Wild Hearts

Blackbird Ventures
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Wild Hearts

Wild Hearts is the podcast that reveals the real-time lessons from the founders and operators changing the world.

  1. One Impossible Idea: Why Pete Shadbolt left academia to build PsiQuantum

    20 MAY

    One Impossible Idea: Why Pete Shadbolt left academia to build PsiQuantum

    What if you could take the most mysterious force in physics—and make it useful? In our final  episode of this season of Wild Hearts, we sit down with Pete Shadbolt, co-founder of PsiQuantum, a company racing to build the world’s first utility-scale quantum computer. But this isn’t a conversation about quantum theory. It’s about execution. Engineering. Scaling. Building something that moves humanity forward - not in decades, but now. Pete shares why 300 or 3,000 qubits won’t cut it, and why a million is the magic number. We explore the technical marvels (and madness) involved in the team’s journey: superconducting detectors millimetres from red-hot heaters, lasers brighter than a trillion photons, and a cryostat that throws out the chandelier model altogether. But most of all, this is a story of ambition. Of leaving behind prestigious academic careers, raising a billion dollars, and assembling a team of physicists, welders, aerospace engineers, and cryo-specialists to take one shot at building something historic. In this conversation, we cover: 🚀 Why PsiQuantum is chasing 1 million qubits—not 300, not 3,000🏗️ What it takes to move quantum computing from theory to hardware—with welders, chip designers, and aerospace engineers  📉 Why academia can be a trap—and how PsiQuantum built an anti-academic company culture  🌐 The real-world applications of quantum computing: from designing drugs to revolutionising materials science  👩‍🔬 How team DNA, not just tech, shapes PsiQuantum’s ability to scale and execute  ⚙️ Why quantum computing isn’t a mass adoption tool - and why that’s perfectly okay 🔥 How engineering targets that once caused mutiny are now being hit daily This episode concludes our fifth season of Wild Hearts. Over the past 40 weeks, it’s been our honour to chat to the founders and operators shaping the world we live in. If you’ve enjoyed the conversations, we would be grateful if you could like, subscribe, and share our program with other wild hearts.  Wild Hearts will take a short break, and will return to all streaming platforms later this year.  From everyone at the Wild Hearts team, thank you!

    45 min
  2. How Anna Guerrero is changing the way we cook

    16 MAY

    How Anna Guerrero is changing the way we cook

    What if planning dinner wasn’t a chore—but something you looked forward to? In this episode, Wild Hearts guest host, Silk Kadala - investor at Blackbird - chats with Anna Guerrero, founder of Clove, a beautifully designed cooking app that’s reimagining how we cook at home. You might know Anna from her nine years scaling the creator marketplace at Canva—but it was a stint as a pasta chef in the Dolomites that ultimately set her on the path to launching Clove. Whether you’re interested in the role of AI in reducing decision fatigue, why brands are betting big on recipe creators as the next wave of culinary entrepreneurs or just stood in front of the fridge thinking “what’s for dinner?”—this episode is for you. 🔍 In this conversation, we cover: 🍳 The invisible mental load of everyday cooking—and how Clove is removing it with Smart Planner 📲 Why Clove’s approach to AI is more whisper than shout—and why that matters for creativity 📚 Building for creators: how Clove is giving food bloggers, TikTok cooks and chefs a new way to publish and earn 🎯 From pitch decks to real traction: Anna’s high-stakes decision to pause Clove’s creator program and set a new quality bar 🚀 The leap from Canva exec to culinary school student—and what working in a Michelin-starred restaurant taught Anna about product 🧠 Low ego, high initiative: what Clove looks for in early team members and building a culture of adaptability 🧭 What it means to follow the dots—why you don’t need to have it all figured out to move forward 🍽️ The long-term ambition: turning Clove into the global go-to for “what’s for dinner?”—with a billion recipes cooked through the platform From Canva to Clove, Anna Guerrero shows what it looks like to reinvent yourself, back a bold vision, and build something that truly changes how we live and cook.

