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Episode S06E06 – TechSydney and Q-CTRL

Infrastructure. It’s something we all need to do pretty much of anything, and without it nothing gets done. Sydney has benefited from great human capital resources for startups, but only recently – with the opening of the Sydney Startup Hub on York Street – have we seen the infrastructure following suit.

TWISTA talks to TechSydney CEO Bede Moore about their big plans for a major hub – for tech companies big and small – at Sydney’s Central Station, and how that must be paired with the right policy settings.

Then we interview quantum computing researcher and Q-CTRL founder Mike Biercuk at the Sydney University Nanoscience Lab and discuss about what it takes to make these weird and unreliable machines more trustworthy.

Big thanks to TWISTA sponsors MYOB, UTS and Creative3 for making this show possible!

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Episode S06E05 – LAUNCH Sydney’s Standout Startups

June’s LAUNCH Sydney event brought to light two startups doing outstanding work.

ParentTV works to provide the most thoughtful answers to the questions that every parent faces at one point or another.

Sam Jockel ParentTV Mark Pesce
Sam Jockel sits for an interview at the CEA Collider Demo Day

CryptoFlip uses blockchain and smart contracts to take the ‘house’ out of gambling – and looks set to completely revolutionise the industry.

Chalk and cheese — yet both startups point to innovation and success in Australia’s expanding startup ecosystem – and it’s all here on TWISTA. 

Thanks to TWISTA sponsors MYOB, UTS and Creative3 for making our show possible!

Author mpescePosted on

Episode S06E04 – Great to Good with Rachael Lonergan and Andrea Gardiner

TWISTA talks to Rachael Lonergan, who turned the lessons learned from a breast cancer diagnosis into startup CanDoApp – but can her idea for good also be profitable?

Rachael Lonergan CEO of CanDoApp

Then we speak with Jelix VC CEO Andrea Gardiner about shifting the model of how a VC fund works – by opening the doors to a new range of investors who gain a bit of guidance as they take their first steps into angel investing.

Andrea Gardiner CEO and founder of Jelix VC

We’ve got a great startup ecosystem in Australia – but can we take it from great to good?

Thanks to TWISTA sponsors MYOB and UTS for making our show possible!

Author mpescePosted on

Episode S06E03 – Creative Tech Special

Creative tech has produced some of Australia’s most successful startups – businesses like Canva and Envato (both interviewed here on TWISTA). And now there’s a place for creative tech startups to be born, grow, and thrive – The Studio at Sydney’s Startup Hub. TWISTA talks to the doyenne of Australia’s creative tech scene, Chantal Abouchar, about the half-decade journey that brought The Studio into being – and what’s next for Australia’s creative tech community.

We follow that up with a mind-blowing interview with Oovvuu co-founders Ricky Sutton and Greg Moore. Their mission to ‘repatriate’ the $20 billion taken away from media organisations by Google and Facebook is both audacious and has been very well executed. In five years of talking to Australian startups, Oovvuu may be my favourite.

Creative tech is going big, on this episode of TWISTA.   

A bit extra for our web visitors — here is Chantal Abouchar’s AFTRS masters thesis that led to the formation of The Studio:  Inventing the Future. Chantal Abouchar MSAB thesis. ver Feb 2015

Author mpescePosted on

Episode S06E02 – Going Nova with Main Sequence Ventures

Australia has an incredible tradition of innovation – typified by the CSIRO, which gave us WiFi, plastic banknotes, one of the best modern lifestyle diets, and much more besides. The CSIRO is an engine for the nation’s science – but too often science misses the opportunity to commercialise its innovations for the benefits of the innovators – and the nation. 

The new Main Sequence VC fund – backed by CSIRO and the Australian Federal Government – looks to change that by identifying the scientists with the ‘spark’ that would make them great entrepreneurs.  TWISTA sits down with Main Sequence general partner Mike Nicholls for a tour through Australia’s “deep tech” investment landscape – and how it could well lead to a new generation of fundamental breakthroughs!

In a new segment profiling all of Australia’s many incubators and accelerators, we speak to SBE Australia’s Sue Hogan about their E3 program for entrepreneurs.

To learn more about SBE Australia or their E3 program, click here.

Author mpescePosted on No comment Episode S06E01 – Jason Calacanis and Angels in Australia

Episode S06E01 – Jason Calacanis and Angels in Australia

Four years ago Jason Calacanis charged us with creating the first international podcast worthy of his “This Week in Startups” branding.

Jason Calacanis

In those four years Australia’s startup community has grown from strength to strength – and legendary angel investor Jason Calacanis joins us to launch series 6 of TWISTA with a wide-ranging conversation about what it takes to make it in the news business, how he grades each investment offer presented to him, why ICOs aren’t the end of angel investing – and how Australia can build upon its incredible startup success.

An interview 23 years in the making – on this episode of TWISTA!

Update 11 July 2018 – This morning INSIDE.COM announced it’s raising a round of funding to expand its operations – with Jason leading the round. Find out more here.

Author mpescePosted on No comment S05E07 – Anne-Marie Birkill & Maxwell MRI

S05E07 – Anne-Marie Birkill & Maxwell MRI

TWISTA visited Brisbane’s River City Labs two years ago – and my goodness, how much has changed. The new government has put nearly half a billion dollars into funding various startup activities – including a lavish new ‘Precinct’ for the startup community.

TWISTA talks to two residents of The Precinct, Anne-Marie Birkill, Managing Partner of OneVentures, then we catch up with one of the most mind-blowing startups we’ve ever had on this show, Maxwell MRI (now Maxwell Plus) co-founders Elliot Smith and Matt Brown. It’s all happening in Queensland, on this episode of TWISTA.

Author mpescePosted on No comment S0506 – VR Special with Tim Ruse & Kain Tietzel

S0506 – VR Special with Tim Ruse & Kain Tietzel

In the year since our last VR special, cyberspace has exploded – and virtual reality has become a real business. We speak two the founder-CEOs of two of Australia’s most successful VR startups, starting in conversation with Zero Latency‘s Tim Ruse, then closing in a chat with Start VR‘s Kain Tietzel.

Virtual reality is a real business – with real customers and real revenues. We go exploring the new _business_ landscape of virtual reality in this special episode.

Author mpescePosted on No comment S05E05 – Space Special with Tim Parsons & Jason Held

S05E05 – Space Special with Tim Parsons & Jason Held

Over the last 3 years, the Space Race has roared back into life. Not just the ‘big space’ of SpaceX and BlueOrigin, but lots of startups – some of them Australians – taking us back to the stars.

TWISTA explores this new era of rocket science with Delta-V Founding CEO Tim Parsons, then explore the Space-Command-as-SaaS market with Sabre Astronautics CEO Jason Held. This special is out of this world!

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