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

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.

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