Karen is the CEO of corporate startup accelerator Slingshot. She has spent most of her career in various tech roles, most recently as CEO of News-owned job site Career One. Slingshot has delivered programs for several major Australian corporates over the last 3 years, including NRMA, HCF, Qantas and Lion. It's an interesting model which seems to have carved out a good spot in a relatively competitive market.
Karen and I cover a lot of ground in this (quite long) episode. She's an awesome lady - great fun to talk to with some great insights.

<div>Karen is the CEO of corporate startup accelerator Slingshot. She has spent most of her career in various tech roles, most recently as CEO of News-owned job site Career One. Slingshot has delivered programs for several major Australian corporates over the last 3 years, including NRMA, HCF, Qantas and Lion. It's an interesting model which seems to have carved out a good spot in a relatively competitive market. </div><div>Karen and I cover a lot of ground in this (quite long) episode. She's an awesome lady - great fun to talk to with some great insights. </div>

There is a lot of activity in the Australian startup ecosystem. Ideas, talent, and money are all flowing into this sector at an unprecedented rate. 

This weekly podcast brings in-depth interviews with the best people making the biggest difference.

It's brought to you by Ian Gardiner and Phaedon Stough, technology entrepreneurs helping to grow the startup sector in Australia and New Zealand. Ian and Phaedon co-founded Innovation Bay with a clear mission to help technology entrepreneurs succeed.

A weekly deep dive into Australia's tech and startup ecosystem. Brought to you by Innovation Bay

Open the Pod Bay Doors

The Australian and New Zealand startup ecosystem is burgeoning, exciting and filled with some of the most fascinating minds on the planet, all driven by a passion to make a positive and lasting impact. Open The Pod Bay Doors invites some of the brightest minds in the industry for deep conversations and awe-inspiring insights from their captivating journeys. Lend us your ears to gain some fresh knowledge and broaden your insights. Brought to you weekly by Innovation Bay. 

The Australian and New Zealand startup ecosystem is burgeoning, exciting and filled with some of the most fascinating minds on the planet, all driven by a passion to make a positive and lasting impact. Open The Pod Bay Doors invites some of the brightest minds in the industry for deep conversations and awe-inspiring insights from their captivating journeys. Lend us your ears to gain some fresh knowledge and broaden your insights. Brought to you weekly by Innovation Bay.

Karen is the CEO of corporate startup accelerator Slingshot. She has spent most of her career in various tech roles, most recently as...

E15 - Karen Lawson, Slingshot

In this episode of Open the Pod Bay Doors, Ian Gardiner sits down with long-time friend and tech leader Matt Loop, now Head of Asia Pacific at Rippling.

Matt has been at the heart of SaaS for two decades. From opening Salesforce’s first Australian office out of his Bondi apartment, to helping LinkedIn scale across Asia and the US, guiding Slack through the chaos of COVID, and now leading Rippling’s rapid expansion across APAC — Matt has lived through (and helped build) some of the most iconic software companies of our time.

They cover:


Opening Salesforce AU with nothing but a laptop and a dream


Lessons from LinkedIn’s hypergrowth and $26B acquisition by Microsoft


Scaling Slack globally during the pandemic and its $27B acquisition by Salesforce


Building Rippling’s Australian business from scratch to 100+ people in two years


The hard realities of scaling from 10 → 100 people (and why it’s “really bloody hard”)


How to hire and evaluate top sales talent (including Matt’s playbook)


Product-led growth vs sales-led growth, and why the best companies do all three (PLG, SLG, and community-led)


How Rippling is using AI today — and where it’s headed


Scaling culture across regions and why “toxic hires” can kill momentum


Liquidity, secondaries, and the trade-offs of staying private at $16B+ valuation

Matt is a natural storyteller with practical lessons for founders, operators, and investors — and plenty of laughs along the way.

Quick Fire Round
📚 Book recommendation – Going Infinite by Michael Lewis (Sam Bankman-Fried story)
🎧 Podcast recommendation – SmartLess (Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes)
🗞️ News source – AFR, LinkedIn Newsfeed, and a mix of global outlets
👨‍💼 Favourite CEO – Satya Nadella (plus reflections on Benioff, Jeff Weiner, Stewart Butterfield, and Parker Conrad)
🛠️ Productivity tool – Slack (still his #1)
📱 Favourite app – Slack (for staying connected to work + investor/advisory communities)
📺 TV / movie recommendation – Mob Land (Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Tom Hardy), plus Yellowstone and the Taylor Sheridan spin-offs
🎤 TED Talk topic – The evolution of US sports: from blue-collar pastime to corporate billion-dollar industry

