While Melbourne prepares for another glossy startup gala, let’s talk about what won’t be on the menu. Victoria’s startup agency has locked away $160m+ in public funding—yet no grassroots event support since 2019. VicGov spent $7 m+ on DIF (Digital Innovation Futures)—and it quietly shut down. Melbourne Convention Bureau backs only international events (e.g., C2, GEC)… Read more »
It’s been a few months now since WhyHive wrapped up. And I was talking to lead engineer, Simon Grant, recently about what his next mission might be. This got me reflecting on a core question I often got asked by other founders – what do you look for in your first dev hire? Whyhive may not… Read more »
Aubrey Blanche has been part of building culture at two great Australian tech companies, Atlassian and Culture Amp. The self-confessed “proudly woke” data nerd, who believes that bringing empathy to the numbers is vital, sat down with Startup 360 cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell to talk about workplace inclusion, how business is dealing with… Read more »
Many startups struggle to scale – and leadership plays a bigger role than founders often realise. Early growth is fuelled by passion, tactics and effort. But scaling demands a different kind of leadership: more strategic and more focussed on building teams and systems. Some founders adapt; others get stuck between old instincts and new demands.… Read more »
Every business leader talks about values. But living them – truly embedding them into daily decisions, behaviours, and culture – is rare. At Employment Hero, we don’t just talk about values – we operationalise them. That’s what The EH Way is all about: a living framework to keep us mission-aligned, fast-moving, and true to our… Read more »
New research reveals the alarming state of founder mental health across all stages of business and why we must act now. If you’re reading this at 11pm while checking your emails, wrestling with cashflow projections, mulling over that staff issue, or losing sleep over your next quarter’s performance, you’re not alone. But according to new… Read more »
Earlier this year, New Zealand launched a revamped investor visa scheme, the Active Investor Plus visa, designed to attract high-net-worth individuals by slashing minimum investment thresholds, removing English language requirements, and reducing time-onshore commitments to just 21 days over three years. In return, investors gain a clear and rapid path to permanent residency. The response… Read more »
Joel Macdonald’s been busy resetting his thinking in the last few years after the cofounder of Getswift was banned by the Federal Court from running companies in Australia for 12 years. He’s been in therapy, busy journaling, writing affirmations on glass walls in an apartment, taking psychedelics, including ayahuasca and mushrooms, and the former CEO… Read more »
Just as Techstars Sydney MD Christie Jenkins was about to go hiking in Patagonia, taking her offline for 10 days, she got a call from Sir Richard Branson’s Caribbean retreat, Necker Island. They wanted the acclaimed athlete to speak there. It was “a pinch me moment to be on stage talking about investing in women’s… Read more »
Kiwi startup founders take around 29 months on average to score their first pay cheque, but when they get there, they’re doing of okay, with 50% of them on more than NZ$195,000 (A$182k) according to the New Zealand Founder Pay Report 2025. The first deep dive into startup life in Aotearoa, by LiveRem and Oxygen Advisors,… Read more »
So you closed your Series A. Congrats. But if the champagne’s gone flat and growth’s not following the graph you pitched, welcome to the plateau. The Series A lull is where promising startups go to stall. And if you don’t rewire your mindset, ops, and culture, it’s where momentum quietly dies. Zing Coach’s been there:… Read more »
Mistakes happen – at work and everywhere else. Everybody makes them. While it’s easy to spiral into self-loathing when you slip up, a mistake isn’t a sign that you’re unskilled. It simply means you’re human. Here’s the even better news: Your mistake doesn’t have to define you, especially if you find the right way to… Read more »
On Wednesday, Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt and economics professor Richard Holden gave a joint address to the National Press Club in Canberra. Their key message? Australia isn’t spending enough money on university research. Schmidt wants to ensure Australia can undertake research vital to our national interests. “I look around and I am scared,” Schmidt said.… Read more »
Tech Council of Australia chair Scott Farquhar has another board to run since stepping down as Atlassian co-CEO, taking on a role close to his heart as chair of the global social impact movement Pledge 1%. Farquhar was one of the founding members of Pledge 1% started in 2015 via the Atlassian Foundation. Pledge 1%… Read more »
Showpo founder Jane Lu knows what it’s like to ride the rollercoaster of startup life better than most. The only child to Chinese-Australian parents, she was living up to their expectations with an accounting career at the Big 4 consultancy firms. But it wasn’t her cup of tea, so Lu left to launch her first… Read more »
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
