The Failure Proof Podcast

On today's show I am joined by Matt Allen. Matt is the Venture Capital BD at AWS for Australia and New Zealand and a partner at Startmate - one of Australia's best known startup accelerators.

He (along with his wife, Aprill) is a prolific angel investor with a portfolio of 14 companies, 3 Startmate cohorts and 2 VC funds. Prior to AWS he ran Lookahead Search in Melbourne, and has been the co-founder of three startups. Mixed in there he ran a Wireless ISP, a hosting company, played the bass and lived on a farm. When not talking shop about startups, he's hanging out with his two sons and driving his Model S or flying his drone. His favourite question is "What's Next?"

In this interview Matt speaks about his first business, what he learnt, and the personal impact it had on him. How he diversifies risk, and his approach to angel investing. He also discusses what makes a good founder, why co-founder's don't get on, and why it's important to let founders take money off the table.

On today's show I am joined by Karen Lawson. Karen is an award winning business executive and leader in the digital and startup industry. As the former CEO of Slingshot, she grew the business into the #1 corporate accelerator in Australia, having accelerated more startups and run more corporate programs than any other provider in the space. She drove the total market capitalisation of its alumni to over $507m and accelerated over 128 businesses. The $15m Slingshot Venture Fund also invested into early stage founders driving innovation, economic growth and employment.

Prior to her role at Slingshot, Karen served as CEO of CareerOne, a joint venture between News Limited and Monster Worldwide, and she also served as the General Manager at Yahoo!7. Karen is also a huge 'foodie' and has been a food and luxury travel journalist for over thirteen years.

In this interview Karen speaks about her journey to becoming a CEO. We also talk a lot about the challenges of people management, the role of the leader, & her self care regime. If you are a corporate executive or a startup founder I'm certain you will take something away from Karen's amazing insights and experience.

On today's show I am joined by Jo Burston. Jo is the founder and CEO of Job Capital, a company she grew from nothing to $40M in less than 5 years with a team of 12. She is also the founder and CEO of the entrepreneurial movement Inspiring Rare Birds. Jo has been recognised as one of Australia's top entrepreneurs for the past six years and is a leading authority on global women's entrepreneurship.

Jo is also extremely passionate about building business skills in kids. Jo collaborated with Phronesis Academy co-founder Dr Richard Seymour, from the University of Sydney to develop its first program startup.business. The program is being taught in primary and secondary schools and is being rolled out nationally.

In this interview Jo speaks about the sliding door moment that started her on the path to being an entrepreneur, the skills she believes are required to be a great entrepreneur and how she has dealt with adversity. There are some amazing insights in this interview - everything from daily routines to meditation. I'm sure you will take something of value away from it.

On today's show I am joined by Todd Forest. Todd is the Managing Director of NAB Ventures, and established the venture fund at the beginning of 2016. NAB Ventures is a global initiative supporting entrepreneurs in Australia and offshore in their quest to build leading technology companies. Todd was previously the CEO of Clipp, a mobile payments and data business with a focus on hospitality. At Microsoft, he was the Head of MSN Asia Pacific, based out of Singapore and prior to that, was the Head of Digital at ninemsn. Todd also held senior management positions in Nike and AOL in the US. He has also been a successful angel investor over the past 12 years via Tasman Ventures Fund.

In this interview Todd speaks about his journey from Nike to NAB, how he makes Angel investments, disruption in financial services, and how he approaches corporate venturing at NAB ventures. He also talks about his views on adversity and the highs and lows of startup life.

Todd has had a huge range of experience. He has great insights and I'm sure you will take something away from this interview.

On today's show I am joined by Jane Bianchini. Jane has over 20 years experience in the IT and recruitment industry and is the founder & CEO of Alcami Interactive, a digital video interviewing platform that Jane has built with the sole purpose of disrupting the recruitment industry from within. Throughout her career, Jane has held senior executive positions across both public and private companies, leading high performing successful organisations, recruiting technology and sales professionals across Asia Pacific.

In this interview Jane speaks about the personal impact of being a CEO, connecting with purpose, how she dealt with exhaustion, and following candidates to Everest to get them to sign contracts!

Jane exemplifies the essence of being a true entrepreneurial leader. She is well known for her courage, resilience and boundless positive energy. I am sure you will take something away from this interview.

