Square Peg's global shift, Linktree's 2023 leak & SA rocket launches

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Will Richards:

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Kaurna and the Kulin Nation.

Cheryl Mack:

The Startup Retro is brought to you by Day One, the podcast network for founders, operators, and investors.

Will Richards:

G’day and welcome to The Startup Retro, a weekly show where we help you level up on the Australian startup ecosystem by giving you an insider view on Aussie startups and venture capital. I'm Will Richards, and on this week's episode of The Startup Retro, I'm super excited to be joined by Cheryl Mack, from Aussie Angels, as Gemma is off in Italy for the next few weeks. And in today's episode, we dive into Square Peg's new two funds.

Cheryl Mack:

Linktree's 2023 accounts results.

Will Richards:

A new partnership in South Australia, that will see rocket launches in 2025.

Cheryl Mack:

SafetyCulture's latest raise and a startup that is growing plastic with algae.

Will Richards:

I also interviewed Cheryl on her latest project, the Pillars and I interview Emma Grife from Startmate on their latest cohort.

Cheryl Mack:

Ooh. And you'll also get a handy resource for B2B startups and their sales motions.

Will Richards:

Well, let's jump into the headlines and the first headline that grabbed my attention this week was Square Peg's New Fund. And there's probably nothing revolutionary about Square Peg going out and raising a new fund, but what I thought was really interesting about it, was that they're focusing more so on international LPs. And I suppose of like the big three VCs in Australia, they're definitely one with the most global presence. But I think it's a sense that the superannuation funds here in Australia, probably they're a little bit dry and not super keen to back venture a little bit at the moment. So yeah, Square Peg's sort of using, yeah, their international presence to lean on some LPs in the US and Israel.

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah, I think Square Peg is one of our unique larger funds, in that they do a bunch of stuff in the US as well as Israel, so it kind of gives you that all in one presence, in that sense. And it's not like this is new, they've been doing that for a number of years. And so I think to then diversify across their LP base and get more international LPs, totally makes sense, for any funds, in particular, like the big ones, who are 840 mil AUD, is a huge fund.

Will Richards:

Yeah, so this is their sixth fund and it's going to be focusing on the C to Series A investment, where they'll be taking a 10 to 20% stake in startups. And then simultaneously, they're also raising a different fund, which is the Opportunities Fund III. And we've seen this same approach, I think, from the likes of Blackbird too, who I believe, at the end of last year, did quite a similar thing raising two funds simultaneously and one being an opportunities fund. It's good to see venture funds basically being like, let's back our winners as well, we've got some in our earlier funds that we can double down on.

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah, that's pretty standard, once you get to a certain size, that it just makes sense to create an opportunities fund because you have all this pro rata and when the companies get big, and those are the great success stories. Like you can't put the pro rata into your current fund, it just doesn't fit the mandate if you're doing C to Series A.

Will Richards:

Yeah.

Cheryl Mack:

So once you get to a certain size, as a fund, it just makes sense to run an opportunities fund, otherwise you're just leaving money on the table for yourself and your LPs.

Will Richards:

Yeah, it's actually quite cool because, well, interesting, they talk about their investment in Canva, which has a 652 return at the moment, pretty phenomenal. They only invested in that company once, where the likes of Blackbird have doubled down, tripled down, quadrupled down as that company has grown. So it's quite interesting that, like Square Peg do obviously mention that they've had a massive return on that business, but haven't doubled down on it. So I'm sure they've learned that lesson.

Cheryl Mack:

Well, the thing is though, it's easy to get a 652 multiple return if you only invest once, right, because you're always-

Will Richards:

True.

Cheryl Mack:

Going to get the best return from your first investment. So yeah, it's great that they mentioned that, but those of us in VC also kind of know what that-

Will Richards:

You roll your eyes at it a little bit?

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah, we're like-

Will Richards:

Sort of like, no, okay.

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah, obviously.

