In this episode, Gav sits down with long-time Brisbane ecosystem mainstay and Inductive founder, Peter Laurie, to unpack his journey from Y2K software engineer to helping founders become genuinely investor ready, not just pitch-deck ready. They talk about why a technically perfect project still collapsed, how VCs actually make decisions, the traits of coachable founders, and why you should chase effective, then efficient, then elegant when building product.

Expect a candid, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to launch a B2B SaaS company from scratch - completely bootstrapped.

Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co

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In this episode, we cover:

• Why Inductive exists and what "investor ready" actually means
• The types of founders and teams Inductive is designed for
• How VC theses really work and why a good business can still get a no
• The danger of the slow no in fundraising and how to spot it
• Coachability, curiosity and the traits Peter looks for in early stage founders
• Peter's early career in engineering and software through the Y2K era
• The technically perfect project that still failed and what it taught him
• Why he went back to do an MBA to understand what he "did wrong"
• Starting a bespoke software business and the mistakes that came with it
• Service-led product vs pure product-led growth
• Building from first principles instead of cargo cult startup theatre
• The startup industrial complex and "Veblen entrepreneurs"
• Why founders should chase effective, then efficient, then elegant
• Habits, longevity and how to stay in the game as a founder
• Peter's advice for anyone standing on the edge of their own leap

Chapters

00:00 No edits, no filter
00:36 Welcome to The Leap and Peter intro
01:29 Who is Peter Laurie and what is Inductive
03:36 What "investor ready" really means
06:29 How VC funds actually work and why they say "you’re not ready"
10:37 Slow nos, fast nos and dating VCs
12:46 Life before founding - engineering and Y2K software days
16:47 Realising tech isn’t the real problem
20:25 The technically perfect project that still failed
23:17 Burnout, taking time off and starting an MBA
25:03 Starting a new consulting business with Dean
31:57 Early surprises and mistakes building software for others
34:20 Turning hard lessons into simple, pragmatic models
39:01 How entrepreneurship has changed Peter
42:42 Unlearning perfection - effective, then efficient, then elegant
47:31 Building Inductive and finding the real players
52:05 The startup industrial complex and Veblen entrepreneurs
55:15 Habits, longevity and staying in the game
59:31 What Peter wishes he knew before taking the leap
63:12 Advice for founders standing on the edge and where to find Peter

Links:
Founder Collective: https://founderscollective.com.au/founders-collective
FC's Newsletter: https://founderscollectivecommunity.substack.com/
Book a call with Gavin: https://call.sixsides.co

Inductive accelerator: https://inductive.au

Peter’s links:
Towards an Untrepreneurial Economy? The Entrepreneurship Industry and the Rise of the Veblenian Entrepreneur:https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3479042

Peter’s tweet thread while reading it:
https://x.com/pjlaurie/status/1274180626782945281

Peter on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/pjlaurie
Peter’s video posts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pjlaurie/recent-activity/videos/

Connect with us:
Roman Galkov on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/romangalikov/
Gavin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavintye/