Lars Rasmussen
Founding Board Member at Panathēnea
Lars Rasmussen is a renowned technology entrepreneur and angel investor, best known as the co-founder of Google Maps. He is currently a Founding Board Member at Panathēnea, a not-for-profit festival of innovation in Athens, Greece. Lars has a rich history in the tech industry, having co-founded Where 2 Tech, which was acquired by Google and became the foundation for Google Maps. He later worked at Google as an Engineering Manager and Member of Technical Staff. Lars also served as Director of Engineering at Facebook, where he managed the Graph Search team and led the Workplace project. As an angel investor, he has invested in companies like Canva, Astranis, and BitFury. Lars holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and has a passion for kite surfing and coffee.
In their own words
From Lars Rasmussen discusses the key ingredients for successful founders · The History of the Australian Startup Ecosystem - Interview SeriesYou have to have this undying bordering on irrational belief that of course you can, because then it turns out that you actually can.
Career
- Now Founding Board Member · Panathēnea
- 2015–2023 · Startup Co-founder · Weav Music
- 2010–2015 · Scale-up Engineering Director, Graph Search · Facebook
- 2004–2010 · Scale-up Head of Google Maps; co-creator, Google Wave · Google
- 2003–2004 · Startup Co-founder · Where 2 Technologies
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Key moments
Jump straight to the part of Lars Rasmussen discusses the key ingredients for successful founders you want.
- 0:32 Meet Lars Rasmussen
- 1:25 Lars' Background and Journey to Entrepreneurship
- 2:28 Founding Google Maps
- 3:36 Choosing Sydney as a Base
- 4:27 The Startup Ecosystem in Sydney Post Dot-Com Bubble
- 8:01 The Vibrant Community of Sydney
- 10:51 Misconceptions About Australians and Work Ethic
- 12:31 Growth of the Startup Ecosystem in Australia
- 15:15 Opportunities for Improvement in Australian Startups
- 16:45 The Role of Crisis in Startup Success
Heard on
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▶ Panathēnea on Day One
Panathēnea is a not-for-profit festival of innovation in technology and culture held annually in Athens during springtime. 1 person · 2 episodes → Connections
Adam SpencerHost, Documentary: The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem
Michael BatkoCEO, Hourglass AI
Wayne GerardFounder, Partner Ventures, Partner Ventures (Prtnr)
Petr AdámekCEO, Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN)
Peter DevineFormer CEO, Uniseed, Uniseed
Rohit BhargavaFounder & Director, Playbook Media, Playbook Media
Terry HilsbergPartner, Fork Ventures, Fork Ventures
Peter BraddChief Evangelist, Miro Spot something wrong? Suggest a correction Updated 25 September 2026
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