Platform Diaries with Shane Williams

Bonnie and Clyde delve into my first book 'The Platform Owner's Guidebook' uncovering key themes and practical tips on mastering platform ownership. This episode covers navigating enterprise software like CRMs and ERPs, and highlights the critical role of a platform owner akin to a ship's captain. Learn about zero-based capacity planning, building compelling business cases, and leveraging networks...

In this special "lost episode" of Platform Diaries, host Shane Williams sits down with Nathanael Small , Leadership Adviser and Founder of Work2Live , to explore the art of sustainable business growth. Recorded in August 2022 this episode is packed with timeless insights on how founders can scale their companies without losing sight of their core values. Nato shares his expertise on achi...

You’ve scaled your business and its time to sell; how do you find the right buyers and get the best price? Lowell Ricklefs has decades of experience in selling B2B SaaS businesses; both as an entrepreneur and as an M&A advisor. Lowell shares some of the common mistakes to avoid as well as his secrets to success. Lowell Ricklefs https://www.linkedin.com/in/lowellricklefs/ SHANE’S FREE E-BOOK Th...

Few founders or investors like the prospect of devaluing a business; but with market sentiment cooling how do you raise enough to continue to run and grow the business while avoiding a down round? Melissa Widner, CEO at Lighter Capital, is an experienced entrepreneur and investor who has lived life on both sides of the equation. We discuss the concept of revenue-based financing and how it’s being...

You’re a founder who’s hired a bunch of sellers to help you drive revenue, but the business is still overly reliant on your ability to sell. How do you successfully scale your sales capability? Mark McInnes, sales capability consultant and founder of Sales Development As A Service, shares the common mistakes founders make in scaling their sales capability and the simple 3-step method to success. S...

If you’re going to scale, no matter what kind of business you are in, you need to know how much money it is costing you to deliver each $1 of revenue. Michelle Kvello, Founder and MD of Lantern Partners, discusses why keeping an eye on margin is critical to scalability, what numbers investors care about, and her tips for where to focus for both service and product businesses. Michelle Kvello https...

Motivating employees to join and stay with your business is a challenge. Employee Share Options Plans are increasingly being adopted in Australia but do founders and employees really understand them? Steve Grace, founder and CEO of The Nudge Group, joins us again to try and demystify ESOPs and share’s his lessons from implementing them in his businesses. The Nudge Group – https://thenudgegroup.com...

It’s not uncommon for founders to assume their founding team will be with them for the entire journey; but the reality is that some people move on, and others hang around that shouldn’t. Steve Grace, founder and CEO of The Nudge Group, shares the lessons from his three businesses about how to successfully navigate the team transformation from startup to scaleup. The Nudge Group – https://thenudgeg...

Australia is experiencing record employment rates. The competition to secure the best software engineering folks is pushing salaries out of reach for many scaling businesses. Aidan Scott, co-founder of Resync Digital, shares his perspective on how to successfully and cost effectively leverage offshore resources to enable scale. Aidan Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidanscott/ SHANE’S FREE E-BO...

In Australia there’s a lot of investment terminology that’s perhaps misused or open to interpretation. Cam Walshe Co-founder and MD of Pitch VC sheds some light on what the investment round terminology really means, how he helped Mr Yum with their US$65m Series A, what investors look for in a startup, and his tips to securing your next round.   Cam Walshe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cwalshe/ Pitc...

They say the behaviour you walk past is the behaviour you accept. But performance and behaviour conversations are difficult, especially in growing teams. Damien Gooden, CEO of HR Central, shares his perspectives on how to approach difficult conversations (and what might happen if you don’t). Damien: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengooden-hr-hris-franchise-small-business/ SHANE’S FREE E-BOOK The...

You have a fiduciary obligation to keep your investors updated; but it doesn’t need to be a chore. Nathan Beckord has spent his 20-year career raising capital for startups. He shares his tips on how to use your investor updates as marketing that makes subsequent rounds seamless, and the secrets to a killer update. Nathan Beckord:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbeckord/ Foundersuite:  https://f...

