Founder to Founder with PhilHSC: Recent Episodes
Phil Hayes St Clair
Phil Hayes-St Clair (PhilHSC) makes this podcast and writes about company building each week because increasing collective wisdom is essential. In entrepreneurship, that wisdom comes from founders.
The Founder To Founder podcast surfaces how experienced founders overcome challenges and mistakes to build great companies. These are stories from the startup trenches and Phil's way to help others take their idea from zero to one, and beyond.
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Welcome to Episode 100, the final episode but worry not, a new show is coming, it's called the Be In Motion Podcast.Get notified when the show launches here!Here is the link to meet Daniel Munday at DPM Transformation. He has a great offer for Founder To Founder listeners looking to get back in shape!In this episode, Phil talks with Alan Jones, an incredible entrepreneur, investor and mentor.He regularly shares powerful insights on his blog and is a highly sought after mentor for leading accelerator programs.During this episode Alan and Phil talk about time, prioritisation, solving tough problems and the three habits you need to be a successful founder.Enjoy!————————————————Follow PhilHSCWebsiteInstagramLinkedInApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercastPocket CastMediumTwitterSend Unexpected EncouragementAlso, if you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
Welcome to Episode 99!Here is the link to meet Daniel Munday at DPM Transformation. He has a great offer for Founder To Founder listeners looking to get back in shape!In this episode, Phil talks with Dr Nancy Schellhorn is the CEO & Co-Founder at RapidAIM.RapidAIM uses the very latest in IoT sensor technology to take the guess-work out of pest management. It provides real-time information of insect pest detection in orchards & farms. And that’s just the beginning of this technologies impact!Prior to co-founding RapidAIM, Nancy was a Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO where she developed and lead concepts to achieve pest-suppressive landscapes.RapidAIM is a venture capital back company having raised capital from Main Sequence Ventures.During this episode Nancy and Phil talk about the what it takes to overcome uncertainty when launching a company, why hiring the right team makes all the difference and the three habits you need to be a successful founder.Enjoy!————————————————Follow PhilHSCWebsiteInstagramLinkedInApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercastPocket CastMediumYouTubeTwitterSend Unexpected EncouragementAlso, if you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
This week Bram Connolly talks to serial entrepreneur Phil Hayes-St Clair, CEO & Co-Founder at Drop Bio, a platform that uses systems biology, machine learning, and predictive information from finger-prick blood to better manage health and reduce disease risk. Bram and Phil have been influential in each others' careers, especially with Phil's initiative called Be in Motion. The project lets people send unexpected encouragement to others who have it tough, and also those who are doing great work. Bram is one of Be in Motion's ambassadors.Together they discuss the many different facets of entrepreneurship, including childhood experiences that molded their mindsets to modernizing concepts taught at business schools to navigating around the gig economy of today. The pair also tackle practical issues that affect entrepreneurs in both positive and negative ways, such as inspiration, mentorship, and scaling businesses.————————————————Follow PhilHSCWebsiteInstagramLinkedInApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercastPocket CastMediumYouTubeTwitterSend Unexpected EncouragementAlso, if you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
Welcome to Episode 97 of Founder To Founder! Here is a link to contact Phil as promised in the final part of this episode.Please also visit a new site that PhilHSC launched called Be In Motion. It’s here where you can send unexpected encouragement to someone you know doing a great job or doing it tough. It will make their day!————————————————Follow PhilHSCWebsiteInstagramLinkedInApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercastPocket CastMediumYouTubeTwitterSend Unexpected EncouragementAlso, if you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In this episode Phil talks with Megan Flamer.Megan is the Founder of Mindful Under Fire and a former Program Director with BlueChilli. Prior to BlueChilli, Megan lived in San Francisco where she consulted on organisational development, communications and mindfulness for some of the world’s biggest tech and media companies.Prior to working in SF, Megan worked for more than a decade in the media across Australia and the Asia Pacific region, as a journalist and radio host with the ABC.Megan is also a highly regarded mindfulness consultant, having run her own yoga retreat and personal development company, creating mindfulness programs for high performance teams at Google, Facebook and HSBC, as well as working with vulnerable clients in prisons in Australia and the US.Having seen what works for startups (and moreover, what doesn’t) in the global heart of tech in San Francisco, Megan has returned to Australia to join the team at BlueChilli, hungry to contribute to the thriving Australian startup landscape - to support an ecosystem that is creative, dynamic and healthy, while creating new economies, new jobs and new ways of thinking.————————————————Follow PhilHSCWebsiteInstagramLinkedInApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercastPocket CastMediumYouTubeTwitterIf you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.Please also visit a new site that Phil launched called Be In Motion (https://beinmotion.life). It’s here where you can send unexpected encouragement to someone you know doing a great job or doing it tough. It will make their day!
In this episode, Phil talked about makers angst.Read more here at Phil's website philhsc.com.Please also visit Be In Motion (https://beinmotion.life). It’s here where you can send unexpected encouragement to someone you know doing a great job or doing it tough. It will make their day!————————————————Follow PhilHSCWebsiteInstagramLinkedInApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercastPocket CastMediumYouTubeTwitterSend Unexpected EncouragementAlso, if you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
This is a replay from Phil's conversation with Tim Curtis and Ben Pronk at the Unforgiving60 Podcast. Enjoy!S1E21- The Entrepreneur’s Entrepreneur: From Little Things…with Phil HSCThis episode is for anyone who dreams big …. And then wants to build that dream from scratch. It’s for anyone wanting to tenaciously solve a problem. This episode is for entrepreneurs and start-ups ….. and anyone working in a café wearing a hoodie!Phil Hayes- St Clair (HSC) is a career entrepreneur. With a shortened first career in the military, Phil has made his career turning kitchen table ideas into reality. Mentoring dozens or entrepreneurs himself, Phil also teaches entrepreneurship to MBA candidates at Australia’s leading business school, the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW.With a Bachelor of Science (Microbiology) from QUT and an MBA from AGSM, today Phil is CEO & Co-Founder of DROP Bio, a direct-to-consumer biotechnology venture. He is a Member of the Board of Directors at Sangui Bio and an Advisor at the BlueChilli HealthTech Accelerator for Southeast Asia.Here's to start-ups! And here's how!Seize your moment. Latch onto that chance!Fill your Unforgiving Minute!Intelligence Summary (INTSUM)* 02:45: The Early Years – Phil at Ben go to School. * 05:15: How Tim gets amused. * 08:15: How and why Phil got started as an entrepreneur … and why he didn’t give up when he failed the first time. * 11:00: About failing and moving on. * 15:15: The #Entrepreneur hashtag… isn’t it just #SmallBusiness? * 16:35: What you need to start! And scaling. * 19:30: What the motivation and enticement for being an entrepreneur? * 21:35: The critical importance on wanting to solve big problems. * 24:59: Why failure is necessary. * 28:00: Enticing capital into your start-up * 30:21: What new industries, sector or disciplines are investors looking to? * 31:45: Venture capital in the US versus Australia * 35:15: Making good entrepreneurs and celebrating successes (even if small) * 40:20: Phil tests Ben and Tim on their entrepreneurial skills inside the Unforgiving60 podcast: * Have you set yourselves up to learn quickly? * How would you rate yourselves on marketing and distribution? * Have you built a community around the U60 podcast brand? * 47:40: Tim (and Ben) throw down the challenge to Hamish and Andy! * 48:19: Having fun! ‘Humour is a free circuit breaker’- Phil HSC * 52:15: Quick Questions/ Quick Answers to Phil * What do you do for fun? * What’s your definition of success? * Definition of happiness? * Any sources of inspiration? * How does one become mentored by Phil HSC? * Why are you running in a weight vest? * What sort of writing does Phil do? * How can I give a shout out of encouragement to someone? * 57:45: Wider ramblings and other nonsense * What it’s like to meet Tim (from Ben) * The challenge (redux)
Website & Bloghttps://philhsc.comPodcast: Founder to FounderMusic by The Externals** Opening Comments the Podcast by Lucy (age 13)
Rudy Crous is the CEO and Co-Founder of Shortlyster, a HR tech platform that uses smart data and science to match organisations with candidates ensuring they are the best fit for the role, team, and culture. Rudy co-founded Shortlyster after seeing companies consistently frustrated with the hiring process and not hiring the right people throughout his career as a Corporate Psychologist and Organisation Culture Specialist. As a Corporate Psychologist, Rudy specialises in Organisational Change and Culture Management, Operational Strategy and Planning, Workforce Training and Assessment, Team and Leadership Coaching and Development.This episode is brought to you by Be In Motion (https://beinmotion.life). It’s here where you can send unexpected encouragement to someone you know doing a great job or doing it tough. It will make their day!————————————————Follow PhilHSCWebsiteInstagramLinkedInApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercastPocket CastMediumYouTubeTwitterSend Unexpected EncouragementAlso, if you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here!
