Startmate Collective
Career
WTF does an Operations Lead do?
“Operations is probably one of the most misunderstood startup roles”, says Dovetail’s Business Operations and Finance Lead Kanav Bhama.
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Head of Media
Bronte McHenry
All-things media and community growth, with a big focus on content, events, comms and PR.
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Favourite part of working at Startmate?
The stories.
Favourite Quote?
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” - William Penn
Favourite book?
As I tell my mum all the time, you really shouldn't pick favourites. So, The Secret History by Donna Tartt & Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
What was the first job you ever had, and what did you learn from it?
I was front of house at Portarlington Pizza & Pasta. It was as fun as it sounds.
What would be your alternative career?
A farmer. Just like Tess McLeod.
Articles by
Bronte McHenry
First Believers
How world-class athlete Christie Jenkins trained her way into venture capital
Learning to invest in startups is just like training as an elite athlete, says Christie Jenkins.
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Community
From 0 to 50,000: Wild Hearts host Mason Yates’ five podcasting tips
Blackbird Associate Mason Yates has amassed more than 50,000 listens since launching Wild Hearts in 2020.
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Startmate Collective
Career
Why talented women need startups, and why startups need talented women
Send the women in your life who are wasting their time in rigid, boring or soul-sucking roles to our Women Fellowship page.
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Startmate Collective
Career
WTF does a Chief of Staff do?
What are the day-to-day responsibilities of a chief of staff? And how do you move into this role? I put these questions to Harrison.ai’s Thuy Thai and Forage's Anna Prell.
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Startmate Collective
Career
WTF does a Head of Talent do?
What are the day-to-day responsibilities of someone in talent acquisition? How do you break into this space? I put these questions to EVP’s Head of Talent Fred Callaghan.
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Community
From Wish to Seachange: How engineer Adam Flynn navigated the “long and messy” process of finding his purpose
Adam Flynn describes the journey from first engineer at e-commerce startup Wish to VP of Engineering at Seachange as “deeply, deeply, deeply difficult”.
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Startmate Collective
Career
How Vanessa Iezzi landed her dream role as Head of People at Carted
Vanessa Iezzi has long been the one her friends turn to for advice. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense she ended up in the people and culture space.
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Community
From Formula 1 to startups: Inside Mechanical Engineer Kyle Forster's search for work-life balance
Kyle Forster is a PhD-qualified engineer specialising in aerodynamic design and a small business owner... and up until a year ago, was an Aerodynamicist on Mercedes' Formula 1 team.
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Accelerator
We've made changes to Open House, Office Hours and the Accelerator application process: Here's everything you need to know
Here is the what, why and how of our changes to Open House and the Accelerator application process.
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Accelerator
Validating an idea as an early-stage founder is all about rapid prototyping and testing: Six learnings from Ajay Prakash
Underlying all of Ajay Prakash’s success (and failure) is a commitment to “rapid prototyping and testing”.
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Accelerator
Tutero is building the future of personalised STEM education
Joey Moshinsky, Sonny Moshinsky and Richard Mathieson are on a mission to optimise STEM education.
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Student Founder Bootcamp
How Tsamara Ramadhanti fell in love with tech and landed a role as UX Designer at Law on Earth
Tsamara Ramadhanti comes from a family of accountants, so while tech has always caught her eye, she saw herself studying business and following in her family’s footsteps.
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Accelerator
Why Tracie and Mike Thompson laughed in the face of retirement and founded a startup instead
When Mike and Tracie sold their consulting business in 2017, they realised they were hungry for a different kind of professional challenge.
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First Believers
Retracing Tom Richardson’s path from startup enthusiast, to casual advisor, to angel investor
Tom Richardson might not be “a conventional angel”, but he did just sign a $20,000 cheque to contribute to Mr Yum’s post-seed round.
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Accelerator
Meet our Summer23 cohort
The problems these 21 founders are solving are systemic, far-reaching and incredibly pressing.