Description: Not since the dotcom boom and the GFC have we seen such significant headwinds for startup growth; but in every disruption, there exists opportunity. Alastair Blenkin, Founder and CEO of ProcurePro, discusses how macroeconomic factors are impacting both tech startups and the construction industry, and some of his lessons learned from building two vertical SaaS platforms that will enabl...

Cyber-attacks, ransomware, phishing – any of these could be targeted at your business or at your customers via your business. How do you respond? Grant Chisnall is a crisis advisor who guides leaders through events like cyber-attacks, major outages, product recalls, pandemics and natural disasters. Grant shares his perspective on why scaleups are a soft-target for cyber criminals and how founders...

You’ve taken your business to a position where it’s ready for major investment from outside. But, are you ready? Shane Williams has seen common mistakes of start-ups looking to scale-up, the least of which is not having the right technology systems and foundations in place to get there. Shane’s spent 20+ years in the tech industry, including in News Corp and REA Group. He’s...

Is there more than one path to getting investment for your startup? How do you, as an investor in your own business, ensure a solid return? Jordan Green, serial entrepreneur, and a founder of Melbourne Angels discusses the options and consequences for startup funding and tips for founders to successfully start, grow and exit a business. Melbourne Angels: https://melbourneangels.com/ Platform Owner...

In the early stages of a start-up, the founder and early team wear many hats, but as the business scales we often need to call in the experts. Seb Poole, co-founder and CEO of Frankie Health, shares his perspective on how to identify when you need help and how to make sure you find the right consultant. Seb’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seb-poole/ Platform Owner’s Guidebook:...

When the vision that drives a founder to create their start-up isn’t serving the market, how should they respond? Craig Crowther CEO at Cahoot Learning shares his insights into how to strike a balance between achieving your vision and adapting to the market when scaling up. Craig’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-crowther-cahoot/ Platform Owner’s Guidebook: https://ww...

Getting your pitch right can be the difference between changing the world and getting lost in the cracks. Ferdi Reynolds is an entrepreneur, founder and investor with SuperSeed ventures who shares the inside word on what investors look for in a pitch, the common mistakes founders make, and the secrets to success. Ferdi Reynolds: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ferdinand-reynolds/ Platform Owner’...

What differentiates a legendary founder? Mary Butler is a people strategy expert who specialises in enabling founders and scaleups to build legendary leadership capability. We discuss the importance of people strategy, how to identify if you’re a legend or a liability, and the 4 Rs that enable successful people leadership in scaleups. Mary Butler : https://www.marybutler.net Platform Owner&r...

Building a scalable product and proving the market is difficult, but scaling a business is harder. Whilst start-ups are often proudly scrappy, it takes a whole new level of maturity to achieve scale. Nigel Dalton, once described as the godfather of Agile in Australia, is a social scientist in the Digital Transformation and Operations Team at Thoughtworks. Nigel shares his views on the importance o...

More than ever before, the focus of scale-ups on their data privacy posture is critical. With the increasing demands of regulators to secure personal data, the increased awareness of consumers about the privacy and the death of 3rd party cookies many businesses conducting ecommerce are struggling to keep pace. James Taylor is an authority on the space. He is founder and CEO of Particular Audience,...

There’s any number of theories on how to scale engineering, but only those who’ve been on the journey can truly tell what works and where to tread lightly. Chris Venter CTO at REA Group shares his experiences on scaling engineering teams beyond Dunbar’s number and how to enable both flow and optimisation. Platform Owner’s Guidebook: https://www.shanewilliams.com.au/book &nb...

Jamie Pride is founder of ‘humanly agile’ and author of ‘Unicorn Tears: Why Startups Fail & How To Avoid It’. Former CEO of realestate.com.au, Jamie shares his perspectives on how scale-ups should approach organisational design learned from his 20 years across consulting, founding of six start-ups, and as an investor who’s raised more than AU$20m in capital. Platf...

Recorded in November 2020 as research for the book that would become ‘The Platform Owner’s Guidebook’ Nigel Dalton social scientist, AI thought leader and the ‘Godfather of Agile’ shares his experiences of implementing complex systems. Platform Owner’s Guidebook: https://www.shanewilliams.com.au/book