Okay, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re probably not a real founder or investor.

Domain ownership means you’ve bought a bunch of domains that you’re just sitting on. URLs that seemed like great ideas at the time, and they seem like great ideas every year because you keep renewing the damn things, but you haven’t done anything with them.

Now let’s get this right: you are not a domain squatter!

There’s a special circle in hell for those bastards. People who are squatting on single-word domains spelled correctly, without triple vowels or a Y instead of an I or double U’s or double or triple O’s where there should only be one O, or even worse the fu*king A.

No, those people are going to hell because they’re just squatting, looking for a big payout.

I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the domains you own that, again, seemed like a good idea.

Especially the ones that seemed like a good idea after a few beers, and especially, especially the ones that seemed like a good idea after a few beers with a group of founders Thredbo skiing.

You probably even bought some more that night when talking about this topic, goddammit.

I am of course talking to you in the 2nd person style of writing! I’m not talking about me.

So that night we had fun comparing URL/domain ownership.

I’ve done this before with the great Cheryl Mack and Mick Lubinskas and a heap of other people at a dinner.

As you converse you find yourself thinking of business ideas and pitching what I call either the “best worst startup idea” or the “worst best startup idea.”

Those are absolutely interchangeable and they basically mean the same thing: some crazy idea that’s so horrible it might work, or something that’s so horrible but in such a great market that it just might work.

So horrible and good at the same time. The ying yang of our founder world!

You buy the URL. You buy the domain. I’m using domain and URL interchangeably at this point, if you haven’t figured that out yet, mainly because I’m using Wispr Flow on a walk while I draft this and, “watch it, mate” your ebike almost hit me! oh, you want a problem, we can have a problem! That’s right, scoot on home to your mamma, what are you 12?”

****WHISPER FLOW REBOOT*****

If you’re in this boat, you have a bunch of domains that you’re sitting on. Over dinner you start sharing them: your best URL, your worst URL, and what prompted you to buy them.

I think my best and worst are the same thing, because at some point I couldn’t even tell you the origin story, but I’m sure it was absolutely epic. I bought, and for 10 years I owned, inconceivably, www.releasetheunicorns.com.

I also owned…and still do own… www.releasetheunicornsbitch.com.

Note: as an English major, I’d put a comma before “bitch” if I were just saying or writing this out, but in a URL, obviously, you don’t want commas. I’m not an idiot, thank you!

That I own this URL makes about as much sense as this entire Substack post at this point.

“Hey, let’s release the unicorns.”

That’s a great thing, right? Let’s release the unicorns. Why would you not do that?

Unicorns are epic creatures. They’re mythical. I’ve got one in my linkedin name handle if you haven’t seen it: Mark “Z” Zmarzly Unicorn Emoji.

There’s only one of me. I’m a unicorn.

And if you had multiple unicorns, you should release those magical creatures out there to spread joy and rainbows and skittles and whatever they’re made of.

If you really want to put an exclamation point on releasing your unicorns, you add the emphasis with a “bitch,” right?

Release the Unicorns, Bitch.

Or even Bitches, though I don’t own the “es” on that URL. If one of you buys bitches with the “es,” then you’re the bitch, I think.

So that’s my contribution to the domain ownership conversation.

Then you go around and everyone shares their best and worst URLs.

You can also share stories of times you owned a URL and got an offer on it, and whether you sold or didn’t, because that’s the other half of the story.

I’ll share mine. I had the company Hip Pocket. Somebody was squatting on the .com so I had the .net.

Then we had a product called Hip Money. I leased www.hipmoney.com for 24 months with the option to own it outright at the end, so I bought it.

I also bought HipFinance.com, HipRate.com, and I want to say Hip something else money related?

Anyway, years later I get a little GoDaddy message saying, “Hey, somebody wants to buy HipFinance.com for $1,400.”

I was feeling cocky, things were going well in the startup, and I was like, “Come back with a real fu*king offer. $1,400? Good god, I’m likely already upside on that much just from renewals.”

But then a few weeks later, things started going poorly with my startup and I needed the money, so I went back to ask about that $1,400 offer and got no reply. Ugh.

Meanwhile another guy in the ski group sold one of his for $30,000. Sigh.

What I need you to do is share with me the domains you own, the worst and the best.

I need this.

You owe this to me.

All right, so please do share: comment, LinkedIn post, or message me privately.

Love you. Bye. Z

BTW…claude helped me whip this beaut up in 20 seconds so there’s still life left in this bitch! :)

https://www.startupdaily.net/podcast/startup-360/the-2am-maccas-test-on-loving-your-startup-idea/

But one of the main things we discussed was storytelling!

That’s in part due to my background as a Creative Writer but also in my work with founders on helping them engage with others.

So it got me thinking about some of the “types of stories” we need more of from founders and maybe one type we need less of as well.

Here are some stories you should have in your back pocket if you’re a founder:

YOUR ORIGIN STORY
USER INSIGHT DISCOVERY STORY
CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
SELF-DEPRECATING HUMOUR STORY
A HUSTLE STORY
HUMAN STORY

Here’s more on each type of story!

YOUR ORIGIN STORY

What radioactive spider bit you and turned you into a founder?

Or what evil genius killed innovation in your industry and set you on a course for revenge?

Founders are often solving a burning problem that they had, a loved one had, or righting the wrongs of an industry that is being controlled by a large corporate overlord.

Cue dramatic music!

The hero’s (founder’s) journey is typically born out of some bit of fire or misfortune.

Your future co-founders, employees, customers, investors, etc. want to hear this tale as it excites us to join you on your quest!

For me, I worked in banking but realised that they make a LOT of money when us customers make poor decisions and they actually do shitty things to max the revenue on customers.

One example is posting your daily transactions from highest to lowest when they are processed in a batch at the end of the day. They have a “story” as to why they do this (“wouldn’t you rather have your car payment processed as valid versus risking it bounce?”) but in reality, if these transactions overdraw your account, posting high to low often allows them to charge you multiple overdrafts if they cover the transactions in this order.

A Bank CEO even went so far as to name his boat “THE OVERDRAFT” as it was paid for by those fees.

EVIL!

Your Origin Story keeps your fire burning inside when your startup is burning on the outside. :)

Have this story for yourself and for others.

You can thank me later!

USER INSIGHT DISCOVERY STORY

Any good founder has been knee deep in customer discovery. Looking for insights and problems to solve that are bigger than your original idea.

This is a gold mine for stories if you’re selling B2B SaaS to an executive buyer as most of these C-Suite execs have stopped getting out of the building and talking to customers.

In the podcast I shared how we at Hip Pocket created a bit of fake technology to help a woman refinance her loan with a local bank and, ultimately, winning over the head of marketing at the bank on a $20,400 contract!

We interviewed real people in the market to uncover an unmet need and then helped this woman fill that need with the bank’s existing loan products.

We then offered to tell the marketing leader that story and before we got to the price of the non-existent tech, he said “Stop talking, we’re in.”

