The SproutCast
By The SproutCast
The SproutCastDec 16, 2021
#28: The Only Woman in the Room: Boldness and Leadership with Jill Berry, Co-founder at Adatree
Women make up just 7% of global fintech founders according to Deloitte. Women also make up only 1% of total fintech VC funding.
In this episode, we chat to Jill about her experiences being in this group. Jill Berry is the CEO and co-founder of Adatree, an Australian financial technology company at the forefront of Open Banking. We chat about her experiences of being the only woman in the room, her views on taking risks and learnings on leadership.
Disclaimer: this conversation does not refer to scientific studies and is built on stories of personal experience.
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#27: How to Win at Life: Advice for Success in your 20s with Sahil Bloom, Investor, Entrepreneur and Creator
Sahil Bloom graduated from Stanford, managed $3.5 billion in capital, has angel invested in over 30 companies, and grew to 400,000 Twitter followers. Some of his key writings include how to win without talent or luck, and how to make $10m by 30.
This is a Next Chapter event that we've produced into a podcast episode! We thought this event was fantastic and can't wait to share it with you. While we don’t feature in this episode, Sahil gives great advice on leveraging the creator economy, networking, how he became friends with Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO and building the life you want.
If you haven’t heard of Next Chapter, it’s a community that runs through Slack. It's a group of ambitious, curious Gen Z builders, investors and creators. The idea behind the community is that if you can bring the most incredible people together - you make the exceptional normal.
If you want to join check out:
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#26: Making (and Keeping) New Years Resolutions in 2022 with Max and Sandithi
It's the end of January, one month down on your new years resolutions. How are they going?
In this episode we chat to our friends, Max Marchione and Sandithi Lewanda about new years resolutions. We reflect on what worked well and what didn't in the last year, and take the key lessons in achieving our goals into the new year. This is a great episode of reflection, lessons, and some helpful knee advice.
#25: From MVP to Bootstrapping, to a Venture Backed Business with Anna Podolsky, Founder at Lyka
How do you take a "new business idea!" moment to something real?
In our conversation with Anna Podolsky, we learn about how she started Lyka, a direct-to-consumer pet wellness startup. We break down the journey of starting a venture-backed business chapter by chapter.
Chapter 1: business development and taking the leap to leave her job as a consultant. Chapter 2: bootstrapping. Chapter 3: fundraising to scale.
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#24: Your Questions on Web3, Blockchain, NFTs and DAOs Answered, with Daniel Bar, Founder at Bitfwd
A term that you might have seen recently is Web 3, used to describe the way the internet is changing.
In this episode, we break down how the web is evolving, where it's going and why this matters. We chat to Daniel Bar, founder at Bitfwd to unpack the impacts of the world's transition to web 3 and the trends appearing across recent projects. Daniel also explains the meanings of key terms that float around in this space such as the blockchain, NFTs and DAOs.
Further resources:
Tools to get on boarded into crypto with:
- Bitfwd Telegram: t.me/bitfwd
- Bitfwd Twitter: twitter.com/bitfwdxyz
- Daniel's personal Twitter: twitter.com/danieltbar
People Daniel recommends to follow:
- Twitter.com/naval
- Twitter.com/cburniske
- Twitter.com/vitalikbuterin
- Twitter.com/balajis
- Twitter.com/QwQiao
- Twitter.com/katherineykwu
- Twitter.com/Fiskantes
- Twitter.com/mrjasonchoi
- Twitter.com/Shuyao_Kong
- Twitter.com/yangwao
Projects Daniel is working on:
- Cryptosat.io - Satellite network with confidential computing units for crypto applications
- deepdao.io - DAO ecosystem dashboard and data analytics
- Metaprime.network + KodaDot.xyz: Metaverse infrastructure + NFT marketplace
- dHEDGE.org - Hedge Fund protocol
- Aleph.im - Decentralized cloud computing services
- SubQuery.network - Data indexing and query protocol for the Substrate based blockchain applications
- OnFinality.io - Hosted Blockchain cloud computing services and API.
First tools to use:
- Metamask.io (web and mobile wallet)
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#23: Performing at an Elite Level: Key Lessons with Olympian Mackenzie Little
In this episode, we unpack the key learnings from elite performance in sports and how this can be applied to your work.