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Accelerator
Startmate's Summer22 Accelerator cohort is one to watch
From art licensing and plastic waste transformation to chemical procurement and social fitness for Gen Z, Startmate’s Summer22 Accelerator cohort is one of our most impressive yet.
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Student Founder Bootcamp
How to find success with the right intern, according to Normal’s Lucy Wark
Time-poor founders and operators are often hesitant to take on interns. But the right intern can “be a dream”, says Normal Founder Lucy Wark.
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Women
Career
How Stephanie Hall confronted imposter syndrome and seized her dream opportunity in sextech
Stephanie Hall has long been a thrill-seeking, socially conscious generalist. The first part of her career was suing dolphin hunters, then calling for climate action and finally in sextech.
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Accelerator
Matt Allen is on a mission to help founders hold onto their equity
Tractor Ventures Co-Founder Matt Allen is on a mission to help founders hold onto as much of their equity as they want to, for as long as they like.
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Career
I have a way closer connection to the people I'm helping': Eucalyptus' former CTO Davina Adisusila reflects on two years of startup life
When Davina Adisusila quit her job at Atlassian and accepted a job at Eucalyptus, she was prepared for and excited about a change...
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Career
Why Rajini Carpenter made the leap from corporate finance to VP of Engineering at Deputy >> CTO of Beforepay Group >> CTO of Carrington Labs
Rajini Carpenter took an engineering role at Deputy because she wanted to experience the rollercoaster that is startup growth.
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Launch Club
Pory’s co-founders met pre-idea, pre-startup — and it has set them up for success
There’s a narrative in startupland that all you need to get an idea off the ground is a stellar founding team. Pory’s story flips this sentiment on its head.
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Student Founder Bootcamp
How Oli Clive-Griffin became a software engineer at Halter without a degree
“I didn't go to university because I just didn't know what I wanted to study there. It was the best choice I’ve ever made.”
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Community
In conversation with Ryan: A brick-by-brick look at Open House
‘Office Hours’ is just so 2020. This year, we’re trying something newer, bigger, funner, friendlier — and it’s aptly named ‘Open House’.
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Accelerator
Five things Muso Co-Founder Alan Jin has learnt about pounding the pavement, speaking with early-stage customers and generating traction
If Muso's founding story was a movie, “Hustlin’” by Rick Ross would lead the soundtrack.
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Accelerator
How Mentorloop Co-Founder Lucy Lloyd closed two capital raises without a lead investor
When Mentorloop Co-Founders Lucy Lloyd and Heidi Holmes embarked on their first capital raise, they planned to find a lead investor. “But that’s not how it worked out.”
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Accelerator
Meet our Winter22 Accelerator cohort
If we were to nominate a theme for our Winter22 cohort, it would be ‘game-changing, fresh thinking’.
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Startmate Collective
Career
How Maddi Ingham landed her dream job as Chief of Staff at ChefPrep
Thanks to some encouragement from friends, the Women Fellowship and the power of LinkedIn, Maddi Ingham has a dream role at ChefPrep.
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Startmate Collective
Career
How Lucy Jedlin secured a job as Customer Success Manager at Yellow Canary
Lucy Jedlin comes from a family of lawyers and followed in their footsteps after university. That is, until she caught the startup bug, and crafted a new professional identity for herself.
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Accelerator
Why Lockpick Games Founder Tash Jamieson thinks video games are key to helping every student reach their full potential
When Tash Jamieson made it her mission to make studying fun for her stepson Drake, she had no idea she was building the first iteration of edtech startup Lockpick Games.
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Accelerator
"Don’t worry about your competitors": LiGR Co-Founder Luke McCoy's advice for early-stage startups
LiGR Co-Founder Luke McCoy might be playing the sportstech game, but he isn’t worried about his competitors.
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Startmate Collective
Career
How Kiara Olrich landed a role as first hire and Head of Operations at Phantm
After seven years climbing the management consulting ladder very quickly, Kiara Olrich knew it was time for a change.
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Startmate Collective
Career
How Katrina Hau landed her dream job as Talent and People Experience Partner at Auror
Katrina Hau's childhood was dominated by a strong feeling of being other, but she credits her formative years for her present-day passion for diversity, equity and inclusion.