So don’t try to sell a prospect your software, instead sell them the unknown problem that their customers are wrestling with and the insights you gained in getting out of the building and talking to people.

CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY

If you’ve ever been in sales, you’ve met a cold and prickly prospect who knows everything and is too busy to talk.

I had one this week!

This is likely the person who can most benefit from your solution but who has seen it all and wants to put you in the “no box“ right away.

“No, this is just like ABC and we didn’t want them for XYZ reasons.”

I don’t think any old customer success story will win you a 5-min door opening conversation with this person but an outlier customer success story can be a huge asset.

One where you make your internal champion (the one who got you in the door and helped you run the procurement gauntlet of fire) the champion of your customer story.

Case studies are the dollars and cents behind why a prospect should talk with you but it’s not a story. Even if there’s a customer quote, it’s not often really colorful.

So ask your best customer the 5 whys. Why did you keep talking with us at first? Why did you keep us moving forward when you got resistance? Why did you think we knew what we were doing when we did not? Why didn’t you take that first internal no for an answer? Why are you expanding with us? Why has this made a difference for you and your company? Why, why why.

Then how can you tell that story…or better yet, get them on stage to tell it to your ideal prospects! :)

SELF-DEPRECATING HUMOUR STORY

In Australia it’s common for someone to try to “take the piss out of ya” and it’s not always in a good way. It’s part of the “tall poppy” syndrome because it’s really about cutting someone down.

But our work as founders isn’t soooooo important (unless you’re curing cancer, in which case we thank you and keep going!) that you can’t laugh at yourself a bit in a self-deprecating way.

I have plenty of these stories as I love a good laugh and can certainly laugh at myself.

One of these I touched on in the podcast and have written about over the years is wearing an 8-foot-tall inflatable T-Rex costume at SXSW in 2016.

I even had my mother - yes, my then 60-something-year-old Mom - sew me a custom Hip Money (our app) shirt for the T-Rex to wear. Pic below.

The shirt included the hashtag (do the kids know what those are??) #SXTREX. A play on #SXSW hashtag of the conference and I grabbed the #SXTREX twitter handle just for this event to aggregate and display all #s during the event.

Why did I dress as a T-Rex you may ask? Because our app was so simple even a T-Rex with a tiny brain and tiny arms could understand the savings math calculations and swipe right to save money. We were called Tinder for your dollars by the press back then due to the swiping.

So I donned a T-Rex costume in an unseasonably warm March in Austin and walked the main expo floor…for about 8 minutes until security escorted me off the property for “making a scene.”

You see, people were stopping me to take selfies, which was the exact point of my guerrilla marketing stunt, but it was causing a problem and “other brands paid a lot of money for this space and publicity.”

This seems to violate the very spirit of SXSW to me but oh well!

So after being escorted out, I had to get out of the suit as I was…to use the technical term…sweating balls.

While reeking of sweat and in my half T-Rex legs and half man torso (Rexotaur? Minorex?) I saw another man get kicked out of the expo for also “making a scene.”

This man was simply making balloon animals when he was escorted out by two security guards.

He and I quickly became friends and started to walk around Austin together after he made me two balloon bracelets for the T-Rex to wear. Pic below.

As we walked and talked I learned that his balloon bending days were just to kill time while his other career move paid off.

Now this sounded super promising as he was at SXSW and looked like an established gent who maybe had some other billion dollar businesses running.

Hello angel investor! How do you do?

Well, he sort of did have something big cooking because when I asked him about this other business opportunity he said that he had filed a billion dollar ($1,000,000,000) lawsuit against the Hollywood Film Industry for using his likeness without his consent.

When he ”got his payout,” he was going to open up a bunch of acting schools all across the US and represent the actors as their agent.

It was at this time that we were too far and too deep into our new friendship for me to unwind myself from our newly formed shared identity as wandering buskers working for tips (he was getting money for animals and large cowboy hats and other novelties as we walked around). Nobody was offering me money for my selfies with them but I clearly just did not have my new best mate’s financial acumen yet…but maybe he would teach me!??!!!

Or maybe I would get accidentally tripped (you cannot see shit in these inflatable T-Rex costumes by the way) and I could sue the tripper.

I can be litigious!

Mentorship at its finest!

After an hour…when I didn’t think I could take much more of the heat, sweat, and legal advice from my now mentor, we ran into the Brazilian Import & Export Group who had a booth outside and kindly gave both me and the “poor man’s Robert Shapiro” some amazing Brazilian scarves to wear.

And some water.

It was then that the Brazilian group got a picture of me, mr balloons, them and a heap of other people.

I did not get one picture of any of this mind you as a) I was in a T-Rex costume, b) I had dino gloves on my hands, c) my phone was in my pocket inside my inflatable body, and, d) even if I could get the gloves off, reach inside my own body via any of the possible dino orifices available to me (few), I doubt I’d have the reach with my tiny arms to catch more than half a Brazilian, one balloon, and one of my dino nostrils.

So…that night at a fancy FinTech founder event I was telling this story to a group of new people I’d never met who were howling with laughter at the insanity of it all when someone said “Wait, you’re the guy?” and it turns out this person works PR for the Brazilian Import & Export Group and had taken a picture of me that afternoon and sent it to me right then…it’s here:

She asked my name and where I was from and when I told her, she said “Wait, you’re Mark from Nebraska? There’s a woman from Australia who has been looking for you.”

If you at all know my story of getting from the US to Australia, you’ll realize that that sentence changed my life forever.

So don’t be afraid to tell a fun story that makes light of how crazy things can get for you as a founder.

It makes you accessible and, usually, creates opportunity.

I’ve shared that story with many people and while sharing with some close founder friends at a retreat that one of them nicknamed me “Z-Rex” which of course later became custom “Air Z-Rex” Dino Bball merch:

BTW…there was a professional photog roaming SXSW who snagged this pic and had me as image 2 of SXSW day 2 ahead of Chris Sacca and many other really famous peeps so I did indeed create a spectacle in the best way:

A HUSTLE STORY

I’m not talking about the bullshit 9-9-6 hustle culture stories embraced by Harry Stebbings that will ultimately bring more founders into depression and burnout, I’m talking about the story that showed how you thought and worked like a true Hustler.

Most founders I know do not think like other people when it comes to sales, marketing, design, and creativity.

Their hustle is often a way of thinking differently and trying new stuff.

And most of it won’t work…until it does.

You’d be totally fucking surprised at some of the crazy shit that works when you’re a founder and marketing on a $3.57 budget!

So what’s a “tell me about a time when you thought and acted in an unconventional way and it delivered an outsized result?” hustle story?

I feel like the T-Rex story covers this one quite a bit but I have many more I can tell over a beer sometime.


HUMAN STORY

There’s a false narrative that you need to be bulletproof and eat fucking glass to be a founder.

You don’t.

Even though at times it can help weather the assault on your wellbeing, relationships, and bank account.

But I find in my work with founders I get further along with establishing trust and connection when I go first about how hard it is and was.

We are humans attempting to do super human things!

And that has a toll on us and those around us.