We chat to Olympian and medical student Mackenzie Little to understand the habits, attitude and mindset that enables her to excel at both athletics and academics. We discuss how Mackenzie manages her time, sets herself up to achieve her goals, performing under pressure, and the importance of genuinely enjoying yourself at what you do.
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#22: Building Tech Companies with No Technical Background or Tech Co-founders with Andrew Ward, Founder of SelfWealth
Do you have an idea for a new tech solution, but feel limited by your lack of technical knowledge?
In this episode, we chat to Andrew Ward, founder of SelfWealth and PlatformX about how he built fintech companies, without a technical background or tech co-founders. We chat about Andrew's key learnings on his entrepreneurial journey, how to succeed as the sole founder and how he thinks about leadership. We also dive into some business process such as navigating regulations and hiring lawyers.
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#21: Advancing Equality for Women While Reducing Carbon Footprint with Dean Tavener, Co-founder at Pixii
Imagine if period products are provided everywhere, just like toilet paper is. Pixii is a social enterprise that works on bringing free and eco-friendly period products to schools and workplaces around Australia.
In this episode, we chat to Dean about the journey to starting a social enterprise, overcoming the inertia against social change, and ensuring a positive environmental impact. We also dive into how to achieve carbon neutrality in the supply chain and navigating the tradeoffs between maximising social impact and environmental sustainability.
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#20: The Secret Ingredient to Creating Impact: How Initiative Took a Case Competition Idea to Implementation, with Bianca Lao
Often when young people want to make an impact, the default advice is to work at a startup. In this episode, we chat to Bianca to show that if you have the drive, you can make an impact wherever you go. Bianca holds a role as a Culture and Engagement Advisor at Transport for NSW. In 2018, Bianca won the Judges' choice award for a case competition. Since then, Bianca and her team have been able to turn the idea into a reality to create Newtown station garden. This is an urban farm that operates as a circular economy, repurposing unused land to feed those that go hungry.
We chat to Bianca about how she turned an idea into a reality over the course of 3 years. We dive into her motivations, challenges and how the idea has changed over time in creating social and environmental impact. Bianca also provides advice to other young people wanting to change the world, but might not know how to.
Learn more about Newtown Station Garden here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6mduj2n7z1118u0/Newtown%20Station%20Garden.mp4?dl=0
Weekly sprout video on stoicism shared by Vis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoRXsmlF4eQ&t=69s&ab_channel=DailyStoic
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#19: Young, Driven and "Busy": Balancing between Working Hard, Being Productive, and Personal Satisfaction with Byron Dempsey, Founder of Driven Young
We live in a hustle culture world where we are young and we are driven and we want to change the world. But what does it mean to be young and driven and just how "busy" should we be? In this episode we chat to Byron Dempsey, the Founder and Host of Driven Young about the skills they don't teach you at school, the controversial issue of unpaid internships, and finding balance between working hard, being productive, and personal satisfaction. We also dive into a discussion about side hustles: whether to categorise it as "work" or "fun" and where hobbies without metrics fits in. Overall, Byron inspires us to have the courage and drive to make an impact. Enjoy the episode!
Key resources mentioned:
- The Sh*t They Never Taught You: What You Can Learn From Books
- Blockchain Programming Course: https://buildspace.so/
[Disclaimer: Unpaid/under paid internships have been discussed in this episode. Legality of this kind of work differs between countries. Make sure that you check regulations around this.]
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#18: How to Figure Out the Real Problem When Everyone is Lying to You: Nailing Market Research and Building Better Solutions with Leanne, Customer Experience Design Lead at Sydney Water
If you've tried to identify a problem before, you might've found that this process is actually really hard - especially if people tend to tell you what you want to hear rather than the real truth. In this episode, we chat to Leanne Wei Yi Ng, Customer Experience Design Lead at Sydney Water and learn about how she does problem discovery professionally. Leanne shares her best techniques to improve market research and draws on what she does at Sydney Water, a service that all Sydney-siders use. After all, in order to build great solutions, you first need to understand the REAL problem. We also chat about what you can do to actually solve the problem well once you identify it. Enjoy the episode!
