adoption at Scale

    45:09 Why Context Is More Important Than Prompting

    50:29 The Number One Security Mistake You Are Still Making

    52:30 The Easiest Way to Start Using AI to Save Time Today

    54:05 Why You Should Never Ship AI Output Without Reviewing It

    55:38 Why It Is Not Too Late to Learn AI

    In the Blink of AI is made possible by our wonderful partnersDeel

    Global hiring and payroll can be a headache. Deel brings HR, IT and payroll together in one platform, helping companies including Shopify, Revolut and ElevenLabs scale internationally.

    Ready to expand your business?

    Build your global team with Deel at deel.com/dayone.

    ✨ Connect with Georgie Healy

    Weekly Substack: https://georgiehealy.substack.com/

    Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georginahealy/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georginahealytech/

    The Day One Network

    In The Blink of AI is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors.

    Sign up to get your weekly insights into the up-and-coming AI startups: https://dayone.fm/newsletter

    Mentioned in this episode:

    Deel x PX_Post Intro

    1 hr
  • One List Every Head of People Needs Before Their CEO Says to Use AI with Ben Langer, Global HR Executive

    Description: Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Ben Langner, Global HR Executive, we explore the evolving role of AI in HR — where it genuinely accelerates decision-making, where it falls short, and which human moments should never be handed over to automation. Ben shares his practical framework for building a "no-fly list" of irreplaceable human interactions, and how people teams can lead AI adoption inside their organizations with confidence and clarity.

    Chapters:

    00:00 Introduction to the FNDN Series
    00:44 Welcome Ben Langner: AI and HR Today
    02:19 Speed to Insight: AI's Most Practical HR Use Cases
    04:46 The Risk of Using AI as a Crutch
    08:43 Better Prompting: How to Get More Out of AI
    10:08 Interactive Prompting vs. Single-Point Prompts
    12:24 AI in Practice: Internal vs. Personal Use Cases
    13:45 Why Claude Is Changing Lives in the HR Space
    15:58 Balancing AI's Pace of Change with Security
    16:04 The List: Defining Where Humans Must Stay in the Loop
    19:08 How to Start the AI Conversation Inside Your Business
    22:52 Performance Management: A Clear Case for Human Judgment
    24:45 Personal Moments at Work That Should Never Be Automated
    26:59 AI as a Gift for HR Teams, Not a Threat
    29:51 How AI Is Elevating the HR Role
    30:19 Connecting People Data to Business Outcomes
    36:04 AI Adoption: How HR Teams Can Lead the Charge
    40:22 Finding and Nurturing AI Champions Internally
    43:18 Raising the Ceiling: Adoption Models That Work
    44:34 Hackathons and Think Tanks: Structured AI Innovation
    47:10 Closing Thoughts and Wrap-Up

    Connect with Ben Langner

    Visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benlangner/

    Resources Mentioned

    Tools Mentioned: Claude (Anthropic) — AI tool Ben highlights as a game-changer for HR professionals in the last 30–60 days

    Events Mentioned: Join Startup People Summit, a one-day virtual conference designed for startup People leaders who want practical insight, honest conversations and proven approaches to scaling their People function — get your ticket here: www.startuppeoplesummit.com 

    More FNDN Episodes:

    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM

    Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484

    AIinHR, HRLeadership, PeopleOperations, AIAdoption, FutureOfWork, HRTech, StartupCompensation, HumanMoments, AIandHR, PeopleData, PromptingTips, HRStrategy, WorkplaceAutomation, PeopleTeams, StartupCulture, HRInnovation, AIChampions, ChangeManagement, TalentRetention, StartupLeadership


    49 min
  • You Can. But Should You? | AI and Ethics with Dr Simon Longstaff

    "Can does not imply should."

    That one line from Dr Simon Longstaff cuts to the heart of everything wrong with how the tech industry is currently building AI. The Executive Director of The Ethics Centre and one of Australia's most respected moral philosophers joins Georgie for a conversation that is equal parts grounding and mind-expanding, and one of the most important episodes the show has produced.

    Simon's path to becoming Australia's foremost ethics expert is not what you would expect. He left school at 16, cleaned toilets on a remote island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, drove ambulances, became a paramedic and fire officer, and was eventually adopted by one of the clans of the Anindilyakwa people. It was at the end of a ship loading wharf that an indigenous elder taught him something about seeing patterns in the world, a lesson he has carried through 35 years of philosophical work and only recently realised had shaped everything.