I have so much more to write about this and will do so over time but know that I’ve been in tears as a founder thinking “What the fuck have I done?” and not just to me but to my wife and kids.

To my family.

To my friends.

To our users.

To our customers.

And not in a “Did Z embezzle or do something illegal?” type of way.

But in a “why did I do this when I could have instead have done ANYTHING else that would be easier and not hurt so fucking much” type of way.

Not shying away from that pain then and, now, the resulting empathy makes me so much of a better investor, friend, employee (to Ian and Dom), husband, father, mentor, etc to others than it would if I didn’t share these stories of being human and in the thrash of it all.

So more to come here.

Those are the stories I believe you should have in your back pocket as a founder.

(Or front pocket if you’re in an inflatable suit because good luck reaching a back pocket, my friend…good fucking luck.)

The types of stories founders can retire are the ones where you’re totally blowing smoke up people’s assholes as they know it.

I see these not a lot, but too much and it’s too much. Those founders are too much!

So just ease up when you think you need to puff up.

Being you - a hustling, self-deprecating, customer success and insight discovery human who stepped out of a rocket that crash landed on this beautiful foreign planet - is enough. :)

Much love, Z-Rex

Note: written originally in July 2019 as the deals (deals plural as we had a US and AUS company and they were separate sales) were known to be closing…but edited in 2025 as I look at it every year and still have things I’m checking off in there.


Music and karate lessons remain unchecked as the respective kids lost interest in the subjects. BTW - “musical karate” could be a thing if anyone wants to MVP it? Or a karate musical if that’s your jam?

We can spend all day debating the subject of whether “deep sea fishing” is a want, need, nice to have, or essential part of being a good parent. I’m not a fisherman but my dad taking me Deep Sea Fishing in 1984 when I was 9 years old is one of the core memories I have of him to this day.

Fishing aside, I don’t think we’ll spend more than a minute discussing where new shoes and backpacks lie on the spectrum of wanting to be a good parent.

For about seven years (my wife and I spent a year banking cash before I quit work in 2013) my kids got shoes and backpacks from facebook marketplace, friends, Salvos (aka thrift stores in the US), or, when they were new backpacks, from Kmart.

Buying things used/cheap was not something I had to think long about at the time.

It was just a fact.

Low to no money coming in, means low to no money coming out for things that are not “essential.”

Fuck I just hated writing that because it sounds like shoes for my kids were/are not essential.

Shoes themselves are essential. They were not going barefoot.

But they were not getting brand new shoes for school or activities.

They were getting “new to them” shoes wherever I could get them at a discount.

Those who know me now know that I am now a bit of a sneaker head. Not in the sense of collecting them for show/value or having them in a temperature controlled closet behind tempered glass but I do have at least 16 or so (maybe more??) pairs of shoes for myself right now and a couple of them haven’t even been worn yet.

Aside: my middle kiddo is also quite a sneaker-ofile and prices himself on his ability to win shoe lotteries and pick up kicks like these:

So this is to say that shoes are important to him and me…now.

Or maybe we’re overcompensating?

But the things on the list weren’t “important” back in 2012-2019. For me or my wife or my kids. They were deemed as a luxury…at least new shoes were a luxury.

To me this now seems sad (at minimum) or fucked up (at a maximum).

What would have been the difference between me getting a deal on facebook marketplace for barely worn boys size 3 Nikes versus paying retail? Maybe $50 USD difference in price per pair?

Would that have made or broke my startup at the time?

Likely not but each one adds up and with three kids, that’s at least three pairs a year at $150 USD.

And that’s just for one pair…not including sports shoes.

Combine that new shoe money with new backpacks and school clothes (also on the above list), you’re talking real money.

And that $150 + backpacks + uniforms is after taxes! So I’m needing to make $250 to afford the $150 and that’s also $250 that can’t go back into the business for growth.

That’s where my mind was at the time.

The moment I sold my company and was able to extract myself from that “I’m a founder and need to save money at most any cost” thinking and situation, getting my kids new shoes, backpacks, lunch boxes, school supplies, uniforms (they were also getting second hand uniforms in Australia when we came here with my startup) became a MUST HAVE.

And not just new…but top brands and price points.

It was me trying to make up for all the years of them not having.

Of me not having the money for these things.

Of me not being able to give them something that most kids had.

Of me not being able to give them enough.

Perhaps even of me not being enough?

Sigh…

The interesting (sad? funny?) thing is that I don’t remember thinking about this sacrifice or them ever really thinking or talking about it.

It just was.

But the fact that it was on my to do list and actioned after I got rid of the financial uncertainty of being a startup founder was a lot to take in for me.

Let’s not even talk about dental insurance as we went without that for a while as well…happy to report that all kiddos have received top notch care and braces since then. And braces were not because of no dental coverage. It was bad dental genes from one parent. ;)

But the shoes still wear heavily on me (no pun intended).

If I had to do it again, I think I’d have done some new shoes every now and then in those seven years versus always going without them.

So that’s one thing my kids had “less” of due to the fact that I chose to be a startup founder.

I know that people all over the world struggle financially to afford many things…even basic necessities more than new shoes.

The reason I’m writing about this now is that I sometimes feel like I didn’t have a “choice” in becoming a founder.

That it chose me or that the path was just a natural evolution of following a series of insights and traction.

But I did choose.

And I chose to make a significant change in my professional role and income to be a founder and it had an impact on me and our entire family.

And the real costs of shoes and that decision wasn’t something I could fully imagine or think about until I was in it or outside of it as I am now.

I look at that list often to take me back to where I was as a founder.

We sacrifice so much and it can be so fucking lonely and so fucking hard and not just on us.

This is a way to say that I’ve been there and see those of you who are in that place now.

If you ask my kids now about their shoes, they don’t remember it being a big sacrifice.

But I still do.

Oof…


________

Enough of that!!!! Hahahah…

I’ll write soon about something my kids got “more” of which, while not making me feel personally “redeemed” (my there are a good amount of quotation marks in this piece!), is something that I did with them thanks to the flexibility and creativity of being my own boss.

And that next piece will be the annual celebration of “Kids’ Day.” A day where I couldn’t say “no” to them on something they wanted to do and most of it cost money.

Something we’ve done now for more than a decade and has created amazing and sometimes insanely funny memories - like when the police asked us to stop something.

“More” on that one soon. :)

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Creating Connection via Coins

A few weeks back I had an amazing experience at a founder and investor retreat. During this retreat, I was informed that this is the year of the Fire Horse.

Cue epic music and the thundering of hooves.

I’m not usually aware of the Chinese new year and the face that last year was the year of the snake and that we were coming into a fire horse year, which is rare, was all new info. But this info was right time, right place.

After the retreat, I found myself in line at the post office and saw there was an Aussie $2 coin to commemorate the fire horse.

The next day I was in Sydney and saw an amazing fire horse display at a hotel that I just happened to walk by accidentally.

I’ve learned to be aware of the universe and what it’s telling you.

The next day I ordered some of these amazing Fire Horse coins:

And have gifted one coin to the founders and investors from the retreat.

