In this episode of Open The Pod Bay Doors, Host Ian Gardiner is joined by Chris Morgan, Co-CEO of Oxygen Advisors, a fast-growing outsourced CFO service supporting early-stage tech startups across Australasia. Chris shares the story of how Oxygen grew from a one-man band in New Zealand to a 45-person team, helping more than 100 startups scale and raise capital.

He dives into the challenges and opportunities of expanding into Australia, the evolving needs of startups, and how Oxygen is staying ahead by introducing new services like fractional revenue operations (RevOps) and exploring AI tools to drive efficiency — all while maintaining a strong, relationship-first approach.

Episode Highlights:

• How Oxygen Advisors scaled from New Zealand to Australia.

• Key differences between the New Zealand and Australian startup ecosystems.

• The critical role of building trust and relationships in early-stage support.

• Trends in fractional services, including CFO and RevOps support.

• How AI is shaping the future of outsourced finance and operations.

• Chris’s personal career journey and lessons learned from growing a high-performing services business.

Quick Fire Round:

📚 Book recommendation – Personally I like to read as a form of escapism from the heavy pressures of the world. So I really just read fiction. The one book that stays with me is slaughter house fire by Kurt Vonnegut. It's a classic, anti war sort of sci fi combo. It's weird. It's wonderful.
🎧 Podcast recommendation – I don't listen to a lot of podcasts but my go to would be Desert Island Disc
👨‍💼 Favourite CEO –  From an international perspective Jason Lemkin from echosign, but then from a personal front I'd say James Sampson from file invite and Lincoln wantson from BraveGen 
🗞️ News source – I can't help but check the New Zealand Herald. BBC for international news, but if I ever want to learn something or go deep on something, my go to is, Johnny Harris? He's a YouTube independent journalist. 
🛠️ Productivity tool – I wouldn't be able to do my job without Slack. Both for managing external clients and internal
📱 Favourite app – Seesaw to stay up to date with what my oldest son, Teddy, is learning in his first weeks at school
📺 TV or movie recommendation – I'm partial to any British comedy but I think the top for me would be Gavin and Stacy 
🎤 TED Talk topic – The art of fractional working - not fractional services but how to work in a fractional environment. 

Tune in for a masterclass on scaling services for startups and the power of adapting to new markets.

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In this special live edition of Open The Pod Bay Doors, Ian sits down with independent MP Allegra Spender in front of a live audience at Jelix Ventures. With a federal election in Australia just weeks away, Allegra offers candid insights into her journey as a parliamentarian, Australia’s economic crossroads, and the critical reforms needed to ensure a thriving, future-facing nation.

The conversation explores Australia’s global trade vulnerabilities, the urgent need to diversify partnerships, and the growing capital challenges faced by the startup sector. Allegra shares her perspective on climate policy, the energy transition, and why Australia is uniquely positioned to lead in solar innovation. The discussion also delves into geopolitical dynamics, immigration, education, and the pressing need for smarter regulation and stronger support for innovation.

Throughout the episode, Allegra outlines clear action items—from improving access to innovation funding to bringing startup voices into Parliament—while encouraging Australians to stay politically engaged. This is a must-listen for anyone passionate about Australia’s economic future, climate leadership, and the role of independent voices in shaping smarter policy.

We hope you enjoy this insightful and special live recording of Open The Pod Bay Doors.

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For this episode of Open the Pod Bay Doors host, Ian Gardiner, is joined by Rob Sibo, Head of AI/ML Customer Engineering ANZ, Google.

Ian and Rob sat down in late 2024 to discuss all things AI. From demo's to production: Scaling AI in 2025. Rob’s focus for the coming year is clear: move beyond quick wins and proofs of concept to real production use cases. He anticipates a leap in conversational and multimodal AI agents—ones that can autonomously act on your behalf via voice, text, or other inputs.

In this incredibly insightful session you can expect:
🧠 Insights on AI Adoption
📊 Advice for Startups & Builders
🧭 On Ethics, Responsibility & The Agent Era
🌐 How to Get Involved with Google Cloud

“In 2025, the conversation won’t be about what’s possible, it’ll be about what agentic experience do we want to create.”

Quick Fire Round:

📚 Book recommendation – I'm a sucker for dune by Frank Herbert. I've read them all twice
🎧 Podcast recommendation – The Well, Babbage, and AI daily brief
👨‍💼 Favourite CEO – Sundar Pichai, Google and Sam Altman, OpenAI
🗞️ News source – Google news
🛠️ Productivity tool – OmniFocus
📱 Favourite app – The Gemini App and Apple Music
📺 TV or movie recommendation – Historical dramas, whether they're accurate or not. Medicis and the Ancient Apocalypse.
🎤 TED Talk topic – ethical and responsible AI

Google Cloud program mentioned:
The Google for Startups Cloud Program helps pre-seed to Series A startups thrive by giving them access to the technology, community, and resources they need to start and scale their business.