Will Richards:

Okay. And then the next headline, which I think is probably on the other side of the spectrum, is some leaked documents that came out of the Link in bio tool, Linktree. And it was for their 2023 accounts and it was showing a net loss of $61.6 million, which, when you boil down the numbers, boils down to every $2 that they spend, they're getting $1 in return. Which doesn't sound like a great business, but that's not the business that we're into at the moment, is it?

Cheryl Mack:

For me, I want to know how do their investors feel about this.

Will Richards:

Yeah.

Cheryl Mack:

Because if the board and their investors have signed off on this growth strategy, then, to me, that sounds totally fine.

Will Richards:

Yeah.

Cheryl Mack:

The thing is, if this was in the ZIRP era, five years ago, nobody would question this. They'd be like, "Why isn't it $3 for every dollar earned?" So honestly, I read that article, it was a bit of a take tear down piece.

Will Richards:

Yeah.

Cheryl Mack:

And I think that it's just a sign of the times, where grabbing a startup that is growing so quickly, grabbing their accounts and leaking them and then saying, "Oh, how dare they spend $2 per every dollar spent," I think is a bit disingenuous. Really, I don't know whether that's good or bad until you talk to their investors and their board. And if their board signed off on it, then happy days, like they're growing.

Will Richards:

Yeah. And I think their board definitely does, and their investors definitely do believe in their story and what they're doing. Like since these accounts have been released, the strategy, I don't think has changed at all. In 2023, they made some acquisitions, they were acquiring businesses that were coming up as well, similar sort of link in bio tools, but quite different. And also opening the door up to enter the sort of social commerce side of things. And they probably haven't really hit their strides in social commerce just yet, but that's definitely the strategy that they're going down.

And they have done another acquisition in this year as well, so that's definitely part of their strategy. A few acquirers and the founders have, along the way, maybe not seeing the writing on the wall a little bit, but they've taken a little bit of cash off the table themselves. All three founders have taken around $7 million off the table in secondaries throughout the journey. But since these accounts have come out, they've continued raising extra capital and they've made a few acquisitions. So from the way I sort of see it, like I don't think investors are that spooked by it at all, they're pretty confident and pretty comfortable.

Cheryl Mack:

No, I think most of us laughed at that article.

Will Richards:

It was a classic rear window article by the AFR, that's for sure.

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah.

Will Richards:

And the final headline that I just thought was really, really cool was, in South Australia, there's been a partnership signed by Hypersonic Launch Systems and Southern Launch, to Launch aircraft capable of Mark V. So they're not sort of, well, they get launched by rockets, but then they fly like airplanes when they're up in the sky. And Mark VII is just so fast.

Cheryl Mack:

I have to wonder, why does anyone need to-

Will Richards:

Go that fast?

Cheryl Mack:

Go at Mark VII? Like why do we need to go that fast? What's the point here?

Will Richards:

I think it must be a defense thing, I assume. Like Hypersonic Launch Systems website is very much like, "Engineering, we're pushing the boundaries," but they don't sort of say why. But I assume the capabilities is definitely being developed for defense.

Cheryl Mack:

Well, either way, I mean, they're going to be launching it at Southern Launch Spaceports, which is-

Will Richards:

Yeah.

Cheryl Mack:

Around Whalers Way, Koonibba and I guess that also depends on some of those environmental assessments of those areas. But sounds like the launch will be going ahead.

Will Richards:

Yeah. So they'll start launching, hopefully, in early 2025, which feels super soon.

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah.

Will Richards:

I did laugh though that they have to pick the launch location depending on endangered species. So there's the potential that a flightless bird, the Southern Emu, is going to change where these amazing spacecraft get selected to launch from. But for an idea of like what the actual spacecraft are, for anyone who's seen Top Gun II, they're that scramjet at the start of the movie. So the one that God, who's the actor?

Cheryl Mack:

Tom Cruise.

