StartupWest Podcast

In this episode of the Startup West podcast, hosts Jason Balchand and Adam Barrell are joined by Danelle Cross and Sarah Kahle to discuss the upcoming week of West Tech Fest — the favourite week on the calendar for anyone who works in the tech and startup world. We talk about 14 years of WTF, some of the most memorable speakers along the way, the challenges of organising such a large-scale event,...

In this episode of Startup West, Nicholas Chilton from Venture Affairs shares his journey from federal politics to the startup world. He discusses the importance of government relations for startups, the challenges of navigating immigration policies, and the need for advocacy to attract high-skilled global talent. He provides insights into the future of the startup ecosystem in Australia and the i...

In this episode of Startup West, Paz Pisarski from the Community Collective shares her journey in the startup ecosystem, the impact of community during the pandemic, and her recent award at the Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards as Future Leader. She discusses the importance of community in business, shares strategies for building effective communities, and reflects on the lessons learned from her...

This episode, we sit down and chat with Wilson Tucker about being an elected member of parliament, some of his achievements in the Legislative Council, and what he's now doing post-politics.

In this episode, Dan Coughlan from Airtree discusses his journey into venture capital, the dynamics of investing in startups, and the recent $650 million fund raised by Airtree. He shares insights on the importance of community in the startup ecosystem, the role of AI in shaping future businesses, and what he looks for when investing.

In this episode, Jason Balchand and Adam Barell kick off the new season with the origin story of So Perth. Adam shares his journey from teaching himself to code at age 12, building a popular online wrestling website, to the “lightbulb moment” that led to the creation of the influential Twitter account, @tweetperth, and its evolution into the So Perth brand.

We chat with Matt Vitale, Founder and CEO of ⁠Birchal⁠ — Australia's largest Crowd-Sourced Funding (CSF) platform. We talk about WA being one of their leading markets and what makes a strong CSF campaign. This episode is an insightful listen for anybody who's considering raising capital through a CSF campaign or just interested in the story of Birchal. Startup West is recorded at Riff St...

On this episode, we're joined by Sean Williams, founder of AutogenAI. We talk about the world of generative AI and how he's using it to help companies write better proposals, faster. Sean is a serial entrepreneur and exited his previous company, Corndel Ltd, in November 2020 in a reported £40m+ sale. After a two week holiday, Sean founded AutogenAI which now operates with offices in UK,...

For the final episode of 2023, Startup West recorded a founders' panel in front of a live audience of more than 400 at Freo Startup Fest , which is part of the annual West Tech Fest , Australia's longest-running tech festival. Host Charlie Gunningham chats with Dr Julia Reisser ( Uluu ), Amy Carter-James ( Raaise ) and Jonathan Lilley ( Electro Ventures ). Each company is heavily involved in devel...

Danelle Cross (Curtin Uni) and Chris Tan (Spacecubed) talk with Dan Dawson, founder and director of edtech startup Paperly. Originally from New Zealand, Dan saw the need to reduce paper-based bureaucratic systems in schools. Coding 7 hours a night while holding down a full-time job, he was selected to join the Plus Eight Tech Accelerator in Perth in 2022. This year, the newly established early-sta...