Startup 360

Back in 2016, around the time LaunchVic was kicking off in Melbourne, Dave McManus left the city for Silicon Valley, determined to become a startup founder.

Now he's back in Melbourne and the founder of Lightning Ventures has plenty of stories to tell and advice to share on episode 40 of Startup 360.

Explaining Lighting, his no-code innovation studio, which helps early-stage startups rapidly build, test and launch software without needing a technical founder or large amounts of capital, Dave describes it as "the IKEA model of software development".

"The way people build software is they go out, they find the tree, they chop the tree down, they hack the tree in half and they hand whittle all the pieces for the chair," he said.

"Whereas the new model is out of the box, bang, click, click, bang - the pieces assemble a chair and it looks pretty much the same, does the exact same thing, hosted on AWS, with the exact same infrastructure that your custom-coded dev's doing without headaches, for like, a 10th of the price."

Lightning has worked with more than 60 startups, combining lean product strategy with no-code tools.

Cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell were keen to know more about Dave's experience in San Francisco.

"I think the Bay Area is very open and accepting of people, especially if you're having a go, it's amazing," he said.

"I think they've got an advantage in San Francisco - seven miles by seven miles - so it's such a small area and you've got so many successful people. The personal life and the business life kind of intertwine. You could be at a house party having a chat with someone - and this actually happened to me in the kitchen at a house party - saying, 'Oh, what are you doing?' They're like,'Oh, I work in tech'. I'm like, 'Oh cool'.

"Anyway, turns out that guy was the cofounder of Weebly that sold to Square for like $300 million. He was like the most modest, humble guy. So yeah, you get the opportunity to meet incredible people."

On the penultimate show for 2025, Majella and Simon also talk about the leaked details of Blackbird's investor day, "AI slop" as word of the year, and the ban for life on GetSwift's cofounders to prevent them being company directors in Canada.

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!

Alex Miller was having rapid success with his subscription management platform Hudled when he spotted a nugget of insight in that startup and launched a second, Rechargly.

Like a Marvel movie spinoff, he's now enjoying even more success, as Alex explains on episode 39 of Startup 360.

Cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell asked Alex about the lessons and mistakes along the way and how startup No. 2 came about.

"What we discovered [in Hudled] is that accounting firms were managing hundreds of thousands of dollars on behalf of their clients. And in the Hudled dashboard, which was supposed to help them track all of this, they were hiding it," Alex recounts.

"And we just couldn't work out why because it was coming off their credit card, it was their spend, but they didn't consider it as their own."

So so they launched, Rechargly, so accountancy firms can bill clients quickly and correctly for software disbursements - a pain point that, surprisingly, many neglect or get wrong.

Rechargly now delivers the bulk of the revenue and Majella and Simon wanted to know how to spot an opportunity and go all-in.

"It's always tricky, isn't it? Because things were working with Hudled and to take a step back in order to go forward faster is always a really hard decision," Alex explained.

"And when our team sat down and we were evaluating what was in front of us with what we knew versus what we discovered about what could be, it was, it was really challenging at the time."

As well as a great convo with a serial founder who kicked off with a paddleboard importing business with a mate, this week's show discusses the latest from Blackbird-funded New Zealand startup Kiki, now starting out again in London after being shut down in New York, having paid $224,000 in a settlement - 3x the total revenue generated there - with the city over Kiki's illegal operations there.

Also getting Simon riled up are 350 researcher jobs being cut at the national science agency, CSIRO, in the face of flatlined federal funding.

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!

This week's Startup 360 kicks off with cohost Simon Thomsen recounting the two days spent in the NSW Supreme Court this week as senior council for the liquidators of failed medtech StrongRoom AI probed cofounder and former CEO Max Mito, and director Divesh Sangvhi, about the potential insolvency of the business.

Sangvhi sold his company, Medical Benefits Australia (MBA), to StrongRoom when it had no cash, having already rented the company's IP to the startup, which is was also, frequently unable to pay for on time.

Simon recounts how Mito told the court that they company's approach to board minutes was "informal", and when one director raised concerns that the acquisition had gone through, Mito explained that "We had a bit of an issue with board members not always remembering details."