Will Richards:

Tom Cruise, yeah. I can I forget the main actor in-

Cheryl Mack:

I don't know. I haven't even seen it. I think-

Will Richards:

You haven't seen Top Gun? That's incredible.

Cheryl Mack:

Tom Cruise is just like the only actor's name that I know off the top of my head.

Will Richards:

Yeah, so Tom Cruise at the start of Top Gun II, is flying one of these spacecraft, and he apparently gets it to, I think it was over Mark X, before it blows up and he somehow survives, but-

Cheryl Mack:

I mean, it's Tom Cruise, obviously.

Will Richards:

But I think it's a really cool indication that Australian space tech is developing and things are actually happening. There's obviously Gilmour Space Technologies, who were planning on launching this year as well, and unfortunately, that's been delayed a little bit. So I think next year could be a really hot year for Australian space tech.

Cheryl Mack:

Oh yeah. We'll hopefully see a bunch of Australian rockets launched from Australia.

Will Richards:

That'd be cool.

Cheryl Mack:

Also, Five V Capital launching their Frontier Fund I, a $325 million fund aimed at smaller mid-market companies. It's pretty unique, new type of fund. Five V is normally like a typical VC, so they're launching a new fund to specifically focus on less VC backable companies, is pretty cool.

Will Richards:

Yeah, I think we spoke last week about your wish of more funds in the market-

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah.

Will Richards:

That can fill the gap, then-

Cheryl Mack:

More diversity.

Will Richards:

They're already listening, Cheryl.

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah, they totally did that, because I said so last week.

Will Richards:

Exactly.

Cheryl Mack:

100%.

Will Richards:

And they got it all prepared in the last seven days.

Cheryl Mack:

Obviously

Will Richards:

No, really cool to see Five V expanding their horizons with Frontier Fund I.

Cheryl Mack:

SafetyCulture raises a new $75 million of fresh capital. Also, at the same time, they did about a 90 mil of secondaries exchange. So Blackbird liquidated a bunch of their SafetyCulture position, along with a few others. So that's still a huge amount, like the total raise was 165, but of that, 75 was fresh capital, which is still a very large amount to be going into the company. The other interesting point there is that they reaffirmed their unicorn status, which was never in question, but the fact that we haven't had any new unicorns crowned this year, that I know of, but we have had a few maintain their unicorn or reinvigorate the crown, is very good.

Will Richards:

Yeah. So the valuation came off a little bit.

Cheryl Mack:

Just slightly.

Will Richards:

A slight $200 million drop in valuation, but still very, very strong at $2.5 billion. And the funding round was led by Airtree Ventures for the first time, so Airtree is now on the cap table at SafetyCulture. I believe it's the first time they've come on board, but definitely the first time they've led around into SafetyCulture. So quite cool to see a new big VC jumping on the SafetyCulture bandwagon. Obviously believing that there's a lot of growth still in the company.

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah, SafetyCulture is such a great story. Like they were founded in Townsville, they were your typical working out of the garage.

Will Richards:

Yeah.

Cheryl Mack:

Luke tells the story fantastically well, they actually also have a documentary called, Founders, I think [inaudible 00:11:08].

Will Richards:

Is that on Netflix, that one?

Cheryl Mack:

I don't know if it's on Netflix. I-

Will Richards:

It's on one of the streamers. Yeah, yeah.

Cheryl Mack:

It's on one of the streaming things. Just look it up, Founders. Luke produced that as well, which is pretty cool, so. And they just had such a humble beginnings and just absolutely exploded, now with like 85,000 companies and 2 million users. Just a really great success story for Australia. Their growth is just, I wouldn't say meteoric, but basically meteoric.

Will Richards:

Yeah, really chugged along nicely. The interesting thing is where do they go next? And there's been a bit of talk after this raise, around, obviously AI and how they can utilize AI. I didn't realize, but they've got so much workforce safety data, workplace data, just because of the nature of their business. And they report five petabytes of workplace information, whether that's like surveys being filled in or photos or whatever, like videos of people doing work. So obviously that information can be leveraged in some way and AI is definitely going to be a part of that. But they haven't really announced exactly how they're going to do it, so one to watch, I think. They're super well-placed to use AI in their business for that next phase of growth.