Welcome to Episode 92 of Founder To Founder and the final part of PhilHSC’s capital raising masterclass. All the supporting materials from this episode can be found here.Please also visit a new site that PhilHSC launched called Be In Motion (https://beinmotion.life). It’s here where you can send unexpected encouragement to someone you know doing a great job or doing it tough. It will make their day!————————————————Follow PhilHSCWebsiteInstagramLinkedInApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercastPocket CastMediumYouTubeTwitterSend Unexpected EncouragementAlso, if you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
Welcome to Episode 91 of Founder To Founder and the second part of PhilHSC’s capital raising masterclass. All the supporting materials from this episode can be found here.Please also visit a new site that PhilHSC launched called Be In Motion (https://beinmotion.life). It’s here where you can send unexpected encouragement to someone you know doing a great job or doing it tough. It will make their day!————————————————Follow PhilHSCWebsiteInstagramLinkedInApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercastPocket CastMediumYouTubeTwitterSend Unexpected EncouragementAlso, if you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
Welcome to part of one of PhilHSC's capital raising master class from 20 March 2019.Here are the resources that we discussed during the classStart here...* Investor Selection Planning & Criteria – Google Sheet * 11 Things You Don’t Know About Fundraising The First Time Around – Post * What Do You Look For In An Investment – Post (Andrew Chen) * How Do I Raise Money For My Startup – Post
...then continue here* How Founders Should Think About Money – Post * How To Prepare For Investor Meetings – Post * Be Wary Of The 18-Month Runway – Post * How To Prepare For Investor Meetings – Post * Press Releases About Financings Are Lightening Rods For Startups – Post * 30 Legendary Startup Pitch Decks & What You Can Learn From Them – Post
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2019 International Women’s Day. The truth is I love this occasion for two very different reasons.I identify as a feminist in the same way I do a father, husband and business leader.I take great pride in doing my part to increase opportunities for women and girls. That includes combating outdated stereotypes, the consequences of which women and girls have been subjected for the longest time.In fact, standing shoulder to shoulder alongside women like my wife, Jo Burston, Rhonda Brighton-Hall and Julie Bishop (to name a few) and taking daily strides to create an equal footing for women and girls is invigorating.Because we are on a mission. Together.IWD reminds us of our collective contribution and our conviction towards one day declaring that this day we celebrate is redundant.IWD also provides a platform to remind people of a choice that is well within their control.-----------------------------------------------------------Visit https://patreon.com/philhsc to get access to a higher-touch experience!-----------------------------------------------------------Follow PhilHSCWebsite: https://philhsc.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhscLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhscApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKMedium: https://medium.com/@philhscYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHz8Ych3-HVza1_O9vKlVGgIf you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In episode 88 of Founder To Founder, Phil talks to serial entrepreneur Dr Silvia Pfeiffer.Silvia is the CEO of Coviu, a cloud application focused on enabling healthcare providers to set up video consultation services for patients and to collaborate on patient cases with peers. Silvia has more than 15 years of experience with Web video technology. She has previously worked for Google, Mozilla, NICTA, and CSIRO and has been involved in creating the Web standards that underpin the Coviu technology. Silvia has a PhD in computer science, a masters in business management, has published two books on HTML5 video, and one on video consultations for healthcare businesses.In this episode Silvia and Phil talk about how to history repeats and why backing yourself when you’re young and not underestimating how much you know (and can learn) is important. They also talked about the three habits that founders need to develop to be successful.Enjoy!RESOURCES* Connect with Silvia on LinkedIn * Visit Silvia’s venture Coviu * Get’s Silvia’s book called Beyond The Clinic
3 KEY POINTS* Look at how history has played out before. Fast forward to now and people look at the Australian startup scene and see and ecosystem which focused on building companies, not just placing bets on interesting ideas (2:49) * The are significant advantages in delivering health services online, not least of which is the ability to help people stay on track with post surgery or injury rehabilitation (9:20) * Why exercise, taking care of you and your team’s health and mental health and celebrating small wins is important (16:17)
Follow PhilHSCWebsite: https://philhsc.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhscLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhscApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKMedium: https://medium.com/@philhscYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHz8Ych3-HVza1_O9vKlVGgIf you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
The punchline is to plan the four actions you need to take when the answer is ‘YES’. Consider this training to reduce surprise and potential confusion that can come from an unexpected ‘YES’.Planning for rejection, risk and worst-case scenarios is second nature to entrepreneurs. From the moment the first version of a business model is hatched, we are in de-risking mode. Ten steps back for each step forward. It’s a familiar tune. I love this grind and how it forces adaptation and learning.I also love being told ‘YES’.Doesn’t everybody?There’s nothing better when the grind pays off. Closing a partnership deal, finalising funding rounds, securing that key hire or having a product launch work better than expected makes it all worthwhile.Founders feel relief and the team embraces the shot of confidence.What happens next can make a business. Or dramatically stall its momentum.If a ’YES’ answer is the suck, then go where the suck isOpher, my good friend and co-founder at AirShr always used to remind me to ‘go where the suck is’. The essence of this statement is to serve people who like what you do. And we followed that advice but we did so carefully.In early-stage companies, founders invest a lot of time validating who makes up their actual target customers. In fact, most will tell you that moving from a ‘persona on paper’, or who you think your target customers are, to understanding who they really are is much harder than it sounds. But, you have to start somewhere.When people start expressing interest by wanting to test and buy what you’re selling, there is a natural inclination to listen more to those people.And herein lies the cautionary tale: Homogeneous customer groups are not (usually) representative of your total addressable market.Kickstarter and LinkedInThere are two interesting examples to illustrate this point.First, consider Kickstarter, the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects. While Kickstarter has helped facilitate pledges of more than 4B USD to projects on its platform (of which there have been more than 150,000 successfully funded projects), it is difficult to name 10 household brands that have achieved significant scale from starting on that platform. And while many companies have successfully adopted Kickstarter as their business model (by launching all of their products via Kickstarter), it is hard to scale beyond an early adopter market.LinkedIn is the second example. As Reid Hoffman described in his Masters of Scale podcast, the early days of LinkedIn attracted a self-organising group called LinkedIn Open Networkers (or LION’s as they became known). This large and at the time growing group believed that they should be able to connect with anyone on the platform. They also believed that everyone would want to connect with them.That was obviously not true and the LinkedIn team prevented that from happening. The point is that at the time the signal was so strong that LinkedIn could have gone where the suck was but it would have alienated other users and that would have stalled growth. A potentially terminal move.So the moral of both of these stories and why you should plan for when the answer is ‘YES’, is that if you don’t, you could find yourself course correcting your company to a false plateau. In other words, and in the absence of other recent wins, founders pursue this win as their new strategy.Keep reading hereBy the way, if you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when I publish my weekly long-form blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here: http://eepurl.com/drIF7r You can also follow me online:Website: https://philhsc.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhscLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhscApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKMedium: https://medium.com/@philhscYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHz8Ych3-HVza1_O9vKlVGg
In episode 86 of Founder To Founder, Phil talks to former army special forces doctor turned entrepreneur Dr Dan Pronk.Dr Dan Pronk completed a Bachelor of Exercise Science at Griffith University in 1999 before studying medicine at Flinders University on an Army scholarship. Graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in Dec 2004, he continued at Flinders Medical Centre for his intern and first residency year. Dr Pronk entered into General Practice training in 2006, and subsequently completed his FRACGP in Jan 2011.In 2007 Dr Pronk posted to his first Army unit in Darwin as a Regimental Medical Officer. In 2008 Dr Pronk posted to 5 RAR in Darwin, and continued to serve with high-readiness infantry units in Sydney and Perth for the remainder of his full-time military career from 2009-2013. Dr Pronk deployed on operations on five occasions with the Army, once to Timor and the remainder to Afghanistan.During his military career Dr Pronk took a particular interest in the pre-hospital management of penetrating trauma, and had the privilege of representing the Australian Army at the NATO Special Operations Forces Medical Expert Panel.In 2014 Dr Pronk discharged from the full-time Army and commenced an MBA through University of South Australia, which he successfully completed in December 2016. In November 2014 Dr Pronk also successfully completed Early Management of Severe Trauma instructor training through the Royal Australian College of Surgeons, commencing instructing in September 2015.For the period of July 2014 - June 2015 Dr Pronk worked primarily in an Occupational Medicine role at BHPB's Olympic dam mine site in South Australia, whilst also working periodically offshore.In July 2015 Dr Pronk accepted a Senior Medical Officer role at a regional hospital in Queensland. He maintains his interest in tactical medicine through involvement with the Army School of Health's Care of the Battlefield Casualty program, as well as acting as a tactical medical consultant for various police and other government agency groups.In this episode Dan and Phil talk about how to manage being ‘in between’ ventures and transitioning from one life to another, how to manage the entrepreneurial rollercoaster and the three habits that founders need to develop to be successful.3 KEY POINTS* Don’t underestimate the change an organisation needs to undertake from a team and culture perspective as it grows. This change needs to be managed and carefully and mindfully (12:03) * There’s only one way to eat an elephant; one bite at a time. This is might sound cliche but it’s an effective way to thinking through events, challenges and opportunities that can be overwhelming (20:49) * It’s not the critic that counts (26:35)
By the way, if you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly long-form blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here: http://eepurl.com/drIF7r You can also follow Phil online:Website: https://philhsc.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhscLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhscApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKMedium: https://medium.com/@philhsc
Happy 2019! In this episode Phil talks about two new projects, one on Youtube and the other called Be In Motion.You can learn more about the YouTube Daily project here.You can learn more about Be In Motion here.By the way, if you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when I publish my weekly long-form blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.You can also follow me online:Website: https://philhsc.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhscLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhscApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKMedium: https://medium.com/@philhsc
