Open the Pod Bay Doors is back for 2025! To kick off the year, host Ian Gardiner sits down with Stuart Dullard, Partner at Ashurst , for a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities facing founders in today’s venture landscape. Ashurst is a global corporate law firm with over 30 offices worldwide. Stuart leads the High Growth and Venture Capital team in Australia and is the global co-head of the Tech M&A practice . Described by Ian as one of Australia’s most experienced star...
Feb 06, 2025•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast After a brief hiatus, Open the Pid Bay Door is back with an exciting new episode! Host Ian Gardiner sits down with Bryan Williams, Founder of Hockey Stick Advisory , to dive into the world of strategic partnerships and growth acceleration. Hockey Stick Advisory provides market leading strategic partnerships advisory, operational and executional guidance with accountability for growth alongside prioritised partners. We empower ambitious companies to accelerate top line growth, whilst protecting s...
Nov 26, 2024•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast In today’s episode, we’re thrilled to welcome Taryn Pieterse, Partner at Rampersand VC. Rampersand is a pioneering Australian venture capital firm, known for being one of the first funds in Australia and its early investment in founders with abnormal potential. With a focus on being a founder-first investor, they stay closely aligned with their portfolio companies. Currently, they are deploying their fourth fund of $50 million. Taryn and Ian discuss Rampersand's background, investment focus, fun...
Aug 20, 2024•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Join our host Ian Gardiner as he chats to Nick Gainsley, Partner at One Ventures and Aurora Community Member, on episode 183 of Open the Pod Bay Doors. Nick is Partner at OneVentures and leads the debt fund strategy, which was launched 5 years ago to address gaps in the Australian market. The fund offers non-dilutive alternative funding options through 3-4 year loans with interest and small equity options for growth stage companies post-Series A. Nick explains the differences between debt and eq...
Aug 01, 2024•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Earlier this year, Innovation Bay brought more than 250 of Australia’s leading tech founders and investors together at Inspire, held at Sydney’s Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) on May 22-23, 2024. Set under the overarching theme ‘The Future is…’, Inspire was a platform for the exchange of revolutionary thoughts and ideas about what the future holds for the startup ecosystem across the next 5-10 years. Our co-founder and podcast host Ian Gardiner, set out with his roving mic to chat to get his...
Jul 25, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Earlier this year, Innovation Bay brought more than 250 of Australia’s leading tech founders and investors together at Inspire, held at Sydney’s Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) on May 22-23, 2024. Set under the overarching theme ‘The Future is…’, Inspire was a platform for the exchange of revolutionary thoughts and ideas about what the future holds for the startup ecosystem across the next 5-10 years. As he does, our co-founder and podcast host Ian Gardiner, set out with his roving mic to cha...
Jul 23, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 04, 2024•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Join us for part 2 of our “studio on the road” at Sunrise, Blackbird’s annual festival of the startup ecosystem. Armed with his roving podcast mic, Innovation Bay’s Co-Founder and podcast host, Ian Gardiner, was lucky enough to tap the mind’s of some of Sunrise’s stellar speakers. During this ep, you’ll hear from: 🌅 Karl Durrance, Stripe - discusses Stripe’s mission to increase the GDP of the internet, it’s broad customer base from startups to large enterprises, and the challenges and strategie...
Jun 11, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast A few weeks back Blackbird held their annual conference Sunrise - a festival and celebration of the the startup ecosystem in Australia; or as Ian describes it “real life LinkedIn”. Our fearless Co-Founder, host of Open The Pod Bay Doors, and arguably one of the most connected humans in the ecosystem, Ian Gardiner, took the studio on the road. Ian chatted to 9 incredible speakers who featured on Sunrise’s epic line up, to pick their brains on their area of expertise and the industry at large. Dur...
May 31, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest for episode 176 is Clive Burcham, a highly influential, philanthropic and impact driven individual. Clive is one of the founding partners of Global Citizen, $46bn New York based juggernaut whose mission is to end extreme poverty. He is also the founder of what he terms a “side hustle” called Compadres, where he works with founders and CEOs to help them achieve "a better life, a better business, a better you". From growing up in a beef and dairy farming family in regional West Australia...