But I’ve found the universe continues to put amazing new individuals in front of me who are at the precipice of a breakout year and since I’ve started carrying my coin with me, I’ve been giving it away as these remarkable people appear before me and share what they are building.

I just now ordered another batch of 50 and I’m going to be in Melbs and Sydney and Brissie (my town) for a bunch of events in the next two months.

If you’re seeing this and it’s speaking to you, talk to me.

Share what you want.

What you really want.

Give me some specifics on what you’re looking for from the universe and how I (and others) may be able to help.

Don’t be vague. Vague is a killer.

Talk specifics and let’s see what we can do!

This is a bit woo woo but if you’re reading this far, then you’re in the right place.

And I have a coin for you.

If I run out, I’ll order more and let’s keep this going!

BTW, the back says “Success arrives when the horse arrives” in characters…or at leat that what AI says it says.

EVENTS:


Founder Vibe-a-thon – Melbourne, Wed, April 15th

Build. Ship. Vibe.

​Got an idea you’ve been sitting on? This is your day to actually build it.

​Join us for a full-day vibe-a-thon, a hands-on day for founders who are ready to move fast, build smart, and ship something real.

​Who is this for?

• ​Idea-stage founders: You’ve got a concept rattling around in your head but haven’t known where to start. This is your runway. With v0, AWS, and expert support in the room, you’ll go from a blank page to a working, testable MVP in a single day. No prior technical experience required, just bring your idea and your energy.

• ​Early-stage founders: You’re already building but want to move faster and sharper. Get live input from technical solution architects, prompt experts, and VC partners to level up what you’re working on.

• ​Established startup teams: Use the time, space, and expert resources to ideate and prototype your next product concept.
  

Register here: https://luma.com/husy9mph

Startup Basketball 4v4 Tournament – Sydney, Friday May 1st

Our annual mega tournament is set for the day after Blackbird’s Sunrise Conference and we have some amazing sponsors onboard. And just a few slots left…ping me at markzmarzly@gmail.com TODAY April 3rd for a $10 discount code and to snatch the last spot!

Register here: https://luma.com/6ulnbnod

Subscribe now

Calling the event a “fun name” helped to set the expectation of something different. Guests were informed of the following ahead of the dinner:

“The middle of the evening will be a guided “single threaded conversation” with a kick-off chat featuring Francis Vierboom, Founder of Propeller and now CEO of Rewiring Australia.

He’ll share a bit about Propeller’s journey over the years and his founder story to prime the pump for an honest and closed door conversation for the group about what it means to be a bold founder and what goes with that journey.

What happens in the Unicorn Dinner, Stays at the Unicorn Dinner so bring yourself, your challenges, and go deep with some other amazing individuals.”

They were then welcomed with an agenda and nametags…helps to set the stage and make sure everyone helps get to know each other. The agenda is attached but you’ll see that it helps give everyone time to talk and intro themselves, create trust and transparency quickly, and that it’s a split agenda with no one section getting too much time.

Now I cannot share the details on the magical/serendipitous stories that were shared by our founders but will say that many were absolutely bonkers when it comes to how the universe transpires to reward us when we are specific on what we really want. :)

And this question helped to lean into our unicorn theme as well. To be honest, I was a bit uncertain that my addition of the unicorn stickers, socks for prizes, and magical story question could be off-putting but it’s important to have fun as a founder and also to be who you really are and a big part of me is fun and goofy so here we are with unicorn swag.

Part of this agenda was taken from the YPO (Young Professional Organisation) and PEF (Post Exit Founder) event formats but I added in Francie Vierboom as our “founder conversation starter” as I feel it’s often important to have someone who can go first with telling their own story to help set the tone for sharing.

And Francis did just that and more.

The final part of the event then revisits either items that came up during the conversation with Francis or items that were raised earlier in the round the room intros.

Again, cannot share the details as what happens in the van stays in the van but this group is very thoughtful and interesting so the items that interest them are also thoughtful and interesting.

So…next time you have a founder event or a similar situation where you want to go deep early with a group that is open to connection, consider a “Single Threaded Conversation” format.

I hope it’s magical!

PS – Finding the right location where you have some privacy and can hear the conversation is crucial…which is why we turned to Petko and Chefin for the location and private chef. It wasn’t any more than a similar booking for 15 people in any major city and the privacy was wonderful.

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Upcoming Events:

Melbourne – March 3 (today!) & 4 and with a Startup Bball Run tomorrow at 8:30am: https://luma.com/l7eky6h8

I’ll be in Adelaide for SOUTHSTART March 16-19 – ping me if you’ll be there and want to connect. I’m also hosting a small event for investors, and some select founders on Monday, March 16^th.

Auckland March 30 – April 1 for the NZ VC Summit - ping me if you’ll be there or are located there.

As an American, I was confused. Didn’t everyone just take off the three days between Chrissy and New Years and then get back to work?

Nine Aussie Januarys later, and I just got back to the office on Jan 7 after being away since Dec 8. If you can’t beat them, join them. :)

But I still like to get the ball rolling early so here we are on Jan 15 and I’m off to Melbs Jan 21 for a quick trip and VC dinner and then in Sydney Jan 28-29 for a few events. All of which are listed below.

Apologies if you’re still on vacation but I’ll be back with some Feb events soon.

Something New for 2026!

In the spirit of trying new things in 2026 and not just going with the flow, this Substack will be evolving away from just “Z’s Aussie Startup/VC Events & News Source“ to a more regular Substack that will include events as they come but will also be about sharing my insights into startups and creating new things.

If you’re not in this for insights and just events, then please do unsubscribe if needed….but I hate to see you go.

I decided on this Substack pivot after making CREATE my word of 2026.

I’ve had mixed results with using a “word for a year” with MAGNETIC creating a hell of a lot of opportunities in 2023 but BREEZY creating a very un-breezy hectic year in 2024. I think I skipped 2025 I was so un-breezed. :)

So, without further adieu, here’s a bit of content about creating things and then the events at the end.

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Z’s Thoughts on creating…welcoming communities and environments.

I host a LOT of events and programs with my work at AWS and also a couple of communities on the side (basketball anyone?). :)

When I create a new program or event, it’s always been imperative to me to make sure that the opening of the program and any pre comms talk about:

• the intention of the program

• the group make up

• pre intros, when possible

• a welcome from me or our partners that sets the tone for what’s to come

Why do I do this? Simply put, because five to 10 minutes on this can drastically change the speed of trust for the group. It also helps put people at ease and you’d be surprised how much inner dialogue may be happening with founders.

”Do I belong her?”

”What do I have to contribute?”

I did an entrepreneurial program once in NYC and one of the biggest early statements uttered by the leader was this: “You’re right where you need to be and you’re already accepted.”

Now that phrase doesn’t need to be uttered when you board a crowded elevator - unless you want the cops called - but in that setting of 40 entrepreneurs from all over the country who didn’t know each other but who would be spending a year together in both onsite immersive weeks four times a year and in monthly online programming, it was exactly what we needed to hear to show up fully.

