Michael Carden

At the Launch Vic Awards Nights, there was a lot of talk about the VC’s in our ecosystem, and quite a bit of mention of Angel Syndicates, but no mention of Venture Studios. In fact when people ask me what I do, I often have to explain what a Venture Studio is. So let me make the Venture Studio pitch. Firstly, what is a Venture Studio? Venture Studios give life to startups in two main ways. 1. Ideas are incubated and validated within the Venture Studio, once validated, the team finds the external resources/ people needed to bring the idea to life. 2. External founders brings ideas to Venture Studios, in which the Venture Studio provides services and resources to the founder in exchange for equity. So who is a Venture Studio good for? High Quality Founders, with scalable ideas: The success of a Venture Studio relies on the success of the startups they work with so naturally Venture Studios are looking for the highest quality founders / startups. Early stage founders who are missing a technical partner: During the early days of your startup, if you don’t have a technical partner, you generally require investment or you need to take significant financial risk to fund your MVP build. While most investors won’t want to invest until you have a functional MVP, this is the exact stage many Venture Studio’s like to play in. Why choose a Venture Studio over a development agency? Your developers will have skin in the game The app development process often goes wrong, because building apps is hard. If things go wrong, it’s easy for relationships to sour, and shortcuts to be made. Since Venture Studio’s success is so heavily tied into the success of their startups, by choosing a Venture Studio you have the peace of mind that your developers are so heavily incentivised to deliver an awesome product. Support beyond development Again because the success of the Venture Studios are so heavily tied to the success of the startup, it’s in the our best interest to ensure you are supported beyond your product build. So when it comes to GTM, capital raising and beyond, we aim to provide support and introductions where we. De-risk your financial position So this is the obvious benefit, get to launch without paying or paying a lot less. All of this is not to say, VC’s, Angel’s, Dev Shops all don’t play an important role in this ecosystem, I just feel the Venture Studio voice needs to be heard a bit louder.

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If you're a fan of "The Contrarians with Adam and Adir" Podcast, you'll be interest to know that I have received a lot of feedback saying the current episode was the best one so far. Agree? If you don't already listen and you like (a) business/money, (b) laughing, (c) learning, (d) video games, (e) books, (f) hearing friends argue, (g) random topics with a lot of tangents, (h) travel including frequent flyer stuff, (i) successful and inspiring guests, or (j) Adam Schwab, then I think you might like it. I'm sick of embedding links but I'm sure you can find it on whatever you use to listen to podcasts. And if you don't listen to podcasts at all, then I strongly encourage you to give one a try - just pick any topic you love and there will be something magical for you to enjoy. Spotify is a good platform, so is Apple, personally I use Overcast.

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“Don’t lead by allocating tasks, lead by asking what's possible” Steve Vamos   Wonderful to catch up with long term friend, International CEO Forum alumni, and former #CEO at Xero, Microsoft Australia, and Apple APAC Steve Vamos.   As you can imagine, with Steve having had such an extraordinary career, Dani and I had the time of our lives chatting with him and learning about his new book, 20 years in the making, called…   📘 "Through Shifts and Shocks: Lessons from the Front Line of Technology and Change."   We are excited to have Steve join the Abundium multinational leadership community in 2025 to share insights from his career about being better at change and leading people and teams through it. Steve's book will help people leaders be more effective and their teams be more productive.   "Through Shifts and Shocks" is available via preorder now on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/gUcp9xqW Shifts and Shocks: Lessons from the Front Line of Technology and Change. Abundium - making #multinational growth easier

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Some more great coverage off the back of the #GlobalSearchAwards win, this is in New Zealand from the Fairfax Media, The Southland Times & #ThePress Stuff, telling the story of Ben McIntyre's journey, teaming up with Dan Sim and taking the world by storm with Kia Ora Digital. One helluva story - congrats Ben, Dan, and the whole team. It's a privilege being part of this SEO 2.0 movement, where it's all about generating revenue from organic search for our eCommerce and SaaS clients worldwide. #EveryConversationIsGold #BuildingAnOrganicRevenueRocketShip #WaitUntilTheTechnologyIsReleasedForKeywordRevenueAnalysis