In this episode of Open the Pod Bay Doors, Ian Gardiner sits down with long-time friend and tech leader Matt Loop, now Head of Asia Pacific at Rippling.
Matt has been at the heart of SaaS for two decades. From opening Salesforce&rsquo;s first Australian office out of his Bondi apartment, to helping LinkedIn scale across Asia and the US, guiding Slack through the chaos of COVID, and now leading Rippling&rsquo;s rapid expansion across APAC &mdash; Matt has lived through (and helped build) some of the most iconic software companies of our time.
They cover:
<ul data-start="772" data-end="1580">
<li data-start="772" data-end="835">
Opening Salesforce AU with nothing but a laptop and a dream
</li>
<li data-start="836" data-end="909">
Lessons from LinkedIn&rsquo;s hypergrowth and $26B acquisition by Microsoft
</li>
<li data-start="910" data-end="995">
Scaling Slack globally during the pandemic and its $27B acquisition by Salesforce
</li>
<li data-start="996" data-end="1080">
Building Rippling&rsquo;s Australian business from scratch to 100+ people in two years
</li>
<li data-start="1081" data-end="1171">
The hard realities of scaling from 10 &rarr; 100 people (and why it&rsquo;s &ldquo;really bloody hard&rdquo;)
</li>
<li data-start="1172" data-end="1245">
How to hire and evaluate top sales talent (including Matt&rsquo;s playbook)
</li>
<li data-start="1246" data-end="1361">
Product-led growth vs sales-led growth, and why the best companies do all three (PLG, SLG, and community-led)
</li>
<li data-start="1362" data-end="1420">
How Rippling is using AI today &mdash; and where it&rsquo;s headed
</li>
<li data-start="1421" data-end="1495">
Scaling culture across regions and why &ldquo;toxic hires&rdquo; can kill momentum
</li>
<li data-start="1496" data-end="1580">
Liquidity, secondaries, and the trade-offs of staying private at $16B+ valuation
</li>
</ul>
Matt is a natural storyteller with practical lessons for founders, operators, and investors &mdash; and plenty of laughs along the way.
Quick Fire Round 📚 Book recommendation &ndash; Going Infinite by Michael Lewis (Sam Bankman-Fried story) 🎧 Podcast recommendation &ndash; SmartLess (Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes) 🗞️ News source &ndash; AFR, LinkedIn Newsfeed, and a mix of global outlets 👨&zwj;💼 Favourite CEO &ndash; Satya Nadella (plus reflections on Benioff, Jeff Weiner, Stewart Butterfield, and Parker Conrad) 🛠️ Productivity tool &ndash; Slack (still his #1) 📱 Favourite app &ndash; Slack (for staying connected to work + investor/advisory communities) 📺 TV / movie recommendation &ndash; Mob Land (Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Tom Hardy), plus Yellowstone and the Taylor Sheridan spin-offs 🎤 TED Talk topic &ndash; The evolution of US sports: from blue-collar pastime to corporate billion-dollar industry

Open The Pod Bay Doors - Matt Loop, Rippling

In this episode, Ian sits down with Evan Walden, CEO of Getro—a startup rethinking how VCs support their portfolio companies through meaningful connections and talent networks. From his early days at General Assembly to leading a platform used by top-tier VC firms, Evan shares candid insights on leadership, founder relationships, startup career pathways, and why authentic networking matters more than ever.

Whether you're a founder, investor, or ecosystem builder, this conversation is packed with practical ideas and fresh perspectives on value creation in venture capital.

🔑 Key Conversation Highlights:


From Philosophy to Tech:
Evan’s unconventional path from studying philosophy to building tech platforms that empower communities and ecosystems.


Lessons from General Assembly:
The founding journey, scaling a mission-driven business, and how career outcomes, not just education, shaped their growth.


The Power of “Network-Driven Outcomes”:
Why intros and warm connections still drive results, and how Getro helps VCs operationalise this at scale.


Rebuilding the VC Tech Stack:
What most venture firms get wrong about talent support—and why the future of VC is about network intelligence.


Getro’s Origin Story:
From internal project to standalone company, and what it’s like spinning out of a fund like OnDeck.


Tactical Advice for VCs:
How to actually help founders. Hint: it’s not just capital. Evan shares real strategies around intros, hiring, and network mapping.

