Episode Summary
Dean McEvoy is a seasoned startup founder and angel investor, having founded three startups including http://spreets.com/, Australia’s first group buying site, which launched in February 2010 and sold only 11 months later for around $40 million. A founding mentor and investor at Startmate, Dean has advised and invested in over 96 startups. In his conversation with Adam, Dean discusses the origin story of http://spreets.com/, co-founding Tech Sydney, and how important it is for founders to not get too much of their ego involved in their startup.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Day One Podcast
00:29 Meet Dean McEvoy
01:06 Dean's First Involvement in the Startup Ecosystem
01:44 The Origin of Booking Angel
02:56 Early Days of the Australian Startup Community
04:12 Transition from Booking Angel to Spreets
05:04 Learning from Silicon Valley
06:15 Closing a Deal Before Returning to Australia
07:13 Collaborating with Polonizer
08:05 The Concept Behind Spreets
10:06 Launching Spreets
11:00 The Importance of Execution and Feedback
12:09 The Aussie Mafia and Community Support
13:20 The Intention Behind Starting Spreets
15:34 Post-Spreets Plans and Icon Park
18:09 The Role of Tech Sydney
20:11 Building a Startup Hub
22:20 The Importance of Density in Startup Ecosystems
23:35 Future Directions for Tech Sydney
24:51 Key Takeaways for New Founders
27:10 The Importance of Curiosity and Passion
29:26 Closing Remarks
Resources
Dean McEvoy’s website: https://www.deanmcevoy.com/Tech Sydney: https://www.techsydney.com.au/Startmate: https://www.startmate.com/