Check out the additional benefits for AI and Web3 startups.

Eligible AI startups can get up to US$350k in Google Cloud credits, dedicated technical supports, hands-on AI training, exclusive access to events, webinars, and more. Apply today.

Web3 startups can get up to US$200k in free credits, invite-only access to gated Discord channel, foundations grants, VIP event access and more. Apply today.

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Open the Pod Bay Doors is back for 2025!

To kick off the year, host Ian Gardiner sits down with Stuart Dullard, Partner at Ashurst, for a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities facing founders in today’s venture landscape.

Ashurst is a global corporate law firm with over 30 offices worldwide. Stuart leads the High Growth and Venture Capital team in Australia and is the global co-head of the Tech M&A practice. Described by Ian as one of Australia’s most experienced startup lawyers, Stuart has built a career helping early-stage, high-growth tech companies navigate complex legal and funding challenges. 

This episode is a must-listen for founders looking to effectively manage their funding journey and achieve sustainable growth.

Key takeaways:

🚀 Ashurst’s strategy for building long-term advisory relationships with high-growth startups
💰 Challenges and strategies for securing funding
🗺️ Navigating venture capital and private equity landscapes
💡 Understanding legal frameworks, investor relationships, and the funding process
📑 Structuring deals, negotiating terms, and setting up for successful fundraising rounds

Quick Fire Round:

📚 Book recommendation – Fiction: The Goldfinch (“Read the book, don’t watch the movie!”) | Non-fiction: Time to Breathe by Bill Mitchell
🎧 Podcast recommendation – The Teacher’s Pet (The Australian), The Sure Thing (AFR), Liar Liar (The Age)
👨‍💼 Favourite CEO – The founders of Canva for their business success and people-first approach
🗞️ News source – Radio National every morning
🛠️ Productivity tool – Time to Breathe + morning exercise
📱 Favourite app – The New York Times Games App
📺 TV or movie recommendation – The West Wing
🎤 TED Talk topic – The highs and lows of the founder journey

🎙️ Tune in now for an insightful conversation on funding, legal strategy, and the startup journey!

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After a brief hiatus, Open the Pid Bay Door is back with an exciting new episode! Host Ian Gardiner sits down with Bryan Williams, Founder of Hockey Stick Advisory, to dive into the world of strategic partnerships and growth acceleration.

Hockey Stick Advisory provides market leading strategic partnerships advisory, operational and executional guidance with accountability for growth alongside prioritised partners. We empower ambitious companies to accelerate top line growth, whilst protecting scarce bottom line resources.

Highlights from their conversation include:

• 📊 Understanding Partnerships
• 🚀 The importance of Partnerships for Startups
• 🔍 Identifying Potential Partners
• 📈 Measuring Partnership Success
• 💡 Common Pitfalls in Partnerships
• 🌐 Building a Partnership Ecosystem
• 🛠️ Best Practices for Partnerships
• 📅 Community and Networking 

Quick Fire Round:

• Book recommendation - "Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink. He's a former Navy seal, hardcore guy, but I think it's similar to the lines of Kim Scott's book Radical Candor. 
• Podcast recommendation - "Rich Roll - when it's relevant and something I like, Stephen Bartlett's Diary of a CEO and there's a bunch of really good partnership ones in the US where I can sort of follow along and absorb best practices.
• Favourite CEO - Yamini Rangan, CEO, Hubspot
• News source - Capital Brief
• Productivity tool - "I'm a big believer in power naps!"
• Favourite app - Strava
• TV show or movie recommendation "Well, the new Gladiator is coming out this weekend, so looking forward to that one"  
• If you were asked to do a TED talk, what topic would you speak about? Going viral and what not to do

Don’t miss this insightful conversation packed with actionable advice for growth-focused businesses!

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In today’s episode, we’re thrilled to welcome Taryn Pieterse, Partner at Rampersand VC. Rampersand is a pioneering Australian venture capital firm, known for being one of the first funds in Australia and its early investment in founders with abnormal potential. With a focus on being a founder-first investor, they stay closely aligned with their portfolio companies. Currently, they are deploying their fourth fund of $50 million. Taryn and Ian discuss Rampersand's background, investment focus, fund economics, and the importance of alignment with founders.

Highlights from their conversation include:

• Rampersand's origins and investment strategy
• Their fund economics
• Rampersand’s interest in AI-driven startups
• The future of AI in both business and daily life
• How Rampersand fosters community and provides concierge services to founders
• The current exit landscape and emerging opportunities
• The differences between venture capital firms and family offices

Quickfire round. 