I was on the opposite side of a welcoming community during my trip back to the states when I was looking to join a gym and some pick up basketball games for three weeks.

They gym only offered $25 USD single use drop in passes and, while they had drop in bball, they couldn’t tell me anything about the types of players and how it was structured…even though it was their program.

While I did sweet talk them into a $75 USD for unlimited visits for three weeks, I caught the flu the week I finally mustered up the desire to check out the games.

Even though I host 25 startup basketball events and have new members visit each run and host a mens’ bball run every Sunday in Brisbane and add in new guests each month, I’d forgotten what I was like to put myself out there and step into a new event and group and wonder if I’d be accepted.

Don’t forget what it’s like to be an attendee in an unfamiliar environment and, as a host, your job is the create the environment that makes them feel welcome and accepted from the get go.

When I returned to Brisbane after that US bball experience, our next mens’ bball run had five new players including our first ever female player so I wrote up our group’s mantra, rules, and other info for the newbies to make sure that they felt welcome. I also asked them to find me early and/or I’d find them to welcome them onsite.

I also worked with some of the core members of that group on the above mantra and rules to get their input and also shared them to all to reiterate why we’re here and what the group’s motives are (fun and friendship).

EVENTS: Something New for 2026!

“Founder Vibe-a-thon” on Jan 28 in SYDNEY from 11:30 to 6:30pm.

Side Stage Ventures, Blackbird, AWS, and Vercel invite you to a half-day hackathon designed to empower:

​- Idea stage founders, especially non-technical founders, who are exploring new ideas and want to build an MVP to market test their ideas.

- ​Early-stage founders who want to iterate quickly on an existing idea with input from technical solution architects, prompt experts, and Venture Capital partners to build a more robust and valuable solution.

- ​Established startup teams who want to use the time and resources to ideate and prototype new product concepts.

Full details and rego here: https://luma.com/35ugmsnh

Sydney Startup Poker Jan 28 at 6:30 pm.

I’m co-hosting this event with the legendary Rayn Ong and it’s part of his rotating series of poker events dating back to 2024. We’re already full but you can join the waitlist in case others drop or to let us know you’re interest for a future session. Do that here: https://luma.com/vuwgei06

EXITED FOUNDER EVENTS - Sydney Jan 29 and Brisbane Jan 30

Did you sell your previous startup and want to connect with others who have done the same? Myself and Nick Holmes a Court are members of PEF aka “Post Exit Founder” community and are hosting events in Sydney on Jan 29 and Brisbane on Jan 30.

If you’ve sold out (in a good way) then please message or email me for the details. :)

Also one of these coming to Melbs in Feb or March!

As always, please share this online or with others in your network who are keen to join the events or hear more from me. :)

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But I’m not bitter about not winning or not retiring after my Trex Apex!

Not.

At.

All.

So…anyways…I’m headed to Sydney this week for SXSW Sydney and have judged the pitch comp for the AI and Big Data Category and now am hosting these events for those who wish to drink from the chalice of the Z events cup, which always runnith over for founders and friends.

Tuesday, Oct 14: We’re co-hosting the Creative House Party 2025 with our friends at Side Stage Ventures, Linktree, and Unified Music Group. I may have one special secret ticket for one of you but will have to lottery it off so let me know if you’re keen. :)

https://partiful.com/e/eZfIEX2lBgObJxNoyuVg

Wed, Oct 15 - Morning: I’m hosting two SXBball Runs (but don’t call them that for fear of SXSW logo infringement) so we’ll call them Startup Basketball Runs at both 7:30am and 8:30am at Syd uni.

7:30am run is here: https://luma.com/7rm93sto

8:30am run is here: https://luma.com/uvta837p

Thursday, Oct 16 at 8am: Want to sell more SaaS to people? Well then do I have a deal for you! Working with my friends at EVP (Equity Venture Partners) and Vanta to host a session on Go-to-Market with Vanta’s Global GTM Lead.

We’re above the cap but I can get you off the waitlist if you’re keen…rego here: https://luma.com/honcsojv

Friday, Oct 17 at 9am: Finally, I’m hosting some real GenAI builders with NVIDIA and Vanta for a very exclusive brekkie in Surry Hills for those who are deeply tech and building models for a fireside and networking. Invite only. Email me at iammark@amazon.com to express your interest.


If this post has taught you nothing, you should know that you cannot win in life if you don’t show up and play ball and dress as a Trex.

Don’t be a Velociraptor…share this with your friends:

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Fri, Sept 26 (Sydney) 8am – Startup Basketball at King George Courts: https://luma.com/0xuvm412

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UPCOMING…STAY TUNED:

Oct 14 in SYD - The inaugural Australian CVC Summit, a one-of-a-kind event that brings together high calibre leaders in corporate venturing/innovation, startups, and venture capital for pointed insights on what’s working, and opportunities. We’re technically fully but can add to waitlist if you’re in the corporate VC, M&A, Innovation or similar space.

Oct 16 in SYD - B2B Scaling Sales and Founder Fireside Session with Vanta’s Global GTM lead from US. Rego coming soon.

Oct 17 - SYD - NVIDIA, AWS, and VANTA GenAI Founder Brekkie – invite only.

Nov 5 – SYD – WIP but doing a session on building your brand as a founder.

Nov TBD - SYD – Hackathon with some VCs and a global Vibe Coding partner.

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Brisbane next week!

Michael Batko of Startmate is headed to town for a series of events, including:

How I Built This: Live Founder Demos II AI Roadshow with Startmate’s CEO - Monday, July 28 at 6pm. Rego here.

Startup Striders 5k Run + Coffee Tues, July 28 at 6:30am. Rego here.

Founder & Investor Drinks with Startmate's CEO Tues, July 28 at 6pm here.

Several QLD startups have been in Startmate’s past cohorts including Bugcrowd (OG), Eggy, and most recently Zipline AI. Worth meeting Michael if Startmate is of interest!


Brissie and Gold Coast Startup Basketball Runs:

Tues, July 28 at 8:30am: https://lu.ma/qphay20k

Wed, Aug 13th in Gold Coast: https://lu.ma/co38c4f9

Special Sponsored Run (WITH JERSEYS) on Friday, Aug 29th at 7:15am: https://lu.ma/ot0r034a

Sydney in Aug!

Aug 11th - AWS Unicorn Day. Detailed agenda still to come but rego is open here.

Aug 12th - Sydney Startup Basketball at 7:30am: https://lu.ma/zdq65eao

Melbs?? Well, I just got back from 2 days there where we hosted 52 CTOs for a Tech Leader Meetup, had our first ever Startup Bball event with a charity angle (Raised a few hundred) for the World’s Greatest Shave via Paz Pisarski and Alan Jones of M8 Ventures, and worked with Launch Vic and Archangel Ventures to host 99 founders and investors at the Founder Funder Connect Day on Wed.