In episode 84 of Founder To Founder, Phil talks to Lumi CEO and Co-Founder, Yanir Yakutiel.Yanir began Lumi with one major goal in mind: to help Australian small businesses flourish by offering fast, flexible and fully transparent loans. One of the biggest differences between Lumi and other financial lenders is the fact that we harness big data in real-time, allowing us to offer customised lending decisions like no other. Having been involved with SME financing for the last 3 years, Yanir recognised the opportunity to use the power of data and analytics to create a market-leading, customer-focused small business lender that truly solves the lack of access to capital that is an existential problem for Australian small business owners. As the owner of a small business, Yanir says he understands firsthand how the lack of capital can hinder the growth of a business and limit the entrepreneurial potential of small business owners. His overarching ambition with Lumi is to empower small business owners to grow their businesses and achieve their dreams and aspirations.In this episode Yanir and Phil talk about growing a FinTech startup, leadership decision making, podcasts and the three habits that founders need to develop to be successful.3 KEY POINTS* Building technology to achieve operational efficiency and achieve favourable unit economics was the big lesson from Sail that was carried across into Lumi because it’s good business and because in Australia, unlike the US, investors won’t fund loss making ventures for long periods of time (07:14) * Startup is a team sport. A B-grade idea backed by an A-grade team will always win over a A-grade idea and a B-grade team (12:10) * Making quick decisions, in particular in relation to talent and if a hire isn’t working out is essential (14:10)
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Advisory boards are recruited to help leaders make high-quality decisions and expand influence. They are useful mechanisms in resource-constrained environments and hence popular at startups and not-for-profits.I serve on numerous advisory boards. And while these roles are different to company directorships where I manage fiduciary responsibilities with my board member colleagues, I enjoy both styles of engagement.I formed my first advisory board nearly 15 years ago. The key reflection from that first one, those I have formed since and through serving on advisory boards today is that the formation step is only a small part of the journey. The underlying routines and rituals that generate value from the advisory board is the main game.Founders contemplating the establishment of an advisory board will nod in conceptual agreement. It’s these same founders who 12 months later lament how disappointed they are with the group they brought together.The recruitment and formation of members to their advisory board might have felt like the assembly of a grand coalition of the willing. A formidable team destined to achieve greatness. But something went wrong along the way. Greatnesses is still a long way off. Advisory board members seem disinterested or hard to reach and the founder feels like a significant piece of their armour is missing.This is not a new issue.Keep reading here.-------------------------------Follow PhilHSCApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In episode 81 of Founder To Founder, Phil talks to serial entrepreneur and Maxwell Plus CEO and Co-Founder, Elliot Smith.Maxwell Plus, a Brisbane based start up applying artificial intelligence to improve medical diagnosis. Maxwell Plus uses medical imaging, blood tests and patient data to deliver a fast and accurate diagnosis of prostate, breast, and lung cancer. Before founding Maxwell Plus Elliot completed a PhD in biomedical imaging designing the next generation of MRI scanners.In this episode Elliot and Phil talk about how to manage being ‘in between’ ventures, how designing a product is often a collaboration between multiple systems and people, and the three habits that founders need to develop to be successful.3 KEY POINTS* Fundraising always takes longer than expected. Maxwell Plus budgeted 3 months to raise its first round and it took nearly seven months to close the round (16:39) * You get told ‘No’ a lot when you’re building a venture. No only means ‘no’, today. It often isn’t a reflection on you or the work you’re doing (18:10) * People need uninterrupted time and space to do deep work. Elliot subscribes to Cal Newport’s philosophy of Deep Work, you can read more about Deep Work here (24:22)
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In Episode 81, Phil talks with the team at Reckitt Benckiser about innovating within a large fast moving consumer goods company and the five ways you can win by obsessing about the problem (and not the solution).For more information about hiring Phil to talk at your event, please contact his team here. -------------------------------------------------------------------Follow PhilHSCApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
Assumptions are the basis for most startups. After identifying opportunities, founders use assumptions to begin piecing together a narrative to communicate their vision. And it’s just expected that each assumption in a startup’s business model will get tested and iterated over time.The reality is, however, that there are assumptions that don’t get tested. Some of these are linchpin assumptions, ones that are critical to the business model that founders are selling to customers, investors and partners.The punchline is that founder’s risk building a ‘house of cards’ by relying on untested assumptions.And there are two reasons why founders press on with untested assumptions. One is legitimate, the other convenient.The legitimate reason is limited time and resources. Assumptions live on a semi-prioritised but nonetheless messy Trello board and you keep hearing yourself say ’I’ll get to them’. I’ve been there many times. As a side note, and while resource constraint is a legitimate reason, I recommend you putting your mentor(s) to work to help prioritise assumptions. This will bring them closer to your business (which they will enjoy) and you get help from a ‘friendly’.‘Convenient’ untested assumptions are more dangerous because they:* Are important to the business model’s viability * Are difficult to test (and may reveal a fatal flaw in the business model when tested) * Receive the most positive feedback when a founder declares that the assumption is under control or well understood
The third characteristic is as subtle as it is important.Consider this. You pitch to your first potential investor. They query a few of your assumptions and in the haste of wanting to appear like you have your act together, you offer a response. It is plausible and the potential investor accepts your answer. The meeting finishes and you agree to meet again shortly.You meet another prospective investor (or partner or customer) and they ask the same question as the first investor. You offer the same answer. They accept it, the cycle continues and it gets reinforced when the founder raises money using the same thesis.------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow PhilHSCApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In episode 79 of Founder To Founder, Phil talks to serial entrepreneur and Fractal Ventures General Partner, Gerard Doyle.In Gerard’s words, ‘My mission is to help the founders, innovators, creators and dreamers find their customers, to see their product being deployed and fulfil their business potential.It is rare to find a startup that doesn’t have a unique business proposition. It is unfortunately common to watch startups fail to position their business in the correct light, and to the appropriate audience.I use my 20+ year of marketing experience combined with my experience as a founder of three Startups to help fellow founders discover and develop the optimal marketing solution for their business.You might call me a growth hacker or a part-time CMO, but whatever name you give it, I create marketing strategies for Startups’.In this episode Gerard and Phil talk about how to manage being ‘in between’ ventures, how investors should think about investing in founders and the three habits that founders need to develop to be successful.3 KEY POINTS* The faster you realise where your strengths lie, the better and it often takes someone else to help you understand where you play the best. In Gerard’s case, it was a journalist but for others this could be a mentor (09:07), * Every venture has a key growth metric, it the north star for the business to grow. Know it intimately and what levers make it go up and down, it will help focus you and your team when the going gets tough AND when the going is good (20:31) * Investing in founders is essential to ensure they can be there for the long haul. Sophisticated investors are more and more reluctant to participate in financing rounds where there is no portion of the round allocated to wages for the founders (26:10)
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Wellness is a loaded term. It means too many things to too many people. And when it comes to scaling a business and teams, wellness isn’t on the critical path which is ironic given how important team performance is to a venture’s success.Some founders consider wellness a personal responsibility of each team member (that was me).Others solve for wellness by introducing yoga, healthy snacks and flexible work arrangements (to name a few) for their teams to access.These two approaches (and every option in between) are opt-in and neither one mandates co-founder participation.And herein lies the issue.Team members are cue sponges. They notice when co-founders or any person perceived to be a leader starts acting in ways to improve or degrade their wellbeing, regardless of whether the leader is acting consciously or subconsciously. It’s an unavoidable fact that they respond and modify their behaviours based on what their leaders say and do.For the record, I think wellness should get more airtime than it does today. I think it’s an undervalued asset for teams starting or scaling ventures. And while wellness isn’t likely to stand shoulder to shoulder with product, technology or marketing on the critical path, it is simple to scale.The key to this simplicity is the example co-founders set and talk about with their teams.It’s all good. Until it’s not.If I’m honest I only started embracing wellness as an ideal when I started thinking about it in terms of how I perform in the service of my wife, daughters, friends and teammates.I reframed wellness from being an esoteric, nice-to-have cliche and began thinking about it as a core capability I needed to be successful.Sound strange?Ask or observe most entrepreneurs and you’ll find that they possess a kind of invincibility psyche. This manifests in a number of ways but it boils down to their mindset being something like this: ‘If I’m always on and upbeat, I will overcome all odds and others will believe we are worth backing’.These same founders scoff at the idea of work/life balance and dismiss the ‘marathon, not a sprint’ analogy. To them, their venture, identity and livelihood are so inextricably linked that they see no other option but to never stop. This can end badly.Team members see this behaviour and try to match it in order to fit in. Or they burn out trying to. And while it’s true that entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, no investor wants to see a company fold because its founders implode.Founders who are scaling their business constantly navigate a slew of known and expected obstacles. Ironically, scaling wellness involves implementing 10 simple tactics.I encourage founders to do all 10 and then share them with their team in a kind of checklist format. Set the example and then ask the team to follow suit. It will change the game for you, your team and your business.Keep reading the full post here.--------------------------------------------------FOLLOW PhilHSCApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In episode 77 of Founder To Founder, Phil talks to Educator Impact Founder & CEO Ken Wallace.Educator Impact is on a mission to support educators because we know better educators mean better student outcomes.Launched in 2012, Educator Impact is an innovative, evidence-based 360-degree feedback tool that provides teachers and leaders with individualised professional development plans to help improve teaching and leadership practice and enhance student outcomes.Ken and Phil talk about pivoting from a tradition career to startup, education technology and how to leverage seasonality and three habits to be a successful founder.3 KEY POINTS* The team at Educator Impact has been pivotal to its success. Their alignment to the mission of helping teachers have a greater impact on students and their learning is one of Educator Impact’s super powers. * Educator Impact didn’t realise how important (and how much) seasonality played a role in the business model. As they understood how to manage the seasonality, the team was able to leverage it into a competitive advantage (15:50) * Strategy is as much about what to say no too, as it is determining how to capture an opportunity (29.22)
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Asking the right question at the right time is an art. As my good friend Melissa Rosenthal says, it takes practice and when you get it right, it pays off in spades.Over the years I have learned that the ‘right’ questions often have three dimensions;* They are open (cannot be answered by a simple Yes or No); * They require thought and are delivered with context; and * They contain an element of reflection (they require the person answering to explain their logic).
