In this episode, Steve Grace sits down with Albert Patajo, VP Strategy & Operations at Nexl, to unpack one of the rarest outcomes in Australian tech right now: a local startup hitting Series B, and what it actually takes to get there.
Albert shares his non-founder path into the operator seat, from Deloitte to early-stage startups to capital raise advisory, before joining Nexl with one urgent mandate: raise money and build a more capital-efficient business in a market that had tightened overnight. He breaks down why focus beats ambition, how Nexl went deep in the US Northeast instead of trying to launch everywhere, and what changed when top US investors started coming inbound with term sheets.
They also dig into the founder-operator partnership: trust, low ego, and working like co-founders without the title. Plus why Albert thinks AI’s biggest immediate impact in legal won’t be the practice of law, but everything around it, relationships, BD, and operations.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro: Nexl and the Series B milestone
0:40 – Darwin to Canberra to Sydney (and the culture shock)
3:20 – Why consulting is startup training in disguise
6:30 – First startup lessons: being employee #6 and doing everything
9:15 – Capital raise advisory in the 2020–21 boom
10:45 – How Albert met Phil (Nexl’s founder) and why the role existed
12:25 – Why Series B is "escape velocity"
13:55 – The first six months: raising with limited runway
15:30 – Capital efficiency: small bets, incremental hires
16:20 – The focus move: winning the US Northeast (not launching the US)
18:45 – What Nexl does: relationship-first CRM for law firms
20:35 – Inbound term sheets and testing the waters for Series B
22:00 – Bringing in the "dream" investor and why it was worth it
23:05 – Founder-operator dynamic: low ego, high trust
26:55 – Australia as the timezone bridge for US and Europe teams
28:50 – Post-Series B: hiring leaders who’ve "seen the movie"
33:25 – The big ambition: category leadership and deep penetration
35:10 – AI in legal: where it actually changes firms first
Links:
Connect with Albert → https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertpatajo/
Connect with Steve → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegrace/
The Nudge Group → https://thenudgegroup.com/
Give It A Nudge Podcast → https://www.youtube.com/@giveitanudge/
The Trouble With People → https://thetroublewithpeople.substack.com/
In this episode, Steve Grace sits down with Kevin Lu, founder of Atrium, to unpack the "reverse journey" of leaving a prestigious career in Venture Capital to enter the trenches as a founder.
Kevin reveals why he walked away from investing in some of Australia's most successful tech companies to solve a problem that haunted him for years, which was the absolute chaos of managing professional relationships.
Kevin breaks down the "Founder Hierarchy" used by top VCs to spot unicorns (and why having a "chip on your shoulder" is the ultimate competitive advantage), the 100-year-old secret from Rockefeller’s Rolodex that inspired his new AI startup, and why he believes constraints rather than massive funding rounds are the true drivers of innovation.
Timestamps:
0:00 – The “Reverse Journey”: Investor to Founder
1:47 – Escaping the “Lawyer Trap” into Tech
6:11 – Corporate VC (Reinventure) vs. Pure Play (AirTree)
10:07 – The 2021 Funding Craze: “It was nuts”
14:10 – The Founder Hierarchy: Why you need a chip on your shoulder
22:42 – REVEAL: What is Atrium?
25:18 – Rockefeller’s 120,000-card secret
30:17 – The joy of co-founding with a sibling
33:17 – Why constraints create value (Bootstrapping vs. VC)
37:47 – US vs. Australia: Risk appetite and hiring bias
40:47 – Where have all the young founders gone?
Links:
Connect with Kevin → https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-lu-514420112/
Connect with Steve → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegrace/
The Nudge Group → https://thenudgegroup.com/
Give It A Nudge Podcast → https://www.youtube.com/@giveitanudge/
The Trouble With People → https://thetroublewithpeople.substack.com/
In this episode, Steve Grace sits down with Arjun — founder of inaam — to unpack how a tragic loss of his father's life savings fueled a mission to disrupt the Australian financial system, and why he believes the local VC ecosystem is fundamentally broken due to a crippling lack of risk tolerance.
Arjun breaks down the dangerous myth that "impact investing" means sacrificing returns (proving it with a portfolio that outperformed the market), why he famously believes the tagline for Australian venture firms should be "F*ck off," and how he is gamifying financial literacy to help young Australians build wealth without compromising their values.
They also dive into:
Timestamps:
Links:
In this episode, Steve Grace sits down with Mick Liubinskas — founder of Climate Salad — to unpack how a simple newsletter turned into an industry body representing over 800 companies, and why Australia is world-class at inventing technology but historically terrible at commercialising it.
Mick breaks down the massive difference between scaling software and industrial hardware, why the real funding gap isn't at the start but in the messy middle, and why he predicts a massive economic tipping point for climate tech in 2027 driven by policy and profit, not just goodwill.
