00:47:53 · Charlie Gearside, Adam Miller, S2
[00:47:53] S0: was at Deloitte. Yeah. We're about [00:47:54] S1: to either move to The UK or The US, and it's like, if we start something together, it's probably gonna be... You know, it might not even happen because it might be 30, you might live overseas. And it's like, is now actually time? And that's what we'll that's what the thought was. And it was like, for some reason, we just, I'm glad we have this collective belief to do it at a time that felt really young. [00:48:13] S2: But there there was doubt and there was this pushing the can down the road. Right? And we probably had the... One of the highest rates of, like, advantage in in studying company and the fact that we've had all these people on our show. They've started companies, and I worked in VC, and all of our friends have started companies, etcetera. We've done angel investing. They'll steal this out. So I can't imagine what it's like for [00:48:34] S0: you overheating person. Exactly. Crazy. [00:48:37] S1: Yeah. There's just like... I think there's all these funny fears and risks you think that exist, but they don't really exist. Like, looking back at it, I'm like, a 100 times out of a 100, we should have, like, started that company. There should have been no doubt. Like, all the difficulties that would have arisen, like, they arise for most people. Like, I would tell almost, like, most young people, it depends, but, like, start that company you're thinking of starting.
00:48:37 · Adam Miller, Charlie Gearside, S2
[00:48:37] S1: Yeah. There's just like... I think there's all these funny fears and risks you think that exist, but they don't really exist. Like, looking back at it, I'm like, a 100 times out of a 100, we should have, like, started that company. There should have been no doubt. Like, all the difficulties that would have arisen, like, they arise for most people. Like, I would tell almost, like, most young people, it depends, but, like, start that company you're thinking of starting. [00:48:59] S0: Totally. And it only gets riskier once, like, as you get older. And once you get, like, kids and stuff, it gets, yeah, riskier and harder. [00:49:05] S2: I think something that I wanna ask you about is that, you know, this vision that you've outlined of, like, how we get more towards a prosperous Australia, it feels very much to do with, like, VC backed companies. Yeah. Where do you see, like, the role of VC backed versus the role of bootstrapped or micro entrepreneurship?
00:49:05 · S2, Charlie Gearside, Adam Miller
[00:49:05] S2: I think something that I wanna ask you about is that, you know, this vision that you've outlined of, like, how we get more towards a prosperous Australia, it feels very much to do with, like, VC backed companies. Yeah. Where do you see, like, the role of VC backed versus the role of bootstrapped or micro entrepreneurship? [00:49:21] S0: Yeah. I I talked about this a little bit in my in my first video, actually, which is, like, essentially that all business is good business and that, like, there's this tendency in VC to, like, look down on, like, what they call lifestyle businesses. I call them cash flow businesses, but, like, all businesses are good businesses. Being sustainable is... Like, slow and sustainable is how a lot of people like to work. And, like, these companies are ultimately still creating jobs and, like, a lot of the time can be innovative as well. Yeah. So, like, we should definitely encourage people to start any business and, like, people will roll their eyes at, like, oh, Do we really need another bakery? And it's like, hell, yeah, man. Like, that... The the flow on effects from what people learn, you know, doing that bakery, working on that bakery, like, plus the croissants. [00:50:11] S1: Yeah. Like, [00:50:11] S2: we we need that. I mean, they create Australian culture. [00:50:14] S1: Hell yeah. The bakeries. [00:50:15] S2: Let's go. [00:50:16] S0: A good croissant is so easy to find. Like, it's actually, like, crazy. I feel like you could be able [00:50:23] S1: look at some...
00:50:23 · Adam Miller, S2, Charlie Gearside
[00:50:23] S1: look at some... [00:50:23] S2: And there's noneconomic impacts. Right? Like, you could say that about, like, cafes in a lot of city suburbs. You could say there's relatively perfect competition and stuff. Yeah. Maybe they're a hard business to run. I actually think a lot of those businesses are harder to run than a lot of startups, but, you know, that's a that's a separate story. Like, you're... You have a lot of competition. You have really thin margins. You have very low, like, margin for error. You have all these independent factors like the weather and, like, if it rains for a week and be... You know, all these things. So that that... That's a side point. But I do think that there's, like, cultural impacts. Right? There's cultural impacts of having third spaces and cafes and, like, you know, there's the impact that now Australian coffee is world famous. And there... There's these elements that can create a culture, which I think Australia has been sometimes lacking in in the past? [00:51:08] S0: It's actually a really good point. It's like, are there are there other aspects culturally, like, important aspects to, like, business beyond just, like, profit and sales and growth? Yeah. It's a great point. Like, filmmaking is, like, a good example of that. Right? It's like, what's happened to Australia's film industry? You can almost, like, map our ability to produce interesting films to, like... Sorry, Tom. Like, I don't think any interesting films have been made [00:51:34] S1: in
00:51:34 · Adam Miller, Charlie Gearside
[00:51:34] S1: in [00:51:34] S0: Australia since 2000 and... Since 2003. So... Alright. There's lots of stuff happening like Byron Bay, you know, like, you use or... Oh, back up Gold Coast kinda thing? Yeah. Yeah. Around there. I know, like, Jacob Elordi and a lot of Mad Max. Yeah. That's all government subsidized, though. It's like... So, like, we get, like, the... And this is a massive tangent, like, it's kinda interesting. Like, all the... Like, we essentially... That's government funded. It's... Like, the government's funding the film industry to bring, like, a big American films here to, like, essentially prop up that industry. But, like, in terms of what are the Australian films and directors and stories like Baz... Yeah. Like, Baz, I mean probably a part of that was filmed in a shot. Yeah, dude. Like, Baz is a great example, but he, like, came up in the nineties with, like, all our, like, the the current... Like, your George Millers, your Mad Maxes and stuff. Like, who's that coming through that's kinda symptomatic of, like, the bigger sort of issue Australia faces? [00:52:41] S1: I wanna turn the tides a little bit to the idea that I'm sure you had to sacrifice a lot as a founder over six years, and it probably wasn't a lot of free personal time you had to pursue, I don't know, all the things that are interesting in your mind, which I feel like there's a [00:52:55] S0: lot. Yeah.
00:52:55 · Charlie Gearside, Adam Miller, S2
[00:52:55] S0: lot. Yeah. [00:52:56] S1: What are some of the other ways you wanna spend your time now that you've got a bit more time? What are those rabbit holes you wanna go down? What are the things you wanna learn? Things you wanna try? [00:53:04] S0: Yeah. So you're right. Like, basically, you don't have a hobby. You don't have time for hobbies and, like, you let some friendships fall by the wayside, which really suck. [00:53:16] S2: You become a very less interesting person as well, [00:53:18] S0: right, because there's not much to talk about. Yeah. You're just, like, dialing in. Yeah. Like, honestly, it's it's a really, like... Yeah. You're so right. And I think once you sort of... So we don't wanna diminish that because, like, that's almost a feature, not a bug, right, of building a company. Yeah. But I think knowing once you're through that phase and you've got... You've built something, maybe you have a little bit time... A little bit more time for balance. And for me, it's like I've had a... Like, I've got a three year old now. So I've been able to spend, like, be a primary carer in the last sort of six months, which has been... Like, we talk about deep tech being hard, cafes being hard. Like, man, stay at home dad is fucking hard. Yeah. So that's been good. And then in terms of hobbies, I've tried to, like, pick up the most, like, white boy hobbies ever. Sailing? Right? Yeah. Like Padel. Sailing, which is weird for, like, a public school boy. Right? Yeah. It's like never been on a on a boat, but it's never seen the ocean. [00:54:19] S1: No. And