I have also become reliant on asking these questions for two reasons, both of which have to do with self-awareness.The first relates to pursuing a problem.Like most people I have biases and like most entrepreneurs, I come with high levels of built-in conviction for the problems I want to solve.The problem is that bias multiplied by conviction creates a potent combination that narrows the aperture to how one considers the history and future possibilities for the business model they are building.First-time founders often suffer from this. The few that don’t have a habit of continually asking questions.They and their more seasoned colleagues know that their rate of learning is driven by thoughtful disagreement which in turn is driven by regularly asking ‘why?’ and other well-considered questions.Building mission-driven teams is the second reason I strive to ask the ‘right’ questions.I believe that a culture of radical transparency is one of the most important preconditions for creating a place that attracts the best people to do career-defining work. It also helps determine those who may not be a fit. In any case, this can only be achieved if every team member feels like they can ask well-considered questions to anyone in the organisation.If this principle appeals to you, I recommend adding Kim Scott’s audiobook called Radical Candour to your listening lineup.Keep reading this post here.FOLLOW PhilHSCApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In Episode 75 of Founder To Founder Phil speaks with journalist and Co-Founder of SportsYear, Patrick Galloway.Patrick is a sports reporter with ABC News in Sydney. He joined the ABC in 2012 after five years working with ESPN in the United States. He was formerly a researcher for Bruce McAvaney at Channel Seven. Patrick co-founded SportsYear in 2004.RESOURCES* Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn or Twitter * Visit Patrick’s venture, SportsYear * Audible - Get a FREE Audiobook & 30-Day Trial if you’re not currently a member!
3 KEY POINTS1. The longer you can be in market, the more likely you will understand who your true customer is and how to meet their need. Startup is a game of survival (9:55) 2. Look beyond people who think your idea and business model is great. Determine if they would actually use your product (15:03) 3. Know your numbers! Even if you’re not a ‘numbers person’. It’s your business. Understand it, (28:16)
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Where do I start with my idea?I get this question a lot and those who ask usually possess infectious excitement about an idea, are new to product development and remain convinced that their addressable market of customers is massive.The irony is that 90% of people who ask where to start, don’t.Deep down they know why and it usually comes down to three reasons.Fear is the first reason (and there’s an antidote)The first reason is fear. People fear what they don’t know and more specifically, people fear what others will think of their ideas.I don’t like venturing into motivational territory because what’s usually said isn’t practical but in this case, I’ll offer two thoughts that always prove true.The greatest triumphs live just on the other side of one’s fears.And when you break it down further, fear only plays a significant role when the person believes that the only way forward is all-or-nothing. When it comes to building a company, it’s rarely ‘all in’. The reality is that it’s a series of small experiments and a few successes for every ton of failures.Here’s the second thought:The only person who cares enough to be anxious about your ideas is – you guessed it – YOU!And here’s the antidote for fear in entrepreneurship. Just ask yourself two simple questions:On the downside, if going from idea to business isn’t all-or-nothing and it’s a series of small experiments, what have you got to lose?Then on the upside, what happens if someone is willing to pay it?Feel free to post a photo in the comments with the ‘oh yeah, he’s right’ look on your face :)------------------------Read the full post here.Follow PhilHSCApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In episode 73 of Founder To Founder, Phil talks to Otlet and Shark Share Global Co-Founder Madeline Green.In Madeline's words, 'When I reach the end of my life I want to be able to look back and know I spent my time wisely, working towards understanding, managing and conserving the biological world around me. I don’t believe there is a need to save the world; instead I think we need to learn how to co-exist.I am a marine biologist and molecular ecologist, who studies a variety of shark and ray species.I am also an entrepreneur and the co-founder of biological sample sharing platforms; Shark Share Global and Otlet.'Madeline and Phil talk about balancing an accelerating while doing a day job (or in Madeline's case finishing a PhD!), how to manage well-intentioned startup advice, developing grit and three habits to be a successful founder.3 KEY POINTS1. Understand incentives and how they drive people to use your product but don't be surprised if when they start using it, they use it in a completely different way, that's a good thing! (12:10) 2. When you're getting bombarded with startup advice, remember that you will hold much of the domain knowledge and the context. Frame the advice correctly but at the end of the day, back yourself and your judgement (30:32) 3. Get ready and be good for heading one word hundreds of times: No. This is par for the course and while it might seem overwhelming to be on a streak of 'thanks but no thanks', remember to claim the lesson on each 'No'. All you need to do is ask! (31:40)
RESOURCES* Connect with Madeline on LinkedIn * Visit Madeline's venture, Otlet. * Start using Trello, one of Madeline's favourite tools! * Audible - Get a FREE Audiobook & 30-Day Trial if you’re not currently a member!
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Startup founders are advice magnets. Friends, family, investors, self-proclaimed experts and pundits, users and customers all like to share their two cents worth.Most founders I know do their best to balance this advice against their vision but it’s not easy.A thread on LinkedIn brought this issue to light and people from across the advice spectrum weighted in. Those on the sidelines argued that diversity of perspective is important. Founder’s said that the quality of advice from those without ‘garage experience’ is highly variable at best and that they rely on themselves to filter out the noise.I side with the latter argument as do many of my colleagues and mentees. Yet screening for advice amidst the noise remains a daily challenge. This is because founder’s don’t have all the answers all the time and insights can come from the strangest of sources. This paradox usually manifests through a fear of missing out (FOMO) or the ‘need to please’.FOMO is a fine balance of curiosity and paranoia but often favours the latter.The ‘need to please’ plays out where a perceived power imbalance exists. In the context of entrepreneurship, that perception comes from one party (investors) appearing to have more experience or capital than the other party (founders). And in order to access more experience and capital, using the thesis that more of both will accelerate growth, founders tend of over index the importance placed on advice from these people.These two emotions are real and increase a founder’s advice surface area but that doesn’t help with screening for noise.Read the full post here.Follow Phil HSCApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXPocket Cast: https://pca.st/A7ZKInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In episode 71 of Founder To Founder, Phil talks to GiggedIn Founder and CEO Ed Onggo.In Ed's words, 'I try to live each day like it's my last, but learn like I’m going to live forever.I enjoy geeking out on all things tech, startups, personal development, music, neuroscience, and anything else related to becoming the most epic human one can be. Heroes include; Peter Diamandis, Tony Robbins, Naval Ravikant, Naveen Jain, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, Tim Ferriss, Ray Kurzwell, Simon Sinek, Jim Kwik, Tom Bilyeu, Mark Sisson, Ray Dalio and lots more.The current business I am dedicated to making a huge success is GiggedIn. Our vision is to make shared experiences and going out a weekly habit. Why? Because life is short nothing tops the feeling of being in the moment at a gig or out having a laugh with mates at a show. These are the moments that are key to living a fulfilled and happy life.We make more of these experiences happen through our subscription platform that makes it easier and cheaper for our members to access tickets from a curated monthly list of about 150 concerts, festivals, comedy, cinema and theatre shows. We are doing what Spotify and Netflix have done for CD's and DVD's but for all ticketed live entertainment.I’ve led GiggedIn through several business model pivots (painful, but valuable learning experiences) to land on the model that is now experiencing healthy growth (~20% MoM). We now help thousands of members have more fun, have raised over $1.5M AUD, worked with over 2.5K events, and are backed by industry executives, tech entrepreneurs, as well as Artesian Venture Partners - one of Australia’s largest Venture Capital firms.I also regularly guest lecture at Macquarie Uni and volunteer time for UNSW CIE students to talk startups and entrepreneurship because I’ve always got time to spare to support young founders having a crack, plus I enjoy it.If you feel like I can help you in any way or you’re an investor interested in getting involved with GiggedIn - feel free to reach out.'Ed and Phil talk about tenacity, learning and three habits to be a successful founder.Resources* Connect with Ed on LinkedIn * Visit Ed's venture, GiggedIn * Audible - Get a FREE Audiobook & 30-Day Trial if you’re not currently a member!
3 key points* Understanding incentives, particularly when building a marketplace business is essential (11:29) * Patience, learning and tenacity is a winning combination. Each of these is equal parts practice and mindset (18:20) * Stay married to the problem, not the solution. Solutions come and go but the problem remains constant until you nail it! (25:50)
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I often hear that software developers are the most difficult hire for non-technical founders.The process and questions to determine a candidate’s fit is a mystery to most of these founders. And regardless of whether they’re looking for a Chief Technology Officer or a freelancer to help hack the first version of a product, they often feel completely out of their depth when speaking with developer candidates.As a result, they rely on what they think they know about recruiting talent. For the most part, this means relying on their own experience in hiring people which as it turns out is usually, at least for first-time founders, very limited. And let’s be honest, there are few people in the world who have a perfect hiring track record.If your venture relies on software, and just about all do, the need to get hiring decisions right is important. In fact, it’s crucial because (and speaking from experience) getting it wrong can be terminal.Read the full post here.-----------------------Follow Phil HSC:Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In Episode 69 of Founder To Founder, Phil talks to The Safety Compass Founder and CEO Adam Poole.The Safety Compass is a Work Health & Safety risk management tool designed to help workers assess, manage and avoid dangers in their workplace and help bring them home.The Safety Compass can also assist insurers with underwriting decisions by providing detailed information on site hazards, sourced directly from the workers and in real time.Adam and Phil talk about resilience, tenacity and the future of workplace safety.3 Key Highlights* Globally, a work related fatality happens every 15 seconds, 2.5 M people go to work each day that don’t come home (07:12) * Safety Compass’s vision is the create a world where everyone comes home from work (10:13) * Adam got rejected by 150 investors before gaining investor traction (34:00)
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Episode 68 of Founder To Founder is a recording of Phil's keynote at BlueChilli, Australia's leading early stage accelerator at which he is an advisor. This keynote is based on this post.-----------------Follow Phil HSC:Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
I hate losing customers.And it’s one thing to lose customers if you sell to consumers where the universe of potential customers is high and attrition is expected. It’s quite another if your business sells to other businesses. In these companies, a relatively small group of customers create the majority of the value and it can take months, if not years, to develop those relationships.Losing one of these customers can be devastating. And in worse case scenarios losing a customer can start a chain of events that can be terminal.This issue came up in my slack channel where I support 37 entrepreneurs.The loss of the customer came about through a growing company experimenting with using sub-contracted talent to scale the delivery of its work to customers.When done well, this can be a very effective solution but in this case, the result was damaging to the companies brand and they had lost the customer.I have been in this situation before. Many have too. Losing a customer comes with shock, disbelief and a grieving process. These emotions also (usually) come with a lack of perspective as the founders are left to quickly diagnose and repair the issue by themselves.That didn’t happen this time.Read the full post here.----------------------------Follow Phil HSCApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPKOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In Episode 66 of Founder To Founder, Phil speaks with Bron.Tech Co-Founder Emma Poposka. -----------------Follow Phil HSCApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPK Overcast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/
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The punchline: Think first about how you want to be remembered. It will help you answer what you want to do in life.So, what do you want to do?I struggled with this question for the longest time.There was a storm inside me that constantly reminded me of my potential. The problem was I didn’t know how to apply it to answer this question.Practicality told me to earn money to pay rent.Experience told me to rust on to the best leaders to accelerate my learning.Military service told me to never underestimate the power of high calibre teams and mateship.My upbringing told me to respect people’s perspectives, motives and religion.And hope told me that hard work’s payoff would reveal my ‘why’.But hope isn’t a strategy and I was also no closer to answering what I wanted to do when asked by friends, colleagues or recruiters. And when the question came up when a military career was no longer an option and after my first venture failed, saying ‘I don’t know’ or fabricating an answer was exhausting.I was desperate for an answer. The frustration was palpable and it kept me awake at night.That’s no longer a problem.Read the post here------------------------Follow Phil HSCApple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHGoogle Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2lGHaPK Overcast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/
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In Episode #64 of Founder To Founder Phil speaks with Dr Jemma Green, Co-Founder of PowerLedger who raised Australia's largest Initial Coin Offering of $34M.