Pics of all are below and were all advertised in last Substack so keep coming back for more and share with a mate! :)

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PS - rumour has it there may be another Founder Funder Connect Day in Melbs late this year so stay tuned! I’m out! Z

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MY AGENDA:

July 22nd - I arrive midday…will there be a red carpet or just a jet bridge? Or stairs to tarmac? Time will tell.


Tues, July 22: CTO/Tech Leader MeetUp and Fireside Conversation at 4pm.

Join a group of 25+ Scaling CTOs and other Tech Leaders on Tues, July 22^nd at 4pm/

We’re organising a small fireside conversation with some local CTOs, including:

Simon Raik-Allen, CTO of Mindset Heath.
Chris Zhong, Founder of Tavo AI.
Aaron Chipper, Cofounder and CTO of FrankieOne.

And then group conversation and networking with drinks and nibbles.

3:45 pm to 4:10pm: Arrival

4:10 pm: Welcome & Panel Intro

4:40-4:45 pm: Panel Concludes

4:45 pm: Conversations, Networking, Drinks, Food.

MESSAGE ME FOR INVITE if you’re a CTO or Tech Lead. I have come capacity.

Wed, July 23: Startup Basketball for Founders & Funders at 9:15am

This is our first ever event with a charity component with all bball rego fees being donated to the Leukemia Foundation as part of the World’s Greatest Shave and thanks to court sponsors M8 Ventures and the community building legend Paz Pisarski! You can donate here if inclined: www.worldsgreatestshave.com/fundraisers/pazpisarski/2025.

Rego here: https://lu.ma/execygnu Almost sold out!

Wed, July 23: WAITLIST ALREADY. Founder Funder Connect at 1pm

We're gathering together a group of 70+ startup founders who are looking to fundraise to help them connect to the Australia investor community.

This half-day event will focus on the ins and outs of capital raising. From structuring your round and preparing your data room, to understanding equity and investor expectations.

You’ll hear firsthand from founders who’ve raised in the current market, meet investors in curated small-group sessions, and wrap it all up with relaxed networking drinks.

Whether you're raising your first round or preparing for your Seed/Series A, this is your chance to gain practical insights and build genuine connections with the best of the best of Victoria's investor community.

Due to demand, one founder registration per startup only please. UNFORTUNATELY we’re already on waitlist after just 10 days but you can join the waitlist in case anyone drops out.

Rego is here: https://lu.ma/21pz3pdp

And while I’d love to grab coffee with any/all of you when I visit, it’s not been possible with the scale of our work but do message me if you need something from AWS like an account rep connection or are looking to migrate or scale. Cheers! Z

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Sydney June 26: The Finnies Awards…judged by yours truly. I’ll be down (have to buy a jacket!) and would love to see you there.

https://www.thefinnies.org.au/

Sydney June 27: HCLS (Healthcare & Life Sciences) founder invite only brekkie at 9:30am with Nic Blair, founder of Midnight Health. Message me for possible inclusion…founders only plz.



Sydney (and online) July 1: Expansion Planning Masterclass with Startup Daily. https://www.startupdaily.net/expansion-planning-masterclass/

Melbs July 23: 80 Founders who are Raising and 20 Funders who are Funding….for a half day event in Melbourne with Archangel Ventures and LaunchVic. No rego yet so save the date…watch this space as the kids say.



Queensland Opps:

Startup World Cup Queensland Applications Open Now: https://innovatemoretonbay.com.au/about-us/2025-innovate-moreton-bay-program/who-will-be-named-queenslands-best-startup


77 Partners Program Apps Open: https://www.77partners.vc/challenge

Until next time! Z

Don’t be greddy….share with your friends.

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Basketball, anyone? If you don’t know by now, I’m a bit of a basketball fan and organize startup basketball events in 5 cities around Australia for founders, investors, and ecosystem supporters. Our biggest event is the May 2nd Tournament in Sydney and has more than 120 players with 3 slots left. Register here: https://lu.ma/qd1cqhk9

You can read more about startup basketball here and follow our luma calendar here if you’d like to join in the fun sometime. :)


Interested in Y Combinantor?

I’m working with past Y Combinator Alum and current 77 Partners Venture Partner Yotam Rosenbaum to host another Ask Me Anything session for ANZ companies intersted in applying to YC. We did one back in Jan for more than 100 attendees and this next session is May 2nd for anyone you know who are interested in how Y Combinator can expedite their growth.

Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/y-combinator-insights-for-australian-founders



Finally, the AWS Summit is coming to Sydney June 4-5. Summit is a great event for any stage and industry focused startup. Find out more and register here: https://aws.amazon.com/events/summits/sydney/

Brisbane Startup Co-Working with Black Sheep Capital and AWS for Founders is Monday, April 7th. Dan Gavel of Black Sheep will run office hours for 6 founders and our AWS team will have them as well! We have 2 slots left and I have enabled the wait list after we’re full:

https://lu.ma/lyl6yxvq

And I wouldn’t be me with out a plug for Basketball!

Our massive yearly tournament is Friday, May 2nd and we’ve filled 106 out of 120 slots!

Our custome jersey order goes in this Wednesday so if you’re a founder or startup employee, please register to join us for a half day 4v4 tourney and then lunch and drinks thanks to our 9 (yes, 9!) wonderful sponsors.

Link to rego is here: https://lu.ma/qd1cqhk9

More events soon! Z

After a successful March Madness event in 2024 that saw more than 70 players, we’re launching our 2025 tournament and expect more than 100 players! And we’re upping our swag game with custom reversible startup jerseys for all players and customised jersey name and number for those who register before March 1. DM me if you want to rego early before we go live.

Finally, we have a couple of sponsors lined up to cover the post tourney lunch/drinks and court costs, we’re still on the hunt for jersey sponsors who will have their logos on the jersey and be featured in all the online pre and post event content. Reach out if you’re interested in chipping in.

BRISBANE EVENTS:

Tues, Feb 11 Startup Lunch & Learn re:Invent re:Cap Brisbane: https://go.aws/4gkMn8M

Thurs, Feb 27 - Special Invite Only Founder Lunch with CEO and CTO of Splash (www.splashmusic.com). DM me if you’re interested in joining the waitlist.

Mon, March 3 – Startup Founder Co-working at AWS Office. Join 20 founders and guest VC Black Sheep Capital to cowork and network: https://lu.ma/02sts2xp

SYDNEY EVENTS:

Tues, Feb 11 Startup Lunch & Learn re:Invent re:Cap Sydney: https://aws.amazon.com/startups/events/aws-startups-lunch-learn-reinvent-recap-sydney-q1

Thurs, Feb 13 Unlock the Power of DeepSeek AI Models on AWS - Sydney at 1pm:
https://aws.amazon.com/startups/events/unlock-the-power-of-deepseek-ai-models-on-aws-sydney

Wed, Feb 26 - Master the Art of Startup Fundraising: https://aws.amazon.com/startups/events/master-the-art-of-startup-fundraising-q12025?register=IN_PERSON

MELBOURNE EVENT:

Tues, Feb 11 Startup Lunch & Learn re:Invent re:Cap Melbourne: https://aws.amazon.com/startups/events/aws-startups-lunch-learn-reinvent-recap-melbourne-q1

STARTUP BASEKTBALL:

Brisbane Tues, Feb 25 at 3pm: https://lu.ma/005dct12

Adelaide for SOUTHSTART on March 4 at 2pm: https://lu.ma/hyapd1wh

March Madness Tournament in SYD on Friday, March 28^th rego coming soon! DM me if you’re keen to support with logistics.