May 03, 2024•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest this week is Leah Kaplan, APAC Sustainability Business Lead at Google Cloud. Leah’s passion for sustainability stems from her deep love of nature. Leah held a number of consulting technology roles before her dream job came up at Google Cloud - where she now sits at the nexus of technology and sustainability. Sustainability has been a core value at Google for 25 years who are looking to minimise their impact on the planet while helping others to do the same. In 2007, Google became the f...
Apr 04, 2024•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest this week is Bernadette Olivier, CEO & Co-Founder of The Volte - a groundbreaking peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace that's redefining the way we experience fashion globally. From its humble beginnings to its dazzling rise, The Volte seamlessly connects borrowers and lenders, while promoting a sustainable, circular economy. Bernadette takes us through the evolution of The Volte, from its early days catering to fashionistas to its transformation into a platform embraced by main...
Mar 15, 2024•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Proud Canberran and past North Carolina coleslaw wrestling competitor, Olympia Yarger is an incredibly resilient, dedicated, inspiring and super hands-on Founder & CEO of Goterra, a waste management technology company that uses autonomous robotic systems to process food waste using insects. The company enables a circular economy by creating agricultural commodities from the waste stream. Goterra is paving the way for a circular economy by transforming waste into agricultural commodities, all...
Feb 27, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest for episode 172 is Tom Amos, CEO and Co-Founder of Sidekicker - a platform that matches thousands of businesses to pre-qualified temporary staff. During this chat, Tom reflects on Sidekicker's journey from the genesis of the idea as sparked by 'The 4-Hour Workweek', through to the milestone of turning over a million dollars in a month. Tom's journey is not just about business but also about building a culture where caring for each other is at the core. Sidekicker has been backed with $...
Feb 02, 2024•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest this week is James Bowe, the Co-Founder of OwnHome alongside Tim Harley. With shelter as a fundamental human need, OwnHome aims to transform access to homeownership in Australia, allowing aspirational homeowners to enter the property market without a 20% deposit, helping them get there for just 2% upfront. With enviable and impressive resumes and backgrounds across consulting and consumer tech with the likes of Bain & Company, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Macquarie, Wise Ltd, and Herbert S...
Jan 11, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Human beings have an innate need to belong to a group or tribe. Large parts of our brain are dedicated to engaging and interacting with others. Belonging triggers the release of chemicals in our brain that promote trust, empathy, and social bonding. Building belonging is essential in a fractured world and requires understanding and addressing our default setting. During this very special episode recorded during the Innovation Bay panel at SXSW Sydney's inaugural event in October 2023, an all sta...
Nov 09, 2023•52 min•Ep 170•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest this week is Dan Sturrock, Investment Director at Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). With a decade of experience at ARENA, Dan has witnessed the organisation's remarkable evolution and growth. As an ARENA board observer representative, he provides invaluable insights into the exciting work of propelling startups towards solving colossal challenges - companies like Sundrive and RayGen, who are making huge strides in the solar energy sector. ARENA's mandate is to accelerate deca...
Oct 24, 2023•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Cath Rogers is a Partner at Antler, a global fund with 900 portfolio companies, have dealt with 5,600 founders, with $4 billion in total portfolio value, working across 27 locations. Cath’s career trajectory showcases an interesting and diverse path into the venture capital industry. Starting in a Goldman Sachs venture-backed startup in London in the very early 2000’s during the original dot-com boom, bubble and bust. She later worked in investment banking and strategy consulting before moving i...
Oct 04, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week’s podcast episode features our special guest harrison.ai , CEO and Co-Founder, Aengus Tran. harrison.ai started with the problem statement of healthcare capacity. According to Aengus, one of the biggest problems of our time is how to look after such a huge population with increased health needs. harrison.ai is looking to scale the global capacity of healthcare by building automation with AI systems and providing clinicians with superpowers of scale. Aengus says, "of all the things bein...
Aug 24, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest this week is Max Cunningham, CEO of FCX. FCX is Australia’s only end-to-end registry, capital raising and trading platform for private companies whose aim is to make owning and transacting private company shares simpler. Max is an industry veteran. From his early career experiences to the development of a groundbreaking technology platform, Max's story is one of passion, expertise, and innovation. His LinkedIn profile is short, though his tenures have been long held - spending approxim...