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This episode is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, In Between.I’m bringing this forward as a result of an unexpected conversation I had with a 24-year-old first-time founder this week. While his venture failed and his circumstances are synonymous with the risk and journey of entrepreneurship, he has a bright future.In Between lays out the approach to help entrepreneurs move between ventures. And this approach extends beyond entrepreneurs to apply to people and communities who experience profound changes in personal context, including families transitioning from the military and those departing long-term careers.Read the full post here.
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In Episode 62 of Founder To Founder, Phil speaks with Jessica Christiansen-Franks, an urban designer and social entrepreneur who has dedicated her career to understanding the social implications of urbanisation. Jessica has an insatiable curiosity about how cities work which has seen her work across Australia, as well as the United Kingdom, Canada, India, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Passionate about creating liveable, equitable and interesting cities, Jessica has over fifteen years experience working across urban design, placemaking, community development and citizen engagement, and been involved in some of Australia's most complex and notable urban development projects.
As the CEO and Co-Founder of Neighbourlytics, Jessica is focussed on using big data to provide insights into the unique local identity of neighbourhoods to create places people love and feel connected to.
Phil and Jessica talk about the rollercoaster of creating a data aggregation business, harnessing the passion of team members and the three habits that make founders successful.
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There is only one thing I like more about sales than closing deals. It’s getting a quick ‘thanks, but no thanks’.And when I say closing deals, I’m not just talking about revenue and partnerships, I’m talking about achieving buy-in from colleagues for decisions on internal projects.Over the last five years, I have honed a technique to help get a quick YES or NO from potential customers, investors and colleagues. A colleague overheard me using it this week and twigged to the fact I was using it regularly to good effect so I thought I would share it.It is not rocket science but it has taken practice.Read the post here------------------------Follow Phil HSC:iTunes: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/
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In the second part of this special two-part conversation of Founder To Founder, Phil speaks with serial entrepreneur, Kim Teo.Kim Teo is Co-Founder of PitchBlak, Australia’s largest supporter of idea-stage entrepreneurs. PitchBlak has raised $20M for their own startups and learned plenty of hard lessons along the way. Alongside continuing to launch their own ventures, they now help founders across Australia to validate their ideas and build a compelling story to get pre-seed investment.And here are five things you'll want to know about Kim before you meet:
• There's always an audiobook or podcast playing
• Get a kick out of spotting and seizing opportunities
• Say what I'll do and do what I say
• Straight up, respectful, no BS
• ENTP – Extrovert, Intuitive, Thinking, ProspectingKim and Phil talk about growth, short circuits to success by leveraging the knowledge of entrepreneurs around the world, how to think about market-place businesses and three habits that make founders successful.
Follow Phil HSC:iTunes: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/
If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In the first part of this special two-part conversation of Founder To Founder, Phil speaks with serial entrepreneur, Kim Teo.Kim Teo is Co-Founder of PitchBlak, Australia’s largest supporter of idea-stage entrepreneurs. PitchBlak has raised $20M for their own startups and learned plenty of hard lessons along the way. Alongside continuing to launch their own ventures, they now help founders across Australia to validate their ideas and build a compelling story to get pre-seed investment.And here are five things you'll want to know about Kim before you meet:
• There's always an audiobook or podcast playing
• Get a kick out of spotting and seizing opportunities
• Say what I'll do and do what I say
• Straight up, respectful, no BS
• ENTP – Extrovert, Intuitive, Thinking, ProspectingKim and Phil talk about growth, short circuits to success by leveraging the knowledge of entrepreneurs around the world, how to think about market-place businesses and three habits that make founders successful.
Follow Phil HSC:iTunes: http://apple.co/2pc0GqJSpotify: http://spoti.fi/2AdJcPHOvercast: http://bit.ly/2HhJAMXInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhsc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhsc/
If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
The punchline is that money needs to survive three tests when you’re an entrepreneur.I raise this after troubling conversations this past month which left me thinking that most first-time founders don’t know how to think about money.While the reasons vary, I think the core of this issue lies in how people have received and valued money in their lives before taking on investment.People invest for different reasons, three reasons actually...
Keep listening or read the full post here.**Thanks for listening. If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In Episode 57 of Founder To Founder, Phil speaks with Elevacao CEO & Founder, Marisa Warren. Marisa is a global start-up advisor, investor, social entrepreneur and speaker, who is incredibly passionate about elevating women to higher levels and building a collaborative tech ecosystem. As an entrepreneur, Marisa has built three global businesses from idea stage to revenue producing, and worked in Australia and New York for companies such as SAP, Microsoft and Workday.Whilst living in New York, Marisa founded ELEVACAO a global not for profit empowering women entrepreneurs to build and launch successful tech businesses. Since ELEVACAO’s launch mid-2015, we've helped over 80 women get pitch ready for investment funding across New York, Sydney, Melbourne and San Francisco launching April 2018. Marisa and Phil talk about the catalysts for welcoming more women into startups and technology role, how to move between life events and failure and four habits that make founders successful.
Investor: 'Will your business scale?'
Entrepreneur: 'Yes!'That’s the default answer from soon to be founders and entrepreneurs.It’s obvious to them that a need exists and the prospect of reaching millions of users and customers is intoxicating.But as my colleague Jeffrey Tobias says, it’s a mistake to think that a startup is a small business.His point, quite rightly, is that small businesses have limited growth potential.Startups, on the other hand, are limited to the size of the addressable market.And it’s this nuance that first-time founders rarely consider.At the heart of the difference between a startup and a small business is the number of units of value that can be generated per person over time.Keep listening or read the full post here.**Thanks for listening. If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In Episode 53 Phil speaks with serial entrepreneur Antonia Saint Dunbar.
Antonia led the design of THINX and was the Chief of Operations for years, and she is now taking on the shoe industry with her new high-tech heels and flats that feel like sneakers on the inside. She raised $1.8M in 40 days with pre-orders from 7,000 people around the world. Nominated as one of Women 2.0's "Top Female Founders to Watch", and called a "Feminist Genius" by the press for the invention of THINX (Fast Company's Most Innovative Co's of 2017, Entrepreneur's Most Brilliant Co's of 2016, and one of TIME Magazine's "Top 25 Inventions for 2015"), Antonia is passionate about disruptive innovation to provide solutions for women.
Through the THINX Foundation, the Fistula Foundation and other giveback partners, she creates companies that are dedicated to purpose in addition to profits, and solutions to help support gender equality worldwide. Interesting facts: 1. THINX was a TriBeCa Disruptive Innovation winner alongside the likes of the founders of Warby Parker, Twitter and Kickstarter as well as Scooter Braun (Justin Beiber) and Adam Braun (Pencils of Promise). 2. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, designers and artists, Antonia learned early on that you can create something out of nothing and that your idea exist in the world at large to help better people's lives. When she led the design of THINX and wrote the patent, she felt it already in her DNA to do so. 3. Before co-founding THINX, Antonia was a marketing/PR executive who made key partnerships at various production companies, and she has also toured the world and played cello with artists like Carly Simon and John Forte of The Fugees.
Phil and Antonia talk about how to move between ventures, developing resilience, integrating parenting with growing ventures and the three habits that make founders successful.
Patience is the most difficult mindset to master when you are naturally urgent. It doesn’t come easily to me or many of my colleagues. And the irony that entrepreneurship is equal parts patience and urgency isn’t lost on us either.
I have found that while you need to be urgent and patient simultaneously, the mix of each one changes with time. The issue is you only realise that in retrospect.
In the early days of a venture, founders are in full control of their time. They can design and tinker in the relative privacy of their development environments. Urgency is high, patience can be low.
As ventures grow and expectations on investment and growth start to take hold, that mix should change.
And it might. Slightly. From say a 90% urgency, 10% patience ratio to 80:20.
This slight increase in patience is afforded to internal activities where larger teams take longer to collaborate and get things done. And for the most part, the activities the team are focused on are relatively contained and controllable.
The nuance here is that growth also comes with additional external dependencies, all of which take time.
The one thing that founders never want to think, hear or embrace is that despite their best efforts to create urgency, the world outside their venture’s walls moves at its own pace.