ATTENTION FOUNDERS WHO ARE RAISING FUNDS IN 2025:

After two successful cohorts of the “Founders Fellowship Program” in 2024, I’ll be running three cohorts in 2025 to help founders who are raising funds from VCs and angels. The program provides access to the 20+ VCs I work with as well as practical tips on funding, but, most importantly, it provides you with a fellowship of 50 other founders who are on the same journey so you can learn from and support one another. The EOI for the next cohort is live here (https://bit.ly/FounderFellowship3) and it will kick off on Feb 26 in Sydney. This is an amazing opportunity…and it’s FREE!

Don’t forget to refer your friends to the fellowship!

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Founder Before Fellowship Program:

Founder AFTER Fellowship Program:

** These are cats, not actual founders…for illustrative purposes only.

ANZ Founders with an Eye on Y Combinator?

I’m working with former YC founder Yotam Rosenbaum (YC Winter 2011) and 2 recent YC founders (2024 alumni and a current Aussie W25 founder) to demystify the YC application process and supply additional insights into the process and program. Webinar will be Friday Jan 24 at 3:30pm AEDT.

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQlGEdVksD_uxs7JGEY_t3O7DkzgVtSzJolAMdMfGQAYUHBQ/viewform

SYDNEY EVENTS Jan 23, 28, & 29:

Thurs, Jan 23:

2025 will see another "ChatGPT moment" in AI. Founders who understand what's around the corner will be best positioned to capitalise on a year of significant change and technological acceleration. To help explain what's on the horizon, we're bringing you a special fireside conversation with AI researcher and engineer Sholto Douglas, who is about to join the Anthropic team. Sholto became well-known in technical circles for his work on Gemini and at DeepMind, and there are few better people to hear from on the topic of what's coming in generative AI.

This event is most relevant for CTOs and technical founders or senior engineers interested in getting behind the curtain of cutting edge AI and machine learning research at some of the world's leading companies and institutions.

Space is extremely limited but let me know if you’re an AI CTO or Tech Founder and funded.

Tues, Jan 28:
I’m doing another invite only Tech Leader Brekkie on Jan 28 at 9:30 am in Sydney with Ada Guan, CEO and Co-Founder Rich Data Co. We’ll dig into RDC’s journey from inception to their $34M USD Series B. Most of the founders attending are selling AIML to enterprise so we’ll dig into that topic as well. Please contact me to be considered…I usually save one slot for my substackers!


Wed, Jan 29:

Are you a VC investor? I’m running a special 2pm event at our Market St office called “2025 High Growth Startup Opportunities from AWS for VC portfolio companies.” Let me know if you’re keen to join?

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BRISSIE/QLD Based Founders:

Co-Work at the AWS Brisbane Office on Feb 3rd at 2pm.

​Co-work with other startup founders, a guest VC (Feb's VC is Llew Jury of Sprint Ventures - see more below), and your local AWS Startup team from 2-5pm at our offices at 300 George St, Level 30

​Free wifi, drinks, and snacks while you work. We’ll have a large room and 6 small rooms booked out as well as some cubbies so you can go heads down on your work or work in the open to socialise.

Limit 20 max per session (once a month) and we’ll share everyone’s LinkedIn profiles ahead of time to promote connection ahead of the day.

Register here: https://lu.ma/bpi4ymn2



The 77 Venture Challenge is open for applications now

The 77 Venture Challenge bridges the gap between being "pitch ready" and "investment ready." It’s for QLD based early stage ventures preparing to raise pre-seed, seed or pre-Series A capital.

- Free and equity-free
- Most past participants have successfully raised capital
- Three alumni got into Y Combinator

Apply ASAP here: https://www.77partners.vc/challenge

State of Startup Funding

Folklore ventures, Five V and others are hosting the wider startup community at launch parties for the latest State of Startup Funding Report in early February.

This report marks the largest crowd sourced data set on local startup funding (with input from thousands of local investors and founders across AU). Events in Sydney and Melbourne in early February. Sign ups here:

• 4th February in Sydney: https://lu.ma/wu06ami9

• 6th February in Melbourne: https://lu.ma/xh9fzvp2

And no Z Substack would be complete without some Startup Bball events:

Brisbaen Jan 22: https://lu.ma/ana5lc6l

Sydney Jan 29: https://lu.ma/z2ddk97z

Gold Coast Jan 30: https://lu.ma/if2dswdy

Subscribe to our Australia Startup Basketball Calendar here: https://lu.ma/aussiestartupbball and to our newsletter here: https://da-bench.com

Until then, I’ll be practicing my dunks!

If you enjoyed this substack and have even one founder friend, please share this with them so we can all benefit from the network effect!

Share Z’s Aussie Startup/VC Events & News Source

Nov 22 in Brisbane – the Annual TEN13 Runway Conference is one! I’ve been all 4 years and this is a DO NOT MISS event! I’ll be there and you can join here: https://events.humanitix.com/runway-2024

Nov 25 – Monday in Sydney – Founder & Funder Event from 1-7pm. 75 founders who are raising capital and 15 investors with capital to invest!

Almost at 95 capacity but waitlist is an option. Check it out here: https://lu.ma/2lc50d1a

Nov 26 – Tuesday in Sydney – Startup Basketball at 7:30 at Hoops Capital East. Rego open here: https://lu.ma/vfkmb2jq

Nov 26 – Tuesday in Sydney – Invite only Founder Brekkie with the Founders of Relevance AI as Fireside Conversation Starter. I have 1 slot for the readers of this newsletter. Find me to raise a hand and I’ll draw straws.



Nov 27 – Wed in Sydney is Basketball-palooza with 3 Basketball Related Events….and one awesome EOY Lunch for Founders.

- 9am – Fintech Specific Basketball Networking Event – Play ball while meeting new people in Fintech! Rego here: https://lu.ma/l1ch5zw3

- 9am – Not in Fintech? Well, we have a Startup/Scale-up General Networking Basketball opion at the same time on a diff court!  Rego here: https://lu.ma/l25d915v

- 11am – For those in our startup basketball groups (312 and growing) we have a special End-of-Year session and lunch. Rego here: https://lu.ma/8tdzzy1l

- Noon – not a baller on the court but a startup baller and keen to meet other ballers and hear from an OG baller named Simon Lee? Then we have a great Startup/Scale-up Lunch & Networking event here: https://lu.ma/q9yrh7o6



Dec 4 in Brisbane – Dazed & Diffused AI Event Coming with Sprint VC and AWS. Rego page coming soon!


Dec 12 in Brisbane – A Tech Leader Invite Only Brekkie with the CTO of TrusstAI. I have 1 slot for the readers of this newsletter. Find me to raise a hand and I’ll draw straws.

