The Contrarians with Adam and Adir

Hosted by Adam Schwab and Adir Shiffman

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100

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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About the show

Get the fearless truth about start-ups and corporate Australia from guys that give you the hard facts, not the company line. Hear Luxury Escapes co-founder Adam Schwab and Catapult Sports Exec Chairman Adir Shiffman provide the inside word on the biggest stories in business with a contrarian take from the guys who sit on both sides of the table. New episodes dropping weekly.

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60 recent

September 7, 20261 hr 30 min

Expert360 Heartbreak, CTM is Back, Iran Stalemate gets less Stale and The Athlete Rich List

Adam and Adir unpack Expert360’s painful sale, why founders need to think carefully about golden windows, and what CTM’s return to the ASX says about survival, short sellers and investor risk. They also dig into Iran’s blockade problem, student politics at Monash, Alastair Clarkson’s messy North Melbourne exit, and the athlete rich list quiz that turns into a bigger conversation about brand, equity and celebrity power. 00:00 - Intro 12:20 - Alistair Clarkson & North Melbourne 25:08 - Student Politics at Monash 36:17 - The Athlete Rich List Quiz 50:30 - Iran and the Straight of Hormuz 1:02:30 - Expert360 1:16:04 - CTM Join us on Substack for articles, news and more: https://www.thecontrarianspod.com/ Try Braze

September 4, 202635 min

Retail Deep Dive: Kogan shows the money and Cettire close to the edge

Australia’s retail stocks are getting smashed, but Adam and Adir think the sell-off could finally be creating opportunities in businesses like JB Hi-Fi, Kogan and Koala. Meanwhile, Cettire has lost 95% of its value in two years and its latest results raise even more questions about how long the luxury retailer can keep going. 00:00 Australian Retail Stocks Are Getting Smashed 12:41 Kogan, Temple & Webster and Koala 16:40 Cettire’s Collapse & The Art of Contrarian Investing Join us on Substack for articles, news and more: https://www.thecontrarianspod.com/ Try Braze

August 31, 20261 hr 33 min

Canva’s Investor Dumpster Fire, Xero’s Shareholder Smackdown, CTM’s Lifesasver Deal and GTA's $3.5bn Bet

Adam and Adir unpack the investor fight building around Canva, AirTree and the painful question of when early backers should finally get liquidity. They also dig into Xero’s shareholder revolt, Corporate Travel Management’s surprise rescue deal, Zoox’s lost upside, the return of hardware startups, and why Disney might be one of the rare businesses with almost every major competitive power. 00:00 - Defcon Merch and Tansu’s First Week 07:14 - Zoox 16:31 - Vanguard Smart Glasses 23:05 - Leo Esaki's Five Don'ts 27:47 - Disney's Hidden Powers 35:53 - GTA VI 43:13 - Eureka Pet Co. 48:20 - Victoria's Crime Problem 58:04 - Canva 1:13:19 - Xero's Shareholder Revolt 1:20:40 - CTM The first 20 listeners to use code "TCfirst20" at Tanssu.com will redeem the offer mentioned in this week's episode: https://www.tanssu.com/discount/TCfirst20 . Add “The Set” to your cart in any colour. Then at checkout, the code will remove the cost of the tote. Join us on Substack for articles, news and more: https://www.thecontrarianspod.com/

August 28, 202639 min

OpenAI Burns Billions, Temple & Webster Gets Crushed

Adam and Adir unpack the strange economics of AI, with OpenAI burning billions, Anthropic claiming explosive growth, and investors still trying to work out where the real profits will come from. They also dig into Temple & Webster’s brutal share price collapse, the limits of its retail model, and why even strong operators can struggle inside a brutally hard business. 00:00 - OpenAI, Anthropic and The AI Money Problem 14:39 - Temple & Webster Gets Whacked Join us on Substack for articles, news and more: https://www.thecontrarianspod.com/

August 26, 202657 min

The World's Best Negotiator Returns To The Contrarians

Adam and Adir are joined by negotiation expert Vicki Medvec to discuss how to negotiate better deals, use anchoring, understand BATNA, manage emotion, create multiple offers, avoid losing value at the finish line and solve the other side’s problem. Vicki also explains bucket issues, storytelling issues, negotiation power, cross-cultural differences and why the best negotiators focus less on themselves and more on what the other side really needs. Join us on Substack for articles, news and more: https://www.thecontrarianspod.com/ Buy Vicki's Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Negotiate-without-Fear-Strategies-Maximize/dp/1119719097

