Tribe Talkin' Ep 105: Where You Raise Matters. Culture Amp & SafetyCulture Writedown. EVP's $100M Fund. Sharts.

Chapters

00:00 — House settlement, moving chaos, and a big week of ecosystem events Aaron settles the new place (keys in hand, moving Friday), while Ash recaps a chaotic week: Stone & Chalk workshops on AI governance + cyber, Equity Clear, and a packed schedule of panels, pitches, and events.

03:27 — Equity Clear workshop: measuring female founder data (and where the funnel starts) Ash breaks down what Equity Clear is (standardised dataset design for female founder pipeline + funding outcomes), who was in the room (government, ecosystem operators, investors), and why definitions, timing, and transparency in the funnel matter.

04:53 — The tension: VC-only measurement vs the broader funding ecosystem A debate on scope: if the aim is “useful data,” should measurement span debt, angels, private markets, and SMB finance — not just venture? The group discusses why female founders may rationally choose non-VC pathways and why bank lending friction should be part of the system view.

07:14 — Data risk + anonymisation: avoiding unintended dealflow consequences Why public brand-linked reporting can create perverse incentives (or discourage founders from applying), especially for domain-specific funds. The case for anonymised reporting and domain-contextual benchmarks.

08:49 — Jack’s reverse pitch nerves (and why it matters) Jack is up to reverse pitch Tribe in a room full of investors/operators/founders. The team riffs on nerves, performance pressure, and the reality of “brand risk” for emerging managers.

11:02 — “Give yourself an F” recap + the simplest high-leverage agent workflow The team revisits last episode’s message: if you still haven’t implemented basic AI/agent workflows, you’re falling behind. A concrete example: bundling meeting notes + tasks inside Notion using agents to extract actions and auto-create a Kanban to-do list.

13:50 — Granola vs Notion vs “the context layer wins” Why Notion’s custom agents make bundling logical again, Granola’s “recipes” as a counter-move, and the broader lesson: platforms that expand into adjacent workflows can cut point solutions’ lunch quickly.

16:16 — Personal workflow failure mode: actions stuck in messages A practical pain point: when tasks live in chat threads instead of a system of record, things slip. The team discusses always-on capture, auto-action extraction, and the real operational value of boring automation.

19:15 — Australia crypto tax: could treatment change unlock liquidity? Aaron shares Spidey’s take: if crypto were treated as currency (not CGT assets), selling wouldn’t trigger CGT — potentially releasing liquidity into other assets (including VC). The team debates whether government would allow it and the long timeline of court/appeal dynamics.

22:41 — US seed valuations by city: “there isn’t one market” Discussion of data showing location impacts both round size and valuation. The Bay Area remains an outlier; other cities step down materially. The broader point: the US is effectively many markets (even by postcode), which matters for fundraising and go-to-market.

25:07 — Blackbird write-downs: Culture Amp and SafetyCulture Coverage of reported markdowns (including Culture Amp) and what it signals about the “pre-AI unicorn reset.” The team contrasts this with Airwallex’s scale trajectory and why some companies still compound through the cycle.

26:30 — Valuation obsession as a conviction signal (for founders and investors) If you’re fixated on a small valuation delta, is that actually a subconscious conviction problem? The team applies this both to investing (entry price vs outcome size) and to founders benchmarking against Bay Area valuations without matching the context.

29:53 — Eucalyptus: next Australian unicorn (and founder energy) A look at Eucalyptus/Pilot/Juniper and its expected unicorn valuation. The team highlights Tim Doyle’s founder profile: intensity, first-principles thinking, and execution power — plus why strong founders can pivot even if one macro tailwind fades.

34:32 — EVP raises a $100M fund: trust under pressure EVP’s Fund V at $100M and the StrongRoom AI backdrop. Why values-centred behaviour, transparency, and taking the “high road” compound trust with LPs — and how adversity can become reputation reinforcement.

38:31 — Themes of the week Ash: “chaotic.” Don: humans remain the weak point even when tech is integrated (tradies + tracking + reality). Jack: confronting public speaking fear. Aaron: energy, confidence, and losing sight of yourself when you’re “in the painting.”

41:54 — Sharts (charts): Bitcoin credit, inflation, market valuations, capex cycles A rapid-fire tour: Bitcoin-backed credit instruments rising; Australia inflation printing hot (rate cut skepticism); Buffett indicator context vs dotcom signal; market breadth warnings; capex less depreciation trends and AI buildout comparisons vs historical infrastructure waves.

47:55 — More sharts: Victoria bonds, happiness data, generational mass attendance Landlords exiting Victoria (bond trends), marital/children happiness splits, and an unexpected bump in millennial mass attendance post-COVID.

50:27 — What we’re looking forward to Runway/10:13 event, AI-heavy sessions, strongroom talk, and filming Jack on stage (plus the post-event beer).

52:04 — Bonus: “What are my worst traits?” (GPT roast edition) Ash and the team share their funniest/most cutting GPT-generated “worst traits” list — impatience, clarity gaps, intensity, founder syndrome, vagueness, and the chaos of chasing too many arcs at once.