Partnerships take longer to form, consumer marketing takes time to optimise and product development needs to respond to a broader audience.
The cumulative effect of these realities puts obvious pressure on runways. It also creates stress on the already limited bandwidth of small teams and narrows the universe of available tactics to extend the time in market.
Keep listening or read the full post here.**Thanks for listening. If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In Episode 53 Phil speaks with John Bale, CEO and Co-Founder of Soldier On, a Not-For-Profit established after he discovered a severe lack of support for veterans (and their families) who discharged after sustaining injuries during their service.John served in the Australian Army for 12 years and finished his career as a Chief of Army Scholar writing on the de-stigmatisation of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Australian Army. He was state finalist for 2014 Young Australian of the year and winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 (Eastern Region).Phil and John talk about changing the perception of Post Traumatic Stress, the value veterans bring to the community, negotiating the 'in between' and the three habits that make founders successful. RESOURCES* Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger - One of John's favourite books * The Founder's Mentality by Chris Zook and James Allen - Another of John's favourite books * The Dead Prussian - John's favourite podcast * Connect with John on LinkedIn and Twitter * Audible - Get a FREE Audiobook & 30-Day Trial if you’re not currently a member!
3 KEY POINTS* The mission remains constant (Soldier On's mission is to create the best generation of reintegrated veterans in Australia's history) but how you achieve it changes (07:15) * Casting veterans with Post Traumatic Stress as the victims makes it easy in the 24/7 news cycle to understand and support the issue. This is not malicious but the conversation has not included the great qualities that veterans bring to companies and society and Soldier On is working to level up this narrative (10:42) * Being 'in between' (ventures as an entrepreneur or transitioning from the military for veterans) can be really daunting. Having a network of support is essential. For entrepreneurs that means engaging with other founders. For veterans that means connecting with Soldier On (18:36)
Most parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles know of Hairy Maclary. For the uninitiated, Hairy is a fictitious dog who lives at a dairy and embarks on adventures with his friends. Each story is playfully illustrated, written in rhythmic verse and begs the reader to deliver each page with theatrical enthusiasm.I owe a great deal to New Zealand author Dame Lynley Dodd, the creator of this great character.An embarrassing realisationMy introduction to Hairy Maclary took place when our eldest daughter was a small number of months old. Until that point, I had been winging it. As clumsily as one could, I had been making my way through our story time routine using stilted and stutter-filled language. It didn’t seem to matter until one day our daughter looked up at me when I tripped over a simple phrase, again and again. The look on her face said, ‘what’s wrong?’Filled with shame, I had no response.Keep listening or read the full post here.**Thanks for listening. If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In episode 51 Phil speaks with Australian entrepreneur Matt Parry who founded a brand that is taking on Pringles around the world.
The Good Crisp Company launched in the US market in early 2017 as the premium and natural Pringle alternative. Today Matt's product is in over 3,000 supermarkets, one of the top ten fastest growing brands in Whole Foods stores and on track to do over $5M in sales in 2018 from $0 in 2017.Phil and Matt talk about planning for unexpected success, the role of grass-roots sales plays in learning how to manage large B2B deals and the three habits that make founders successful.
***Thanks for listening! If you'd like to be the first to know when new episodes are available, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow the show on Spotify or sign up for the insider's newsletter!
Stress is an unavoidable part of a startup. It affects team members in different ways and it’s constant in a founders life.There is a long list of situations, decisions and expectations that create stressful conditions. Add fatigue and a perfect storm of stress can easily besiege even the most accomplished entrepreneur.It would be easy to lump startup stress management with the founding team but I think it is, and always will be, a team effort.Keep listening or read the full post here.**Thanks for listening. If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In Episode 49 of the Founder To Founder Podcast, Phil connected with Right Hook Digital's Co-Founder Dee Deng.Dee is a serial entrepreneur who after completing compulsory military service in Singapore discovered the power of online marketplaces. He founded HireHive, the first online rental marketplace for digital photography and video equipment before starting Right Hook Digital. Listen in for Dee's approach to navigating the time in-between ventures.
*Thanks for listening! If you'd like to be the first to know when new episodes are available, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow the show on Spotify or sign up for the insider's newsletter!
Last week I was asked about the lessons learned from growing businesses that failed. At the time it felt like a loaded question but after probing, the person asking the question was curious about why you would do it again. I’ll get to that in a separate post.When I closed my first business I wrote a letter to those who followed the journey with 11 reflections.Each one is born from an experience that came about through painful lesson or surprising revelation. And in a startup, it’s sometimes difficult to tell one from the other!In any case, these reflections-turned-mantras are how I answered the question and have held true regardless of the business model and industry I’ve been involved in.Keep listening or read the full post here.*Thanks for listening. If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In Episode 47 of the Founder To Founder Podcast Phil speaks with Acanela Expeditions CEO & Co-Founder, Kylie Chenn.Kylie has boot-strapped her venture from a $1,000 entrepreneurship prize she received at university into an eight-person team who send thousands of people on unique travel experiences each year.Kylie and Phil talk about how building communities and partnerships can fuel efficient growth, why continuous learning is important and the three habits that founders need to be successful.*Thanks for listening! If you'd like to be the first to know when new episodes are available, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow the show on Spotify or sign up for the insider's newsletter!
Punchline: The need to grow companies quickly means founders sometimes prioritise acquiring anyone who likes their product instead of people who love it. They fall for the ‘like mirage’ which is often terminal.
Keep listening or read the full post here.**Thanks for listening. If you'd like to know when new episodes are released or when Phil publishes his weekly blog post, sign up for the insider's email list here.
In Episode 45 of the Founder ToFounder Podcast Phil speaks with Travello co-founder Ryan Hanly. A former school teacher, Ryan joined forces with Mark Cantoni to create Travello, a social network which helps travellers create platonic relationships in destinations they are visiting.Ryan and Phil talk about managing the unexpected, like a legal challenge to the first name of the company which resulted in their popular app being pulled down from the Apple App Store, and why perseverance is essential. All while being a father of four!*Thanks for listening! If you'd like to be the first to know when new episodes are available, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow the show on Spotify or sign up for the insider's newsletter!
The beginner mindset is an essential belief system for entrepreneurs. It’s equal parts naivety, courage and vision and underpinned by how quickly an entrepreneur can learn.
Keep listening or read the post here!If you enjoyed this or any other episode on the Founder To Founder Podcast, sign up for the insider's email and be the first to know about new episodes and Phil Hayes-St Clair's weekly blog post on startup growth.
In this episode Phil speaks with Mike Knapp, a former lawyer and ex-Google software engineer turned entrepreneur.
Mike co-founded Shoes of Prey, a company that allows women to design their own shoes. He has a passion for investigating new business models and writing code and has previously lived in San Francisco, Shanghai, Dongguan and LA.
Today, Mike is an Entrepreneur In Residence at River City Labs.
***Thanks for listening! If you'd like to be the first to know when new episodes are available, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow the show on Spotify or sign up for the insider's newsletter!
Startups often face a real conundrum when trying to align incentives to land a strategic partner. Here's how to approach and solve this issue.Keep listening or read this post here.
In episode 41 Phil speaks with serial entrepreneur Matthew Barnett. An industrial designer by training, Matthew has built a number of businesses that all share a very similar trait, the customer lives at the centre of every decision. Matthew's current venture, Bonjoro, personalises the customer onboarding process and helps customer success teams convert and retain more customers through personal video.
In this episode, Matthew and Phil talk about learning, pivoting, to survive in startup and the three habits founders need to be successful. *****Thanks for listening!
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Feeling lost as a founder happens to us all at some point.You might be being told ‘No’ more than you expect after pitching new customers or investors.You might be seeing changes in your industry and feel that pivot options are in short supply based on what you’ve built.You might be trying to balance being a parent and/or partner with building a company and you’re fatigued and running low on answers.It happens.It’s part of being an entrepreneur. And no one said it would be easy.Keep reading here...
In this episode of the Founder to Founder podcast Phil speaks with Josh Steimle. Josh Steimle is an author, speaker, and entrepreneur. He has written over 300 articles for publications like Fortune, Time, Forbes, Inc., Mashable, TechCrunch, and Entrepreneur, and is the author of Chief Marketing Officers at Work, which contains 29 interviews with CMOs from organizations like GE, the Harvard Business School, Spotify, Target, and PayPal and was recognized in Success Magazine as one of the 5 Best Business Books of 2016.
Josh is the CEO of MWI, a digital marketing firm he founded in 1999 with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, the UK, and the US. Josh is a TEDx speaker and presents to business and marketing events worldwide. He is also the founder of Influencer Inc, a publishing, training, and events company that turns executives into thought leaders. Entrepreneur Magazine put Josh on their 50 Inspirational Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2017 list,
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Paid auditions are just that, opportunities to work with someone before you tie the knot and become employee and employer.And there are three reasons why you should them.The first is that no matter how confident you are in your ability to hire, no matter the process you use, the only way to understand technical competence and ‘fit’ is to work with that person. By extension, if you don’t use a paid audition, you significantly increase the risk to your company. Hiring the wrong person can bring your company to the brink of collapse. Most founders have a story like this to recount. I know I do.The second reason is that the risk in hiring isn’t just on the company side. It’s also on the candidate side. There is a growing acceptance that the pitch (from an employer) rarely correlates with the reality once on the inside.Candidates know this.They’re more reluctant than ever, at least for startups, to leave a safe job behind in exchange for this risk of a new venture working out. It makes sense that there be an opportunity to ‘try before you buy’. In the case of a paid audition, the candidates get paid to try before they buy.The third reason is the benefit of ‘fresh eyes’. The regular introduction of people into your business sheds new light on issues and almost always exposes new ways to increase momentum.If you subscribe to one or all of these benefits, the next step is to get practical by asking yourself one question… READ ON
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In this episode, Phil speaks with Ordermentum CEO and Co-Founder Andrew Low.Andrew started his career as a qualified accountant and CPA and has worked in finance at Unilever, general management, at Suntory Managing Director of Toby’s Estate Coffee, a market leader in the specialty coffee industry.
