"I think we've attached a lot of success to raising capital." When a business raises $25 million and gets a $100 million valuation, we treat it like a win. My guest today says that's not actually a marker of success at all, and understanding the difference could change how you think about your own business. In this episode of What I Wish I Knew About Small Business, brought to you by AMP Bank GO, Liz Nable sits down with Carolyn Breeze, CEO of Scalari Partners, to demystify the world of outside investment, equity, venture capital, SAFE notes and all, in plain English. Liz never did a business degree. Hers was journalism and communications, and when she opened her first bricks-and-mortar business, outside investment never crossed her mind; it took years before she even had the courage to ask what "bootstrapping" meant. If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you. Carolyn is CEO of Scalari Partners, a listed investment firm that's made over 30 investments and now supports a community of around 40,000 business owners through brands like Tech Ready Women, Tank Stream Labs, Planet Startup and Fishburners. In this conversation Carolyn breaks down what terms like equity, venture capital and SAFE notes actually mean, the biggest mistakes she sees founders make when raising money, and why she says the businesses with the best outcomes are often the ones that never took a cent of outside investment at all. They also get into the red flags that make investors walk away, including one founder request that genuinely made Carolyn's jaw drop. Even if you're happy building slowly and have zero interest in raising capital, this information is gold for having educated conversations at any stage of your business journey, whether you decide to sell, scale, acquire another business, partner with someone, or invest in something yourself. In this episode Liz and Carolyn cover Why raising capital gets treated as a marker of success when it's really just one founder deciding they need someone else's money to grow faster Revenue versus profit, and why a company doing a million dollars in revenue can still be giving away 15% of a future $100 million business for just $500,000 today Why some of the most successful founders Carolyn has seen are the ones who bootstrapped their whole way to an exit without ever bringing an outside investor onto the cap table Dilutive versus non-dilutive capital, and funding options most small business owners have never heard of, including bank loans and specialist lenders like Lighter Capital and Tractor Ventures The three main ways an investor can actually put money into your business: direct equity, SAFE notes and convertible notes, explained without the jargon Why terms like pre-seed, seed and series A don't mean nearly as much as we think they do, and why a series A round in Australia might be a seed round in the US Why it's a false economy to "ChatGPT your agreement" for a $25,000 raise, and how a poorly structured early agreement can come back to bite you at every future raise The biggest mistakes Carolyn sees founders make: giving away too much equity too early, being unclear on how they'll deploy the money, and building the polished, feature-complete version of the product before proving anyone wants to pay for it How to know it's actually time to raise: validated demand, proof that a dollar spent generates real revenue, and a clear plan for what more money will turn into The jaw-dropping founder request Carolyn saw in a forecast, and why "no one's going to invest in you to pay yourself" The red flags that make an investor walk away, and the difference between a passive investor and a strategic one who can open doors and fill your skill gaps The accelerator deal structure that can quietly hand a small early investor a veto over every future funding round, and the real story of a $10 million-plus revenue company left waiting over a month for approval on a multi-million-dollar raise Why Australia has one of the highest returns per dollar invested of any innovation ecosystem in the world, and why we still lose founders overseas because of culture, tax settings and infrastructure Where to go to get free access to resources, grants, accelerators and the wider Scalari ecosystem if you're curious what's possible for your business A line worth writing down "We've attached a lot of success to raising capital... that's not really a marker of success." — Carolyn Breeze About Carolyn Carolyn Breeze is the CEO of Scalari Partners, a listed investment firm that has made more than 30 investments in early-stage companies across AgTech, FinTech, RegTech and SaaS, and now supports a community of around 40,000 business owners through brands including Tech Ready Women, Planet Startup, Tank Stream Labs and Fishburners. Her career began at eBay in the early days of its Australian launch, before moving to payments company Braintree, which was acquired by PayPal, where she spent several years learning about tech, payments and entrepreneurship from the inside. She's now focused on making early-stage tech investment accessible to everyday retail investors, not just the "sophisticated investor" crowd, while helping founders grow and scale with more than just a cheque. Grab the AMP Bank GO cashback offer for small business owners AMP Bank GO is offering 10% cashback, up to $300* for small business owners who open a new business transaction account. It is fee-free, mobile-first, and backed by a real human call centre when you need one. Check the current offer here: https://www.amp.com.au/campaigns/bank/business-cashback-offer?utm_portfolio=bank_go&utm_product=tran&utm_channel=email&utm_source=smartco&utm_campaign=biz_cashback&utm_objective=acquisition&utm_creative=tradie_solusban Connect with Carolyn The Founders Union (free resources, grants, accelerators and events): https://www.thefoundersunion.com Connect with Liz Nable Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liz_nable/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liznable/ Website: https://www.liznable.com/ If this episode landed, hit follow and leave a review. It is the single fastest way to help other small business owners find the series. *10% cashback up to $300. Terms and conditions apply. Visit amp.com.au for full offer details, eligibility criteria and conditions. AMP Bank GO is a division of AMP Bank Limited ABN 15 081 596 009, AFSL and Australian Credit Licence 234517.
