Sweat Capital

Amanda Price didn’t follow the traditional Big Four path. After building and scaling startups early in her career, she brought that same founder mindset into KPMG—where she now leads High Growth Ventures, a division built to serve Australia’s most ambitious startups. In this episode, Amanda shares how she carved out a space for startup-focused work inside one of the world’s largest professional se...

For our 100th episode, we’re joined by Cathie Reid—an entrepreneur, board director, investor, and trailblazer whose career is anything but conventional. Cathie opens up about how a breakup in her early twenties sparked the journey that would see her build and scale a pharmacy empire, move into aged care and then founded a global cancer care business. We talk about losing 60% of revenue overnight i...

Dr Nick Coatsworth became a household name during the COVID-19 pandemic, fronting national press conferences as Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer. But behind that calm presence is a remarkable career in medicine, public health, and humanitarian aid. In this episode, we explore Nick’s path from medical school to conflict zones with Doctors Without Borders, his time working in the Northern Te...

Few lawyers can claim a career as dynamic and globally mobile as Lewis Grimm. With decades of experience across New York, Europe, and now Australia, Lewis has built a reputation as a trusted legal adviser on some of the most complex and high-stakes leveraged finance and restructuring deals in the world. From billion-dollar chapter 11s in the U.S. to groundbreaking Australian schemes of arrangement...

Stephen Cole oversees four mining hubs, thousands of employees, and the daily operations that keep one of Australia’s largest iron ore producers running. In this episode, we sit down with Fortescue’s Director of Mining Operations to explore what that leadership actually looks like—on the ground and from the air. We talk about his early days at BHP, the cultural shift he experienced moving to Forte...

Innovation is often talked about in terms of breakthroughs and big ideas—but the real challenge lies in turning those ideas into investable, scalable businesses. That’s where today’s guest comes in. Ken Jefferd is the Executive Director of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation at the University of Melbourne and Managing Director of its commercialisation arm, helping guide one of Australia’s m...

Turning world-class research into real-world impact is no easy task. It takes deep scientific knowledge, a sharp commercial eye, and a whole lot of persistence. Few people understand this better than our guest today, Dr. Peter Devine, CEO of Uniseed—Australia’s longest-running venture fund focused on research commercialisation. Peter’s career has spanned the lab bench and the boardroom. With a bac...

In the world of financial services, where every process must be airtight and every action traceable, documentation isn’t just admin—it’s risk management, compliance, and operational continuity. Yet teams still spend 4 to 6 hours manually writing SOPs and process guides—until now. Our guests today are Finn and Oliver, co-founders of Fluency, a company that’s reimagining how operations teams work. B...

It’s always fascinating to examine the economy from two different angles—especially when one is through the eyes of a wealth adviser and the other from the perspective of a business and restructuring specialist. While both are navigating the same macro environment, their day-to-day realities couldn’t be more different. In this episode, recorded just before the announcement of the latest Trump tari...

In a country as vast and decentralised as Australia, the heavy vehicle industry is the lifeblood of our economy—connecting farms to ports, factories to distribution centres, and towns to cities. It’s easy to overlook just how critical the sector is, but without trucks, Australia stops. At the centre of this essential industry is our guest today, Todd Hacking, the CEO of the Heavy Vehicle Industry...

Brisbane has never been more front and centre. With the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games on the horizon, the eyes of the world are firmly fixed on the River City. But beyond the stadiums and sporting headlines, Brisbane is undergoing a broader transformation—economically, culturally, and globally—and few people are better placed to talk about that than today’s guest. Anthony Ryan is the CEO of th...

Very few businesses in Australia can claim a history as rich and enduring as Washington H. Soul Pattinson. Founded in 1872 as a single pharmacy, it has since evolved into a diversified investment powerhouse, yet remarkably, it has remained a family-led enterprise for over 150 years. As the second-oldest ASX-listed company, Soul Patts has not only weathered world wars, economic depressions, financi...

