Startup 360

Startup Daily
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Every Friday, Startup 360 hosts Simon Thomsen and Julie Trell, dissect the news of the week in ANZ startups, before they’re joined by a guest to explore what makes them tick. Think of it as your startup guide to staying human. It’s all about lifting the bonnet on people to understand how they see the world and what inspires and drives them, and what they’ve learnt from both success and failure.

  1. 3d ago

    Heidi’s Dr Simon Kos on AI and keeping the humans in tech

    How do you scale healthcare without losing the humans at its core? Startup 360’s guest this week, Dr Simon Kos, unpacks that challenge and how his goal to achieve that has shaped his career as a founder, CEO, Microsoft exec and now chief Medical Officer at Australian AI unicorn Heidi Health. Simon's career as a doctor began in critical care, where teamwork, information and decisions can mean life or death. He decided to focus on digital health because helping one patient at a time wasn't enough. He knew impact came with scale. It’s a conversation about learning where you fit in and knowing when it’s time to hand over the baton. Simon reflects on leaving Microsoft, becoming a CEO just before Covid, discovering the difference between a "peacetime" and "wartime" startup leader, and recognising when the cost of work cost is too high a price paid by family. He also explains for founders how a freemium model accelerated Heidi's growth, navigating lengthy hospital sales cycles, and making decisions in a tightly regulated industry. AI can help solve problems, but for Simon, it's about using it to restore human connection, not replace it. A final note - this conversation was recorded before Heidi held an all-hands announcing a restructure that will see 18% of its team, more than 100 people, made redundant, along with two of the three cofounders departing. Dr Simon remains as CMO. Startup 360 is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson, and supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free.

  2. Oct 30

    Failing forwards: Minnie Isaac on beauty, dignity and building dewwie.com

    Beauty can be frivolous, intimate, commercial and deeply tied to dignity.Simon and Julie sit down with Assyrian-Australian writer, creator and founder Minnie Isaac, the force behind White Rabbit Social and personalised skincare platform dewwie.com, for episode 81. Minnie traces a path from debilitating endometriosis and adult acne to building an online community grounded in honesty, accessibility and practical support. She explains why self-neutrality can be more useful than forced self-love, how asking one knowledgeable friend turned a $50 content quote into $450, and how “walkaway power” helps founders negotiate without shrinking themselves. Minnie, on the recent performers at Startup Standup, also shares the candid lessons from setting out to do the right thing at White Rabbit Social by paying contributors generously before the business model could sustain it, and offers a useful operating philosophy: keep stumbling upwards, falling a little further forward each time. Startup 360 is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson, and supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free.

  3. Oct 23

    The founder mindset for doing good, with Mark Dombkins

    What can startup founders teach philanthropy, and what can philanthropy teach founders? On episode 80 of Startup 360, Forever Projects founder Mark Dombkins explores how entrepreneurial thinking can create lasting social impact without losing sight of dignity, trust and the people at the centre of the problem. Mark’s journey runs from teaching in Tanzania and adopting three children there, to building a nonprofit that helps women create sustainable incomes, nourish their babies and keep families together. Simon and Julie talk to Mark about philanthropy as investment, backing local experts rather than arriving with answers, measuring impact, removing the friction that stops people giving and why nonprofits still need to understand their “customers”. There’s also Kilimanjaro, founder expeditions, a catastrophic Honda CR-V adventure and the man who helps while carrying a goose.Mark’s lessons are to start with what’s already in your hands and take small actions. Most importantly, you’ll discover how helping transform someone else can transform you too. Startup 360 is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson, and supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free.

  4. Oct 15

    Why leadership means you don’t have the answers

    What does good leadership look like when you stop pretending anyone has it all figured out? Simon and Julie sit down with entrepreneur, storyteller and Mentor Walks cofounder Bobbi Mahlab for episode 79 of Startup 360, talking about careers, community, judgement and the value of being a little messy. Bobbi shares how a chance mentoring walk in Shanghai became a global movement that has connected 18,000 women across 19 cities, and why careers are better understood as lattices than ladders. She also gets candid about founder mistakes: diversifying too early, compromising on the wrong hire and learning that sometimes the most important part of a difficult decision is not what you do, but how you do it. From embracing AI without surrendering judgement to building sustainable social-impact organisations, Bobbi’s philosophy - and her philanthropy - is grounded in curiosity, contribution and human connection. And perhaps the biggest lesson? Stop measuring your life against someone else’s scoreboard. Define success for yourself, and help others along the way. Startup 360 is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson, and supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free.

