Oversubscribed with Brendan Hill

In venture capital, being oversubscribed means everyone wants in, too much demand, not enough room. It’s what happens when a vision, a founder, or a company becomes undeniably magnetic. That’s the energy behind this show. Oversubscribed is where Australia’s most ambitious founders and investors sit down for unfiltered, in-person conversations about building through chaos, from near-death moments and brutal pivots to the art of hiring killers, raising capital, and scaling conviction. Think All-In, Flagrant, and Full Send, but for the next generation of Australian startups. No theory. No polished PR. Just raw, honest insight from the people actually doing the work. Oversubscribed is proudly supported by our sponsor Mighty Partners 💪 and Vanta 🦙 Mighty Partners is Australia's leading venture debt provider for high-growth software companies. Venture debt gives founders access to growth capital while preserving equity, extending runway and creating greater flexibility between funding rounds. It's designed for ambitious technology businesses that want to keep building without giving away more ownership than necessary. Trusted by companies including BuildPass, Deckard Technologies and Pearler, Mighty helps founders scale on their own terms. Learn more about venture debt and how it can support your next stage of growth at https://www.mightypartners.com.au/oversubscribed Vanta is the all-in-one solution for startups to become compliant quickly and build a security foundation with ease. Startup customers get $1000 off Vanta at https://www.vanta.com/oversubscribed Hosted by Brendan Hill, Oversubscribed is a Day One® show. Day One is the podcast network dedicated to founders, investors, and operators.

  1. Episode 1 ·  Video

    Building with atoms and bits: 5 Founders Making Hard Tech in Australia | HEO, Alloy, Vexev, Zabidou, Antares

    Five founders. Building with atoms and bits. Right at the heart of Australia. From robots that scan the human body to robots watching over satellites in space, one goal unites them: making Australia a better place to start a business. Season 2 of Oversubscribed opens at BrewDog Everleigh in Sydney with Will Crowe of HEO, Joe Harris of Alloy, John Carroll of Vexev, Cibby Pulikkaseril of Zabidou, and Lachlan Bramble of Antares. Between them they're building satellites, robotic ultrasound machines, factory vision systems, launch infrastructure, and the data platform underneath all of it. The conversation covers what's actually happening in robotics and space in 2026: why humanoid robots are further off than the headlines suggest, how HEO bought a satellite that was already in orbit instead of building one from scratch, why capital efficiency has become a competitive edge against better-funded US rivals, and how Australia's mineral wealth could make it a manufacturing base for the rest of the world. They also get into hiring, the talent war in US aerospace, and why none of them think being based in Sydney is a disadvantage. Time Stamps 00:00 Trailer 01:08 Welcome to Season 2 at BrewDog Everleigh, Sydney 02:21 Founder Intros: HEO, Alloy, Vexev, Zabidou & Antares 05:53 Why Humanoid Robots Are Still 5+ Years Away 07:17 Sponsor: Mighty Partners 07:50 HEO's Natural Language Satellite Tasking & "Vibe Tasking" Robots 12:35 Hiring in Deep Tech: Why PhDs Aren't a Requirement Anymore 14:27 Finding & Training Young Talent in Robotics 20:52 US vs Australia: Aerospace Talent, Poaching & the Golden Dome Effect 27:50 Why US Investors Now Believe in Australian Hard Tech 30:54 "Competition Is for Losers": Building What No One Else Has 31:25 Sponsor: Vanta 32:43 How Fundraising for Hard Tech Has Changed in 5 Years 41:05 Zabidoo's Brutal Pre-Seed Deadline & Capital Efficiency 42:25 Lachlan's Antares Raise & Finding the Right Investors 45:00 Micro-Factories & Reindustrialising Regional Australia 50:14 Sponsor: TEN13 51:38 Robots That Don't Look Like Robots: Reindustrialising Australia 54:56 The Future of Health: Automating Diagnosis in Remote Australia 1:02:46 Breaking the SpaceX Monopoly: Satellites, Asteroids & In-Space Manufacturing 1:08:02 How HEO Buys Satellites Already in Orbit 1:10:11 Bringing the Future Together: The Full Supply Chain 1:14:23 The Robotics Boom: 10x More Companies & the Ethics of Robot Safety 1:19:12 Why You Should Work at HEO, Alloy, Vexev, Zabidou & Antares 1:21:58 Closing Thoughts & a Live Deal on the Podcast Oversubscribed is proudly supported by our sponsor Vanta 🦙 and Mighty Partners 💪 Vanta is the all-in-one solution for startups to become compliant quickly and build a security foundation with ease. Startup customers get $1000 off Vanta at https://www.vanta.com/oversubscribed ___ Mighty Partners is Australia's leading venture debt provider for high-growth software companies. Venture debt gives founders access to growth capital while preserving equity, extending runway and creating greater flexibility between funding rounds. It's designed for ambitious technology businesses that want to keep building without giving away more ownership than necessary. Trusted by companies including BuildPass, Deckard Technologies and Pearler, Mighty helps founders scale on their own terms. Learn more about venture debt and how it can support your next stage of growth at https://www.mightypartners.com.au/oversubscribed The Day One Network Oversubscribed is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors. Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or financial product. Brendan Hill and Steve Baxter are investors in HEO. About the Host: Brendan Hill is a Venture Partner at TEN13 and an angel investor in Australia’s fastest-growing startups, including Everlab, Heidi Health, Relevance AI and Instant. If you are interested in finding out more about angel investing, connect with Brendan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsbrendanhill/