If there is one thing that Australians have always loved, it is property. The Great Australian Dream is the desire for every Australian family to own their own home. Owning your own home on your own block of land was a symbol of success. If you are lucky you may even manage to get yourself an investment property. However, the opportunities to invest in real estate are more expansive than they have...

The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science are Australia’s most prestigious awards for achievements in scientific research and research-based innovation. The 2024 Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation was received by Professor Andrew F Wilks & Dr Chris Burns who are credited with the invention of momelotinib a drug to help treat myelofibrosis, a rare form of blood cancer that impacts one in 100,0...

Navigating the world of alternative assets requires not just technical expertise, but a deep understanding of what investors across different markets truly value. Few people have had to adapt to those shifting demands as much as our guest today, Claire Smith. From Sydney to London and now back to Australia, Claire’s career has taken her across global financial hubs, where she has raised billions f...

Building a global technology company from scratch is no easy feat—but building one out of a demountable office in an industrial business park is something else entirely. That’s exactly how TechnologyOne began. What started in the car park of JL Mactaggart Industries with a small investment and a big idea has since grown into one of Australia’s most successful enterprise software companies, now wor...

For many people in finance, the dream is to one day work in New York—the global hub of capital markets, where deals are made, trends are set, and some of the biggest investment opportunities are uncovered. Our next guest, William Liu, is living that dream. As a research analyst at Wilson Asset Management, he sits in New York, covering global equities for WAM —all at a relatively young age. Will’s...

The transition to a cleaner energy future is one of the biggest challenges—and opportunities—of our time. Critical minerals, the energy transition, and the innovation imperative for mining are all at the center of this global shift. Few people understand this landscape better than our guest today, Peter Bryant. As the Board Chair of Clareo and Co-Founder of the Development Partner Institute, Peter...

The ability to apply a specific skillset across vastly different industries is a rare and valuable talent. Our next guest, Mitch Hooke AM, has done this exceptionally well. From pioneering reduced tillage farming systems on the Darling Downs to shaping market-oriented grain policies at the Grains Council of Australia, and later driving sustainable development as CEO of the Minerals Council of Aust...

Starting a transformative business is a bold move—but starting one with your brother, and only five years out of university, takes vision and confidence. In 1987, Terry Paule and his brother Spiro founded Financial Index, now known as Findex, with the goal of revolutionizing how Australians approach accounting and advisory services. What began as an innovative idea has grown into a national powerh...

Moving toward net zero is one of the defining challenges of our time, and ensuring that this transition is both effective and sustainable requires careful, considered leadership. Few people are better placed to navigate this than our next guest, Tania Constable, CEO of the Minerals Council of Australia. In her role, Tania is helping to push Australia in the right direction, balancing ambitious sus...

Maintaining an entrepreneurial spirit while working in a large organisation isn’t always easy, but for our next guest, Owen Hegarty, it became a defining part of his career. While at Rio Tinto, Owen saw opportunities others might have overlooked, particularly in junior resources. This mindset ultimately led him to make a bold decision—to turn down a safer, high-profile executive role at Rio Tinto...

Making the most of opportunities, no matter how far out of your comfort zone they may seem, can be the key to an extraordinary career. For our next guest, Jake Klein, this meant going to China to evaluate Chinese gold assets whilst he was still at Macquarie in his 20s. That experience not only took him halfway around the world but also set the stage for a career that would see him lead transformat...

We’ve heard countless success stories throughout our time hosting this podcast, but perhaps none are as eye-opening and truly against the odds as this one. Our next guest, Matt Kratiuk, has faced challenges that would break even the strongest among us. From experiencing homelessness as a teenager to being caught up in gang life and the grip of addiction, Matt’s story is a testament to resilience,...

Mentorship can be one of the most pivotal aspects of acareer, offering guidance when the path ahead isn’t always clear. Today’s guest, Frank Danieli, knows the power of mentorship well. Throughout his career, he’s not only sought advice from industry veterans but has also become a mentor himself, guiding others through the intricacies of private credit and finance. Starting in audit and consulting...