Leadership Archives

15 tech archetypes: the good, the bad, the mixed and downright ugly

George Hedon - February 6, 2025 6 MIN READ

The tech and innovation ecosystems are dynamic and interconnected networks fuelled by startups, investors, institutions, corporates, individuals and other entities. Startup Genome suggests that ecosystems are often defined within a 100km radius from a central city, providing governments with data-driven insights to benchmark success and focus their efforts. But what really happens inside an ecosystem?… Read more »

Advice

Au contraire: why VC’s idea of a ‘contrarian’ mindset doesn’t work if you want a democratic government

Elaine Stead - January 30, 2025 9 MIN READ

“What very important truth do very few people agree with you on?” This is the infamous question Peter Thiel used to filter prospective employees and test for their tendency towards contrarian thinking — the type of thinking that enabled Thiel to be a successful venture capitalist. For a while there, many of us also believed… Read more »

Advice

‘3 years of hell’: Skins owner Jaimie Fuller on what led to the downfall of his business

Suze English - January 14, 2025 4 MIN READ

Former Skins CEO Jaimie Fuller knows a thing or two about success and failure, after building a booming company that then folded due to a series of poor decisions. Jamie joined Cec Busby and Adam Bub on the First Act podcast and opened up about the mistakes that led to the epic demise of his sportswear company,… Read more »

Leadership

AI walks, meditation and rituals – the 5 things Canva cofounder Melanie Perkins does to prevent burnout

Simon Thomsen - January 8, 2025 3 MIN READ

Entrepreneur, mother and billionaire Melanie Perkins has been taking stock of her working life and goals for the year ahead, admitting that she got it wrong when she “used to work seven days a week, barely pausing to breathe, thinking it was the only way to succeed”. Perkins revealed the lessons she’d learned to maintain… Read more »

Leadership

What successful sports coaches can teach startup founders about bringing the best out of high-performance teams

Cliff Mallett - January 3, 2025 4 MIN READ

The study of leadership in high-performance coaching aims to deepen the understanding of how and why coaches lead the way they do, rather than just what they do. There has been increasing academic and applied interest in this area, particularly due to the significant impact coaches have on athlete and team performance, as well as… Read more »

Advice

‘The 2nd hardest thing I’ve done’: Hatch cofounder Adam Jacobs shares 6 things to nail your capital raise

Adam Jacobs - December 18, 2024 4 MIN READ

This time last year, Chaz and I were in the closing stages of our $7m Seed round. From the outside, raising capital may seem… exciting and sexy? That’s the Instagram version, you know it well. The reality is it’s an all-consuming and exhausting grind with zero margin for failure and the potential of changing an… Read more »

Advice

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has contributed to an Australian guide for tech whistleblowing guide

Tom Williams - December 18, 2024 3 MIN READ

A new guide for technology workers in Australia aims to encourage industry employees to become whistleblowers when they witness wrongdoing by organisations and digital platforms. The Technology-Related Whistleblowing guide, released this week by advocates from the Human Rights Law Centre, Reset Tech Australia, Psst, and Digital Rights Watch summarises existing laws and protections for raising concerns… Read more »

Investing

What an ancient sex strike can teach us about funding for female startup founders

Moira Were - December 13, 2024 4 MIN READ

It’s 411 BCE, and Aristophanes is slaying his audience in the Theatre of Dionysius with a mix of laughter and tears. In his play Lysistrata, the title character leads the women of Sparta and Thebes in a bold and humorous campaign—a sex strike—to end the devastating war between their two cities. On the surface, it’s… Read more »

Business

How to keep your startup’s end of year party safe and merry for all

Sam Garven - December 11, 2024 4 MIN READ

Nearly 50% of women have considered not attending their workplace Christmas party because of concerns about safety, poor behaviour, or harassment, according to a recent survey by Male Allies UK. Given that Australia is the worst-developed nation for workplace bullying and harassment, statistics here are likely similar or higher. If you don’t have your own… Read more »

Business strategy

5 HR strategies you need to run startups

Ilona Charles - December 5, 2024 3 MIN READ

Building a successful and sustainable business as a startup or scaleup goes beyond developing great products or services. Your people are arguably the most critical success factor for growth, and having strong HR strategies in place is essential. Overlooking HR can lead to significant long-term issues, including high employee turnover, misaligned team goals, legal and… Read more »

Andrew Green from Canva in discussion with Simon Thomsen from Startup Daily

Growth hacks

‘A big part of it is making things feel small’: Canva head of design Andrew Green on the secrets of creating global success

Startup Daily - November 21, 2024 7 MIN READ

Innovation means different things to different people, but the most important thing when it comes to product development is to have a clear vision, according to Canva’s Head of Design, Andrew Green. “‘We think pretty deeply about our roadmap, and for all the founders out there, I think that one interesting aspect of [Canva cofounder… Read more »

Business strategy

After studying 100 successful startup founders – and here’s what I learnt

David Fastuca - November 1, 2024 4 MIN READ

In the world of startups, success is often attributed to a complex interplay of factors ranging from personal characteristics to strategic decision-making. This report analyses 100 of the top startup founders to identify what separates the successful from the rest. By examining their backgrounds, leadership styles, strategic approaches, and other critical factors, we aim to… Read more »

Advice

How to manage a boss who always disagrees with you

Kayla Medica - October 25, 2024 3 MIN READ

We’ve all been there. I once had a boss who rarely gave me a thought-out quarterly plan or strategy, instead they left it (mostly) up to me to decide. And then they’d nitpick all of my decisions after the quarter was over! So why let me decide? They left it up to me because they didn’t know… Read more »

Cameron Mackenzie, Matt Jones and Stuart Gregor.

Business strategy

Four Pillars Gin cofounder Matt Jones on how to co-CEO

Matt Jones - October 25, 2024 4 MIN READ

Every business starts with a decision. In the case of Four Pillars, it was the decision to make gin. And from that first decision flowed a cascade of dozens, then hundreds, of other decisions to be made. At its simplest, all business is just decision making, and those decisions come at you thick and fast… Read more »

Climate Tech

Climate Salad’s Mick Liubinskas on pivoting for the next phase of climate tech’s success

Mick Liubinskas - October 24, 2024 2 MIN READ

As I reflect on the journey we’ve taken with Climate Salad, it’s with a mix of excitement and responsibility that I share a significant update about our next steps. Starting in 2025, Climate Salad will scale back to a more streamlined model — an online community, newsletters, and webinars, largely managed by me, part-time. This… Read more »