Cheryl Mack:

Oh, 100%.

Will Richards:

My pick this week was a company called Algenie, which secured a $1.1 million pre-seed funding round. And I love this business idea, they're replacing fossil fuels and plastic. So a lot of fossil fuels obviously become plastics, plastic bottles, those sorts of things, with algae. So they're growing algae in this super dense way. Algae just multiplies apparently, like you leave your pond for a few months unsupervised, and there's algae everywhere. They're kind of leveraging that and then turning the algae that they produce into plastic, which I just think is absolutely fantastic.

Cheryl Mack:

Oh, 100%. If they can get that cost down, which it sounds like they're looking to potentially reduce costs-

Will Richards:

Yeah.

Cheryl Mack:

Tenfold to $1 per kilogram, then that's a really viable alternative to create some real climate change and cut carbon emissions and create eco-friendly materials.

Will Richards:

Yeah, so they're a spin out of the University of Technology Sydney, UTS and University of Sydney also invested in the business as well as Better Bite Ventures. And at this stage, it's still, I think, a proof of concept at the moment. So I believe what's been achieved so far, is they have now been able to grow algae that can turn into plastic, is basically where they're at and that's why they've come out and made a bit of noise. What they're trying to do next is basically get some customers on board, some pilot customers to commercialize this. And quite a unique way of commercialization, they're going to license the technology to plastic manufacturers. So plastic manufacturers who want to be a bit more green can start growing some algae themselves and turning into plastic instead of the traditional methods of using fossil fuels.

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah, amazing. So many potential applications there, like plastics, textiles, they could also license their technology, like it could be a game changer.

Will Richards:

Yeah, it would be awesome. I think the big one is like it will all just be automatically biodegradable, so you won't even-

Cheryl Mack:

Yes.

Will Richards:

Have to like double price.

Cheryl Mack:

You don't have to worry about it. You can toss it in the garbage if you want, because a lot of people do.

Will Richards:

Put in the green waste bin.

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah.

Will Richards:

So super excited to be joined by Emma Grife, the chief of staff at Startmate, who specializes in the founders side of the business. Which is a super important part of Startmate's whole business, with their Accelerator and whatnot. So Emma, thank you for joining us on the podcast. I'd love to learn about your story, coming from the US to Australia and what it's been like at Startmate for the last year.

Emma Grife:

Yeah, thanks so much for having me. Super excited to chat about the Accelerator and what we're doing with the companies in this cohort. A little background on me, is I'm American, if you can't tell from the accent, and I'm originally from Michigan, I'm from like a small farm town. Grew up in Michigan, I went to university in Michigan, and then that's where I kind of discovered startups, in college. And from there, I actually joined a growth stage venture firm in New York. So I was working at Insight Partners, which invests in software and technology companies, and my job was to do sourcing. So I was speaking to 20, 25 founders week, at the growth stage, really understanding what are the business metrics that make an amazing high growth company.

But I wasn't spending a ton of time with founders kind of understanding their problems and going deep on the problems. And we were also very much focused on growth stage and even going a little into the private equity route, so thinking through roll-ups and buyout strategies. And I originally was interested in startups, 'cause I love working with early stage founders, so I was thinking about how I could, basically learn more about early stage founders. And I had actually studied abroad in Australia a bunch of years ago, and I've always wanted to come back. I spent a couple of months at the University of Sydney and absolutely loved it. So I've been, yeah, thinking of ways to hopefully get back and spend more time in Australia.