  5. Oct 9

    How The Laundry Lady’s Susan Toft turned her washing into a global brand

    On episode 78 of the weekly Startup 360 podcast, Susan Toft joins us to unpack how a government redundancy, a toddler and a mountain of washing became The Laundry Lady, the Queensland scaleup that’s now an international marketplace with more than 600 laundry partners. Susan takes us through the unglamorous reality of scaling: bootstrapping with off-the-shelf technology, building a platform only once the business demanded it, learning to pitch investors, and discovering that the right capital matters as much as the cheque. We also get the inside story on Shark Tank, where a national TV appearance became marketing gold, plus Susan’s lessons on brand, visibility and why founders can’t afford to treat marketing as an afterthought. Underneath is a founder story about motherhood, flexibility, resilience and building a business around the life you actually want. The Sunshine Coast mother of two teenage boys offers practical, funny and refreshingly grounded advice about solving a simple problem well, then having the nerve to scale it. Startup 360 is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson, and supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free.

  6. Oct 2

    Ranya Alkadamani on the “So what?” test every founder needs

    On episode 77 of Startup 360, we’re talking about storytelling, influence, AI, parenthood and the increasingly important business of staying human with Ranya Alkadamani, founder of Impact Group International. Ranya worked for Kevin Rudd when he was foreign minister, in a career that also spans media, international affairs, intelligence and communications. That’s given her a rare view of what happens when ideas meet institutions, politics and the people they’re supposed to serve. For founders, there’s plenty to unpack. Simon and Julie get into why relationships with government should start long before you need something, why great products can still fail the “so what?” test, and why founders need to understand not just what they’re building, but how the people outside their bubble will experience it. That’s especially relevant when the conversation turns to AI. Alongside enormous opportunity, there’s also growing anxiety about what gets automated, what skills we risk losing, and whether efficiency translates into progress. Ranya also talks candidly about motherhood, identity and discovering that success and capability in one part of life don’t necessarily prepare you for another. She had post natal depression after her first child and shares how that shaped her thinking about the world and the way forward. Startup 360 is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson, and supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free.

  7. Sep 25

    How to build a startup without losing yourself

    In this special edition of Startup 360, we revisit four conversations about the decisions, doubts and relationships behind building a business -the parts founders often leave out of the story. Mark ‘Z’ Zmarzly, head of startups at Morfless, shares the loneliness of his journey, a cofounder breakup that almost ended the business, and how he won a paying customer before the product existed. He also explains why a basketball court can reveal more about someone than a networking event. Tech Ready Women’s Renate Crollini explores the courage to back yourself, the honesty to recognise when something isn’t working, and the challenge of sorting useful advice from mentor whiplash. Knowing when to stop matters as much as knowing when to start. Posca cofounder Ed Stening admits he should have listened when a teammate questioned the packaging. His lessons in understanding customers come with an honest account of family life, financial sacrifice and children who aren’t afraid to tell Dad what they think. And Emma Earley from 1000 Women in AI, winner of the GSD Award at the Startup Daily Best in Tech awards, reflects on closing a startup, building differently next time, and resisting the pressure to put AI ahead of people. Her thoughts on curiosity, motherhood and rediscovering joy bring the conversation back to what all that ambition is meant to serve. Together, these conversations explore how to build with conviction without becoming deaf to feedback, ask for help without surrendering your judgement, and make room for life beyond the business. Startup 360 is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson, and supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free.

  8. Sep 18

    The power of data: Seer’s Kristi Mansfield on connection and community in the AI age

    We know data is powerful. But there are important questions around who owns it, who can access it, and who gets to make decisions with it? This week, on episode 75 of Startup 360, Julie and Simon sit down with Kristi Mansfield, philanthropist, community advocate, and founder and CEO of 10-year-old Seer Data & Analytics, to unpack how data, AI and better infrastructure can shift power closer to everyday people, not just those who can afford it. Seer works with governments and organisations here and globally to help everyone turn fragmented information into evidence to guide investment, measure impact and improve local decision-making. Kristi also introduces Meteora, Seer’s new AI-native platform built to connect commitments with outcomes and give governments, funders and organisations a clearer view of whether change is actually happening. The conversation gets into the hard stuff too: data governance, sovereign AI, responsible technology, trust and why moving fast isn’t enough when you’re working with sensitive information and complex social problems. Kristi also opens up about her founder journey, from hiring ahead of the company’s needs to lessons from trying to enter the US market, reshaping Seer’s operating model and learning how to build international growth through the right partners and channels. There’s also a powerful look at Humans of Purpose and its work creating pathways into data careers for women leaving family violence. This conversation is about building technology with consequence. And about what Kristi calls “the long middle” of entrepreneurship: staying adaptable, solving the next problem and keeping the vision moving forward. Startup 360 is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson, and supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free.

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Every Friday, Startup 360 hosts Simon Thomsen and Julie Trell, dissect the news of the week in ANZ startups, before they’re joined by a guest to explore what makes them tick. Think of it as your startup guide to staying human. It’s all about lifting the bonnet on people to understand how they see the world and what inspires and drives them, and what they’ve learnt from both success and failure.

Information

  • Creator
    Startup Daily
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    83
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Private Media. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction, distribution, or use of this podcast, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited.
  • Show Website
    Startup 360

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