    58 min
  3. Launching Iconic Tech Companies in Australia with Kate Vale (ex-Google & Spotify)

    13 MAY

    Launching Iconic Tech Companies in Australia with Kate Vale (ex-Google & Spotify)

    What’s it like to be employee number one at two of the most iconic tech companies of the past two decades? In this episode of Wild Hearts, guest host and investor at Blackbird, Maddy Guest sits down with Kate Vale; Google and Spotify’s first hire in Australia. From launching Google out of her lounge room to scaling Spotify into a household name, Kate shares behind-the-scenes stories of tech history in the making, the leadership lessons that stuck, and why her latest career act is all about investing in women. In this conversation, we cover: 📞 The cold call from Google that changed her life and brought her to the global tech world—and tech in APAC 🚀 What it was like to launch Google Australia from her lounge room 🌍 Why Spotify was a harder sell than Google—and how she got artists on board 💡 The cultural rituals that helped Kate build high-performance teams across two giants 🔥 The one mistake most startups make when scaling their teams globally 📈 Why she co-founded a VC fund to back female tech founders during the pandemic 🎯 What Kate looks for in a founder, and the red flags that kill the deal This episode is a fascinating look behind the scenes at some of the earliest experiences of bringing global tech companies to Australia, and how these experiences have shaped Steph’s career and investing approach.

    42 min
  4. LIVE from Sunrise Australia: How Alex Zaccaria Reclaimed Linktree’s Vision and Culture

    1 MAY

    LIVE from Sunrise Australia: How Alex Zaccaria Reclaimed Linktree’s Vision and Culture

    What happens when a side project becomes a platform used by over 75 million people—yet  the founder feels like they’re losing control of it? In this special live episode of Wild Hearts , Linktree co-founder and CEO Alex Zaccaria joins Mason Yates on stage at Sunrise Australia to unpack the messy, inspiring story behind one of Australia’s most iconic tech exports.  From unpacking Alex’s early creative instincts to the cultural tensions between Australia and the US, this is an unfiltered conversation on clarity, leadership, and staying close to the product that made it all possible. In this conversation, we cover: 🚀 How Linktree grew from a music industry side project into a global internet infrastructure tool 🔁 Why Alex Zaccaria scrapped traditional org charts and rebuilt the team from a “zero-based budget” approach 🧠 The internal mindset shift from people-pleasing to product-led, founder-first decision making 🔗 Why simplicity is one of the hardest product challenges—and how Linktree maintains it at massive scale 🗺️ What it means to build a business across two cultures—Australia and the US—and how the team navigates tall poppy syndrome 💸 How Linktree's new “Sponsored Links” marketplace is flipping influencer marketing into measurable performance 🎤 The evolution of leadership clarity and why Alex now operates in “mandate mode” 📈 What it takes to stay true to your product intuition—even when everyone around you tells you otherwise And of course, because this is a live episode, there’s some audience questions and banter along the way! Listen in for a conversation about reclaiming vision, rewriting culture, and building at global scale while staying grounded in creative instinct.

    36 min
  5. From burnout to balance: lessons in product, writing and culture with Harry Flett.

    22 APR

    From burnout to balance: lessons in product, writing and culture with Harry Flett.

    What makes a team thrive? According to Harry Flett, it's not just strategy or shipping speed; it’s how you make people feel. In the latest Operator episode of Wild Hearts, Harry, VP of Product, takes us behind the scenes at Tracksuit, where high-output product culture meets silliness, storytelling, and some surprisingly heartfelt moments. We explore Harry’s frameworks for thinking clearly, building with velocity, and designing for both customers and teammates. In this episode, we cover: 💬 The power of the say-do ratio and how reputation is built through consistent follow-through 🧠 Why burnout often stems from being “too helpful”—and how Harry’s learning to step back 🌳 The leaf-branch-trunk-root framework that’s helping Harry delegate and build ownership ⚖️ Why great product leadership requires balancing 10,000-foot thinking with shipping the next feature ✍️ How writing is Harry’s superpower—and why it’s essential for clarity in teams, strategy, and scaling 🏆 The hiring philosophy that helped Tracksuit hire the best people This episode is a playbook for leaders—whether you're in product, people, or operations—who want to scale with clarity, delegate with intention, and build a culture that people genuinely want to be part of. It’s packed with insights on communication, prioritisation, and the kind of leadership that drives real momentum.