Aug 10, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week’s special guest is Silvija Martincevic , CEO & Board Director of Deputy . Silvija is a passionate advocate for purpose-driven companies and brings a wealth of experience to Deputy from her background in socially responsible investing and previous roles at Groupon. Deputy, founded over a decade ago, is a leading company specialising in smart scheduling and workforce management. Their software solution is used by over 1.3 million shift workers in more than 100 countries, empowering 3...
Jul 13, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week’s very special episode was recorded at our recent full community event. The Globe, hosted by Macquarie, brought together our four communities of early and later stage founders and CEOs, VCs and angel investors, to connect, learn, discuss and shape the future of our industry. Ian sat down with five of our incredible members for this all star line up featuring: Yash Varma, Founder & Partner, Empress Capital (Aurora & Horizon member) Phil Morle, Partner, Main Sequence (Aurora memb...
Jul 04, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast E163 - Clément Aglietta, Co-Founder & CEO, Edda Our guest this week is Clément Aglietta, Co-Founder & CEO of Edda, a collaborative tool for private equity investors. Edda is an all-in-one solution for deal flow, portfolio management, and LP’s relationship management. The tool is designed to be user-centric and integrates with external databases and other tools. Edda has recently launched into the ANZ market via a partnership with Innovation Bay’s VC community, Aurora. Clément began his c...
May 31, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest this week is Kate Pounder, CEO of the Tech Council of Australia. Launched in August 2021, the Tech Council’s mission is to be the peak body representing Australia’s tech ecosystem. The Tech Council addresses 3 key gaps - Research, Policy & Advocacy, and Engagement - across the industry, policy change makers, government and the media. Launching the day prior to a snap lockdown in Canberra and with two primary school aged children, the last couple of years have been a ride for Kate, ...
Apr 19, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest this week is Fintech expert Alan Tsen, Head of fmX, IAG’s corporate accelerator program. Currently in the middle of its fifth season, fmX invites 8 startup companies per cohort to engage in a 12 week program giving participants a unique opportunity to learn how to infiltrate their product successfully into the insurtech ecosystem. Across the entirely free program, participants gain hugely valuable knowledge through training and face to face workshops to learn how to structure and posit...
Mar 31, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Did you know that dogs get cancer at the highest rate of any mammal in the world? Or that 80% of dogs get dental disease? How about that 50% of cats and dogs are overweight or obese? Pretty startling statistics, right? Well, Anna Podolsky, Founder & CEO of direct to customer pet wellness business, Lyka, is on a mission to make our furry friends healthier and live longer, more fulfilled lives. Named after Anna’s 14 year old border collie, the concept for the business was borne when Lyka showe...
Mar 19, 2023•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest this week is Anuj Goel, Head of Technology Sector and Executive Director at Macquarie Capital. Anuj joined Macquarie’s Technology, Media, Entertainment and Telecommunications (TMET) team in 2006 following a short period working as an actuarial consultant. Today, Anuj focuses on helping Technology companies with M&A, IPO, trade sales, capital raising and other strategic priorities. In addition, Anuj is actively involved in Macquarie’s principal investing activities having been invo...
Mar 09, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast E158 - Adam Schwab, CEO and Co-Founder at Luxury Escapes Adam Scwhab runs at a million miles an hour - literally, he runs barefoot marathons! The CEO and Co-Founder of Luxury Escapes, Adam Schwab is our guest this week. Outside of running one of the country’s most successful, bespoke travel sites, and running really far without shoes, Adam is also a contributing journalist and writer, podcast host, father of two young children, is on the investment committee of Save The Children, and is an angel...
Feb 16, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast E157 James Petrie, CEO & Co-Founder, Nourish There’s a shift happening in the food that we eat. That is, we’re seeing a transition to plant based food. According to Bloomberg, the plant based food industry is projected to hit $162 billion in the next decade. With a projected population of 10 billion people on earth by 2080, it will be impossible to feed that many mouths with animal-based proteins. Enter Nourish. Our guest this week is James Petrie, the CEO & Co-Founder of Nourish. Cuttin...
Feb 02, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our first guest of 2023 is Adam Theobald, CoFounder & CEO of Ordermentum, a double sided marketplace and platform for hospitality suppliers and venues to make orders and payments. Despite a potentially promising career in cricket and a desire to become a physio, Adam studied Computer Science at university going on to complete a Master degree in Commerce. Beginning his career as a stockbroker focusing on technology stocks, Adam moved into roles with voiceover IP company Freshtell (comparable ...
Jan 20, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