What also emerged was that both MBA and StrongRoom were behind on the tax obligations, and the ATO was chasing both companies for money, as well as issuing Sangvhi with Director Penalty Notices for non-compliance.

The details emerging from the public examination into the company's failure left both Startup 360 hosts a little gobsmacked, especially when it came to company governance, and the liquidators appear to be taking a close look at the actions of both men and their compliance with the Corporations Act.

On a happier note, the also shared some excellent advice from the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, now 95, in his final shareholder letter as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

His excellent advice includes: "Don’t beat yourself up over past mistakes – learn at least a little from them and move on. It is never too late to improve. Get the right heroes and copy them."

Their guest this week is Shreya Gupta, cofounder of Australian Coffee Culture, which is championing Australian-grown coffee - it accounts for just 1% of the 6 billion cups of coffee we drink annually - in a new range of ready-to-drink pick-me-ups.

Shreya takes about moving from corporate life to startup founder and why Australian coffee beans deserve a special place in our cups.

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!

Startup 360 cohost Simon Thomsen is flying solo this week, taking a deep dive into philanthropy with Antonia Ruffell, CEO of StartGiving, and the Australian MD of global tech charity initiative Pledge 1%.

Technology is transforming the art of giving - with companies such as Atlassian, Canva and now Airtree cofounder Daniel Petre, founder of StartGiving, leading the way.

StartGiving is not-for-profit, funded by Petre, who was inspired by his time working with Bill Gates, to change the culture of giving in the local startup sector.

As Antonia explains: if you just look at the top 50 biggest philanthropists in Australia, a few years ago, 1% of that giving came from the tech sector, and now it's 21%. And just looking at the commitments that have been publicly made by those, particularly those sort of wealthier end of the tech founders, we think there's the potential for $20-30 billion dollars of untapped potential giving to come through the pipeline in the next few years."

The research commissioned by StartGiving also found at people working in the tech sector were more than twice as likely than others to already be giving to charity, with $19 billion in commitments already made.

English-born Antonia has had her own remarkable career in philanthropy and social impact over the past two decades, starting out of the Prince’s Trust - now the King's Trust after its founder, King Charles, took the throne.

After moving to Australia, her roles have included CEO of Australian Philanthropic Services, and nowadays, she's a director of UNICEF Australia and chairs The Giving Academy Advisory Committee at the Centre for Social Impact, among several other hats.

Last month she joined Pledge 1%, now chaired by Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar, who was instrumental in establishing it a decade earlier, to lead its first team outside of the US.

More than 1,800 companies across Australia are part of a global community of 19,000-plus Pledge 1% members in 130 countries. They include the unicorns Atlassian, Canva, Airwallex, Culture Amp, and Employment Hero. Their commitment is to give 1% of equity, profit, product, or employee time to projects and causes that help others.

Simon and Antonia spend time discussing leadership, kindness, and how to support others to make the world a better place in an inspiring 40 minute conversation.

To learn more, check out StartGiving and Pledge 1%.
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!

Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production.

A decade ago, Ronen Heine tossed in his career as a corporate lawyer at a top tier law firm for life as a startup founder and adviser.

"I was doing lots of fancy work on the outside, but dead on the inside," the founder of Luna tells Startup 360.

"It was funny because no one took me seriously. Founders didn't take legal and accounting seriously. It was a startup helping startups start up."
But it worked and Luna, his professional services advisory firm, which has worked with the likes of LaunchVic, Rampersand and Fishburners, was recently acquired by Tiger and Bear.

Byron Bay-based Ronen talked to cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen about what he's learnt about startup life advising 1000s of startups and their founders about getting their legal and financial house in order to succeed, and his own experience as a founder going through a merger and acquisition.

They also took a deep dive into leadership and masculinity. Ronen's been an associate professor at Monash University for the last five years with a focus on men’s leadership and how to best support younger males as they find their way in the world.

Simon asks Ronen what founders can do to set a good example for the next generation.His advice is simple - work on yourself to be a better leader

"You're going to have young people who are going to follow you, people are going to join you. This is going to be their first place of work. Your influence on them is far bigger than you think," Ronen said.