    1h 6m
  6. The intersection of marketing, product, and creativity with George Howes from Magic Brief

    15 APR

    The intersection of marketing, product, and creativity with George Howes from Magic Brief

    The internet is drowning in ‘slop’- and George Howes has a fix. The former creative lead at Eucalyptus believes the solution to this ‘creative problem’ starts with a feedback loopand ends with a new kind of intelligence. After leading one of Australia’s fastest-growing startups through a wave of performance marketing breakthroughs, George walked away to build something better. That “something” became Magic Brief: a tool that captures creative intelligence, not just analytics. In this episode of Wild Hearts, George takes us inside the machine. From his 15 principles of high-performing teams to how AI can (and should) unlock—not replace—creativity, this is a wide-ranging conversation going deep on marketing and product. In this episode, we cover: 📈 The 15 traits of high-performing creative teams 🧠 Why feedback loops—not freedom—unlock the best work 🤖 How AI can enhance creative strategy without replacing it 🎨 Why taste still matters in a world of AI-generated content George Howes gives a masterclass in the intersection of AI, creative strategy, and product velocity. If you're in marketing, this is one you’ll want to play twice.

    1 hr
  7. Why Australia’s defence needs tech founders: Vu Tran of Black Sky Industries on building missiles with a startup mindset.

    8 APR

    Why Australia’s defence needs tech founders: Vu Tran of Black Sky Industries on building missiles with a startup mindset.

    What motivates a founder to shift from building a billion-dollar edtech unicorn to manufacturing missiles? And what happens when your career becomes a response to something deeply personal — the kind of world your kids might grow up in? Vu Tran is a doctor, a co-founder of Go1, and now the co-founder of Black Sky Industries — Australia’s first scalable missile and solid rocket motor manufacturer. In this episode, Vu opens up about the moral tipping point that drove him into defence, the vulnerability he sees in Australia’s current military setup, and why he believes our future depends on becoming, in his words, “an echidna — small, underestimated, and far too prickly to bite.” This is a conversation about personal mission, national security, and the power of bringing startup speed to one of the slowest-moving industries on the planet. In this conversation, we cover: 🏥 The emotional toll and grounding power of Vu’s continued work as a doctor in Logan 🚀 How Black Sky Industries is tackling lethality and building solid rocket motors at scale 🛡️ What Vu means by “making Australia an echidna” — a defence philosophy grounded in self-reliance and deterrence 💣 Why no one wants to touch “the pointy stuff” — and why Vu’s choosing to anyway 🌍 How Australia’s current reliance on foreign defence suppliers makes us vulnerable — and what needs to change 💡 Lessons Vu took from scaling Go1 into a unicorn — and what he’s left behind at Black Sky 📈 Why defence tech is the next trillion-dollar market opportunity — and why Vu wants more founders to enter the space. This episode is a raw and revealing look at how one founder is turning personal responsibility into national-scale impact — and why Australia needs more entrepreneurs willing to tackle the hardest problems.

    1h 1m
  8. Scaling Heidi in the US: Lessons in product, people and persistence.

    1 APR

    Scaling Heidi in the US: Lessons in product, people and persistence.

    What happens when you pack a carry-on, fly across the world, and try to scale a healthcare startup in one of the world’s toughest markets? In the latest episode from our Operator series of Wild Hearts, we sit down with Jesse Creighton, Director (US), Heidi Health. Jesse shares what it really looked like to launch the company’s American expansion — from hosting awkward dinners with two doctors at a 20-person table to building a high-performing sales team with its own unique culture in New York. In this conversation, we cover: 🗽 What it was like being the first on the ground in New York to launch Heidi in the US 🎯 Why Heidi's initial customer outreach flopped — and what they learned from it 🧠 How freemium became a game-changing growth strategy in healthcare 🛠 Why product-market fit in the US required rethinking sales, support, and compliance 🌎 The role of generalists vs. specialists when building early-stage teams across markets 🎥 How customer obsession and Aussie culture helped shape Heidi’s US team 📈 The two biggest bets that paid off — and why most investors didn’t see them coming  This episode is a masterclass in how to scale a startup across borders — blending instinct, experimentation, and a deep belief in product.

    1h 6m
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5
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Wild Hearts is the podcast that reveals the real-time lessons from the founders and operators changing the world.

Information

  • Creator
    Blackbird Ventures
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    74
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    Wild Hearts

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