    In this episode he unpacks why ethics is not an optional extra bolted onto technology but the foundation it has to be built on, why the pharmaceutical approval model could be the blueprint for governing AI, and why "necessary fictions" mean that CEOs deploying AI are responsible for outcomes they literally cannot understand. He also makes the case that the coming wave of job displacement does not have to be a catastrophe, and explains what ancient Athens and pre-colonial Indigenous life have to do with universal basic income.

    In the Blink of AI is made possible by our wonderful partnersDeel

    Global hiring and payroll can be a headache. Deel brings HR, IT and payroll together in one platform, helping companies including Shopify, Revolut and ElevenLabs scale internationally.

    Ready to expand your business?

    Build your global team with Deel at deel.com/dayone.

    ✨ Connect with Georgie Healy

    Weekly Substack: https://georgiehealy.substack.com/

    Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georginahealy/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georginahealytech/

    The Day One Network

    In The Blink of AI is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors.

    Sign up to get your weekly insights into the up-and-coming AI startups: https://dayone.fm/newsletter

    Mentioned in this episode:

    Deel x PX_Post Intro

    1 hr
  • How to Price Your Business So You Actually Take Home Enough | Quinnie Chen from Profit Plainly

    Quinnie Chen is the founder of Profit Plainly, a web app built for solo founders and freelancers who have no finance team, no CFO, and no clear picture of whether their business is actually working for them. Quinnie built it to solve her own problem, after years of running a website and software design business post Canva, she kept reaching the end of the month and realising she had underpriced her work, taken on the wrong clients, and had no way of knowing what she actually needed to earn to replace a salary.

    In this episode, recorded live at the Cremorne Digital Hub in Melbourne, Quinnie joins Alan to talk through the early stages of bringing Profit Plainly to market. Alan challenges her to think more carefully about who her first customer really is, why accountants and bookkeepers might be her smartest go-to-market channel, and why per-usage pricing could unlock growth that a traditional SaaS model would block. It's a candid, practical conversation about the decisions every solo founder faces before they have any customers, any pricing, and any real clarity on where to focus.

    If you're building something early and trying to figure out where to start, this episode is for you.

    Time Stamps

    00:00 Trailer and Intro

    03:01 How Quinnie Chen Built Profit Plainly to Solve Her Own Freelancing Finance Problem

    05:47 Why Emotional Labor and Opportunity Cost Are Missing From Most Business Finance Tools

    08:52 How the Business Ikigai Framework Helps Solo Founders Identify Their Best Clients

    12:05 Why Accountants and Bookkeepers Are the Smartest First Customer for Profit Plainly

    14:54 How to Find a Go-To-Market Channel That Generates Both Revenue and Referrals

    18:02 Why Traditional SaaS Pricing May Not Work for Price-Sensitive Solo Founders

    21:04 How Per-Usage Pricing Could Help Profit Plainly Convert More Early Stage Users

    23:46 How to Start Experimenting With Paid Marketing Before Your Product Is Ready

    27:14 How to Build a Community and Reward Engaged Users on a Zero Budget

    30:03 How to Join the Profit Plainly Early Access Beta and What Comes Next

    Sponsors:Pick My Brain is supported by our wonderful sponsors:

    Deel: Global hiring and payroll can be a headache. Deel brings HR, IT and payroll together in one platform, helping companies including Shopify, Revolut and ElevenLabs scale internationally.

    Ready to expand your business?

    Build your global team with Deel at deel.com/dayone.

    ___

    Galah Cyber offers Application Security Assessment Get a clear, ten-minute snapshot of your AppSec maturity across the five core principles. Fast, practical insights you can act on straight away at https://www.galahcyber.com.au/assess

    The Day One NetworkPick My Brain is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors.

    To learn more, join our newsletter to be notified of new and upcoming shows. The only content we create is content that will help Australian founders.

    Mentioned in this episode:

    Deel x PX_Script 1

    Deel x PX_Script 2

    5 I’s of Application Security Assessment

    Get a clear, ten-minute snapshot of your AppSec maturity across the five core principles. Fast, practical insights you can act on straight away at galahcyber.com.au/assess.

    42 min
  • Learn how to use AI at its exponential with Anthropic's Head of Platform Engineering
    Episode Summary

    When Katelyn Lesse was leading engineering at Stripe, she noticed everything around her shifting because of AI. So she left, and joined Anthropic. Today she leads platform engineering at one of the most important AI companies in the world, which is why we were so thrilled to host her for Anthropic's first ever interview in Sydney.