He joined Ordermentum in 2014 and gives valuable advice on how to successfully transition from corporate to startup while being present for his family.
To listen to more great Founder to Founder podcast episodes visit foundertofounderpodcast.com
There was never a time early in life when I enjoyed writing. As I learned to write at school, it always seemed more a skill to acquire and less a craft to enjoy and master.Of course, I wrote assignments at school, at college and graduate school and then internal reports at banks and pitch documents for ventures. I struggled with writing and the irony is that I don’t recall a time when I was inspired to become a great writer or even just a better writer.In hindsight, the reason I wasn’t enjoying writing, and by extension not practising to improve, was because I wasn’t doing it for me.I was writing for someone who would award me a grade, pay me a bonus or invest in a venture.That changed in 2008 when at 30 I discovered blogging and wrote my first post.Writing became a weekly habit in 2014 when I started my second venture with a vision and very little domain expertise (former soldier, medical science undergrad, MBA launching an audio recognition business).I took inspiration from Fred Wilson, who often refers to how blogging helps him reflect and sharpen his thinking, and I haven’t looked back.Read the entire post here!
In this episode, Phil speaks with former Special Air Service officer Mark Wales about his fashion venture Kill_Kapture.Mark grew up in the red-dirt of the Pilbara, a remote desert in Western Australia.He found a sense of purpose serving with an Australian special ops unit in Afghanistan.
While serving alongside some remarkable humans during 10 tours of duty, Mark spent his days in army issued combat uniform. They were highly functional, they were enduring, and they looked amazing. When Mark left the forces, he was compelled to take the best of what he learnt and experienced in the military and apply it to a life out of the ordinary.
While studying at Wharton School of Business, Mark pursued a new special ops role in fashion, creating the prototype PathFinder jacket. The Pathfinder Jacket was built around the values of a sense of purpose and duty - a tribute to the work of small teams in the world's most hostile environments.The business 'Kill_Kapture’was deployed - named after the drive, resilience and 'never say die' attitude of special ops.Mark continues to live a life out of the ordinary, returning from a recent tour of duty as a Survivor Australia contestant...a treacherous battlefield indeed...
These 12 lessons come from notes I’ve made each week in 2017. This wholesale reflection helps to make sense of the year that was and gain clarity on lessons learned, ones that will be just as important in 2018.
In this episode of Founder To Founder, I join a conversation with members of Veteran Owned UK to pay it forward and offer advice to veterans turned first-time entrepreneurs on how to grow their businesses. You can learn more about Veteran-Owned UK by searching for them on Facebook.
LX Group founder Simon Blyth joins Phil on the season two premiere of Founder To Founder. Simon’s desire to build products that people love started when he was a child living in rural Australia. Today, he’s a serial entrepreneur who works on everything from Blackhawk helicopters to personal communication products but not how you might think.
Join Phil and Simon as they talk about the entrepreneur's roller coaster and why any good party needs at least three good fire extinguishers.
In episode 31, the producer of Founder To Founder Joel North speaks with Phil about how to create a great podcast from a standing start. Joel and Phil talk about the common mistakes made by new podcasters, how to launch a podcast and how freelance marketplace Fiverr played an essential role in producing Founder To Founder.
In episode 30 of Founder To Founder, Phil connects with Jake Dimarco, Founder of Spare Workspace.
Spare Workspace is an online Australian marketplace that helps businesses rent out their empty or under-utilised space.
Phil and Jake talk about capitalising on opportunities, learning from peers and the three habits that founders need to develop to be successful.
This episode is brought to you by inklpay, a micropayment service that lets creators on WordPress collect 10c when a post or article is viewed. Get paid for the content you create. Visit inklpay.com to get started.
In episode 29 of Founder To Founder, Phil connects with Zac Obront, Co-Founder at Book in a Box.Book In A Box provides book writing and publishing as a service which allows busy experts and thought leaders with important messages to share to create the book they've been fantasizing about.Phil and Zach talk about the importance of creating joy as part of the user experience and why a bias to action and learning is THE essential trait of successful entrepreneurs. This episode is brought to you by inklpay, a micropayment service that lets creators on WordPress collect 10c when a post or article is viewed. Get paid for the content you create. Visit inklpay.com to get started.
In episode 28 of Founder To Founder, Phil connects with Mick Spencer, Founder and CEO of OnTheGo Sports.
Mick is on a mission to redefine the custom sportswear industry forever. He started OnThe Go Sports with a lap top and $150 in his account and today his business is a global market leader.
Phil and Mick talk about managing the unexpected, scaling culture and the importance of mentors.
This episode is brought to you by inklpay, a micropayment service that lets creators of amazing content on WordPress collect 10c when a post, e-book or video is viewed. Get paid for the content you create. Visit inklpay.com to get started.
In this episode of Founder To Founder Phil connects with Pixc founder, Holly Cardew.Holly founded Pixc.com to help eCommerce store owners to optimise their product images in 24 hours so they focus on running their business. Pixc was part of Batch 13 of 500 Startups was called out as one of the top 10 companies to look out for in 2016. Holly and Phil talk about the importance of focus, how to optimise for time and the three habits that founders need to develop to be successful. This episode is brought to you by inklpay, a micropayment service that lets creators of amazing content on WordPress collect 10c when a post, e-book or video is viewed. Get paid for the content you create. Visit inklpay.com to get started.
Phil connects with Diana Ryall on episode 26 of Founder To Founder.
Diana is a teacher by training, the former Managing Director of Apple Computer in Australia and the Founder of Xplore For Success, a coaching venture focused on increasing gender equality.
In this fascinating conversation, Diana and Phil talk about why expecting the unexpected is important, the value of being clear on product and business model and the three habits that founders need to develop to be successful.
This episode is brought to you by our Australian partner Spare Workspace. Need a meeting room for a few hours or perhaps a desk for a day or two? Head to www.spareworkspace.com.au today to search, find and book your next workspace all around Australia starting from $25 per hour.
In episode 25 of Founder To Founder, Phil connects with Martijn de Kuijper, Founder of Revue.
In the last decade, Martin has exited two of the four companies he has started. Today, he is building Revue, a web-based tool that helps people create and send beautifully-designed weekly email newsletters.
Martin and Phil talk about the importance of networking, taking advantage of the time between ventures and how to learn from the content others curate.
This episode is brought to you by inkl. Get breaking news and essential coverage from the world's best news sources in one app for iPhone and Android. Say hello to the way news should be. Download inkl today to start a 30-day trial of inkl Premium.
You’re listening to episode 24 of Founder To Founder where Phil connects with Ben Curren, CEO and Founder of Green Bits.
Ben began his software engineering career in 1997 as an intern at Sun Microsystems. Nearly a decade later he co-founded Outright, an online platform helping small businesses pay the right taxes and organize their income and expenses, which was purchased by GoDaddy in 2012. In 2014 Ben founded Green Bits which today is the fastest growing point of sale and inventory software in the cannabis industry.Ben and Phil talk about managing the unexpected, how to process being in between ventures and the three habits founders need to be successful.
This episode is brought to you by inkl. Get breaking news and essential coverage from the world's best news sources in one app for iPhone and Android. Say hello to the way news should be. Download inkl today to start a 30-day trial of inkl Premium.
Welcome to episode 23 of Founder To Founder where Phil connects with serial entrepreneur Jo Burston.
From humble beginnings, Jo founded Job Capital, a full-service migration firm in 2006 before creating claimyourtax.com in 2012. And in 2014 Jo founded Inspiring Rare Birds whose vision is to create a community of 1,000,000 women entrepreneurs by 2020, with a mission of giving every woman globally the opportunity to become an entrepreneur by choice.
Jo and Phil talk about overcoming adversity, why it’s essential to focus on the fundamentals when building a great company and the three habits that make founders successful.
This episode is brought to you by inkl. Get breaking news and essential coverage from the world's best news sources in one app for iPhone and Android. Say hello to the way news should be. Download inkl today to start a 30-day trial of inkl Premium.
You’ve made it to episode 22 of Founder To Founder where Phil connects with Zeetings CEO and Co-Founder, Rob Kawalsky.
From accountant to two-time entrepreneur Rob is building and growing a game-changing conference presentation platform which allows an audience to interact with its presenter in real time over multiple sites.
Phil and Rob talk about growing a venture as parents, being true to yourself when making decisions and the three habits founders need to be successful.
This episode is brought to you by our Australian partner Spare Workspace. Need a meeting room for a few hours or perhaps a desk for a day or two? Head to www.spareworkspace.com.au today to search, find and book your next workspace all around Australia starting from $25 per hour.
Welcome to episode 21 of Founder To Founder where Phil connects with Nic Hodges.
Nic is a serial entrepreneur, seed investor and a respected thought-leader in emerging technology. An industrial designer by training, Nic’s career has seen him lead innovation in the world’s largest media agencies and NewsCorp as well as build three ventures of his own.
Phil and Nic talk about the importance of productive habits and how to make the most of time between ventures.
This episode is brought to you by inkl. Get breaking news and essential coverage from the world's best news sources in one app for iPhone and Android. Say hello to the way news should be. Download inkl today to start a 30-day trial of inkl Premium.
You're listening to episode 20 of Founder To Founder where Phil connects with TravelShoot Founder Sarah Pearce.
TravelShoot connects travelers with local photographers around the world to easily capture those once-in-a-lifetime moments and occasions. Based on personal experience, Sarah’s vision has seen the company grow rapidly.
Sarah and Phil talk about the need to go into a venture with eye wide open, staying true to vision and how to manage company growth while being a new mom.