• Book –  "The Psychology of Money"
• Podcast – "Defining Gravity" by Helen Sunitz
• News source – Overnight Success Newsletter
• App – Apple watch
• Productivity tool – Robo vacuum cleaner - I have a dog and this saves me spending hours vacuuming everyday 
• Tech CEO – Mark Benioff of Salesforce - a great example of start up to scale up and beyond
• TV show – "The Mole" on Netflix
• If you were asked to do a TED talk, what topic would you speak about? The art of power napping - I love power naps!

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Join our host Ian Gardiner as he chats to Nick Gainsley, Partner at One Ventures and Aurora Community Member, on episode 183 of Open the Pod Bay Doors.

Nick is Partner at OneVentures and leads the debt fund strategy, which was launched 5 years ago to address gaps in the Australian market. The fund offers non-dilutive alternative funding options through 3-4 year loans with interest and small equity options for growth stage companies post-Series A.

Nick explains the differences between debt and equity funding, market trends, and the fund's structure as GPLP. The conversation also delves into the use of debt funding to avoid down rounds or complement equity funding, as well as discussions on AI, productivity tools, and current events.

Highlights from Ian and Nick's conversation include

• what a debt fund looks like and how it compares to a traditional GPLP Venture Fund

• What do the mechanics of a debt fund deal look like

• Why Nick prefers the term growth credit over venture debt
• Nick's view on liquidity and exits in the next couple of years
• The future of AI and how OneVenture apodt this in their day to day operations
• potential downsides to a debt fund
• Is poker simple gambling or is it a skill?

Quickfire round. 

• Book – Just finished Outlive by Peter Atia
• Podcast – All in with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
• News source – Australian Financial Review
• App – Spotify (shout out to Spotify Audibooks)
• Productivity tool – A bit boring but I use OneNote
• Tech CEO – You've got to be impressed with Satya Nadella from Microsoft
• TV show – Colin from Accounts
• If you were asked to do a TED talk, what topic would you speak about? I know random small snippets from lots of different things..

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Earlier this year, Innovation Bay brought more than 250 of Australia’s leading tech founders and investors together at Inspire, held at Sydney’s Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) on May 22-23, 2024. 

Set under the overarching theme ‘The Future is…’, Inspire was a platform for the exchange of revolutionary thoughts and ideas about what the future holds for the startup ecosystem across the next 5-10 years.

Our co-founder and podcast host Ian Gardiner, set out with his roving mic to chat to get his geek on with some of the event’s incredible speakers as they made their way off the main stage. He continued the conversation with them on the podcast. 

During Part 2, you’ll hear from:

• Craig Blair, Airtree – on the future of venture capital in Australia and what needs to happen over the next ten years to make VC a success. 
• Elaine Stead, Main Sequence Ventures – on how she taps into her background in biochemistry to help in her investing, and the critical role the media plays in advancing the leading-edge legislation and policies that are vital to the future success of the startup sector. 
• Chris Capon, Nominal Systems – on why he’s working to change the mindset around how people think about space, the incredible things that are going to be done in space in the not-too-distant future, and why Australia needs to be a part of it.

Listen now to get a front row seat into what Australia’s tech leading minds are passionate about and be INSPIRED. 

Missed Part 1? Listen now to hear from The Hon. Ed Husic MP, Minister for Science & Industry, Greg Miller Partner at Arena Mars (exited founder of Faethm), and Melanie Silva, Managing Director and VP, Google Australia & New Zealand.

Inspire was proudly supported by Innovation Bay’s official media partner Forbes Australia and event partners IAG Firemark Ventures, Google Cloud, the Field Jobs, and the Dylan Alcott Foundation.  

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Earlier this year, Innovation Bay brought more than 250 of Australia’s leading tech founders and investors together at Inspire, held at Sydney’s Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) on May 22-23, 2024. 

Set under the overarching theme ‘The Future is…’, Inspire was a platform for the exchange of revolutionary thoughts and ideas about what the future holds for the startup ecosystem across the next 5-10 years.

As he does, our co-founder and podcast host Ian Gardiner, set out with his roving mic to chat to (some would say ambush!) some of the event’s incredible speakers and get a sense of what’s top of mind for them as they consider the evolution of the Aussie startup landscape. 

During Part 1, you’ll hear from:

• The Hon. Ed Husic MP, Minister for Science & Industry – on quantum computing and its long-term importance to the Australian economy. 
• Greg Miller, Arena Mars (exited founder of Faethm) – opines on rapidly building, scaling and exiting his AI business that tackled the future of work, and how he’s now paying it forward.
• Melanie Silva, Google Australia and New Zealand – talks through how Google is showing Australians the power of great digital tech through the Digital Future Initiative, and bringing the greatest Googlers from around the world together to work with Australian partners to solve local problems using Google AI.

Listen now to get a front row seat into what Australia’s tech leading minds are passionate about and be INSPIRED. 

Inspire was proudly supported by Innovation Bay’s official media partner Forbes Australia and event partners IAG Firemark Ventures, Google Cloud, the Field Jobs, and the Dylan Alcott Foundation.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.