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Really chuffed about another incredible conversation I was fortunate to have with one of NZ's iconic entrepreneurs and business people - Rod Drury! "To be successful and have an impact, you actually have to have success. I see a lot of people get carried away with philanthropy and doing those things early before they've been successful." Just one of the many gold nuggets and insights form the conversation with Rod. While Rod hasn't been in the mainstream media much or making headline news with Xero, he's not been idle. During the conversation Rod shared a really compelling, "BIHAG" (big hairy audacious goal) and his vision for NZ. Great to see this level of boldness and leadership from a guy who knows a thing or two about creating globally successful brands that create immense value for customers and bring back substantial benefits to NZ. Excited to see what Rod does next to make his vision a reality and how we can all be part of it! #innovation #startups #entrepreneurship #vision #nz

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Look no further if you're a #B2B ... truly ... solve a problem #better for anyone in the #top100 here at home, in #Oz and your business will be #bigger and #global before you know it. #BetterBeforeBigger #NumbersGame #Processes #Choices #Change #Progess #Resolution #Business #KYC #KYP #KnowYourProblem #StartUps Amazon Web Services (AWS) #ProductMarketFit #ProductMarketPlaceFit #ProductMarketPlaceFitOrDie

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How can making BOLD career moves (before you feel ready) propel your professional growth? This week's episode of the Career Confidence podcast is not to be missed! I sat down with Lauren Lance, the GM for Enterprise Delivery at Suncorp, and WOW, what an inspiring conversation this was. If you want to learn what it takes to overcome self-doubt, become a great leader, and step up when you feel 50% ready, this episode is not to be missed! I look forward to hearing your key takeaways. #career #leadership

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Great result by the Kiwi SaaS community In 2023 New Zealand’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) sector earned $3.6b in revenue. It has been growing revenue by a 15 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since 2016, and at this rate it is on track to earn $9.7b by 2030.  By 2030 the report estimates that SaaS export-led added value will be growing faster and contributing more nominal GDP ($4.5b) than New Zealand’s top three primary sector industries (horticulture, dairy product manufacturing and meat product manufacturing).  Since 2016 SaaS exports have been growing at an inflation adjusted rate of 8.7 percent.  This is two and a half times higher than the inflation adjusted CAGR of 3.4 percent that New Zealand’s overall export economy has recorded in the past two decades.  Bruce Jarvis, Head of kiwiSaaS, says that the SaaS sector remains an ‘invisible giant.’  “How much the SaaS sector contributes to our economic wealth today, and could do in the future, is only just becoming visible,” says Jarvis. 

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As a self-confessed Mark Ritson fanbois (yes, yes, I know he swears quite a bit - get over it!), I loved this article from earlier this year relating to pre-testing ads. It just makes sense. It is also btw, what we do at UserTesting. User Research is not just limited to the domain of UX Researchers or Designers. For Marketers, why wouldn't you want to pre-test before you spend huge amounts on creative copy. The difference is that you can get results back from your target audience in hours, not counted in weeks or even months. Hours. And you save soooooo much $$$. You dont have to follow the feedback, but you do need to listen to it. Its a no-brainer. So why do so many CMO's not bother??? Would love your views... https://lnkd.in/esP39f_F Jamie Anderson Johann Wrede Don M Matejko Sarah Vogt Baran Erkel #pretesting #humaninsights #realtimefeedback #CMO #usertesting

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Once in a while, it's good to stop and take a look at what you're doing from the outside in. Over the past fortnight, I've had the opportunity to chat with a number of great leaders who offered very different, yet relevant, perspectives on how to scale growth. 🤓 5 Things I learnt: 1️⃣ Brutal feedback is best served straight. If you want feedback, take it on the nose. Rounding off the edges disadvantages the recipient. I enjoyed the honesty. I have so many specific actions I can now take - ego be damned. 2️⃣ As the media continues to spin the narrative that there are more differences that fracture us, what drives growth in one market is more likely to work in other countries just as well. 3️⃣ Events and Linkedin are what buyers increasingly rely on to learn about solutions and influence decisions. 4️⃣ Niche down - get as specific on your target audience, problems and use cases as possible. We all can get lost in being as broad in our messaging to capture every eventuality. It serves to confuse, not clarify. 5️⃣ Successful leaders are generous with their time and insights. Giving back is a characteristic common to great execs. Thanks to Amanda Malko Udi Ledergor 🏳‍🌈 Stephanie Sall Bailey Cate Luzio Melanie Altarescu for your generosity! It's been beyond real. Time to get crackin'! 🔥