So then I discovered Startmate, which is kind of the perfect opportunity to spend time with early stage founders, it's the earliest you can go. And yeah, found the chief of staff founders role, which is in charge of the Accelerator program. So thinking through what systems we'll implement and basically how we're going to take the Accelerator to the next level. So I help with the selection process and then I'm also in charge of managing the program. So thinking about what mentors are the right mentors for the cohort founders, thinking through the content sessions we'll run for the founders, thinking through how we help them establish goals at the very beginning of the program, and then also helping them with fundraising at the end of the program. And yeah, I've been here for about a year and I've been loving it.

Will Richards:

That's awesome. I love that, that you've come across to Australia, 'cause I think there is a bit of a feeling that some Australians feel like they need to go to the US to learn and really get involved in the startup ecosystem. But it's great to hear the story the other way around, of someone from the US coming into Australia. And it sounds like Startmate is the perfect place to learn more about founders, so that's cool.

I'd love to touch on the application process, 'cause we're going to do a bit of a deep dive on Startmate's cohort for winter 2024. But I would love to touch on the application process for startups to get into the cohort. 'Cause it is so different to, I think, every Accelerator in Australia, really, because you rely so much on the community of mentors to basically vet the startups. Could you touch on what your experience has been like sort of wrangling the mentors into evaluating startups?

Emma Grife:

Yeah, no, I can definitely touch on that. Going back to the Accelerator application process. I mean, what it looks like for founders is, you fill out an application online, it's a series of questions and then also a small video submission. Once you submit that, our community, which is a lot of our mentors, our First Believers, which is our angel investing kind of training program. A lot of our mentors and First Believers will jump in and then evaluate the application. So what that looks like, is we've actually built a portal for them to go in and ask questions to the founders, to basically add commentary on where we think we should basically dig deeper when we have an interview with the founders. And we also bring in experts depending on their, yeah, background knowledge, so we're able to have mentors with specific background knowledge relevant to the startups that are applying.

Will Richards:

That's cool. And then when you get to the pointy end of a startup, getting into the Startmate Accelerator, could you give a sense of how many mentors have probably had a look at that startup and given it some sort of evaluation? 'Cause I remember hearing, I think it would've been probably a year ago, that there was around like 600 people or so that were evaluating the cohort. But I'd love to know how many of those interact with each one or do some sort of... Because obviously, you get around like 1,500 applications or so each cohort. Like when you get to the pointy end, how many people have sort of evaluated each startup?

Emma Grife:

Yeah, that's a good question. So this past cohort, we had several hundred selectors and mentors on the platform, and we make sure that each application is reviewed at least by four or five selectors or mentors. But we'll have some applications that are particularly interesting and we'll have a lot of people, a lot of eyeballs on them and a lot of comments and follow-up questions. And then on our side, we have like a leaderboard, so we actually have some mentors and selectors that will go through and review every single application. And this past intake we had over 600, so we had some selectors that had basically carved out like hours, potentially days in their schedule, to review every single application.

Will Richards:

Oh my God, that's incredible.

Emma Grife:

Which is pretty cool.

Will Richards:

Yeah, that's awesome. So let's jump into the cohort that's going on right now, so they're about 50% of the way through the Accelerate at the moment. Could you tell me a little bit about each startup and what they've, maybe achieved to date, in the Accelerator?

Emma Grife:

Yeah, so in the Winter 24 cohort, we have 11 startups and it's kind of across the board in terms of what their categories are. So I'd say a little over half are software and then we have a couple hardware, climate-tech oriented companies. So at the very beginning of the program, we help them establish goals for the 12 weeks, and a lot of these goals are focused on customer conversation. So making sure that the founders are laser focused on speaking to customers, building the product, going back to speak to customers, and basically creating that feedback loop. And then the tighter that feedback loop is, the closer you can get to, basically, signing those customers up, because you've built something that solves their problem.

So when we think about what they've accomplished so far, they've been super laser focused on speaking to customers, building the platform and trying to get that first revenue in the door. And like I said, it's very across the board in terms of what they're focusing on, so I can just kind of go down the list.

Will Richards:

Yeah.