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Accelerator
Kate Morgan and Kirk Reynoldson won't rest until every household is a happy household
Crunchbase News recently reported that overloaded families are turning to famtech — but this isn’t news to Eggy founders Kate Morgan and Kirk Reynoldson.
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Launch Club
How to find the perfect co-founder, according to five Startmate Alumni who’ve been there, done that
Rory San Miguel, Alan Jin, Alexandra De Bonis and Mike and Tracie Thompson reflect on what to look for when choosing a co-founder.
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Startmate Collective
Career
How Katie Sizeland is launching herself from the public service into startup ops
Katie Sizeland was born in New Zealand, is as curious as they come, and upon reflection, sees her impressive career in science as fairly inevitable.
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Startmate Collective
Career
How Emily Casey found her ‘why’ and used a specific skill set to launch What The Health
Emily Casey has carved out a niche for herself and launched a healthtech venture. Here’s how she got there.
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Student Founder Bootcamp
How Eddie Atkinson scored a job as Software Engineer at Gridcognition
Eddie Atkinson discovered startups at university when a mate took the plunge and has been hooked ever since.
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Launch Club
How Great Question Co-Founder Ned Dwyer tests hypotheses, conducts customer interviews and spots trends
It’s crucial that early-stage founders prioritise research, work systematically and embrace both validation and invalidation, according to Great Question Co-Founder Ned Dwyer.
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First Believers
Get to know First Believer Tom McQuillen
Tom McQuillen is a freshly minted climate-focused VC Investor, a "hopeless optimist" and a First Believer too.
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Community
The ins and outs of executive coaching
Leadership is a muscle, strengths are situational, and sometimes founders need a bit of guidance when doing their best work.
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Startmate Collective
Career
How Daisy Johnson scored a job as Marketing Coordinator at Baraja
Daisy Johnson has always gravitated toward the unfamiliar (and has the passport to prove it), so it makes sense she found her way to startupland.
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Community
Why Customer Success roles are complex, vital and “wildly fulfilling”
Today, customer success plays a critical role in every startup’s growth trajectory and ultimate performance, while jobs seem to be popping up left, right and centre.
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Startmate
Behind the scenes at Startmate
This is your behind-the-scenes peek at what it’s really like to work at Startmate.
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Startmate Collective
Career
How Carola Velazquez Silva scored her dream job as Designer at Jigspace
Carola Velazquez Silva was born in Mexico, loves figuring out how things work, and has had her dream job in sight since she was four.
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First Believers
The best investors come from “the most unlikely of backgrounds”, says Blackbird’s Sam Wong
And if you take a closer look at Silicon Valley and other mature technology ecosystems today, you’ll find most VC investors come from founder and operator backgrounds.
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Community
Behind the scenes at Folklore
When asked to sum up the Folklore experience in five words, Folklore Chief of Staff Bree Kirkham says bold, ambitious, unconventional, good-humoured and smart.
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Startmate Collective
Career
How Bec Rozencwajg landed a job as LaunchVic's Alice Anderson Fund Investment Manager
When re-entering the workforce after maternity leave, Bec Rozencwajg found herself seeking a role with a tangible, positive impact.
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First Believers
How angel investing gives Gopi Sara the taste of early-stage startup life he craves
Gopi Sara is a self-confessed ‘aspiring startup founder without an idea’, but he says angel investing offers him the taste of early-stage startup life he craves.
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First Believers
How Anna Stockley Davidson is reinvesting in the startup ecosystem
Anna Stockley Davidson credits US retailer Bonobos’ generous employee share scheme as the catalyst for her angel investing journey.
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First Believers
Anthony Xiao’s product-led approach to angel investing
Anthony Xiao's angel investing journey kicked-off when he moved into a Product Manager role at Halter.
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First Believers
Angel investor Samuel Sentongo’s mission to affect generational change
Samuel Sentongo wants “to see a future where black founders and angel investors are participating in the startup ecosystem".
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