Startup 360

⁠Finder.com⁠, one of the first generation of Australian tech startups, has just turned 20. So for the 50th episode of Startup 360, we have a very special guest - co-founder Jeremy Cabral. 

It was so long ago that two new inventions, Twitter and the iPhone, played a central role in Jeremy's next two decades after his co-founder-to-be, Fred Schebesta, asked on the social media site whether to buy the new Apple product or Nokia N95. Jeremy already had an iPhone and shared his thoughts with Fred. That moment would transform what was then known as Credit Card Finder into one of the world's most successful comparison sites, last valued at $680 million.

He spent the next 16 years as COO driving Finder's global growth, before stepping down from an operational role in September last year. Jeremy remains an advisor to the Finder team, led by OG CEO and cofounder Frank Restuccia. 

"I'm driven by 3 things, connection, growth, and helping people. They're my 3 values," Jeremy told Startup 360's cohosts, Majella and Simon. He "accidentally ended up becoming an advisor to businesses" after he posted on LinkedIn and more than 170 companies reached out for help. He's now a startup coach and growth advisor. 

It's a long and fascinating episode covering the lessons of building Finder, Jeremy's ambitions for the future and where he things tech is going and what it takes to build a great business. Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick. 

This show is a SmartCo Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson. 

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read ⁠StartupDaily.net⁠ for all the ANZ tech news for free!

This week on Startup 360, we talk to veteran startup recruiter Dexter Cousins about work in the AI era.

With WiseTech Global cutting 2,000 jobs, nearly a third of its global workforce, the Commonwealth Bank shedding 300 tech roles, Block reducing its workforce by 40% - 4,000 more jobs gone, the employment landscape is changing faster than ever before as artificial intelligence transforms how people work.

Dexter wrote about it for Startup Daily earlier this month, and founded Tier One People a decade ago, which helps fintechs find the people they need. He's now pondering his own role over the next decade.

Having grown up in Northern England in some tough times, Dexter's used to being blunt, but he also brings incredible insights into what it means to be a valuable employee in his conversation with Simon and Majella.

The pair also discuss the biggest news of the week - the fact that the "mystery weekend" Majella's partner, Brendan, flagged last weekend turned out to be an M&A deal. She's engaged! And has a very heavy ring finger to prove it. Congrats to the pair of them.

In other news this week, the release of the Denholm report into Australia's R&D policy is also unpacked, along with Advanced Navigation, has raised $158 million in Series C (although Simon initially shortchanged them $5m).

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free! 

It's a special episode of Startup 360 this week with Earthletica cofounder Bronte Campbell.

The triple Olympic gold medallist and a former World Champion's had a bit of a career pivot since Paris. She's now CEO of the sustainable activewear brand after competing in four Olympics - her first as a teenager in 2012.

Bronte and cofounder Libby Babbett are now raising capital for Earthletica on the crowdfunding platform Birchal, having already generated more than $200,000 in revenue, selling out its first-year products.

She decided to tackle a key problem in the $600 billion activewear market - it's made from virgin plastics and harsh chemicals. Earthletica uses recycled and organic materials, avoids PFAS (the forever chemical) treatments, and is designed with end-of-life recycling in mind.

Startup 360 hosts Simon and Majella talk to Bronte about what a winning mindset and focus in sport brings to founder life, overcoming setbacks and discussing a subject close to her heart, creating a winning team culture.

Bronte's delved deep into it, having dealt with the worst and helped create one of the best cultures in Australia's Olympic swimming team, and what she has to say about the science is fascinating.

It's an inspiring conversation with a sporting great, now doing amazing things on the founder field.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Startup 360 takes a deep dive into leadership this week with Chris Kirk, one of the OGs with Stone and Chalk .

Chris recently announced he was stepping down as CEO after three years, and 11 with the organisation since it began in Sydney.

It's not so much an exit interview as a rumination on what he's learnt about what it takes to be a great founder and also leader. Chris took the top job at a time when the not-for-profit's finances were in a perilous state, with losses in the millions, and has returned the innovation hub that's home to more than 500 startups and scaleups in three capital cities to financial stability in an $9 million turnaround.

Simon and Majella also talk to Chris about what he learnt from his first CEO role, the support he gathered around him to succeed, and when it comes to holding yourself accountable, how the father of two also does that for family while in a high-pressure job.

Chris also talks about the role he plays as regimental sergeant major to hundreds of founders at Stone & Chalk, and knowing when to step in to help and advise someone who might be struggling with "the 57 things you've gotta deal with today to keep your business alive".

Episode 47 of Startup 360 is an open and honest conversation about staying the course and knowing that leadership is a marathon and not a sprint.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

It's a slightly different Startup 360 this week with no special guest, so cohosts Simon and Majella take the time to kick around the big news of the last few weeks, from Canva buying two more startups, to WiseTech slashing 2000 coding jobs in favour of AI, UpGuard's $105 million raise and SafetyCulture founder Luke Anear returning as CEO ahead of an AI rebuild of the workplace safety platform.

