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We're joined by Ben Simai, the program led for Startmate’s first believers and Jess Walker, the program lead for Airtree’s explorers in their first joint appearance for this episode #117 and installment #22 of the special Curiosity series.  Explore your curiosity about: Quick intro on Ben and Jess and how they made they way into startups and investing What is an Angel Investor? Surprises about the entry points of angel investors?  Helping new angels overcome imposter syndrome?  What differentiates Explorers vs first believers program?  Pros and Cons of new vs experienced angels  Syndicates for non sophisticated investors  Why does startmate charge and Airtree is a free program?  Secret to earning trust with founders  Current economic climate Please enjoy!  *** Find out more about Curiosity Center, including events, angel investment and 110+ podcast episodes at www.curiositycenter.xyz  Find out more about Startmate's first believers program at https://www.startmate.com/first-believers Find out more about Airtree's Explorers program at https://www.airtree.vc/explorer-program Share your feedback and discuss sponsorship opportunities with us by directly emailing vidit@curiositycenter.xyz or at https://www.curiositycenter.xyz/contact-us Follow the show on Linkedin / Instagram / Twitter

We're joined by Co-Founders and Co-Ceo’s of Different, Mina Radhakrishnan and Ruwin Perera in their first joint appearance on a podcast for this episode #116 and installment #21 of the special Curiosity series.  Explore your curiosity about: Mina and Ruwin growing up 200km's away from each other in Zambia without knowing it How they met in San Fransisco many years later Learnings from Uber, Google, Softbank, MBA and more How Mina & Ruwin settled on different as their startup idea when they were travelling in 2016 “Property Management as a service for real estate agencies” - what was the problem different could solve in 2017?  When did they know that Different could be a big business Business model working with property agencies Biggest misconception about Different Having a team across Sri Lanka and Australia  Managing disagreements as founders (and life partners) Please enjoy!  *** Find out more about Curiosity Center, including events, angel investment and 110+ podcast episodes at www.curiositycenter.xyz  Find out more about Different at https://different.com.au/ Share your feedback and discuss sponsorship opportunities with us by directly emailing vidit@curiositycenter.xyz Follow the show on Linkedin / Instagram / Twitter

In this special (live) episode #115 w Niki Scevak and Vince Allen, learn about: Source of Niki’s ambition Vince’s first meeting with Niki Dynamic of a university student as Vince was (Phd I might add) and Niki being more experienced in his career How they’ve helped each other in unexpected ways given the founder/investor relationship is built on a commercial agreement but is very personal Niki and Vince’s global cultural influences  Vince unpacks exactly how Australia can be the global leader in solar energy Twitter memes  The two shits (Yes, you read hat right) It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Enjoy all episodes via our website and find out all about the Curiosity Center here Email the host Vidit Agarwal directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback. He reads every email.  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

 Last week, we learnt this show ranked in the top 10% most shared podcasts by Spotify globally for 2022, all thanks to you! In this final episode of the year, #114 w Marcus Thompson, learn about: sunrise in Timboom, Country VIC Mum’s influence to have self confidence and belief - “you must be proud of yourself” How army interest began? Wanted to be an engineer At its very core, the army is a training organisation 17 moves in 34 years in the army Behind the scenes of being deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq etc: how did he get picked, training and more Reality vs perception of missions to Afghanistan Week in the life on deployment Becoming inaugural head of Information Warfare @ ADF Rating Australia’s cyber defence capabilities Protecting ourselves using Multi factor authentication It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via our website or email Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

In this episode #113 w Daniel Petre, learn about: sunrise in  Sydney and immigrant parents from Romania being sent to Australia after World war 2 reflections on childhood not being the happiest and looking for a sense of belonging success at age 18: be a fighter pilot in the Air Force, don’t make it from last 35 applicants psychology being a path Daniel would explore if he was 18 again Joining Microsoft when it wasn’t a household name and rising to one of 5 global VP's under Bill Gates Does he feel successful after time at Microsoft? How birth of first daughter and death of sister re-prioritised life focus Creating a culture of truth seeking as a leader at Airtree Ventures Learnings from Bill Bartee (co-founder of Blackbird + Main Sequence) How Australia can be a philanthropic nation It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via our website or email Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

Today, we're joined by with Dr Evelyn Chan, the co-founder and CEO of Smileyscope, a leading technology company bringing virtual and augmented reality therapeutics focused on managing pain and anxiety for kids and adults, in Australia, the US and beyond. Explore your curiosity about: Evelyn’s story from working in her dad’s pharmacy growing up Her time within paediatrics at leading hospitals How being exposed to a VR company working on a side project whilst at the consulting firm, BCG eventually led to the creation of Smileyscope. How she met her co-founder Paul, early years of founding the business, debunking perceptions about hardware and VR and scaling the customer relationship with hospitals The total addressable market being kids AND adults How Smileyscope could lead the non drug based pain relief movement Exciting new open jobs as part of their expansion into the US! Vidit Agarwal is a proud investor in Smileyscope through his syndicate FB10x AdVentures.  Please enjoy!  *** Find out more about Curiosity Center, including events, angel investment and 110+ podcast episodes at www.curiositycenter.xyz  Find out more about Smileyscope at https://www.smileyscope.com.au/ Share your feedback and discuss sponsorship opportunities with us by directly emailing vidit@curiositycenter.xyz Follow the show on Linkedin / Instagram / Twitter