 

Quick Fire Round:

📚 Book recommendation – The Great CEO Within - There's a PDF that's available for free, but to me this is like the Bible for any startup founder and I would just recommend anyone starting a company go get it like right now.
🎧 Podcast recommendation – This Jungian Life - not business related but a funny poscast to listen to
🗞️ News source – I've actually been using X a lot more recently. I realised once I curated who I follow it became the best place to learn about the nuances of what's getting built in AI and tech, stuff that never makes it into the news cycle.
👨‍💼 Favourite CEO –  Collison brothers (Founders of Stripe) for their ability to build a massive company while maintaining their value system and Brian Chesky (Founder of Airbnb).
🛠️ Productivity tool – Superhuman and chatGPT
📱 Favourite app – Whisper Flow - a speech to text app that's 99% accurate
📺 TV or movie recommendation – I'm half way through The Last of Us
🎤 TED Talk topic – Networking doesn't have to suck: building authentic relationships in a world of fakeness.

The Innovation Bay job board is powered by Getro. Looking for your dream role? We have you covered with over 450 open roles across almost 5000 companies: https://jobs.innovationbay.com/jobs

In this episode, Ian sits down with Evan Walden, CEO of Getro&mdash;a startup rethinking how VCs support their portfolio companies through meaningful connections and talent networks. From his early days at General Assembly to leading a platform used by top-tier VC firms, Evan shares candid insights on leadership, founder relationships, startup career pathways, and why authentic networking matters more than ever.
Whether you're a founder, investor, or ecosystem builder, this conversation is packed with practical ideas and fresh perspectives on value creation in venture capital.
🔑 Key Conversation Highlights:
<ul data-start="987" data-end="2526">
<li data-start="987" data-end="1141">
From Philosophy to Tech: Evan&rsquo;s unconventional path from studying philosophy to building tech platforms that empower communities and ecosystems.
</li>
<li data-start="1143" data-end="1304">
Lessons from General Assembly: The founding journey, scaling a mission-driven business, and how career outcomes, not just education, shaped their growth.
</li>
<li data-start="1306" data-end="1462">
The Power of &ldquo;Network-Driven Outcomes&rdquo;: Why intros and warm connections still drive results, and how Getro helps VCs operationalise this at scale.
</li>
<li data-start="1464" data-end="1616">
Rebuilding the VC Tech Stack: What most venture firms get wrong about talent support&mdash;and why the future of VC is about network intelligence.
</li>
<li data-start="1618" data-end="1749">
Getro&rsquo;s Origin Story: From internal project to standalone company, and what it&rsquo;s like spinning out of a fund like OnDeck.
</li>
<li data-start="1751" data-end="1916">
Tactical Advice for VCs: How to actually help founders. Hint: it&rsquo;s not just capital. Evan shares real strategies around intros, hiring, and network mapping.
</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
Quick Fire Round:
📚 Book recommendation &ndash; The Great CEO Within - There's a PDF that's available for free, but to me this is like the Bible for any startup founder and I would just recommend anyone starting a company go get it like right now. 🎧 Podcast recommendation &ndash; This Jungian Life - not business related but a funny poscast to listen to 🗞️ News source &ndash;&nbsp;I've actually been using X a lot more recently. I realised once I curated who I follow it became the best place to learn about the nuances of what's getting built in AI and tech, stuff that never makes it into the news cycle. 👨&zwj;💼 Favourite CEO &ndash;&nbsp; Collison brothers (Founders of Stripe) for their ability to build a massive company while maintaining their value system and Brian Chesky (Founder of Airbnb). 🛠️ Productivity tool &ndash; Superhuman and chatGPT 📱&nbsp;Favourite app &ndash; Whisper Flow - a speech to text app that's 99% accurate 📺&nbsp;TV or movie recommendation &ndash; I'm half way through The Last of Us 🎤 TED Talk topic &ndash; Networking doesn't have to suck: building authentic relationships in a world of fakeness.
The Innovation Bay job board is powered by Getro. Looking for your dream role? We have you covered with over 450 open roles across almost 5000 companies: https://jobs.innovationbay.com/jobs

EP.190 Evan Walden, Getro

In this episode of Open The Pod Bay Doors, Host Ian Gardiner is joined by Chris Morgan, Co-CEO of Oxygen Advisors, a fast-growing outsourced CFO service supporting early-stage tech startups across Australasia. Chris shares the story of how Oxygen grew from a one-man band in New Zealand to a 45-person team, helping more than 100 startups scale and raise capital.

He dives into the challenges and opportunities of expanding into Australia, the evolving needs of startups, and how Oxygen is staying ahead by introducing new services like fractional revenue operations (RevOps) and exploring AI tools to drive efficiency — all while maintaining a strong, relationship-first approach.