    Building with atoms and bits: 5 Founders Making Hard Tech in Australia | HEO, Alloy, Vexev, Zabidou, Antares
  2. Episode 2

    Physical AI Is 10x Bigger Than Software: How 8 Robotics Founders Are Rebuilding Australia

    Episode Summary A pipe-crawling robot that maps water, energy and mining networks in 3D. A gripper that can feel how hard to hold something, solving one of the biggest gaps in robotics today. A modular drone with payloads that click together like LEGO. And what Freesia Gaul calls a PS4 remote for your hand, letting you feel objects inside video games. This episode of Oversubscribed was recorded live at Build Australia HQ in Sydney, with founders who brought their hardware to the table. Joining Brendan Hill are Samuel Gonzalez of Peregrine Dynamics, Freesia Gaul of On Zero, Patrick Bellamy of Kronus, Antoine Nguyen of Dreamscale Labs, Shyeon Delnawaz of Puralink Robotics, Heba Khamis of Contactile, Joe Harris of Alloy and Oleg Sushkov of Reimagine Robotics. They get into why they chose to build something this hard, how they handle adversity, and what raising for hard tech looks like now that every VC has a physical AI thesis. Then the biggest question of the episode: how can Australia start building stuff again and establish our own ‘El Segundo’. Time Stamps 00:00 Cold Open: Robot Demos, Live in the Room 01:23 Welcome to Build Australia HQ & Founder Intros 06:40 Sponsor: Mighty Partners 07:15 Live Demos: PureLink's Ferret, Contactile's Tactile Grip & Peregrine's Drone 22:34 Sponsor: Vanta 24:04 Dreamscale Labs, Cronus & Alloy on Building the Hardest Tech 30:42 Sydney, London & SF: Where These Founders Are Building From 39:28 Sponsor: Ten13 39:55 Why Choose the Hardest Possible Route (And How to Survive It) 57:41 "Turbo Cockroach": Adversity, Resilience & the Alloy Raise 1:05:17 How Fundraising for Hard Tech Has Changed 1:15:14 Capital Efficiency: Learning How to Spend Money Well 1:22:14 Robotics in YC & Raising in a Hot Market 1:23:41 Vision for Australia: The Next 20 to 30 Years 1:31:08 Australia's Identity Problem: Lifestyle vs Ambition 1:37:27 Closing Thoughts & the Robot Party Oversubscribed is proudly supported by our sponsor Vanta 🦙 and Mighty Partners 💪 Vanta is the all-in-one solution for startups to become compliant quickly and build a security foundation with ease. Startup customers get $1000 off Vanta at https://www.vanta.com/oversubscribed ___ Mighty Partners is Australia's leading venture debt provider for high-growth software companies. Venture debt gives founders access to growth capital while preserving equity, extending runway and creating greater flexibility between funding rounds. It's designed for ambitious technology businesses that want to keep building without giving away more ownership than necessary. Trusted by companies including BuildPass, Deckard Technologies and Pearler, Mighty helps founders scale on their own terms. Learn more about venture debt and how it can support your next stage of growth at https://www.mightypartners.com.au/oversubscribed The Day One Network Oversubscribed is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors. Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or financial product. Brendan Hill is an investor in Alloy Robotics, Puralink, Peregrine Dynamics, Dreamscale Labs and Kronus. About the Host: Brendan Hill is a Venture Partner at TEN13 and an angel investor in Australia’s fastest-growing startups, including Everlab, Heidi Health, Relevance AI and Instant. If you are interested in finding out more about angel investing, connect with Brendan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsbrendanhill/

    Physical AI Is 10x Bigger Than Software: How 8 Robotics Founders Are Rebuilding Australia

About

In venture capital, being oversubscribed means everyone wants in, too much demand, not enough room. It’s what happens when a vision, a founder, or a company becomes undeniably magnetic. That’s the energy behind this show. Oversubscribed is where Australia’s most ambitious founders and investors sit down for unfiltered, in-person conversations about building through chaos, from near-death moments and brutal pivots to the art of hiring killers, raising capital, and scaling conviction. Think All-In, Flagrant, and Full Send, but for the next generation of Australian startups. No theory. No polished PR. Just raw, honest insight from the people actually doing the work. Oversubscribed is proudly supported by our sponsor Mighty Partners 💪 and Vanta 🦙 Mighty Partners is Australia's leading venture debt provider for high-growth software companies. Venture debt gives founders access to growth capital while preserving equity, extending runway and creating greater flexibility between funding rounds. It's designed for ambitious technology businesses that want to keep building without giving away more ownership than necessary. Trusted by companies including BuildPass, Deckard Technologies and Pearler, Mighty helps founders scale on their own terms. Learn more about venture debt and how it can support your next stage of growth at https://www.mightypartners.com.au/oversubscribed Vanta is the all-in-one solution for startups to become compliant quickly and build a security foundation with ease. Startup customers get $1000 off Vanta at https://www.vanta.com/oversubscribed Hosted by Brendan Hill, Oversubscribed is a Day One® show. Day One is the podcast network dedicated to founders, investors, and operators.

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