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The Power of Persistence and the Importance of Early Backers. The journey of Kevin Gosschalk - founder of Arkose Labs, is a remarkable example of perseverance and the crucial role early investors play in the growth of innovative ventures. Ranked 30 on the Young Rich List, Kevin has raised over $US106 million for his bot detection company, largely from offshore investors. However, it was Richard Moore, a Brisbane-based investor and member of Brisbane Angels, who was the first to believe in Gosschalk’s vision. This underscores the importance of local capital ecosystems in fostering innovation. Despite the difficulties in raising capital in Australia, Richard’s support, along with Brisbane Angels as the company’s first backers gave Arkose Labs the initial momentum it needed to scale globally. This story highlights not only the value of early-stage investment but also the resilience required to navigate the often challenging path to securing capital. It’s a reminder to investors and founders alike: belief in an idea, coupled with persistence, can lead to extraordinary success. Well done Richard Moore and Kevin Gosschalk on the journey to date, we are expecting even further growth from this tech company, founded here in Brisbane. #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #startups #innovation #leadership #ArkoseLabs #angelinvesting

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Why do you think most businesses, when asked don’t think of negotiation as a core skill set in their organisation? In a recent survey of 30 CEO/CFO’s of large organisations operating in Australia, 50% said that there is ‘lots of room for improvement’ in their negotiation expertise - but are not currently providing a solution. While this is not surprising, it’s is still shocking to think that the vast majority of businesses doing $billions of transactions still assume that people can just do it naturally. I can say with confidence after working with 1000’s of people no one is a natural. Negotiation is a teachable science and it’s the lifeblood of an organisation, it dictates not only how you deal with your business partners but also how your people internally do business with each other. In the same survey 0% had a single core negotiation methodology that they adhered to across their organisation. Again, this is reflective of most organisations I come across but is no less shocking. I assume this is because if business keeps ticking along the assumption is, it can’t be that broken 🤷🏻‍♂️ I’d love to know your thoughts 💭

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🎭 Unveiling the Art of Board Agenda Crafting! 🎭 In the latest Minutes by boardcycle episode, Mark Johnson, Chair of HCF Australia and director at Aurecon, Goodman and Metcash, shared some fantastic insights on crafting effective board agendas. I've distilled his wisdom into a 5-step guide for Company Secretaries, Chairs, and CEOs. See below 👇 These aren't just administrative tips—they're strategic moves that can dramatically impact your board's effectiveness and, ultimately, your organisation's direction. The bottom line: Your board agenda defines what your board - and therefore your organisation - cares about - therefore this 'humble' tool is in fact critical in driving success. 🎧 Want to dive deeper? Listen to the full episode: https://tr.ee/Y8WejAO_zV #CompanySecretary #Governance #BoardEffectiveness #MinutesByBoardcycle

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Started yesterday at Community Summit NA 2024 with the partner day, but excited for the kick off today with the Keynote (or pre-keynote) focusing on the impact of people collaborating to impact the community, not AI (for a change). A great start talking about service work and the power in us to make a difference. Let's remember we are all people helping people in many different ways. #CommunitySummitNA #Collaboration #ServiceWork

