The Bootstrap - Building Startups from Scratch

With a CV that includes Google and Facebook, you might think Luke Marshall would be an unlikely person to be passionate about helping startups with sales and scaling, but he’s made it his mission to bring his experience and smarts to helping early founders navigate this tricky space. 

In this episode, we share the experiences of working with early stage startups and founders, and run through a list of things we’d love them to understand, do, or not do. 

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

Website: https://www.lukemarshall.net/

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The Bootstrap is a production of Hieland Road for The Product Bus. It was developed by Scotty Allen and Declan Magee. Our producer is Sammy Perryman with assistance from Portia McEwan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Founder Friday Scotty is joined by Tabish Bidiwale to discuss early learnings as founder of Fission, a tool aiming to help developers everywhere plan better and build something they actually want.

Founder Friday is about works still in progress. Learning from success stories is important, but learning from founders still in the thick of getting to market is just as useful - and sometimes much more realistic.

About Tabish Bidiwale:

Linkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/tabishbidiwale

Website: https://fissionai.io/  and https://openspec.dev/

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The Bootstrap is a production of Hieland Road for The Product Bus. It was developed by Scotty Allen and Declan Magee. Our producer is Sammy Perryman with assistance from Portia McEwan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Funding is a focus of so much conversation in the startup space, and yet so many ventures fail because founders don’t understand how to match their ideas to a commercial model that can indicate the right approach to funding. 

In this episode we’re joined by Liz Van Zyl, a highly experienced entrepreneur and founder who has recently joined Tractor Ventures as their Head of Partnerships. We discuss the challenges and misunderstandings around funding for early startups, and Liz introduces the idea of a “Funding Stack” as a way for founders to build a more effective funding strategy. 

Linkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/liz-van-zyl

Website: https://www.tractorventures.com/

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The Bootstrap is a production of Hieland Road for The Product Bus. It was developed by Scotty Allen and Declan Magee. Our producer is Sammy Perryman with assistance from Portia McEwan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Founder Friday is about works still in progress. Learning from success stories is important, but learning from founders still in the thick of getting to market is just as useful – and sometimes much more realistic.

In this Founder Friday episode we’re talking to Nate Spiteri, the CEO & Co-Founder of Shopfront - a SaaS tool to help charities and resellers list products faster and in bulk across their own channels or marketplaces like eBay, Depop & Grailed. They were the 2025 winners of the eBay Circular Fashion Fund.

About Nate Spiteri:

Linkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/nathanspiteri

Website: https://shopfront.app/

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The Bootstrap is a production of Hieland Road for The Product Bus. It was developed by Scotty Allen and Declan Magee. Our producer is Sammy Perryman with assistance from Portia McEwan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The rise of AI is set to reshape the way agencies work, creating both challenges and opportunities for how they deliver value. In this episode, we’ll explore what agencies need to do to adapt, stay relevant, and thrive in an AI-driven future. Guiding us through the conversation is Martin Anderson, CEO of Ionata Digital, his own agency he has established and scaled over the last 25 years

About Martin Anderson:

Linkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/martincanderson

Website: https://ionata.com.au/

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The Bootstrap is a production of Hieland Road for The Product Bus. It was developed by Scotty Allen and Declan Magee. Our producer is Sammy Perryman with assistance from Portia McEwan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Founder Friday, we’re joined by Chris Asher, Founder and CEO of Oink Digital to talk about how to hone creativity into productivity.

Founder Friday is about works still in progress. Learning from success stories is important, but learning from founders still in the thick of getting to market is just as useful - and sometimes much more realistic.

Linkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/chris-asher-3b476b26

Website: https://www.oinkdigital.com.au/

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The Bootstrap is a production of Hieland Road for The Product Bus. It was developed by Scotty Allen and Declan Magee. Our producer is Sammy Perryman with assistance from Portia McEwan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Access to capital is one of the biggest challenges facing early-stage founders, and while most think immediately of VC or angel investment, grants offer a compelling non-dilutive alternative. Despite $100 billion in grant funding available to Australian businesses and organisations each year, many founders don't know where to start or assume the process is too complex. Is it really as difficult as it seems? What should early founders know about grants, and when should they be thinking about applying for them,?

Our guest today is Janine Owen, founder of Grant'd, Australia's first AI-powered, all-in-one grants platform. Janine has over 18 years of experience helping organisations raise more than $100+ million. She previously ran a successful grants agency before creating Grant'd to make grant-seeking more accessible for founders and businesses.

About Janine Owen:

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/janine-owen-21348b78

Website: http://grantd.com.au/

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The Bootstrap is a production of Hieland Road for The Product Bus. It was developed by Scotty Allen and Declan Magee. Our producer is Sammy Perryman with assistance from Portia McEwan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Founder Friday episode, we’re talking to Dominic Lindsay, founder of Nexobot.

Founder Friday is about works still in progress. Learning from success stories is important, but learning from founders still in the thick of getting to market is just as useful – and sometimes much more realistic.

With a rich background in e-commerce logistics and innovative facility design from his time at Australia Post, Dominic's extensive experience provides the foundation for Nexobot's mission to revolutionize warehouse robotics and order fulfilment.

About Dominic Lindsay:

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dominiclindsay

Website: https://nexobot.com.au/

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The Bootstrap is a production of Hieland Road for The Product Bus. It was developed by Scotty Allen and Declan Magee. Our producer is Sammy Perryman with assistance from Portia McEwan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Failure isn't the opposite of success - it's the stepping stone to it. Every entrepreneur faces the inevitable question: when do you push through, and when do you pivot? How do you read the subtle signals the market sends about whether to accelerate or pull the plug?

In this episode, Benjemen Elengovan, Founder and CEO of MyGigsters, shares his entrepreneurial journey through both triumph and setback. He shares hard-won insights on transforming failures into fuel, making those crucial go/no-go decisions, and knowing when it's time to gracefully exit one venture to birth the next.

From his early startup wins and losses to the lessons now powering MyGigsters, Benjemen reveals how every "failure" became a building block for something bigger. This is about turning your scars into wisdom - and your wisdom into your next breakthrough.

About Benjemin Elengovan:

Linkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/benjemenelengovan

Website: https://www.mygigsters.com.au/

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The Bootstrap is a production of Hieland Road for The Product Bus. It was developed by Scotty Allen and Declan Magee. Our producer is Sammy Perryman with assistance from Portia McEwan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Founder Friday episode, we’re talking to Elleesha King, founder of Pulsatile Innovations.

Founder Friday is about works still in progress. Learning from success stories is important, but learning from founders still in the thick of getting to market is just as useful - and sometimes much more realistic.

Elleesha is an experienced ambulance paramedic and registered nurse who saw opportunities for improved patient care using innovative medical devices. Elleesha started Pulsatile Innovations, a startup aimed to develop products that empower rescuers and improve patient outcomes, with a focus on the emergency setting. Her platform technology, Pulse Tile, is set to revolutionise the approach to cardiac arrest and save lives across the world.

About Elleesha King:

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/elleesha-king-831b732ab

Website: thepulsetile.com

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The Bootstrap is a production of Hieland Road for The Product Bus. It was developed by Scotty Allen and Declan Magee. Our producer is Sammy Perryman with assistance from Portia McEwan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.