In this episode #111 w Laura Henshaw, learn about: sunrise in Melbourne, Australia w 2 younger sisters and the effects of seeing her parents seperate when she was 11 the guiding light her mum has been from the early days  importance of female  financial independence especially post birth Chips on shoulder and comparison being the thief of joy creating the Keep it cleaner business affectionately called KIC with her friend Steph Claire Smith how it’s become multi faceted with a health & wellness app, grocery products and a movement amongst females with a large social media following. Building a technology app with no tech experience prior Co-founder dynamics and growing as a CEO being an entrepreneur rather than an influencer how she manages her social media activity and being there for her first believers.    It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via our website or email Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

In this episode #110 w Will Richardson, learn about: sunrise in Melbourne, Australia with an asian mum and white Australian dad what it means to be of mixed race what is private equity given his 7 year stint + what made him step away in 2013 importance of asking yourself “what makes you come alive” to make life and career decisions transition to venture capital and impact investing real founding story of Giant Leap in 2016 whilst also having his first child The reality of capital raising and building relationships with no prior connections Blue sky thinking vs in the weeds Life changing moments through a believer or attending an event It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via our website or email Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

In this episode #109 w Terence Jeyaretnam, learn about: sunrise in Sri Lanka with dad, a veterinary doctor and mum a teacher memories of seeing Sri Lanka goes through a brutal civil war which resulted in his family moving to Perth, Australia on refugee status studying in the first cohort of an environmental engineering degree at University inside the founding story of Net Balance in 2005 growing Net Balance to Australia's largest standalone sustainability and climate change practice, rated one of the fastest 100 growth companies in Australia and one of the first B Corps in Australia. personal sacrifices as founder / CEO  concept of social dollars and building a purpose led organisation how Net Balance was acquired by the big 4 firm, Ernst & Young continuing to making sustainability a mainstream corporate agenda  how we can continue to collective solve climate change, Diversity and inclusion It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via our website or email Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

In this episode #108 w Rowan Simpson, learn about: sunrise in NZ with fond memories of his high school teachers, the real high flyers in society deep love for sport and being the first in his extended family to attend university. value of ambition in the New Zealand context nd love rowan’s framing of working towards being the “biggest small country in the world" Life changing experiences in early stage tech companies, first Trade Me and then Xero how the financial success led to creating his family office, Hoku how wins should be celebrated chips on our shoulder connection of sport and fast growth startups grandparent mindset for investors re-defining balance and more! Rowan's essay on "world class" is worth a read (here) It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via our website or email Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

In this episode #107 w Stew Glynn, learn about: Sunrise in Harare, Zimbabwe with political and economic instability Fun Fact: the peak inflation in Zimbabwe in 2008 was at 230 million percent, incredible!  Influences of seeing his entrepreneurial dad run various businesses what led to him attending university in Australia Introduction into the tech world first at GE and then KPMG Reflections on the transition from KPMG to co-founding a family office Inside how we met Steve Baxter (of Shark Tank fame) How they built out the brand and business in Ten13 economics of operating a syndicate model what led to them investing in international markets like Africa and Columbia with a number of successful startups in their portfolio It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via our website or email Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

Today, we're joined by with Silvia Pfeiffer, the co-founder and CEO of COVIU, the all in one virtual care engagement platform for better healthcare.   Learn about Silvia’s fascinating journey to date, from Germany to moving to Australia at the turn of the century, studying a PHD in computer science, how she was involved in bringing video technology to the web through her first startup Vequence and then working on video caption functionality for YouTube.  All these rich experiences and learnings led Silvia to create COVIU, the success HealthTech business she now leads with over 50 team members in Australia and the US. I asked her about the problem they’re solving, their business model, overcoming physical examination barriers, successful virtual care platforms and more. It’s time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!  *** Find out more about Curiosity Center, including 100+ episodes at www.curiositycenter.xyz  Find out more about COVIU at https://www.coviu.com/ Share your feedback and discuss sponsorship opportunities with us by directly emailing vidit@curiositycenter.xyz Follow the show on Linkedin / Instagram / Twitter

In this episode #105 w Simon Cant, learn about: Sunrise in Sydney when it didn’t have the big city nature it does today Influences of Mum (sociology lecturer) and dad (Qantas pilot) Personal tension between academic and creative side growing up The family connection to Law, romanticised it and realised it wasn’t for him after working in it for a few years Painful learning after his time at social ventures including family challenges Started Reinventure when he was 45, big lesson that life can take many paths  Becoming spiritual and finding peace, know thy self How did the Coinbase (one of the most prominent crypto companies) investment happen?  Being first Australian investors in Immutable It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via our website or email Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