Simon and Majella also cover Growth Summit in Melbourne, where Aconex cofounder Leigh Jasper offered advice on staying the course in business, and VCs explained what "you're too early" means.

The pair also crack open a can of Australian Coffee Culture's Australian-grown coffee. Cofounder Shreya Gupta was a guest on the show in November, and Majella had an update on Dome - founders Sophie Greiner and Bella Filacuridi were guests in August - with the podcasting community engagement startup launching with its first podcast, all about tackling the juggle between work and raising a family.

They also discuss Uber after Simon made a post about surge pricing on LinkedIn that's had more than 60,000 impressions in just 48 hours. What's your take - just the free market working or a price gouge that's outside the acceptable boundaries of business?

This show is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.

It’s all about artificial intelligence this week with In the Blink of AI host Georgie Healy joining the show  to talk about what many see as the 4th industrial revolution.

This week Startup 360 discusses leadership - and how to do it without being a jerk, with Karlie Cremin, CEO of Dynamic Leadership Programs Australia.

Karlie wrote a book about it - Don’t Lead like a Jerk - and Simon and Majella talk to her about the ups and downs of being the boss, confessing the jerk bit can happen to anyone - what you do next is what matters.
Karlie reminds us that first and foremost, we're not machines, we're humans and that means there are good days and bad ones. It's a fascinating dive into what it means to lead and hang around to the end, when she reveals the simple trick that transformed one CEO's life, both at work and home.

The news Simon and Majella discuss this week includes digital twins platform Neara raising $90 million to become Australia's newest unicorn, Startmate's plan to back social enterprise startups to create generational businesses that make the community better, and Deel's $21 million global Seed-stage startup comp, The Pitch.

Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.

This show is a SmartCo Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay - anyone, anywhere.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Startup 360 looks south this week, for a conversation with fintech investor Brian Collins about his new role as CEO of Enterprize Tasmania.
Brian, deputy chair of Fintech Australia, and cofounder of fintech VC Triple Bubble with Dom Pym and Judy Anderson-Firth, spent more than a decade in Silicon Valley before calling Melbourne home in recent years.
Brian shares the stories of some remarkable Tassie startups, as well as the joys of life on the Apple Isle - from a caring community’s support and collaboration to the food, wine and fun of a MONA visit.
He also shares his tips to founders as a long-time mentor to hundreds of startups.
While Simon and Majella plot how soon they can head to Hobart to record Startup 360 on location there, they also talk about the big news of the week. First up it’s the release of the annual State of Australian Startup Funding report, which reveals a 24% increase in investment to $5.1 billion in 2025, although the total number of deals fell as later-stage rounds became the focus alongside AI, which received the most funding at $1 billion.
Elon Musk was also in the new for the right and wrong reasons, from the merger of SpaceX and xAI, to making plans to visit convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious island, with the release of emails and 3 million files about Epstein contradicting Musk’s previous spinning of the narrative around his involvement with the billionaire, who died in jail in 2019.
Startup 360 is all about staying human and finding out what makes people tick.
This show is a SmartCo Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson. This episode is supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay - anyone, anywhere.
Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Welcome back to Startup 360 for 2026.

·       The sudden collapse of parcel delivery platform Sendle

·       The end of SXSW Sydney

·       Airwallex calling in lawyers to ask media to take down critical stories

Maddi started her career in management consulting at BCG, working with

When Jim Cooper, CEO of Blue-X, a California-based innovation services company for startups, moved to the US three decades ago, he had some trepidations.

Now he loves it, but the former Sydneysider is back "home" for Christmas and in his shorts, to share his experiences on the final Startup 360 episode for 2025.

Jim, who coaches an AFL team in Orange County, not far from Disneyland, has some strong thoughts on the Australian mindset and how to hustle.
"We've only got really one metric and that is at the end of the fourth quarter, we've got more points on the board than our opposition," he said.

"So I treat every single startup as if it's three-quarter time with five goals, two, down, and we need to do something in the next 20 minutes to turn this game around so that we can win it.

He also believes tall poppy syndrome is a thing in Australia and tells cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell it's holding us back, alongside the "report economy" endless reports, and no action.

"We gaze inward, we see what we're missing and then we do very little about it except write a report. We don't address the problem head on. We like to be safe and we like to say a lot of safe things in Australia," he said.

"We like to be very comfortable and polite. We don't like to tell the hard things that people don't like to hear. We can't confront that in Australia and I think that's a real fault of ours, being on the outside looking in and kind of seeing that now, you know, it makes me, it makes me cringe. It kind of makes me a little bit angry as well."

And don't get him started on aphorisms like "punch above our weight".
Episode 41 of Startup 360 is an extended Summer edition, diving into what Jim Cooper's learnt about startup life - he first launched accelerators in the US in 2010, and has worked and advised around the world on innovation and company building.

It's also the last episode for 2025. Have a wonderful Summer and happy new year! The show will be back at the end of January, just as everyone packs up the beach umbrellas and heads back to work.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don’t forget to read ⁠StartupDaily.net⁠ for all the ANZ tech news for free!