When Zeller CEO and cofounder Ben Pfisterer raised $100 million in a Series B that valued the then two-year fintech at $1 billion, he was talking to his US investor from behind a $19 IKEA desk. Pfisterer has spent his career in payments, including six years building Square in Australia for Jack Dorsey, and has… Read more »
This is the second edition of Giant Leap’s deep dive series, where its investment team explores the technologies and approaches addressing global problems of climate, health and people with commercial solutions (the 1st edition on the future of sustainable aviation here). In this deep dive into femtech, senior investment associate Katarina Throssell share her insights… Read more »
The startup journey is a rollercoaster – exciting, exhilarating, undeniably daunting and not for the faint-hearted. While social media tends to glamorise the #hustlelife, the reality of scaling a business is far more complex. It’s the point where a company moves from proving its concept to expanding operations, growing its customer base, and increasing market… Read more »
October 26, 2024, marked the 40th anniversary of director James Cameron’s science fiction classic, The Terminator – a film that popularised society’s fear of machines that can’t be reasoned with, and that “absolutely will not stop … until you are dead”, as one character memorably puts it. The plot concerns a super-intelligent AI system called… Read more »
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 »
Recently, Channel 10’s ‘The Project’ aired a segment on inTruth Technologies, the company I founded in 2021 to tackle one of the most significant challenges of our world today; self awareness and mental health. inTruth is the first of its kind; a technology that can track emotion with clinical grade accuracy through consumer grade wearables.… Read more »
The core of negotiation is about navigating uncertainty, and if you’re in the world of startups, uncertainty is something you’ve already embraced. Unlike traditional business owners with proven business models, products, and services, you’re operating in a space where creativity and adaptability are fundamental to your success. You’re invested in your business on every level,… Read more »
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 »
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 »
Should employers prioritise efficiency at all costs? It might seem like a good idea. More processes than ever before can now be automated with robotics, artificial intelligence and other technology. But in case after case, we’ve also seen technology usher in a whole new era of workplace surveillance. Companies have powerful new tools to track… Read more »
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 »
LinkedIn News Australia recently interviewed me about the underrepresentation of women in the startup ecosystem. At first glance, the statistics paint a bleak picture; according to the Q3 Cut Through Venture report, only 4% of total capital raised in Australia went to female-only founded teams, and just 13% to female co-founded ventures. These dismal numbers… Read more »
Imagine walking into a room of investors feeling confident, calm and certain that you’ll put your best pitch forward. When the stakes are high – and one meeting could make or break what happens to your business next – it can be challenging to feel this way. The key to feeling confident is preparation, and… Read more »
Australia is struggling to find technology workers with the right cyber security and artificial intelligence skills but could tap 1.1 million “near tech” workers with similar capabilities to reskill and support the workforce, the 10th annual ACS Australia’s Digital Pulse report has found. Demand for cyber security skills has increased by 80% in Australia since… Read more »
Despite Australia’s everlasting cyber security skills shortage, graduates and industry newcomers are struggling to get a foot in the door. AustCyber’s latest Sector Competitiveness Plan showed some 125,791 people were employed in the Australian cyber security workforce in 2022, with 51,309 of those workers in roles with a “dedicated focus” on cyber security. Meanwhile, it’s estimated 85,000… Read more »
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
