Episode Summary:
Mick Liubinskas is the founder of Climate Salad, an organisation that aims to boost climate tech companies in Australia and New Zealand by providing tools, programs and community support. Mick has a long history working within the startup ecosystem both in Australia and overseas, and notably was co-founder of Pollenizer, one of Australia’s first startup incubators. This is a special episode featuring guest host Alan Jones, an investor and veteran of Australia’s startup ecosystem who has supported Australian startups independently and through BlueChilli, Blackbird Ventures, Pollenizer Ventures and Startmate. In the conversation, Mick and Alan compare notes on the early days of Australia’s startup ecosystem, and discuss Mick’s belief that Australia’s startup ecosystem would be stronger with a single city leading as the central hub for startups within the country.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Day One Podcast
00:18 Meet Mick Liubinskas
00:52 Early Days in Marketing and Startups
01:53 Transition from Corporate to Startups
03:17 Overview of Tangler
05:39 Challenges of Non-Lean Approaches
08:39 The Impact of Early Adopters
10:12 Introduction to Pollenizer
12:56 Successes and Learnings from Pollenizer
14:10 Notable Achievements with Spreets
19:40 Commitment to Climate Technology
20:17 Journey to Climate Salad
25:40 Goals and Impact of Climate Salad
29:09 Gaps and Opportunities in the Australian Startup Ecosystem
33:26 The Importance of a Concentrated Startup Community
35:00 Advice for New Entrepreneurs
37:38 The Future of Climate Tech
39:00 Closing Remarks