The Dion Guagliardo Podcast

In this episode, I interview Michael Batko - CEO of Startmate. Startmate is one of Australia’s largest startup accelerator programs. Over the past decade, Michael has grown Startmate to have invested in and supported 250+ startups, with a collective portfolio value of over $3.5 billion. Michael talks about the how Startmate has grown since 2011 when Niki Scevak founder of Blackbird Ventures and a...

In this episode, I interview Mike Wilson - founder of TinyMe. TinyMe is a manufacturing business specialised in making customisable kids toys and gifts. Founded in 2006, Mike has grown the business to now bring in around $10 million in annual revenue and have expanded internationally. Throughout the episode, Mike talks about how the consumer and commerce landscape has changed since 2006, discussin...

In this episode, I interview AFL legend and Sydney Swans Premiership coach Paul Roos. Today, Paul is the founder of Performance by Design where he has successfully transposed the leadership and culture lessons he has driven through his sporting experiences and successfully delivered them to the corporate market. Beginning as a 16-year-old at Fitzroy F.C., Paul would eventually finish his playing c...

In this episode, I interview Sophie Doyle, the founder of The Fable. The Fable is an e-commerce company specialising in women’s work fashion. Founded in 2015, Sophie has grown the brand into a multi million dollar business that operates internationally. Throughout the episode, Sophie speaks about the challenges she’s faced within the business such as managing quality over a global supply chain, ba...

In this episode, I interview Ilan Israelstam , Chief Commercial Officer and co-founder of Betashares . Betashares is one of Australia’s largest financial services companies known for their ETF products. Founded in 2009, Ilan has helped grow the business to now have over $40 billion assets under management, over 150 team members and more than 1m clients. Recently, Singapore's sovereign wealth...

In this episode, I interview Nick Morgan, Founder of Vudoo. Vudoo is a software company that enables consumers to purchase products wherever they see them online such as a article or video, rather than having to go to the company’s store. Founded in 2016, Nick has grown the company to now have 35 employees, raised almost 20 million in funding and are now expanding internationally. Throughout the e...

In this episode, I interview Alex Naoumidis - co-founder of Mindset Health. Mindset Health is a Melbourne-based company that develop digital programs to help better manage chronic health conditions. Founded in 2018, Alex with his brother and cofounder Chris, now generate revenue of over $10 million annually with the company valued at $77 million dollars at their last capital raise. Throughout the...

In this episode, I interview Simon Bugeja, managing director of Lucia’s Group. Lucia’s started as Australia’s first Italian pizza bar founded by Simon’s grandparents ion 1957. Growing up in the family business, Simon found success by expanding into the retail sector and moved into producing and selling goods like pasta sauce, olive oil and pesto. Backed with the advice of his Nonna to “never cheat...

In this episode, I interview Saxon Wright - co-founder of Huskee and founder of Pablo & Rusty's coffee roasters. Coffee lovers will be familiar with the Pablo and Rusty's brand that Saxon started in 2003 and still owns today. Huskee was born out of an idea to eliminate single-use disposable coffee cups and now employ 30 people and recently merged with packaging company BioPack. Throu...

In this episode, I interview Jordy Kay, co-founder of Great Wrap. Great Wrap is a material science company that has created Australia’s first compostable and environmentally friendly stretch wrap. Founded in 2019, Jordy and his co-founder Julia have grown the business to now have raised $30 million, employ 20 people, and are currently amidst expanding to the US. Throughout the episode, Jordy discu...

In this episode, I interview Ben McHarg, co-founder of Life-Space Group. As the managing director of the family-owned business, Ben helped drive the strategic direction of the company to owning their own brands. This strategy ultimately led to the rapid growth that saw the business sold to supplement giant By-Health for $700 million in 2018. Throughout the episode, Ben speaks about the importance...

In this episode, I interview Simon Beard - co-founder of Culture Kings. Culture Kings is a premium streetwear company founded by Simon and his wife Tah-nee in 2008. Together, they grew the business from a market stall on the Gold Coast to a $600 million valuation and a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. This was a wide ranging and insightful conversation with Simon. He talked about how develo...