Emma Grife:

Borne is one of the companies. Borne is Australia's first luxury postpartum hotel. And what they've accomplished so far, is they actually sold out of her August days within a week of starting the Startmate program. And she has a couple of open bookings for September and October, so is looking for moms that are interested in an experience like Borne, which is a luxury postpartum hotel in Sydney.

Bugster is another company in the cohort and they have created an AI-powered code testing platform for QA engineers. And since starting the program, they've built out exciting new functionality and onboarded a bunch of users in Australia.

And Latem, Fairgo is another company and they've created an AI-powered live conversational video interviewing platform to screen candidates. And he's been super focused on building out integrations with Ashby and Jobetter and some of these other platforms that are going to allow him to scale.

And then another exciting company is, Hurtec. Hurtec has created an electric firefighting pump that's far more efficient in terms of flow of water and the pressure. And this firefighting pump is also connected to a software platform that manages incidences and fleet. So they, throughout the program, have built out a smaller electric pump and then also built out more features on the fleet management and incidents management platform. And they also recently attended the largest conference in APAC, for fire services organization. So super exciting next steps there on launching some pilot programs.

Another company in the cohort is, NE Tech. NE Tech has this highly efficient oil extraction technology for use and supplements. So an example is, if you're looking to use vanilla extract, the current process is you have to dry out the vanilla and it's super time-consuming and also energy consuming. So what NE Tech does is basically allows you to take that vanilla extract without having to do the drying process. And they're working on product certification and securing partnerships for the first commercial plant.

Another company in the cohort is, PREVE, which I think that you've spoken about before. And they've built AI-powered physiotherapy memberships. So this helps physiotherapy clinics deliver better treatment and then also helps patients stick to tailored care plans. And during week zero, this was actually really interesting, they had built out a plan for an MVP but weren't going to launch until September or October and after the week zero, the Accelerator, they decided that they were going to launch over the weekend. So they put together a scrappy MVP launch over the weekend and have since onboarded dozens of physiotherapy clinics, which is pretty impressive.

Another company is, Recant. And Recant has built a social media moderation tool, so this allows influencers and public figures to stop abusive messages coming into their inbox on platforms like Twitter and Instagram. And they're currently building on a wait list for, both influencers and then also agencies to trial the platform.

Tendl, is another company in the cohort. They're using AI to auto-generate tender documents. So any business that basically submits tenders for government projects would really benefit from using the Tendl platform. And they've signed their first several customers up, which is a huge win.

Another company is, Totex. They have created an all-in-one sustainable system that provides heating, cooling, hot water and pool heating, and they're working on rolling out the unit to customers in a pilot program.

And then the last two are, Trova and Zello. So Trova is building the provider network and tech infrastructure enabling digital health companies to expand internationally. And they, throughout the program, actually built up a provider network in their first target market, which is Brazil. They then launched in Brazil, so now they're focused on repeating that process in their other target markets and then getting their first enterprise digital health companies on board.

And then the last company is, Zello. So Zello is a fitting room assistant for fashion retailers and they've made really exciting process in the Accelerator, reaching out to dozens of retailers and actually secured a couple of large retailer pilots to roll out in-store.

So yeah, that's kind of an overview of a quick one-liner in each company and what they've accomplished.

Will Richards:

Fantastic. I love how each of them have their own little signs of progress and deciding to launch a business within a weekend instead of a few months is such, I think, a testament to what the Startmate Accelerator can do for companies. Just changing that perspective of get your thing in front of customers as soon as possible and get some sales on the board.

Emma Grife:

Yeah, yeah. And I think a theme of this cohort, like you mentioned, is a lot of the companies coming in were very much at the MVP stage, so didn't have existing customers and had just basically built something less than a year old and are thinking through how to get those first customers. So having a focus throughout the accelerator program, on connecting them with the right mentors to basically up-level their sales ability and product positioning and think through go-to-market strategies, it's been really helpful. And we've seen a ton of progress in just the seven weeks so far, and then looking forward to the next few weeks before Demo Day, when the companies are going to present on stage.