Episode Highlights:


How Oxygen Advisors scaled from New Zealand to Australia.


Key differences between the New Zealand and Australian startup ecosystems.


The critical role of building trust and relationships in early-stage support.


Trends in fractional services, including CFO and RevOps support.


How AI is shaping the future of outsourced finance and operations.


Chris’s personal career journey and lessons learned from growing a high-performing services business.

Quick Fire Round:

📚 Book recommendation – Personally I like to read as a form of escapism from the heavy pressures of the world. So I really just read fiction. The one book that stays with me is slaughter house fire by Kurt Vonnegut. It's a classic, anti war sort of sci fi combo. It's weird. It's wonderful.
🎧 Podcast recommendation – I don't listen to a lot of podcasts but my go to would be Desert Island Disc
👨‍💼 Favourite CEO –  From an international perspective Jason Lemkin from echosign, but then from a personal front I'd say James Sampson from file invite and Lincoln wantson from BraveGen 
🗞️ News source – I can't help but check the New Zealand Herald. BBC for international news, but if I ever want to learn something or go deep on something, my go to is, Johnny Harris? He's a YouTube independent journalist. 
🛠️ Productivity tool – I wouldn't be able to do my job without Slack. Both for managing external clients and internal
📱 Favourite app – Seesaw to stay up to date with what my oldest son, Teddy, is learning in his first weeks at school
📺 TV or movie recommendation – I'm partial to any British comedy but I think the top for me would be Gavin and Stacy 
🎤 TED Talk topic – The art of fractional working - not fractional services but how to work in a fractional environment. 

Tune in for a masterclass on scaling services for startups and the power of adapting to new markets.

In this episode of Open The Pod Bay Doors, Host Ian Gardiner is joined by Chris Morgan, Co-CEO of Oxygen Advisors, a fast-growing outsourced CFO service supporting early-stage tech startups across Australasia. Chris shares the story of how Oxygen grew from a one-man band in New Zealand to a 45-person team, helping more than 100 startups scale and raise capital.
He dives into the challenges and opportunities of expanding into Australia, the evolving needs of startups, and how Oxygen is staying ahead by introducing new services like fractional revenue operations (RevOps) and exploring AI tools to drive efficiency &mdash; all while maintaining a strong, relationship-first approach.
Episode Highlights:
<ul data-start="931" data-end="1397">
<li data-start="931" data-end="992">
How Oxygen Advisors scaled from New Zealand to Australia.
</li>
<li data-start="993" data-end="1071">
Key differences between the New Zealand and Australian startup ecosystems.
</li>
<li data-start="1072" data-end="1153">
The critical role of building trust and relationships in early-stage support.
</li>
<li data-start="1154" data-end="1222">
Trends in fractional services, including CFO and RevOps support.
</li>
<li data-start="1223" data-end="1293">
How AI is shaping the future of outsourced finance and operations.
</li>
<li data-start="1294" data-end="1397">
Chris&rsquo;s personal career journey and lessons learned from growing a high-performing services business.
</li>
</ul>
Quick Fire Round:
📚 Book recommendation &ndash; Personally I like to read as a form of escapism from the heavy pressures of the world. So I really just read fiction. The one book that stays with me is slaughter house fire by Kurt Vonnegut. It's a classic, anti war sort of sci fi combo. It's weird. It's wonderful. 🎧 Podcast recommendation &ndash; I don't listen to a lot of podcasts but my go to would be Desert Island Disc 👨&zwj;💼 Favourite CEO &ndash;&nbsp; From an international perspective Jason Lemkin from echosign, but then from a personal front I'd say James Sampson from file invite and Lincoln wantson from BraveGen&nbsp; 🗞️ News source &ndash; I can't help but check the New Zealand Herald. BBC for international news, but if I ever want to learn something or go deep on something, my go to is, Johnny Harris? He's a YouTube independent journalist.&nbsp; 🛠️ Productivity tool &ndash; I wouldn't be able to do my job without Slack. Both for managing external clients and internal 📱 Favourite app &ndash; Seesaw to stay up to date with what my oldest son, Teddy, is learning in his first weeks at school 📺&nbsp;TV or movie recommendation &ndash; I'm partial to any British comedy but I think the top for me would be Gavin and Stacy&nbsp; 🎤 TED Talk topic &ndash; The art of fractional working - not fractional services but how to work in a fractional environment.&nbsp;
Tune in for a masterclass on scaling services for startups and the power of adapting to new markets.

E15 - Karen Lawson, Slingshot

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