00:33:46 · Charlie Gearside, S2
[00:33:46] S0: on FODGU list. Exactly. Just like run paid ads to it or something like that. [00:33:50] S2: And and kind of with this deep line of sight that you've had into the Australian startup ecosystem, what are the things you think we need to change to kind of broaden that narrative to the rest of Australia, but also internally to kind of produce more, you know, generational companies like [00:34:06] S0: I've got nothing but, like, really great things to say about the Australian ecosystem. Like, lot of people say, oh, we don't, like, think big enough or we don't, like... Or or the VCs are too conservative. [00:34:17] S2: Yeah. That's when the founders don't race all the time. Right? [00:34:20] S0: Yeah. But, also, I think it's, like, it's possible... It's it's definitely possible there's evidence of, like, VC's backing pretty crazy ideas. Mhmm. And the ecosystem, like, we have a track record thanks to, like, your Atlassians and your Canva. Like, we're starting that we have experienced founders. So I think we're on the right track. I think, like, the deep tech stuff is a real... I'm I'm hoping I'm hoping that some of these software company successes lead into Yeah. Bigger deep tech successes? Like, who's that... The Go1 guy doing the Definitive? [00:34:55] S2: Yeah. Vu Tran. He's an investor in ours. [00:34:57] S0: Is he? Yeah. Like, that guy just seems like an absolute weapon. Yeah. Like, almost like, hey. I've I've solved a hard problem. Now I'm gonna go after, like, a a much harder problem.
00:34:57 · Charlie Gearside, S2
[00:34:57] S0: Is he? Yeah. Like, that guy just seems like an absolute weapon. Yeah. Like, almost like, hey. I've I've solved a hard problem. Now I'm gonna go after, like, a a much harder problem. [00:35:09] S2: One of our really close friends, he was at a deep tech company, and he was gonna start a deep tech company. And the founder of that deep tech company told him, don't start a deep tech company. Start a software or AI company. Get wealthy, then start a deep tech company because it's just too hard if you don't have any capital behind you. [00:35:23] S0: Yeah. It's like bigger problems. Right? Yeah. Yeah. It kinda hurts. It it hurts to see, like, all, like, amazing Australian, like, industrial founders or, like, science science minds or, like, engineering... Mechanical engineering minds or whatever go over to, like, LA Yeah. And build. And it's like... Yeah. So it feels like that part of the ecosystem is lacking a little bit. And I think, obviously, the things that I always talked about are, like, investment, how do we get, like, more capital flowing through from, like, the super funds into, like, local VC, and how do we get... Like, how do we just make sure regulation is, like, simplified? Like, the Gilmour Space guys Yeah. Like, trying to launch a rocket Yeah. In Australia is like, you hear that it's hard for SpaceX. I think it's like 10 x harder here, mate. Yeah.
00:35:23 · Charlie Gearside, Adam Miller
[00:35:23] S0: Yeah. It's like bigger problems. Right? Yeah. Yeah. It kinda hurts. It it hurts to see, like, all, like, amazing Australian, like, industrial founders or, like, science science minds or, like, engineering... Mechanical engineering minds or whatever go over to, like, LA Yeah. And build. And it's like... Yeah. So it feels like that part of the ecosystem is lacking a little bit. And I think, obviously, the things that I always talked about are, like, investment, how do we get, like, more capital flowing through from, like, the super funds into, like, local VC, and how do we get... Like, how do we just make sure regulation is, like, simplified? Like, the Gilmour Space guys Yeah. Like, trying to launch a rocket Yeah. In Australia is like, you hear that it's hard for SpaceX. I think it's like 10 x harder here, mate. Yeah. [00:36:16] S1: It's crazy. A lot of our good friends and the best founders we know are moving to SF. It seemed pretty obvious that Australia's losing lot of talent Yeah. People going to America. But at the... On that same point, I don't know if I'd recommend them stay in Australia because I sort of... Like, if I see really ambitious people going to SF, it's like... Feels like the right move. What do you think of that?
00:36:16 · Adam Miller, S2
[00:36:16] S1: It's crazy. A lot of our good friends and the best founders we know are moving to SF. It seemed pretty obvious that Australia's losing lot of talent Yeah. People going to America. But at the... On that same point, I don't know if I'd recommend them stay in Australia because I sort of... Like, if I see really ambitious people going to SF, it's like... Feels like the right move. What do you think of that? [00:36:36] S2: Just just on this, like, something I've been thinking about for a while is that, like, I've seen a lot of posts around, oh, we're losing all these Australians to SF, but you can also say that about any city in the world. You can say that about New York. You can say that about London. You can say that about Amsterdam. The best founders just still go to SF, especially with the AI boot. Right? Yeah. So when people complain about, like, oh, Australians are going to SF, you can say that about literally any other... I'm not saying you're complaining. We're just saying I see a lot of posts. It's like, you can say that about any other city in
00:36:36 · S2, Charlie Gearside
[00:36:36] S2: Just just on this, like, something I've been thinking about for a while is that, like, I've seen a lot of posts around, oh, we're losing all these Australians to SF, but you can also say that about any city in the world. You can say that about New York. You can say that about London. You can say that about Amsterdam. The best founders just still go to SF, especially with the AI boot. Right? Yeah. So when people complain about, like, oh, Australians are going to SF, you can say that about literally any other... I'm not saying you're complaining. We're just saying I see a lot of posts. It's like, you can say that about any other city in [00:37:01] S0: the whole world. Totally. And this whole, like, you know, Aussies moving to London and increasingly to, like, New York Yeah. For for non startup people. That's been around for, like, our parent... You know, our parents started doing that great stuff. So it's not the... Like, I think when people talk about a brain drain, I'm struggling to put my finger on, like, is it a... Yeah. Is it a real brain drain? I think the problem is is when they domicile these companies in in The US and they... Like, none of that sort of capital really flows back to, like, jobs and whatever here.
00:37:01 · Charlie Gearside, S2
[00:37:01] S0: the whole world. Totally. And this whole, like, you know, Aussies moving to London and increasingly to, like, New York Yeah. For for non startup people. That's been around for, like, our parent... You know, our parents started doing that great stuff. So it's not the... Like, I think when people talk about a brain drain, I'm struggling to put my finger on, like, is it a... Yeah. Is it a real brain drain? I think the problem is is when they domicile these companies in in The US and they... Like, none of that sort of capital really flows back to, like, jobs and whatever here. [00:37:38] S2: So... Yeah. And as Adam has told me before, we have the... We are the only country that has a net inflow of people from The US. Yeah. And so I think what happens to a lot of your youth post and they still have your friends, they go over, they get good experience, and most of the time they come back. And that shows how good a country we are, that most people wanna still raise kids here and, you know, in their mid thirties, often they always come back. [00:37:58] S0: Absolutely. Yeah. You'll hit, like, Steve, the founder of Laura Kick who, like, was at Stripe over there. Like, he's a he's a perfect example of that. Yeah. Maybe it's like we are happy for people to go over there. If they created because we just go, they're gonna come back. But the lifestyle here is so good that Yeah. They'll come back and maybe they'll... If they set the company up over there and it crushes it, they'll still have capital to look like. Yeah.