I’ll be taking some down time in Mid Dec and until early Jan but hope to be back strong in 2025! Happy Holidays if I don’t see you before then. Z

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What Founders Should Look for in Their First Investor Webinar – Oct 23 at 3pm

Some of my favs in Maxine, Elli, and Rayn!

https://aws.amazon.com/startups/events/what-founders-should-look-for-in-their-first-investor-webinar

Other Events in Chronological Order:

Sydney Startup Sydney – Thurs, Oct 17^th at 8am and 9am

8am Session: https://lu.ma/x2yxkcyq
9am Session: https://lu.ma/kwmxo8fo 

Queensland Startups Networking Lunch – Oct 17^th at 9:45am

The event will kick off at 9:45am with an opportunity to network over coffee and pastries.

Then we'll hear a few lightning talks from your AWS team with fun demos and stories from the trenches.

This will be followed by Scott Hutchens from Dabble.com and Colin McCririck from Midnight Health who will share their journeys warts-and-all, so far.

A networking lunch will be provided giving you more chances to connect with attendees from across the startup eco-system.

Full link here: https://aws.amazon.com/startups/events/queensland-startups-networking-lunch-q42024

Melbs Startup Ball – Wed, Oct 23 at 10am


Hosted by my friends at Teamified. Email Brandon Burns <brandon.burns@teamified.com.au> to join.




Unicorn Day event in Melbs – Thurs, Oct 24 from 10am to 7pm.

This is a unique one-day event to gain invaluable insights from a lineup of speakers who have built thriving businesses from the ground up, AWS and experts

At AWS Unicorn Day, you'll have the opportunity to:

• Hear from founders of Australia's top unicorn startups about their journeys to success and how they have disrupted industries

• Attend breakouts to learn more about how to scale your business.

• Network with other entrepreneurs, investors, and tech leaders shaping the future of innovation

• Explore the latest products, services and offerings from AWS, startups, partners, ecosystem peers and more!

Spaces are limited, so be sure to register soon at the event page: https://pages.awscloud.com/unicorn-day-melbourne.html

Gold Coast Startup Basketball – Fri, Nov 8^th at 8am: https://lu.ma/zu96zg6w

Other Upcoming Events – you can email me if you’re keen to join as some won’t be public.

Sydney – End of November to Early Dec (Dates TBD):

·      50 founders and 25 investors Connection Day

·      GenAI in Finance Half Day Event

·      AI Founder Brekkie with Relevance AI Founder as Featured Conversation.

·      FinTech Basketball Networking Event

·      VC Lunch with Global GTM Success Trends as main topic

Feel free to share these two events and this subtack with others. :)

What else do you need for events and outcomes? How can I better deliver outcome for founders? My ears and inbox are open! Thx. Z

BRISBANE ALL DAY MAY 30!

Our startup team is hosting 3 events in Brissie on May 30^th for startups.

8:30am – Tidal Ventures & Founder Coffee. Great opportunity for those looking to raise Venture Capital. Registration: https://aws-startup-lofts.com/apj/e/5cad0/tidal-ventures--founder-coffee

10am to 2pm - Queensland Startups Networking Lunch. Come meet other startups and hear from Swyftx and Zeligate on their journeys from startup to scaleups. https://aws-startup-lofts.com/apj/e/31870/queensland-startups-bbq

3:30pm – Startup Pickup Basketball at QUT: https://lu.ma/1teajf7f

Finally, if you’re a B2B SaaS founder who is post product and looking to raise capital in the next year…then consider joining together with 40 or 50 other founders who are on that same journey for some support and resource sharing in Sydney. The Founder Fellowship Program is running another cohort that will launch in June and the EOI (Expression of Interest) for this free and invite only group is now up here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSedrbH-gmrFd1SkKvAZUtuiOaFKtOG5e7LtKQ-mQe_-ZqhrjQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Some pics of the last group who got access to each other, investors, food, etc. :)

Here’s what others had to say about the last cohort in Dec to Feb:

“This has been amazing, the learning from the chat and the connections I made during the sessions took me from 1 person with 0 confidence to 3 clients and several introductions to VC's making it not feel as scary or alone! I am so glad I responded to the random Facebook thread!“

”Congrats on such a great job hosting this. A lot of people have gotten a lot of value and this type of work is very impactful in the startup community. Grateful to have participated.”

”I had such a great time, thank you for putting this together, it is awesome to spend time with people excited by their idea.”

”This is a really special group. I'm really grateful for it. Mark is doing an amazing job”

I am, aren’t I? :)

Feb 20: Startup Basketball Sydney - 4:30pm at King George Rec Centre: https://lu.ma/c5qbr06o

Feb 21: Fundraising Webinar at Noon AEDT - For those looking for their first investors, Maxine, Cheryl, and Matthew are offering a great webinar on Feb 21 and you can register at bit.ly/firstinvestor

Feb 22: Scale your Startup with MongoDB & AWS at 8:45am to 10:30am - We'll guide you through the fundamentals of AWS services and MongoDB Atlas, dive into an engaging exploration into the trending realm of Generative AI and discuss moving from startup to scale up with our expert panel. Reg: https://events.mongodb.com/scaleyourstartup-sydney

Feb 22: Scaling from PLG to Product-Led-Sales with Michael Chetner 5pm to 7pm in Sydney. Register here: https://lu.ma/y2vr0qx4

Feb 27: Sydney AI in FinTech Founder Invite Only Lunch - message me if you’re keen to hear more but generally for Series A or later only.

Feb 27: Startup Basketball Sydney - 4:30pm at King George Rec Centre: https://lu.ma/6gcupqhi

Feb 28: Startup Founder & Advisor/Investor Connect in Sydney - 12:30 to 5:30pm. I’m gathering together a group of 50+ startup founders who will be fundraising in 2024 to help them connect to more advisors and investors. The main focus of this half day event will be a VC Panel, small group advisor and investor meetings, and then we'll end with casual drinks/networking. Waiting List is here but I’m working to open up more slots: https://aws-startup-lofts.com/apj/e/06966/startup-founder--advisorinvestor-connect

Feb 28: Tractor Ventures and AWS present Elasticity: 2024 Tech Funding Levers. at 5:30pm in Sydney: There's many ways to fund a company growth in 2024. 'Elasticity' event focusses on fundraising trends and how to use it to your advantage. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/elasticity-2024-tech-funding-levers-tickets-837170037117?aff=oddtdtcreator

March 22: Startup Basketball March Madness Event in Sydney - 3v3 or 4v4 tourney followed by mixer and NCAA basketball watch party. Register your interest here: https://forms.gle/xnSxdQsJddxCSKZPA

Finally, have money burning a hole in your pocket? Then join my $1 Trillion Round for my Stealth Startup. More details here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markzmarzly_i-too-am-raising-a-trillion-dollars-for-activity-7162562944625561600-mx17?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Actual pic of me in $1T fundraising mode:

See ya soon! Z

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