Will Richards:

Yeah, perfect. Let's talk about Demo Day, because it's always a bit of a party.

Emma Grife:

Yeah.

Will Richards:

And I think it's the best startup pitch event in Australia, each time you guys run it. What's planned for Demo Day this year?

Emma Grife:

Yeah, so Demo Day this year, is going to be super exciting. It's our largest Demo Day ever, and we have said that a couple of years, like a couple-

Will Richards:

Yes, yeah. I think you say that every Accelerator.

Emma Grife:

That is true, we do say that. But this is actually significantly bigger than even the last one. So the last two cohorts, the Demo Days have been around a thousand people and this one, we're going to be above a thousand people, which is super exciting. And it's going to be at the State Theater in Sydney. It's Monday, October 14th, and it's going to kick off at 6:30, and then we're going to have a massive after party following. So the tickets are currently available, we have early bird pricing right now, it's just $20 a ticket. It definitely is a massive party, so would definitely encourage anyone to attend if they haven't already.

It's really inspiring to see the founders present on the companies they've built, the progress they've had so far, and basically where they're headed in the future. And it's also a great opportunity to meet people in the startup ecosystem. There are not many events in which you're going to have close to 2,000 people in the same room celebrating startups, in Australia. So yeah, I would really encourage anyone in town to attend and it's also, conveniently, the same week as South by Southwest, so if you're planning to attend South by Southwest, definitely come to Demo Day on that Monday.

Will Richards:

Perfect. Yeah, it's a great environment, because there's so many people in the room who have helped or been a part of the startups journey as well, throughout the Accelerator. Whether it was like telling them to apply to the Accelerator or helping them get selected or during the Accelerator process as well, being a mentor or introducing them to a customer. So when you get there and after they all pitch, it's so cool to chat to other guests over a beer or two and sort of, "What was your favorite startup?" And they'll say, "Oh, it was this. But I also helped them, like introduce them to their first customer." And it's a really nice environment for anyone to attend.

Emma Grife:

Yeah, no, totally agree. And it's, yeah, a very diverse crowd, like everyone from investors to founders to students to operators, really across the board.

Will Richards:

Perfect. Well, thanks Emma. Thanks for joining me to chat about the latest Accelerator at Startmate. Can't wait to see them pitch at Demo night.

Emma Grife:

Yeah, I'm so excited. Thanks so much for having me.

Will Richards:

So Cheryl, we hinted at it last week, but I think we sort of buried the lead a little bit about a project that you're working on, that is adjacent to startups, but I wouldn't define it as a technology startup, that's for sure. And it's your project that you're doing with a few real awesome ecosystem leaders, called The Pillars, in Sydney. Would love to learn about what the inspiration was behind The Pillars and what you're hoping to achieve with it.

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah, absolutely. So no, it is not a tech startup, but it is very unique in the sense that there is no private club in Sydney or Australia in general, that is for our generation. And I think that concept of a private club is so so valuable for so many people, in building network, in helping them grow their careers. And the fact that there just isn't something that is really targeted towards that next generation of, both wealth and tech, it created an opportunity for us. So myself and a few other co-founders, namely, Brad Delamere, Steve Grace, Matt Browne, John Louis, and Emma Blomfield, so there's six of us. Yeah, we just thought let's create a space where we can bring tech and finance together and hopefully have an influence on where the next generation of investment goes.

So we have a number of family offices, particularly the newest generation of family office people, who are really thinking about what to invest and pretty disenfranchised with their parent's mining and real estate strategies and wanting to get into tech, but just not feeling like they have the tools to do. So our goal is to bring all of those people together, exited tech founders or successful tech founders, together with that generation of family offices. And bring everyone together in one building, in one place to meet and spend time together. And if that creates a shift and supports people to invest in different ways, then amazing, if not, I think there's still going to be tons of value created.