    Katelyn does not lead with technical jargon. She leads with a question every builder needs to sit with right now. Are you building on the exponential, or are you stuck on the linear? Most people, she says, are already further behind than they realise.

    In this episode she shares the exact framework she uses to think about building in the AI era, why your frustrations with Claude are actually signals you are onto something, and what it really means to be AGI pilled inside Anthropic.

    Time Stamps

    00:00 Intro

    02:53 AI Hack: Using Claude to Pick Wine

    03:42 Katelyn's Background and Path to Anthropic

    05:32 Why She Left Stripe to Join Anthropic

    11:22 What Building on the Exponential Means

    11:48 Why Australia Is a Top AI Market

    13:05 Is the Claude Obsession Healthy?

    15:20 The Framework for Building AI Products

    16:38 Why Evals Are Non-Negotiable

    18:18 Inside Anthropic's Developer Platform

    20:11 What Is Harness Engineering?

    25:13 AI Security, Sandboxes and Human in the Loop

    29:09 Cloud Managed Agents Explained

    31:56 Open Source MCP vs Closed Claude

    33:48 How AI Is Changing Engineering Teams

    36:24 How to Choose the Right AI Coding Tool

    39:12 The End of the Traditional Tech Team

    44:30 The AI Magic Moment Everyone Remembers

    45:30 What It Means to Be AGI Pilled

    47:21 Rapid Fire With Anthropic

    49:56 Advice for Developers Building With AI

    In the Blink of AI is made possible by our wonderful partnersDeel

    Global hiring and payroll can be a headache. Deel brings HR, IT and payroll together in one platform, helping companies including Shopify, Revolut and ElevenLabs scale internationally.

    Ready to expand your business?

    Build your global team with Deel at deel.com/dayone.

    ✨ Connect with Georgie Healy

    Weekly Substack: https://georgiehealy.substack.com/

    Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georginahealy/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georginahealytech/

    The Day One Network

    In The Blink of AI is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors.

    Sign up to get your weekly insights into the up-and-coming AI startups: https://dayone.fm/newsletter

    Mentioned in this episode:

    Deel x PX_Post Intro

    52 min
  • How to Pick Pre-Seed Winners Before There's Any Data
    Episode Summary

    In this 101 episode, Cheryl and Maxine go deep on the fundamentals of pre-seed investing, from how the stage came to exist to why the perceived risk gap between pre-seed and seed is much smaller than most investors think.

    They break down the history of how venture stages evolved from single rounds to alphabetized series, how seed investors eventually got pushed up the stack, and why pre-seed emerged around 2017 to 2019 as a distinct category. They unpack why PitchBook's definition of pre-seed as "whatever the investor calls it" muddies the water, how seed preempts from larger funds are inflating average valuations, and why thinking in risk stages rather than round labels is a better framework for evaluating early companies.

    You'll also hear why graduation rates from pre-seed to seed don't support the idea that pre-seed is two to three times riskier, why the Australian ecosystem is sitting on a talent surplus with a capital gap at pre-seed, and why this stage is particularly well suited for angels building diversified portfolios of 20 to 40 companies. Cheryl shares her framework for evaluating pre-seed opportunities through the lens of problem pain, frequency, and market size, and Maxine walks through how to think about return profiles, dilution, and valuation at a stage where there are no outputs to measure.

    Time Stamps

    00:00 Intro

    01:56 – A brief history of venture stages: how pre-seed became a thing

    07:14 – Why round labels are broken and risk stages are a better framework

    09:23 – Seed preempts: how big funds are blurring the line between pre-seed and seed

    11:48 – Is pre-seed actually riskier than seed? The case that it's not

    16:41 – Graduation rates: what the data says about pre-seed to seed conversion

    22:59 – Valuation dynamics: what pre-seed rounds look like in Australia vs the US

    28:36 – Why Australian founders are leaving for the US at pre-seed and what that means

    31:29 – How to evaluate pre-seed companies: inputs over outputs

    35:05 – Cheryl's pain framework: frequency, intensity, and willingness to pay

    38:28 – Why pre-seed is the best stage for diversifying who gets funded

    43:44 – The AI revenue problem: why getting in early matters more than ever

    Sponsors:First Cheque is supported by our wonderful sponsors:

    Deel: Global hiring and payroll can be a headache. Deel brings HR, IT and payroll together in one platform, helping companies including Shopify, Revolut and ElevenLabs scale internationally.