Key resources mentioned:
- The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers and Learn If Your Business is a Good Idea when Everyone is Lying to You,
- Jobs To Be Done Interviewing,
- Design Thinking Double Diamond - Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver and
- Service Pitching
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#17: Solving a Problem in Health with HealthTech and Overcoming Barriers with Persistence, with Nicole Liu, Founder at Kin Fertility
In this episode, Nicole shares her journey, from working in Venture Capital, to Management Consulting at McKinsey and founding Kin Fertility. We chat about her story, the problems she identified in reproductive health and why she decided to do something about it. We hear about Nicole's founder journey in the Healthcare space with its higher barriers to entry and the strategy behind Kin's offerings. We also discuss the impacts of COVID in propelling telehealth and the role of competition in driving innovation. Nicole also shares her biggest challenges and proudest moments throughout all of this.
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#16: How to Design Great Products and Career Advice on Working in Tech with Jürgen Spangl, CXO at Atlassian
Ever wondered what makes a good product or experience, or what you do at the C-suite level in tech? We debunk this with Jürgen Spangl, Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Atlassian. In this episode, Jürgen provides his perspectives on what makes a good product or service, and explains why some are designed better than others. We also chat about what he does as the CXO of a tech company and gain his insights into leadership - including the importance of saying no when things aren't good enough. Jürgen provides us with his best career advice for young people and answers some of your questions including how to exceed in the tech space without a technical background.
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#15: Tackling Fast Fashion, Circular Economies and Behavioural Change with Victoria Edghill, CEO at Relievables (Part 2)
In part 2, we chat to Victoria Edghill, founder and CEO at Relievables and Citizen of the Planet about the unsustainable nature of consumption. We chat about the problem with fast fashion and the need to transition from a linear to circular economy. We also talk about whether fashion can ever be considered sustainable, what you can do as a consumer and answer your questions about sustainability.
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#14: Your Role as a Consumer in Driving Sustainability with Victoria Edghill, CEO at Relievables (Part 1)
Today we're talking about sustainability and all things responsible business! In part 1, we chat to Victoria Edghill, founder and CEO at Relievables and Citizen of the Planet about the social and environmental impact of businesses. We understand what it means to be a responsible business and why it's so hard for businesses to change despite the importance of sustainable and ethical practices. We also break down what you can do as a consumer to encourage businesses to do better, spotting greenwashing and the harmfulness of cancel culture when businesses make mistakes.
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#13: Side Hustling, Team Dynamics and Building a Successful Community with Earlywork's Co-Founding Team
Earlywork is the home of tech and startup careers for young people in Australia. In this episode we chat to the co-founding team from Earlywork: Daniel Brockwell, Marina Wu and Jonathan Herman about how Earlywork started, how it evolved and the key challenges along the way. We also hear about their experiences of working on Earlywork as a side hustle, key points to building a successful community and how to reach critical mass.
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#12: The Product Management Pathway for Interns/Grads: the Right to Learn and Leading without Authority with Jenny Chu, Head of Product at Eucalyptus
In this episode we chat to Jenny Chu, head of product at Eucalyptus, a healthcare technology company, about all things product management. We ask Jenny about the skills that good PMs have and the difference between the PM levels from intern to head of product. We also talk about how learnings from PM such as leading and influencing without authority can be applied to other contexts, and whether or not a young intern/graduate should even attempt to lead and influence.
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#11: From Studying in Sydney to Startups in the Silicon Valley: The Journey to Optimise For Learning with Alan Shen
Moving to the Silicon Valley to pursue startups seems like 'The Dream' for many, but what is it actually like? In this episode we chat to Alan Shen, a USYD graduate about his experience moving from Sydney to Silicon Valley where he's working at an early stage startup called Pave. We learn about Alan's decision making process around where to work and how to maximise effectiveness when outreaching. Alan also talks to us about his thinking around how he prioritises learning, the importance of finding a good manager/business to work for and focusing on his health.
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#9: Saving Lives on the Road with Data and Being a Young Woman in Tech with Emily Bobis, Co-founder at Compass IoT
In this episode, we chat to Emily about her experiences co-founding Compass IoT and the impactful work she's doing in using connected vehicle data to improve road safety in order to prevent death and injury. We also learn about the complex nature of city planning and Emily's experiences on being a young woman in tech. She also shares her views on the importance of diversity and imposter syndrome - two widely discussed issues in the workforce.