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AmixTech Expands Strategic Acceleration Programme to New Zealand AmixTech Lab, the renowned technology business accelerator, is excited to announce the inclusion of New Zealand in its Strategic Acceleration Programme. This expansion aims to scale up founders, startups and companies in specialising sectors such as AgTech, WineTech, FinTech, FoodTech and ClimaTech. Spearheading this initiative is a multidisciplinary team led by Max Morales, with the support of London-based PR and business consultant Fran Bridgewater FCIM. The programme’s primary objective is to foster collaboration with New Zealand companies aiming to penetrate the Chilean and Texan markets by leveraging AmixTech’s extensive network. Another key goal is to expand AmixTech’s talent base in London, enabling the creation of bespoke strategies for business development. Strategic focuses include Dairy, High Tech, Agricultural Machinery and Wine, providing Chilean companies with access to cutting-edge innovative practices from New Zealand. AmixTech also plans to connect with New Zealand’s vibrant startup ecosystem by engaging with local incubators, accelerators and hubs to facilitate market entry into Chile and Texas. The origins of the collaboration between New Zealand and Chile can be traced back to a number of years ago when Isabel Estate participated in the Wine Salon at Colchagua Valley, organised by Max Morales, CEO of AndesWines.com. This event laid the foundations for a robust connection between the two countries. Why Chile and New Zealand? Eva Pemper, a third-generation winemaker from Croatia now leading the field in New Zealand, has received widespread acclaim for her wines in both the US and across Europe. She serves as a mentor to Max Morales and her expertise is instrumental in bridging the connections with local wine producers, fostering a new phase of technological exchange based on the climatic and soil similarities between the two countries. Max Morales, who has 23 years of experience in the re-establishment of old vineyards in Chile, recently concluded the ‘Wine Innova Tech 2024’ seminar series at the Palacio Rioja in Viña del Mar. Supported by the Regional Productive Development Committee of Valparaíso through the Viraliza CORFO program, this initiative aims to boost the creation of the WineTech Investment Fund. Read at Harpers Wine & Spirit Magazine: https://lnkd.in/ebWRTtgs In terms of context, Morales founded AmixTech Lab as a spin-off from Andes Wines in 2017, creating a platform to accelerate startups and their founders. This initiative led to the creation of the Hub Texas LatAm, partnering with professionals from Texas, Mexico and London to focus on innovative strategies in BioTech, AgTech, TravelTech, FinTech and PropTech sectors. Continue reading: https://lnkd.in/endwDFgP You can join the movement by reaching out at: [email protected].

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With over 110 companies including the likes of Canva, Linktree, Employment Hero, Zoomo, Athena & many more, in their fast-growing portfolio, having helped over 250 founders create more than 17000 jobs, Airtree as the one of the most iconic Venture Capital firms in Australia & New Zealand doesn't need an introduction. I am super excited to have joined forces with Airtree as an Angel through their Airtree Explorer initiative for Angels across ANZ. Having just relocated to Australia from Southeast Asia last year, as a part of this initiative, not only do I intend to pick up the nuances of angel investing in Australia but more importantly I am so looking forward to meeting the like-minded individuals, investors, and founders building the next generation of tech companies out of Australia. If you're a founder based in Australia, working on a game-changing idea, please do feel free to reach out for a chat. And, if you're a startup that is already getting good traction & therefore intends to scale within Australia and to larger markets like India, Southeast Asia, USA, I will be happy to share my experience and help with introductions within our network. Also open to helping Aussie founders with their tech & product development, marketing, revenue growth initiatives for the ventures across B2B Tech, AI, Cyber Security, Robotics & Automation, Sustainability, Decarbonisation & Energy Transition, Manufacturing, Carbon Accounting, etc, areas that may have synergies with any of our group companies. If you're building in Australia with a mindset of Global from Day 1, and would like to bounce of ideas, or request an introduction to the Airtree team or any of the fellow angels, I will be open to helping if it is something that aligns with the fund thesis at Airtree. Until then, let's keep the hustle on... 🚀

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How much does a company waste on duplicated / unused technology? According to a report* NZ businesses are wasting $334M / year technology they don't use. For small business for $900 of spend, $600 of that was going to waste and when you scale.... phew.... it's not pretty! And while a 2022 report, I don't think this has got better. At STATE3 we see this a lot. A proliferation of similar technology all doing a similar job or technology subscriptions which were brought and used once if at all... why have one SaaS subscription / portal / CRM / app when you can have 6 that do the same thing and that are possibly never used! The reasons are pretty straight forward: Poor Processes IT Investment - The business goes off roading and buys something on a credit card without due diligence or engaging with the digital / technology team first. Shadow IT - total frustration with the processes in-house so someone gets a bright idea and buys something.... Mergers & Acquisitions - a company acquires another and they keep everything separate and ta dah! There will be others. In hard economic times, the belts get tightened so it makes perfect sense to aim for where the bloat is... in the spend that is duplicated or not used. And this means taking some steps, such as.... * Figure out what you have (Technology / capabilities audit) * Find out if its actually being used (surveying usage (if possible) * Standardise Technology Offerings via a menu of options * Move to a 'user pays' model * Undertake the very unsexy approach of strengthening technology Governance by making people accountable and responsible. We can help with this by showing you what you have, how integrated it is with the rest of your stack and what the TCO is. When you know what you have, you can optimise decision making and ditch the risk. #digitaltransformation #businessstrategy #success #state3enterprise * Report: https://lnkd.in/gRxU_7mC