Will Richards:

Yeah, that's awesome. I think it's yeah, it's that serendipitous moment of Australia's tech ecosystem now mature enough, or we probably have enough exited founders, there's been enough wealth created, but there's still so much potential. So now having this location where people can, and it's not forced networking, it's more just like having that third place in the world, to go to. Like I wouldn't say it's even co-working, but it's a mix between a co-working space, dining experiences, recreation-

Cheryl Mack:

And wellness.

Will Richards:

And wellness, right. Yeah, so, yeah, it won't be forced networking, it'll be more just like serendipitous like, "Oh, what are you working on? That looks really cool." And yeah, I'm sure there'll be a lot of cool things coming out of it.

Cheryl Mack:

Oh, I've been to some clubs overseas that are fantastic, and you show up and there are people there that are just part of the environment atmosphere that you show up to like hang out with others, but it's very relaxed.

Will Richards:

Yeah.

Cheryl Mack:

And so we've taken on the lease on a four-story building in the middle of Sydney CBD, just between Martin Place and Barangaroo, and it's on Barrack Street. And it's just a beautiful building, so the bottom floor is a restaurant that will be open to the public, but we've actually, and I can announce this, because it did get leaked, but we're working with the Bentley group, Bentley restaurant group for that. And then the other three levels are all the private club, so club level, working level, and then a wellness level along with a secret rooftop bar that I am pushing to be named Cheryl's Bar.

Will Richards:

Good luck with that.

Cheryl Mack:

I know

Will Richards:

In terms of like the perfect, because we've got some listeners who I think are in, well, obviously they're in the startup space, and there's definitely a lot of investors around who listen and engage with our content. Who do you think is the perfect person to get involved with The Pillars?

Cheryl Mack:

Well, I will say the membership is a pretty penny to join on an annual basis. If you would like to know more, feel free to reach out to me directly. It is invitation only, so actually, you can't apply to join, so please, if you are interested, reach out to me. But if you have a family office and want to learn more about investing in tech, then probably a very good fit. If you are an investor, so high net wealth investor or a VC, then it would be a great fit for you and then if you are a like Series B beyond, tech founder or exited tech founder, would probably be a very good fit for you as well.

Will Richards:

Is it a place for builders as well? Like what if you're, because in chatting with Steve as well, he was definitely talking about, it's a place for exited founders as well. But then on the other hand he was saying as well, it's going to be a place that he sees a lot of value being created in terms of, you get all these ambitious people who've achieved a lot. What about people who are well on their journey, let's say they're Series B, C, D, E onwards, who are at the helm of a really impressive business? Like is it something that you want those sorts of founders engaging with as well?

Cheryl Mack:

Yeah, absolutely. So founders of Series B and beyond.

Will Richards:

Okay, cool. Fantastic. Yeah, one to check out, I think. And then also, I'm waiting for the Melbourne one to open in a few years.

Cheryl Mack:

Yes.

Will Richards:

I'll start saving now.

Cheryl Mack:

And what's your pick of the week?

Will Richards:

Yeah, so my pick for the cast this week, was an article on a website called Unusual VC. And I'm not sure if you've ever been on Unusual VC before, but I checked it out, I got recommended it this week, and it's just a treasure trove of awesome content that's really actionable. And the article that I jumped on was called, Go-to-market funnel stages, metrics and goals for B2B Startups. And that's a mouthful, but what it really is, is, yeah, identifying the go-to-sales motion for B2B startups. And for me, this was super useful in working with a client this week, who is going through this motion right now. So being able to work out what's the best approach for their business and what they were probably missing in their pipeline. So really digestible for B2B founders.

Gemma Clancy:

Perfect. Sounds great.

Thanks for joining us for this episode of The Startup Retro. We would love to hear what you thought of the show, so feel free to reach out to us directly on LinkedIn, with your feedback. That's Will Richards and Gemma Clancy.

Will Richards:

And if you've enjoyed this episode, we would love if you could follow us on your favorite podcast player and leave us a review, so more people can find us.

Gemma Clancy:

Catch you next week.

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