This episode is brought to you by inkl. Get breaking news and essential coverage from the world's best news sources in one app for iPhone and Android. Say hello to the way news should be. Download inkl today to start a 30-day trial of inkl Premium.
Welcome to Founder To Founder. In episode 19 Phil speaks with founder turned investor Benjamin Chong.
Well before co-founding early stage venture firms Sydney Seed Capital and Right Click Capital, Ben helped build online mobile phone reseller and distribution company iMega while studying his undergraduate commerce degree.
Phil and Ben talk about the importance of partnerships, why playing to your strengths is essential and the three habits that founders need to be successful.
On this, episode 18 of Founder To Founder, Phil speaks with marketing entrepreneur, Paul Valerio.
A scientist by training, Paul has built a reputation for helping companies find their unique voice and create value for customers and users at scale.
Phil and Paul talk about reinvention, why doing less, better is essential and the three habits that founders need to be successful.
This episode is brought to you by our Australian partner Spare Workspace. Need a meeting room for a few hours or perhaps a desk for a day or two? Head to www.spareworkspace.com.au today to search, find and book your next workspace all around Australia starting from $25 per hour.
You’ve made it to episode 17 of Founder To Founder where Phil connects with industrial designer and Roam Technologies Founder ShanShan Wang.
Roam is the byproduct of a university project to which ShanShan brought infectious curiosity and industrial design together to create oxygen devices that help children breathe easier.
ShanShan and Phil talk about how to manage the entrepreneurial rollercoaster, the importance of networks and the three habits that founders need to be successful.
This episode is brought to you by our Australian partner Spare Workspace. Need a meeting room for a few hours or perhaps a desk for a day or two? Head to www.spareworkspace.com.au today to search, find and book your next workspace all around Australia starting from $25 per hour.
Welcome to episode 16 of Founder To Founder where Phil talks to 500Startups alumni Adam Stone.
Adam has been building businesses in eCommerce and Telecommunications since the age of 12. Today he is the Founder & CEO of Speedlancer.com - the World's Fastest Freelance Marketplace, delivering design, writing, and data-entry work in just 4 HOURS by curated professionals.
Adam and Phil talk about the value of time, why saying YES is important and the three habits that founders need to be successful.
This episode is brought to you by inkl. Get breaking news and essential coverage from the world's best news sources in one app for iPhone and Android. Say hello to the way news should be. Download inkl today to start a 30-day trial of inkl Premium.
Organisational psychologist and founder of Inventium, Amantha Imber joins Phil on episode 15 of Founder To Founder.
Amantha started Inventium in 2007 after struggling to find a company where she could fully utilise her expertise. Today, 10 years later, Inventium delivers training and consulting services that help global companies to innovate using psychology, neuroscience and management science.
Amantha and Phil talk about routines and rituals to unlock the best of teams, managing anxiety and how to be present while growing a business.
This episode is brought to you by Opkomend, an award-winning studio working in digital transformation, advertising, public relations, design and marketing. Founder and Creative Director Jon Westenberg has worked on content and campaigns for clients and publishers including TIME, Optus, Commonwealth Bank, Hired, Macy's and more. You can check out their blog The Craft at www.opkomend.com
In this, episode 14 of Founder To Founder, Phil speaks with Southview Founder Melissa Rosenthal.
Melissa became an executive coach and founded Southview in 2008 after a successful career in marketing and financial services.
Melissa and Phil talk about the importance and how to identify the right mentor, the power of reflection and the three habits that founders need to be successful.
This episode is brought to you by Opkomend, an award winning studio working in digital transformation, advertising, public relations, design and marketing. Founder and Creative Director Jon Westenberg has worked on content and campaigns for clients and publishers including TIME, Optus, Commonwealth Bank, Hired, Macy's and more. You can check out their blog The Craft at www.opkomend.com
In this, episode 13 of Founder To Founder, Phil speaks with serial entrepreneur Sidney Minassian.
Sidney has been building enterprise software businesses since 2000. Prior to launching his current venture Contexti, Sid experienced the ultimate entrepreneurial rollercoaster ride that began with successfully transitioning his previous venture, Liaise, from Australia to San Francisco.
Sidney and Phil talk about resilience, the value of owning and accepting outcomes and why, at the end of the day, building a venture is all about people.
This episode is brought to you by inkl. Get breaking news and essential coverage from the world's best news sources in one app for iPhone and Android. Say hello to the way news should be. Download inkl today to start a 30-day trial of inkl Premium.
Welcome to episode 12 of Founder To Founder where Phil speaks with Goldbean Founder and CEO Jane Barratt.
Jane is an Australian-born entrepreneur who started her career in marketing and advertising before switching to financial services to create Goldbean, a platform that helps people get started on their investment journey with companies and brands that they love, know and buy.
Jane and Phil talk about starting and growing a fintech venture in New York City, the power of reinvention and the three habits founders need to master to be successful.
This episode is brought to you by inkl. Get breaking news and essential coverage from the world's best news sources in one app for iPhone and Android. Say hello to the way news should be. Download inkl today to start a 30-day trial of inkl Premium.
Welcome to episode 11 of Founder To Founder where Phil connects with Dave Blakely from Mach49. If you're an intrapreneur, this episode's for you!
Dave spent many years as Director of Technology Strategy at IDEO before joining Mach49 where he continues to help global companies to innovate. Dave is also an instructor at Stamford's d school and advises a range of silicon valley entrepreneurs.
Dave and Phil talk about how to disrupt from from the inside out, the value of appropriate failure and why mentors are essential to success.
This episode is brought to you by inkl. Get breaking news and essential coverage from the world's best news sources in one app for iPhone and Android. Say hello to the way news should be. Download inkl today to start a 30-day trial of inkl Premium.
In this, episode 10 of Founder To Founder, Phil connected with Rhonda Brighton-Hall, Founder and CEO of Making Work Absolutely Human.
Rhonda is a human resources aficionado and Australia's foremost expert in talent and culture and her venture is the first on-demand platform to provide human resources support for leaders in any organisation.
Rhonda and Phil talk about how to unlock the potential of teams, accepting the vulnerability of failure and how to move to your next play.
This episode is brought to you by inkl. Get breaking news and essential coverage from the world's best news sources in one app for iPhone and Android. Say hello to the way news should be. Download inkl today to start a 30-day trial of inkl Premium.
Welcome to episode 9 of Founder To Founder where Phil speaks to Shazam founder Chris Barton.
With over 1 billion downloads and over 20 million songs Shazam'ed each day, Shazam is the world's leading music discovery platform. Shazam was founded in 1999, eight years before the first iPhone was released.
Chris and Phil talk about business survival, partnership and the three habits founders need to develop to be successful.
This episode is brought to you by inkl. Get breaking news and essential coverage from the world's best news sources in one app for iPhone and Android. Say hello to the way news should be. Download inkl today to start a 30-day trial of inkl Premium.
Welcome to episode 8 of Founder To Founder where Phil talks to beverage entrepreneur and StartUp Victoria CEO, Georgia Beattie.
Georgia founded Single Serve Packaging and scaled the business to deliver wine by the glass in stadiums, music events and airlines around the world.
Phil and Georgia talk about the value of time, how to manage the unexpected and the three habits founders need to develop to be successful.
Welcome to Founder To Founder! In episode 7 Phil connects with education technology entrepreneur Greg Nance on building a venture in China and the power of creating your own luck. Greg is the founder and CEO of Dyad.com, an online admissions platform for Chinese students to enter 23 leading western universities. Greg is also the co-founder and Chairman of Moneythink.org. Phil and Greg talk about loyalty, resilience, the Seattle Seahawks and the three habits founders need to develop to be successful.
Welcome to episode 6 of Founder To Founder where Phil connects with STM Co-founder, Adina Jacobs. From a standing start in 1998 Adina and her co-founder grew STM Goods to become an industry leader in laptop bags, packs and fitted cases. Phil and Adina talk about playing the long game, the importance of finding time to reflect and the value of preserving optionality when working with tech giants like Apple.
In this, episode 5 of Founder To Founder Phil talks to Business Innovation Factory Founder Saul Kaplan.
Saul and Phil talk about the importance of personal and professional reinvention, how story-telling acts as a catalyst for innovation and why thinking about 'what's next' every day is essential.
Welcome to episode four of Founder To Founder where Phil talks to Beat-The-Q and Ordermentum Founder Adam Theobald.
Built from scratch, Beat-The-Q has processed over 20M ordering and payments transactions in cafes and today Adam's latest venture Ordermentum is revolutionising the way hospitality venues order and manage their inventory.
Phil and Adam talk about resilience, being a father while running a high-growth venture and the three most important habits to be a successful founder.
In episode 3 of Founder To Founder Phil connects with marketing entrepreneur Jon Westenberg about the power of thoughtful content. Jon is the founder of Creatomic and Australia's most prolific writer on blogging platform Medium with over 110,000 followers. Phil and Jon talk about doubling down on strengths, the psychological realities that founders face in building a great company and the three habits founders need to develop to be successful.
Welcome to Episode 2 of Founder To Founder where Phil speaks with serial entrepreneur Stephanie Lampkin about unconscious bias in hiring great talent and how her venture Blendoor is tackling this issue head on.
Stephanie learned to code at age 13. By 15, she was a full-stack web developer. She has a Stanford engineering degree and an MBA from MIT.
Phil and Stephanie talk about how to overcome the unexpected in a startup and the role that resilience plays when moving from one venture to the next.
In THIS, the inaugural episode of Founder To Founder, Phil talks to Peloton Technologies co-founder David Lyons. Dave was the first head of engineering at Tesla, a former Entrepreneur in Residence at venture capital firm Accel Partners and ran the prototyping workshop at design firm, IDEO. Phil and David talk about the value of networks, how to regroup after a venture ends and the three most important habits to be a successful founder.