Episodes
17
Latest episode
Apr 2026
Language
EN
When I have felt stuck in my career, I have been lucky to have the advice of some incredible founders and leaders. I want to share some scale up lessons learned, through this series called “Defying Gravity”. Each month or so, I’ll sit down with the entrepreneurial heads behind some of Australia’s leading scale ups. This is for founders who feel they could learn from people who’ve gone before them. But more than that, it’s for anyone who might feel they need to learn, or grow, or change, to remain successful. For those who are curious about what works and what doesn’t at different stages of company growth, and what they might need to do differently. And who best to hear it from, than some of the most incredible founders, who lead the unicorns and scale ups I have had the privilege to know over the years.
The full interview with Didier where he shares the Cultureamp story, and his own journey from start up founder to CEO of a 1000+ person global unicorn company. How he thinks about being the CEO the company needs each year, and changes to become that CEO.
Another Defying Gravity Gravity conversation, this time with the founder of Aussie unicorn Envato, Collis Ta'eed. Collis dialled in from Darwin so I could pick his brains about how you grow a company from 0 to 600 staff as a self-confessed introvert, why running a business often feels like a dumpster fire, advice for other founders and executives, and how to know when it’s time to walk away.
SEEK is one of Australia's most valuable companies, with a valuation of around $9bn and operations and investments all over the world. But behind the numbers and accolades lies a narrative of personal growth and strategic leadership that propelled SEEK to the top - and at the centre of this is co-founder and ex CEO Andrew Bassat. I was interested in chatting to Andrew not just about the growth of SEEK, but also how he managed to scale himself.
You can’t orchestrate a $1.6b acquisition with Oracle without learning a few lessons along the way. Leigh Jasper, Co-Founder of Aconex and Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Firmable is the absolute definition of defying gravity. I’ve picked his brains on how to build a sustainable cadence that lasts you over time, lessons learnt from rapid scaling, flipping your perspective on mistakes vs rallying points, and why he’s at it again.
Natalie’s journey has been a whirlwind of experiences, starting at SEEK, where she left her mark on almost every facet of the company’s growth. Following SEEK’s ex-CMO Katie May, who founded Kidspot, Natalie played a pivotal role in the company’s acquisition by NewsCorp as CEO. Next, she was approached by a founder and investment team to join School Places - an online platform revolutionising private school vacancies. Today, Natalie is the CEO of Vivi, a communication and collaboration tool designed to engage school students and elevate educators. At Vivi, Nat has led several funding rounds and successfully expanded Vivi’s footprint into the US where the company continues to rapidly scale. Our conversation centred around Natalie’s wealth of experiences, alongside her insights for successfully managing transitions with founders and her advice for companies eyeing new markets. Enjoy! Check out Vivi at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vivieducation/
Rob Newman, multi time entrepreneur and scale up CEO of Perth based deep tech SaaS company Nearmap when I met him, covers two topics in this interview that so many Aussie start ups struggle to achieve. This is a masterclass on how to hire the Executive team you need to scale globally and how to enter and win leadership in the US market. Recommended listening if you are thinking about either step in your scale up journey.
The full Defying Gravity interview with the wonderful Tessa Herd Court, founder and CEO of IntelligenceBank, global SaaS company founded in Melbourne. Her reflections on growing her company from some Powerpoint slide ideas she tested on her fellow CMO friends to more than 800k users across 55 countries. How did she do it? The magic of delegation, orchestrating the dream team and developing a stomach of steel!
The ability to build a resilient team and reimagine yourself is critical for sustained growth in any business – a sentiment felt wholeheartedly by a travel industry upended by pandemic disruption. During our conversation, Adam Schwab talks about the critical inflection points Luxury Escapes faced, building an internal culture that rejects ‘day two’ mentality, the importance of reinvention, and knowing when it’s time to step away from a business (as well as when to step back in)
Sam Riley, CEO and Co-Founder of Ansarada, with Helen Souness
Every startup needs a garage, and for iiNet, that garage was Michael Malone’s mother’s. iiNet is one hell of a scale up story to 3,500 staff and $1bn in revenue. What began as a tiny internet provider in Perth, blossomed into one of Australia’s largest telecommunications companies. From a former maths teacher to the CEO and Founder of a company servicing over a million households and businesses, Michael’s is a truly amazing growth journey about scaling, hiring in volume, customer service being front and centre of your business model, and leadership
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