Episode Summary:
After practicing as a lawyer for six years, Paul Bassat co-founded Seek with his brother Andrew in 1997, which in 2005 was floated on the Australian Securities Exchange with a market cap of $587 million. Paul moved on from Seek in 2011, and in 2012 co-founded Square Peg, a global investment firm which today has over US $1 billion in assets and has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Tel Aviv and Singapore. Paul is also a Commissioner of the Australian Football League, and a director of Wesfarmers LTD. In his conversation with Adam, Paul discusses what it was like founding an internet startup in the early days before Australia’s ecosystem had developed, as well as the remarkable rate of change in the ecosystem over the last several years.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Day One Podcast
00:29 Meet Paul Bassat
00:44 Paul’s First Exposure to the Internet
01:26 The Startup Ecosystem in the 90s
02:14 The Idea for SEEK
03:43 The Authenticity of Founding Stories
05:04 Reflections on the Journey to Entrepreneurship
06:01 Resources for Startups in the 90s
08:47 Advantages from Legal Experience
09:38 Roles and Responsibilities at SEEK
10:42 Transition to Square Peg
12:05 The Evolution of the Australian Startup Ecosystem
13:45 The Importance of Local Role Models
15:23 The Rise of New Founders
16:41 The Impact of Venture Capital
18:13 Surprises in the Startup Landscape
20:06 Personal Reflections on Building SEEK
22:26 The Growth of the Australian Startup Ecosystem
25:01 The Need for More Capital and Talent
26:41 Advice for New Founders
30:44 Closing Thoughts on the Future of Startups