Charlie Wood is a 25+ year veteran of the technology industry covering business leadership, VC investing, strategic consulting, marketing and product management. He has built two different startups and mentored many more through fund raising, product market fit and scalable go to market activity. He is currently a General Partner at IAG Firemark Ventures. Formerly he held roles as the MD of Dropbox Australia, worked at Microsoft and sold his business to salesforce.com. As a pilot, sailor and mountaineer, Charlie is a bit of an action man - and is also an amazing human being.

In this interview Charlie speaks about his views on adversity, managing change, and how he maintains balance as a busy executive. Charlie has had a interesting journey and I am sure you will definitely take something away from it.

For those who don't know him Osher Günsberg, widely recognised by his former stage name Andrew G, is an Australian television and radio presenter who is best known as the host of the reality TV series The Bachelor Australia, The Bachelorette Australia and Bachelor in Paradise Australia. He is also known for his hosting roles on Channel [V], Australian Idol, and radio shows including Take 40 Australia and The Hot Hits. He also narrated the factual television program Bondi Rescue. His memoir, Back, After the Break, was published by HarperCollins in August 2018 and debuted at number one on the charts.

In this interview Osher speaks very openly about his mental health journey, the motivation behind writing his latest book, and training for the cover of Mens Heath Magazine.

A word of warning. This episode speaks frankly about mental health and suicide ideation. If you are struggling please get help. Its absolutely crucial that you talk to someone. In Australia you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Osher is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. He has been extremely brave in destigmatising mental health and I am sure you will take something away from this interview.

Constantine Georgiou is a serial entrepreneur and founder coach. After 20 years as an employee in the technology industry, he co-founded Velteo, a digital transformation consultancy, which was acquired in 2012 by IBM Bluewolf. He then launched One Million Acts of Innovation, an economic development not for profit that provided services to organizations needing better models for innovative thinking and execution. He has helped kickoff an Incubator and a Venture Capital firm where he fell in love with founder coaching. He has coached more than 370 founders in Investor Readiness and Resilience Development through his unique style of Bootcamps, and he is also the co-founder and facilitator of the Founder Circle, a founder peer support group. He is passionate about human potential and loves building more conscious Founders and Businesses by calling out biases, beliefs and bullshit.

In this interview Con shares his views on life coaches, radical self inquiry, and life after a business exit. He also touches on how he beat anxiety, the work of Byron Katie and how he thinks Stoicism is a great tool for high performing executives and entrepreneurs.

If you are looking to get deeper into your motivations and understand yourself better then you will take a lot away from this interview.

Having a background in advertising working for some of the biggest brands in the world, Nikki Fogden-Moore is the Ultimate High Performance Expert. Her decades of experience lie in truly blending both business with personal high performance for ultimate success. She has written two books VITALITY and FITPRENEUR and her podcast The Mojo Maker - goes out to 85 countries with over 100,000 downloads.

In this interview Nikki talks about vitality and her unique view on how executives and entrepreneurs can keep themselves healthy and well balanced in a sustainable way! She also discusses her thoughts on failure, her decision to take the leap to leave the corporate world, and how she decides who she will work with.

If you are looking to get motivated and improve your well being I am sure you will take a lot away from this interview.

If you work in the Australian startup scene and don't know who Alan Jones is then you have been living under a rock. Formerly of Yahoo Australia, Alan mentors founders in startup accelerators BlueChilli, Startmate, Catalysr and Collider, on issues around lean startup methodology, product strategy, marketing and team leadership.

He is a founding investor in Australian tech startup venture funds Pollenizer, Startmate and Blackbird Ventures. Alan is currently raising a new venture fund, M8 Ventures, focusing on pre-seed and seed investment in early-stage tech startups in Australia and New Zealand.

Alan has been an active angel investor here and in the US, with investments including Bugcrowd, Buzzy, Biteable, Elevio, GeoSnap, HappyCo, HowAboutEat, Macropod, Muru Music, Propeller Aero, TopMe, Tzukuri, Workyard, UpGuard and Upperstory.

In this interview Alan talks about what it means to be an entrepreneur in Australia and some of our cultural hangups coming to terms with that. He also discusses how he manages stress and his views on what he looks for in a startup, solo founders v co-founders, how to manage investors and much more.