    Ready to expand your business?

    Build your global team with Deel at deel.com/dayone.

    ___

    Pear Tree: Pear Tree helps Australian and New Zealand founders build high-performing offshore teams without the agency middleman.

    As local hiring becomes more expensive and harder to fill, many operators are turning to offshore talent across engineering, development, marketing, accounting and operations at a fraction of local salary costs.

    The offshore horror stories you hear usually aren’t a talent problem. They’re the result of outsourcing agencies that overcharge clients while underpaying staff. Pear Tree takes a different approach through a direct, transparent model where your team is paid fairly, fully compliant, and focused entirely on your business.

    As part of the Day One community, you’ll receive a free team audit to identify where offshore talent could move the needle in your business, plus 20% off your first hire. Learn more at http://dayone.fm/peartree

    First Cheque is part of Day One.Day One helps founders and startup operators make better business decisions more often.

    To learn more, join our newsletter to be notified of new First Cheque episodes and upcoming shows.

    Mentioned in this episode:

    Deel x PX_Script 1

    Deel x PX_Script 2



    This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

    Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp
    Spotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/
    48 min
  • The Wellbeing Strategy for Any Stage of Company with Phil Wolf, Founder at Connects Health

    Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Phil Wolf, Founder of Connects Health and workplace wellbeing specialist with over 15 years of experience, we unpack the growing mental load crisis facing today's workforces and why traditional wellbeing programs are falling short. We explore Phil's Wayfinder Framework — a practical, scalable approach to embedding genuine wellbeing strategy into companies of any size — and what it actually takes to build a culture where people can perform without burning out.

    You don't need a HRIS, you need a PeopleOS. The only platform with native AI is Shapes. Check it out here: https://shapes.co/lp/insights-lp?utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=matt_april

    Chapters:

    00:00 Introduction and Welcome
    01:08 Meet Phil Wolf: Workplace Wellbeing Specialist
    01:59 The State of Wellbeing in Today's Workforce
    03:45 The Biggest Challenge: Constant Mental Load
    07:04 AI, Efficiency Pressure, and Burnout
    08:34 Why Removing Admin Work Can Backfire
    09:52 Time Boxing and Energy Pattern Planning
    11:17 Job Security Anxiety and the AI Threat
    12:40 External Stressors: News, Cost of Living, and Low-Grade Anxiety
    15:49 How to Curate Your Information Diet
    19:29 LinkedIn Tips for Healthier Consumption
    20:54 The Problem with Traditional Wellbeing Programs
    22:12 Why EAPs Alone Are Not Enough
    23:13 From Initiatives to Strategy: The Industry Shift
    25:07 The Safe, Productive, and Prosperous Framework
    28:06 Redefining What Wellbeing Really Means
    29:20 When Should Companies Start Taking Wellbeing Seriously?
    30:59 The Wayfinder Framework Explained
    35:26 Making It Work for Small and Growing Businesses
    37:21 The Wellbeing Enrichment Program
    39:24 Real-World Results: Insurance, Burnout Metrics, and ROI
    45:28 Recap and Key Takeaways
    46:09 Final Tip: Upskill Your Managers First
    47:26 Resources and Where to Find Phil
    49:28 Closing Remarks

    Connect with Phil Wolf

    Visit: connectshealth.com.au linkedin.com/in/philwolf

    Resources Mentioned

    Programs & Frameworks: Wayfinder Framework — Phil's core model for embedding wellbeing across any size organization: Purpose, Values, Skills, Systems, and Support Wellbeing Enrichment Program — Phil's all-in-one wellbeing solution that replaces traditional EAP models

    Newsletter: Connects Health Tuesday Newsletter — Weekly practical breakdowns on wellbeing and performance for HR leaders and business owners

    News Source Mentioned: The Squiz — Australian daily news program offering an unbiased 10-minute summary of current events

    Join Startup People Summit, a one-day virtual conference designed for startup People leaders who want practical insight, honest conversations and proven approaches to scaling their People function — get your ticket here: www.startuppeoplesummit.com

    More FNDN Episodes:

    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484

    WorkplaceWellbeing, BurnoutPrevention, StartupCulture, EmployeeWellbeing, WellbeingStrategy, MentalHealthAtWork, WayfinderFramework, PeopleOperations, HRLeadership, StartupCompensation, HighPerformance, WorkplaceResilience, EAPAlternative, PeopleAndCulture, ManagerDevelopment, StartupLeadership, FNDNSeries, AIAndWork, WorkLifeBalance, EmployeeEngagement

    51 min
  • What AI Is Actually Changing in Cyber and How to Keep Up
    Episode Summary

    Every role in cybersecurity is changing fast, but most practitioners are still treating AI like a glorified search engine. In this solo episode of Secured, Cole Cornford shares his unfiltered take on three things on his mind right now: entrepreneurship in a tough market, the growing threat to SaaS product businesses from roll your own culture, and why the cyber industry needs a fundamentally different approach to AI.

    Cole makes the case that saying "hey Claude" is the least effective way to work with AI today, and that the real conversation has nothing to do with which model you pick. It is about how you interact with it, how you build a harness around it, and how you stop letting third party wrappers make all the decisions for you. He also shares early thinking on an AI course he is building for security professionals, covering AI fundamentals, using AI for security, and securing AI products.

    Along the way he tackles the rule of three as a framework for prioritising in a small business, why product moats are disappearing fast, and what qualities he is actually looking for when hiring graduates in a market where everyone is cutting them.

    Timestamps

    00:00 Trailer

    01:01 Chainguard ad

    01:28 Intro and today's three topics

    02:30 Entrepreneurship in a tough market

    04:30 The rule of three and how Cole runs his business

    07:00 Why SaaS product moats are disappearing

    10:00 Roll your own vs buying commercial security tools

    13:30 When rolling your own actually makes sense

    16:00 Cash flow warning for Australian business owners

    18:00 Why Cole is building an AI course for security professionals

    21:00 Models vs harnesses and why most people get this wrong

    24:00 How the cyber industry needs to change its approach to AI

    27:00 What Cole looks for when hiring graduates right now

    30:00 Systems thinking, humanities and the skills that still matter

    33:00 Grandma's pot and questioning everything you think you know

    35:00 Closing thoughts

    🐙 Secured is grateful to be sponsored and supported by Chainguard.

    Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. Get hardened, secure, production-ready builds so your team can ship faster, stay compliant, and reduce risk. Download your free CVE Reduction Assessment at https://dayone.fm/chainguard

    Secured is part of Day One.Day One helps founders and startup operators make better business decisions more often.

    To learn more, join our newsletter to be notified of new First Cheque episodes and upcoming shows.

    Mentioned in this episode:

    Call for Feedback



    This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

    Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp
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    29 min
  • From Police Officer to AI Pioneer to Psychedelics: Dr. Catriona Wallace’s Unfiltered Story (Part Two)

    From policing the streets of Sydney’s King’s Cross to founding one of the world's first enterprise AI companies, Dr. Catriona Wallace has navigated a career arc that defies convention. As one of the few women globally to list an AI company on the ASX, she scaled Flamingo AI to New York and back, all while raising five children and operating on a frontier that barely had a name. But behind the milestone of a $20M capital raise and the adrenaline of the public markets lay a deeper story of personal cost, identity, and the "sacred wounds" that fuel high-performance leadership.

    In this deep-dive episode of Perspective X, Dr. Cat shares her unfiltered story of transition: from the corruption and shadow-side of law enforcement to the high-pressure world of venture capital, and eventually, to the jungles of Peru. We explore the "hard thing about hard things," the brutal reality of having your product commoditised by tech giants, and why she chose to sit with ayahuasca the same day she exited her company.

    This isn't just a talk about technology; it’s a masterclass in the human operating system. We dive into why AI poses a 1-in-10 existential risk, the intersection of ancient ritual and modern innovation, and why Dr. Cat believes the next generation of leaders must undergo a "rapid transformation" of consciousness to ensure humanity isn't left behind by the machines we’ve built.

    Sponsors:Perspective X is supported by our wonderful sponsors:

    Deel:

    Global hiring and payroll can be a headache. Deel brings HR, IT and payroll together in one platform, helping companies including Shopify, Revolut and ElevenLabs scale internationally.

    Ready to expand your business?

    Build your global team with Deel at deel.com/dayone.

    Perspective X is part of Day One.Day One helps founders and startup operators make better business decisions more often.

    To learn more, join our newsletter to be notified of new Perspective X episodes and upcoming shows.

    Mentioned in this episode:

    Deel x PX_Script 1

    Deel x PX_Script 2

    55 min

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