In this episode #104 w Michael Overell, learn about: Sunrise in Brisbane, Australia with 3 younger sisters Influences of Mum, an English teacher and Dad, an accountant Desire to play rugby professionally and source of ambition How he left Mckinsey to create his startup, RecruitLoop Reflecting on his own founder journey having to step away from RecruitLoop after 8 years Moving from Sydney to San Fransisco How he joined Lyft and now ClassDojo What it means to be high performing and successful at a fast growing tech company Forming the angel syndicate, Antipodes with an all star cast Why he didn't get Jetlag till he was 30 and more! It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via our website or email Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

In this episode #103 w Jeanette Cheah, learn about: Her global upbringing, born in Hawaii and then Japan before settling down in Melbourne Chinese and Malaysian heritage How seeing her parents, with mum an accountant and dad an economist made education the cornerstone of her early years Starting career in the banking sector and then realising she didn’t want to play by those rules How HEX started with trade missions to san Fransisco with a group of students from Australia Being 3 days away from travelling to Austin, Texas on a big program and the borders shut down when COVID hit in 2020 Raising money from investors Funding challenges for female founders Current economic climate  + stay tuned for some very cool info about Jeanette’s assistant and more!   It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via OUR WEBSITE or email  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

Explore your curiosity with Elle and Tash from the newly formed business Co-Lab which brings together restaurant made ready meals and a selection over 1500 pantry products straight to your home!  Learn about how a Linkedin message from Tash started this relationship and eventual acquisition, why this made complete sene, how they scaled their business through the pandemic and a deep dive into the acquisition process, biggest surprises and exciting things in the works including same day delivery. It’s time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Find out more about Curiosity Center, including 100+ episodes at www.curiositycenter.xyz  Find out more about CoLab at https://www.colab.com.au/ Share your feedback and discuss sponsorship opportunities with us by directly emailing vidit@curiositycenter.xyz Follow the show on Linkedin / Instagram / Twitter

In this episode #101 w Rachel Yang, learn about: Sunrise in Melbourne being the youngest of 3 sisters, being raised by her mum and securing a scholarship to attend a private school Asian heritage and how Rachel’s become closer to it with age Working in north east arnhem land whilst at KPMG on projects for the indigenous First Nations community Move into Venture Capital and the connection to an acting class Progressing from associate to partner at Giant Leap, Australia’s first 100% impact focused VC fund Second and third order effects of impact investing Examples of some startups they’ve backed: Work 180, GoTerra, Great Wrap etc Overseas inspirations to productively use capital for good     It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via OUR WEBSITE or email  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

In this episode #100, Natasha Ong (marketing associate) interviews Vidit Agarwal (Founder & Host)! We cover:  Learnings from first job working at a restaurant Mum’s influence and being the high flyer in my life How has my perception of a high flyer changed? Society views on celebrating success and how this podcast plays a small role in re-creating that Origin story of the podcast and the name "The High Flyers" Personal growth through this podcast over past 2 years Behind the scenes of interview prep and research process How to make guests comfortable to open up Ranking in the top #20 shows in Aus, India, Hong Kong What’s helped grow the podcast? How has the marketing evolved? Advice for budding podcasters Rapid fire: Proudest achievement, Guest that surprised you, Piece of advice from a guest, What separates a great podcast, dream guests, Thank you to first believers   It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via OUR WEBSITE or email  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

Michael is Principal at Blackbird VC and helps uncover & invest in founders and innovation in Synthetic biology, Embedded commerce, Compute, Healthcare and Robotics. In this episode #99, learn about: Sunrise in Melbourne having rich Italian heritage and influences, with his dad being a chemical engineer and mum starting out as a high school teacher and then becoming a financial planner and always being there for Michael and his younger brother. How speaking different languages is he perfect way to see through a clear window into a culture How he started his career in law and then utilised an inspiring learning path to move to finance and then into Venture Capital with Playground VC in the USA (which also has a story behind it)  Specific learnings of these 3 transitions and now being back in Australia with Blackbird Why Deep Tech investing fascinates him Distilling misconceptions about founders in Deep Tech 3 key traits to be a successful VC How he spends his perfect day off work  Michael's one strength and one weakness It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! *** Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via OUR WEBSITE or email  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show!  Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter Contact us via OUR WEBSITE or email  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!  *** Welcome to episode #98 w Daniel Madhavan! It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!  We cover:  Learn about his sunrise in Melbourne, Australia in the most multicultural family with his dad being half Indian, half Chinese and mum being Dutch. Success at age 18 being to be financially independent which drove Dan’s successful 12+ year career in banking with JB Were rising to acting CEO Practical learnings that helped Dan be promoted every few years ("build bridges not boats") Specifics of the fascinating decision making process to leave the firm Funny story from early 20’s that was a big learning in hindsight Using capital to make a positive impact for the future of the planet Top 3 impact focused investors he’s the most impressed by