They also dive into:
- Why Australian corporations refuse to be the "first customer" for local tech
- The "Valley of Death" for funding physical infrastructure
- Real examples of deep tech: Jet engines running on sewage and infinite thermal batteries
- The generational shift from "doing less bad" to "nature first"
- How Wright’s Law is driving down the cost of batteries and solar
- Why capitalist business models are the fastest way to solve climate problems
Timestamps:
0:00 From newsletter to industry body
1:20 The accidental founding of Climate Salad
5:33 Australia’s commercialization crisis
6:37 Why hardware is harder than software
12:14 Capitalism vs. Climate Change
15:53 The investment "Valley of Death"
17:54 Jet engines running on sewage
19:33 The Generational Divide: Nature First
26:19 The 2027 Tipping Point Prediction
35:43 Antarctica and the fragility of nature
Links:
Climate Salad → https://www.climatesalad.com/
Connect with Mick → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mliubinskas/
The Nudge Group → https://thenudgegroup.com/
Give It A Nudge Podcast → https://www.youtube.com/@giveitanudge/
Steve on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegrace/
The Trouble With People → https://thetroublewithpeople.substack.com/
In this episode, Steve Grace sits down with Tiana Manticos — founder of TX Method — to unpack how her career across airports, QSR franchises, luxury yachts, and global retail brands turned into a repeatable scaling framework now used by founders looking to grow with intention, not chaos.
Tiana breaks down the four-part TX Method framework (Truth, Translation, Transmission, Tempo), why founders should stop obsessing over content execution and start with clarity, and how personal brand can create competitive advantage — without trying to be an influencer.
They also dive into:
Timestamps:
0:21 What TX Method is
1:55 The system behind scaling brands
4:35 Lessons from franchising and customer behaviour
7:48 Trend-chasing vs long-term growth
10:55 Moving into the luxury sector and Ahoy Club
15:20 Branding founders without turning them into influencers
19:02 The Perception Economy explained
24:57 Personal brand vs vanity metrics
29:21 The TX Method framework
33:12 Content, attention, and the role of events
38:50 Starting vs perfecting
43:40 The reality of becoming a founder
47:53 Final advice: Start with truth, not tactics
Links:
TX Method → https://www.txmethod.com/
Connect with Tiana → https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiana-manticos/
The Nudge Group → https://thenudgegroup.com/
Give It A Nudge Podcast → https://www.youtube.com/@giveitanudge/
Steve on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegrace/
The Trouble With People → https://thetroublewithpeople.substack.com/
In this episode, Steve Grace sits down with Paz Pisarski, co-founder of Community Collective, to unpack how a small 17-person meetup in Melbourne grew into a global community spanning 18 countries — without paid marketing, without hype, and without trying to be everything to everyone.
Paz breaks down the Niche Cubed framework (profession + location + domain), how Who Not How changed how she makes decisions, and the simple community flywheel that turned early gatherings into an international movement.
They also go deep into:
Building with members, not for them
Focus vs FOMO, and knowing what not to do
Scholarships and access pathways for community builders
Why Nigeria unexpectedly became one of their strongest hubs
How music, ritual, and state-shifting practices shape her work and creativity
Timestamps:
0:00 Opening
1:25 What Community Collective is
3:08 The first meetup and early traction
8:40 The 8-week cohort and 992-person waitlist
10:55 Quitting full-time work to build community
13:40 Who Community Collective trains and supports
15:57 Paz’s background in music & sound
19:44 Rituals, brainwaves, and performance
29:02 Niche Cubed explained
32:10 Focus, prioritisation, and saying “not yet”
36:20 Growing to 18 countries
40:48 Scholarships and global access
43:50 Local leaders, city chapters, and sustainability
46:42 Final advice: Start small. Do it with others.
Links:
Community Collective → https://www.communitycollective.com.au/
Connect with Paz → https://www.linkedin.com/in/paz-pisarski/
The Nudge Group → https://thenudgegroup.com/
The Trouble With People → https://thetroublewithpeople.substack.com/
Give It A Nudge Podcast → https://www.youtube.com/@giveitanudge/
Steve on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegrace/
Host: Steve Grace
Guest: Christie Jenkins — 3-sport pro athlete (ex-AUS #1), Managing Director at Techstars Sydney, investor (Athletic Ventures; ex-Blackbird), keynote speaker & performance coach.
Christie unpacks how an elite-athlete mindset translates to venture and leadership: covering her leap to the U.S., buying European football clubs, and returning to run Techstars Sydney.
What we cover:
Packing up life in a week and landing in the U.S. with one intro
Networking that compounds (and why Aussies under-index on intros)
Building FC32: raising ~US$8M and buying 3 football clubs (Ireland, Austria, Italy)
How soccer’s unique player-trading economics work
What Christie learned meeting ~200 U.S. VC funds
Why consistency beats “chasing gold medals”
Carry 101: how VC incentives really work
Why founders need coaches (belief + trust) as much as athletes
Inside Techstars Sydney: 565 applications → 12 startups, retreat, mentors, and lifelong support
Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiejenkins/
Newsletter: https://christiejenkins.substack.com/
Website: https://www.christiejenkins.com.au/