Timestamps for your convenience:
0:00 - saving lives on the road with data
23:55 - being a young woman in tech and diversity
#8: Climate Finance: The Role of Finance in Tackling Climate Change with Michael Lebbon, Founder of Emmi
In this episode, we chat to Michael Lebbon, founder of Emmi, about what climate finance is and the important role the financial sector plays in addressing climate change. We also discuss why carbon pricing hasn't worked so well, carbon risk, and what this means as the world moves towards net zero. Michael also provides his best advice for people wanting to work in this field and finding your why.
#7: Building and Marketing your Personal and Business Brand with Vanessa Li, Content Creator & Founder of Ness (Part 2)
In part 2, we chat to Vanessa, Comm/Law student at Usyd and creative director, content creator, consultant and founder at ness, about how to create a strong business brand and personal brand. We ask Vanessa for advice on how to build a brand and social media presence for our businesses, as this is often crucial to success but something we struggle with. We also talk about why it's important to have a distinct personal brand and how these concepts can be applied to building and showcasing your personal brand to stand out in recruiting, at work and beyond.
Find Vanessa on Instagram and TikTok (@vanessaa_li) and her website (https://www.vanessali.co/)
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#6: Pursuing your Dreams: Smart Persistence and Low Risk Decision Making with Vanessa Li, Law Student, Content Creator, and Founder of Ness (Part 1)
In part 1, we chat to Vanessa, Comm/Law student at the University of Sydney, about the experience of pursuing what she enjoys over becoming a lawyer, which she always saw herself as growing up. Since starting her Instagram about fashion and style, she was able to grow her online presence and found various businesses around her personal brand. We learn about Vanessa's persistence in growing her following to over 99k and the unexpected opportunities this created for her. We discuss how to pitch yourself well, handling rejection, and how Vanessa made the decision to pursue her projects full time over a conventional corporate career.
Find Vanessa on Instagram and TikTok (@vanessaa_li) and her website (https://www.vanessali.co/)
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#5: Setting Yourself Up for Success: Jamie Beaton on Building a Multimillion Dollar Edtech Company in his 20s and Supercharging Student Opportunities for Success
In this episode, we chat with Jamie Beaton, the CEO and co-founder of Crimson Education to understand what led him to Harvard, the journey of Crimson Education, and how he thinks. We learn about Jamie's competitive passion, his deliberate approach to building options for your future self and how he allocates his time.
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#4: Identifying, Valuing and Growing Great Brands with Adrian Johnston, Co-founder of Una Brands
Una Brands is an Australian startup that acquires and grows e-commerce businesses recently raising $50m AUD. Prior to co-founding Una Brands, Adrian was a maths teacher turned Goldman Sachs banker and BCG consultant. In this episode, we chat to Adrian about what makes a brand great, how he values ecommerce businesses (including a dive into valuation methodology) and how to grow a brand. We also touch on his experiences of changing careers and the lessons learned from corporate to startup.
Una Brands is also hiring! You can enquire about this by contacting Adrian and find Una Brands here: https://www.una-brands.com/. Learn more by listening to this episode.
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#3: Money 101: Managing and Investing your Money as a Young Person
In this episode, we sit down with Abhishek Maran, Investment Analyst at Folklore Ventures, to discuss the fundamentals of personal finance. We talk about how to save, how to invest, how to think about portfolio allocation across assets as a young person, and how to start today.
#2: Networking into an (Unadvertised) Dream Job: How Hannah Became a Product Manager at Canva at the Age of 17
Hannah Ahn landed her role in Product Management at Canva at the age of just 17 and followed an unconventional path after dropping out of uni after 4 weeks. In this episode we discuss how she networked her way into her dream role at Canva even when it was unadvertised, the importance of personal brand and reputation, and the fearless pursuit for what you want.
#1: Taking Risks and Going All In: Leaving a Grad Role to Launch a Crypto Trading Startup with Tristan Frizza
Tristan Frizza is the co-founder and CEO of Zeta, a venture capital backed DeFi options trading platform built on the blockchain. In this conversation, we learn about starting your own company after uni, leaving a stable grad role, building the right team, what exactly is DeFi and blockchain, and taking realistic "risks" in your career.
#0: Planting the right seeds: landing internships at Goldman Sachs and Atlassian
Planting the right seeds: what led us to internships at Goldman Sachs and Atlassian. In this episode, we talk about our journeys to these roles and discuss what our recruiting process was like, the idea of giving it your 100%, and our key learnings.