August 24, 20261 hr 37 min

GYG’s Blowout Result, Adir’s Luggage Startup, Sydney's Pullman Five and Culture Amp’s AI Fight

Adam and Adir cover a messy week of airports, taxis, AI tools and data privacy before turning to Sydney's Pullman Five and the erosion of the presumption of innocence in public life. They also unpack Culture Amp’s AI data changes, Spirit Airlines’ email archive being sold for training data, Guzman y Gomez’s impressive result, and Adir’s long, painful, surprisingly successful launch of his new luggage brand Tanssu. 00:00 - Wispr, RSI and The Curse in Disguise 07:12 - Telstra’s Futurama Phone Box Fail 10:13 - Mobile Phones, Parenting and Always Being Contactable 12:35 - Uber, Taxis and Airport Chaos 18:28 - Adir’s New York Cafe Story 22:23 - DEF CON, Delta Wi-Fi and Executive Deepfakes 36:01 - Sydney's Pullman Five and Presumption of Innocence 47:52 - Culture Amp, AI Training Data and Privacy 58:57 - Guzman y Gomez’s Big Result 1:21:06 - Tanssu Launch The first 20 listeners to use code "TCfirst20" at Tanssu.com will redeem the offer mentioned in this week's episode: https://www.tanssu.com/discount/TCfirst20 . Add “The Set” to your cart in any colour. Then at checkout, the code will remove the cost of the tote.

August 21, 202637 min

Housing Crash Gets Real, NVIDIA’s AI Factory Gamble, Canva’s Markdown

Adam and Adir unpack the growing pressure in Australia’s housing market, with falling prices, sticky inflation and the fallout from the federal budget creating a messy economic picture. They also dig into NVIDIA’s latest AI infrastructure financing play, why CUDA may not be as untouchable as it once looked, and whether the AI boom is starting to look more fragile. Plus, Canva’s valuation gets marked down, SaaS multiples come back to earth, and Blackbird raises another billion dollars. 00:00 - Australia's Housing Crash 10:21 - NVIDIA 24:45 - Canva's Valuation Markdown Join us on Substack for articles, news and more: https://www.thecontrarianspod.com/

August 17, 20261 hr 26 min

Tech Bros Goes Off, DEF CON Hackers, Waymo vs Zoox, and The LinkedIn Algorithm

Adam and Adir unpack San Francisco’s AI-fuelled tech boom, from Waymo and Zoox to Figma’s aggressive push and Lovable’s wild valuation. Later, Adir explains what DEF CON reveals about modern cybersecurity, before John Stensholt joins to discuss Tech Bros , Atlassian’s founder breakup and the strange billionaire world of Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar. GET YOUR TICKET TO THE CONTRARIANS LIVE! https://events.humanitix.com/the-contrarians-live John Stensholt's book 'Tech Bros' is available now: https://harpercollins.com.au/products/9781460769492 00:00 - San Francisco, Waymo and Zoox 08:00 - Figma, AI and the API Boom 17:15 - Lovable’s $13bn Valuation 21:45 - Contrarians Live Show Announcement 26:30 - LinkedIn’s Algorithm Problem 31:30 - DEF CON, Hackers and Cybersecurity 51:15 - John Stensholt on Tech Bros and Atlassian Join us on Substack for articles, news and more: https://www.thecontrarianspod.com/

August 14, 202649 min

Australia's Most Powerful VCs Join the Pod

Hear Blackbird's Rick Baker, Airtree's Craig Blair and Jelix's Ian Gardiner discuss the AI Bubble, CGT Founder Chaos and Australia's Startup Future Join us on Substack for articles, news and more: https://www.thecontrarianspod.com/

August 10, 20261 hr 56 min

Canva’s AI Crisis, Zoox Changes Everything, Xero’s Ad Disaster, Jetstar’s Bag War, and Atlassian’s Profit Pivot

Adam and Adir discuss Zoox, Waymo, autonomous cars, Xero’s strange Vegas advertising, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Victoria’s work-from-home laws, Delta One, airline lounges, Jetstar’s carry-on bag crackdown, Ryanair, Canva’s slowing growth, AI design tools, Claude, OpenAI, Figma, Atlassian’s profit pivot and the future of Australia’s biggest tech companies. Join us on Substack for articles, news and more: https://www.thecontrarianspod.com/