"The interactions they see - there's a male founder who even says, 'Hey, you know what, let's think about gender diversity on our board', such a small thing to say - and the impacts like that ripples out in different ways to different things."

Simon and Majella also talk about Elon Musk's Wikipedia AI ripoff - he's literally lifted large slabs of the original for it - and NZVC's new $50 million Fund II , which aims to back up to 60 early-stage startups in Australia and Aotearoa.

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

Air conditioning is doesn't sound like a sexy startup problem, but Conry Tech cofounder Sam Ringwaldt knows more than most how profound its impact on us and the planet will be as climate change takes hold.

"It's a really vicious irony that the main solution that we're relying on to mitigate the change is also accelerating the change faster than nearly anything else," he explained on the Startup 360 podcast.

"I mean, there's 864,000 new air conditioners being installed every day from now until 2050."

Forget AI data centres or any other power consumer on the planet, air conditioning, something we don't think about because we mostly don't see it, is the only game in town, he explained.

"Air conditioning is actually the sector that's expected to drive most of the growth of demand of electricity," Sam explained.

"In fact, 50% of the growth of electricity over the next 30 years is all going to be air conditioning. And we're talking about comfort here. We're not even talking about food chains, pharmaceuticals, or the other applications."

Startup 360 this week makes air conditioning sexy again as a major climate tech issue. Sam and his eponymous cofounder, 60-year industry veteran Ron Conry, raised $3 million in venture funding this week for their latest revolution, BullAnt, an air-conditioning system that has completely rethought how cooling is delivered, with the potential to save up to 50% of consumption and power bills for users.

And if you think it all sounds sedate, Sam recounts the time their engineers were followed home and robbed and factories in Melbourne and Canada were ram-raided, with files and computers stolen in moments that sound like a spy thriller.

Sam and Ron were responsible for the last great innovation in air conditioning 25 years ago - back when the Nokia 3310 was the world's best-selling phone, so HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) is overdue for disruption and if anyone's going to do it, it's these two with Sam's wife, Brenda, alongside as Conry Tech cofounder.

Also on the show this week, cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen talk about the latest Cut Through Venture funding report for the September quarter.

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!

Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production. This episode is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Preethi Mohan was in the middle of a corporate life at Google when she had a revelation about life as a startup founder.

Brace for puns with week as Startup 360 talks to Saara Jamieson, founder of Cool Beans Underwear, about how her revolutionary way of taking care of man bits came about.

Saara was a finalist in the Best New Founder category of Startup Daily Best in Tech awards (the winner was Rebecca Keeley from Yarn Speech), and in a special extended episode, they spoke to the Brisbane mother of two about how her own journey to becoming a mother led to Cool Beans.

It's an important dive into male reproductive health that had Simon rearranging himself when Saara talked about the impact of sitting for 20 minutes or more and how how the additional heat down below has an impact on male fertility and testosterone levels.

While reproductive health and fertility tends to focus on women, Saara has taken a deep dive into what blokes need to do to hold up their half of the conception bargain. And the simple truth is that their "beans" are running hot and that's not good for them.

Helping her own husband take care downstairs transformed their attempts to become pregnant and the mother of two is now spreading the message to all who'll listen, building a scientifically-backed deep tech startup in the process.

An explainer: Cool Beans undies keep the testes away from the body, as nature intended, so they don't become too warm, which can lead to reduced fertility and testosterone. Her product now has TGA approval and she has plans for FDA approval in the US.

Simon and Majella took a deep dive into what's going on, as well as discussing being a solo founder, first mover advantage (is there one?) and the impact building Cool Beans has had on other families and the health of men.

And Simon couldn't resist asking what it was like to talk to a room of NRL execs earlier this year about a different kind of ball handling skills...

The Startup 360 cohosts also discussed the closure of ANZ's VC project, 1835i, the new home for Fishburners at the Tech Central Innovation Hub, and the wash up from the Best in Tech awards.Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production. This episode is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

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!

This week's Startup 360 is a little different as cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell frock up for the Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards.

Charlie Chan's musical career began at age 3 with a ukulele. It broke.