Transparent VC Podcast · Tribe Talkin'
Tribe Talkin' Ep 96: Seek V Employment Hero. Birchal Increases Fees, Cuts Costs. Female Funding "Pipeline Problem". Why Start-ups Fail. Sharts.
6 September 2025 · 56:28
- 0:00: Melbourne debrief & investor momentum: Roadshow intensity, relationship-building over years, and why “the deck gets interest, not money.”
- 2:40: Consistency compounds: Quiet investor tracking, delayed replies, and why ploughing the field eventually pays off.
- 5:24: Portfolio updates on the road: Coaching execution cadence and shifting founders from “center of everything” to enabling systems.
- 7:42: Canopy & One Breadcrumb check-ins: UK valuation benchmarks, staying in the game, and founder calm under pressure.
- 9:26: SEEK v Employment Hero: Applicant data, Swag sign-ups, platform rules, and the ethics/limits of growth tactics.
- 12:07: Birchal increases fees: Fee reshuffle, campaign economics, slowdown signals, and retail risk concerns.
- 15:19: Crowdfunding incentives & transparency: Misaligned incentives, regulatory friction, and what “skin in the game” should look like.
- 17:55: Female funding “pipeline problem”: Funnel measurement vs structural realities, why numbers don’t start at the VC funnel, and what to measure instead.
- 23:03: Access, bias, and behavioural penalties: How identical behaviours can be rewarded vs punished, plus hidden biases and old assumptions.
- 32:14: Tribe’s portfolio gender mix: Transparent stats on deal count and capital allocation, plus what’s coming next.
- 34:26: Why startups die: Solo founder risks, launch timing tension, investor overreach, and “overfunded ego.”
- 39:03: Clean books & credibility: Transaction hygiene, lender-readiness, and how messy spending shows up in diligence.
- 41:16: Themes of the week: Text over calls, memo grind, ecosystem lag vs leapfrogging, and rebrand distractions vs real traction.
- 48:29: Charts & curiosities: ASX shrinkage, Tesla registrations, margin debt, “bridge of cringe,” despair trends, and screen-count humour.
- 54:21: What they’re looking forward to: Gasbot investor update call, a hospital visit, and a rugby-heavy weekend.