Rob Castaneda grew up in Toongabie in Western Sydney, snuck into UTS to do computer science, and landed a help desk internship at a Silicon Valley company when he was 17. From that first role he never stopped moving forward. In 2001 he founded ServiceRocket in Sydney. In 2008, when everyone told him he was crazy, he moved the company to Palo Alto during the global financial crisis. Today ServiceRocket has around 240 people across 10 countries and Rob is an LP in Beaten Zone Venture Partners.

In this episode Peta Ellis sits down with Rob to unpack why it is genuinely easier to grow a tech company in the US than in Australia, why the founder has to be the one who moves, how a self-funded company still runs tight board accountability, and what he looks for in the next generation of talent.

GUEST LINKS

Rob Castaneda LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertcastaneda/

ServiceRocket: https://www.servicerocket.com/

Leadership Behaviours Substack: https://leadershipbehaviors.org/

Host Links:

Peta Ellis (Host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/petaellis

BZV YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BeatenZoneVenturePartners/videos

BZV Website: https://beatenzone.vc

Production: Produced at The Podcast Boss podcast studio in Brisbane. thepodcastboss.com