Inventia is a science and technology company focused on building devices that can create advanced cell models that help accelerate drug discovery and biomedical research. Founded in 2013, Julio Ribeiro has grown the company to now have over 70 employees and scale internationally to the US, Europe and many more locations. Throughout the episode, Julio explains that creative freedom is one of the mo...

In this episode, I interview Tim Levy, founder of Qoria. Qoria is a global technology company that is dedicated to keeping children safe in digital environments. Founded in 2014, Tim has grown the company to have over 500 employees and be listed on the ASX where it now has a market cap of around $500 million. Throughout the episode, Tim talks about the complexity of today’s digital environments an...

In this episode, I interview Izhar Basha - founder of EHPLabs. EHPLabs is a sports nutrition company that develops various supplement products. Founded in 2012, Izhar has grown the company globally with revenue forecast to reach $500 million in 2025. Izhars’s story is fascinating. Coming from humble beginning as a refugee from Fiji at age 5 he talks in candid detail about the pivotal moments on hi...

In this episode, I interview David Dicker, founder of Dicker Data. David started the business in 1978 has grown it over 46 years including listing it on the ASX where it now has a market capitalization of around $2 billion, making David one of Australia’s wealthiest people in the process. Throughout the episode, David talks about business in a very logical manner, explaining that large growth is t...

In this episode, I interview Adam Jacobs - founder of The Iconic and Hatch. Founded in 2011, Adam quickly grew The Iconic, a fashion e-commerce company, to now have just under 1000s employees and over $500m over revenue in 2023. Adam has now moved onto Hatch, helping young Australian’s find work with employers that match their skills and values. Throughout the episode, Adam talks about the importa...

ResApp is a biotech company that commercialised technology to diagnose respiratory illnesses based on an audio recording of a patient’s cough on their phone. After proving immensely useful for diagnosing COVID-19 during the height of pandemic, Pfizer acquired the company for $180 million. Throughout the episode, Tony discusses the path of listing on the ASX early-on and how that provided the initi...

Having founded and worked in multiple startups both here and in the US, Amanda has grown the venture quickly having now helped over 300 of Australia’s fastest growing companies with their expansion, especially those looking overseas. Throughout this episode, Amanda provides fascinating insights into the future of Australia’s tech scene and how we can learn from the business culture in Silicon Vall...

CitrusAd is a software company that provides retailers with a system for merchants to compete for ad space on their websites. Starting in 2017, Brad Moran grew the business quickly before it was sold in 2021 for $205 million. Throughout the episode, Brad talks about the harsh reality of building a startup. I was fascinated by his insights on this often ignored aspect of business. He talks about th...

LocknCharge makes products for organisations to securely store their physical devices. Taking over the family business, James has led the growth of the company to now manage over 5 million devices, employ 100 staff, and operate internationally. Throughout the episode, James talks about the importance of perseverance as he reminisces about the door-to-door sales he did when the business first began...

In this episode, I interview Steven Maarbani - CEO of VentureCrowd. VentureCrowd is Australia’s leading digital crowd funding investment platform for alternative assets. Steven has helped grow the platform to crowdfund over $310 million for projects. Throughout the episode, Steven talks about the importance of trusting your own intuition and the dangers on taking too long to make important decisio...

Flavour Makers is a food manufacturing business that develops products such as spices, baby food, curry sauces and much more. Founded in 1992, Adrian has grown the business to now employ 330 people and turn over $220m per year. Throughout the episode, Adrian talks about the importance of taking action when others won’t as this strategy helped get the group’s products into Walmart and other interna...

InstantScripts is an online telehealth platform that enables customers to receive online medical scripts, consultations, and more. Founded in 2018, Maxim has helped grow the company to recently be acquired by Wesfarmers for $135 million. Throughout the episode, Maxim talks about how keeping a small but efficient team has enabled telehealth to thrive without too much overhead. Furthermore, Maxim em...

In this episode, I interview Craig Blair - co-founder of AirTree - one of the largest Venture Capital firms in Australia. AirTree has been an early investor in some of the country’s biggest startups, such as Canva, Mr Yum and LinkTree. Founded in 2014, Craig has helped grow the business to now manage over $1.3 Billion with over 80 active investments. Craig talks about his journey starting out as a...