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Directors should consider more than one stakeholder…Duh! Planet Price’s B-Corp journey as a start-up Last week I had the pleasure of ticking off the last box for our B Lab Certification. I’m proud to say that Planet Price is now officially a B-Corp certified, purpose-for-profit business. 🎉 It was a lot of work by the team (thanks Debbie O'Byrne, MBA and Rebecca O'Byrne!) to develop the framework and policies that support our goals of being an ethical, well-governed, socially and environmentally responsible and financially successful business. We wanted to do this early in our journey as I’ve seen too many start-ups miss the opportunity of becoming a B-Corp because they were told that it is too hard or “not a priority at this time”. Not a priority to have a purpose for all of our hard work…really? If you’re not familiar with the B-Corp process, as well as scoring more than 80 out of 160 on their scoreboard, you also have to incorporate the following statement into your constitution: Directors must consider stakeholders in their decision-making (“Stakeholder Clause”): In discharging their duties under this constitution, the Corporations Act (2001) and the general law, the directors of the Company: Will include in their consideration the following factors: 🌱 the likely consequences of any decision or act of the company in the long term 🌱 the interests of the company’s employees 🌱 the need to foster the company’s business relationships with suppliers, customers and others 🌱 the impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment 🌱 the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct 🌱 the interests of the members of the company 🌱 the ability of the company to create an overall positive impact on society and the environment 🌱 the need not to give priority to a particular factor referred to in this paragraph over any other factor included in this paragraph or otherwise. It’s a little bit wordy, but essentially it says that Directors should consider multiple stakeholders when making decisions. Not just shareholders. Customers, employees, suppliers, community and (of course) the environment. This seems obvious to me, and shouldn’t be controversial, but it seems that shareholder primacy over stakeholder value has become hard-wired into our economic system. My intuition tells me that businesses that ignore other stakeholders will ultimately also fail their shareholders in the medium to long term. Planet Price is blessed to have investors who understand this idea and support the ethos we are building. I think that Planet Price | BCorp becoming a B-Corp will turn out to be one of our best decisions… I’d love to hear from any other B-Corp businesses about their journey! #bcorp #planetprice #purpose #stakeholdervalue

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"Not all heroes wear capes." There are some incredible technology solutions coming out of Australia to support retailers at the moment, and I take my hat off to the teams powering some of the biggest Australian brands and solving the ever-increasing challenges in the retail landscape. They are the unsung heroes, the late-night hustlers, and all-round smart humans doing one thing and one thing only: solving retailers' clunky, complex, and archaic ways of working. So, here's to those unsung heroes of retail, the silent weapons, the guys and girls who don't get awards yet exist purely to supercharge your brands growth. And best yet? They are all locally grown. 🎁 Giftnote is simplifying and personalizing the gifting experience for consumers and brands. It's so easy I even gift myself when I order online these days (adds new shoes to cart "Dear Nadia, You deserve these"). 🚩 Flagship had me geeking out from day one when I was lucky enough to beta test their product at Aje. Long gone are the days of VM teams not having visibility or accountability of what's happening on the store floor. I don't know how brands exist without it. 🌀 Fingertip.com "Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Superman!" I think that sums up how I felt when I first discovered Fingertip. A little Squarespace, sprinkled with a little Shopify, mixed with some LinkinBio with a dollop of Myspace 10.0. Fingertip is definitely one to get behind if you're a brand with a boring LinkinBio, a small business looking for appointment bookings, or Superman. The end applications are endless. P.S. This is not a paid post. I truly believe in the Australian tech landscape and want to see retailers and solution providers thrive. So do yourself a favor; go find a local unsung hero to include in your tech stack for the next financial year. I guarantee you, you won't regret it. Unsung Heros Adam Sharon-Zipser Nick Kennedy Matthew Ding Simon Molnar Gabby Leibovich Oliver Hoffman

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