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Lars Rasmussen

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 Series
You have to have this undying bordering on irrational belief that of course you can, because then it turns out that you actually can.
▶ Lars Rasmussen discusses the key ingredients for successful founders

Career

  1. Now Founding Board Member · Panathēnea
  2. 2015–2023 · Startup Co-founder · Weav Music
  3. 2010–2015 · Scale-up Engineering Director, Graph Search · Facebook
  4. 2004–2010 · Scale-up Head of Google Maps; co-creator, Google Wave · Google
  5. 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.

  1. 0:32 Meet Lars Rasmussen
  2. 1:25 Lars' Background and Journey to Entrepreneurship
  3. 2:28 Founding Google Maps
  4. 3:36 Choosing Sydney as a Base
  5. 4:27 The Startup Ecosystem in Sydney Post Dot-Com Bubble
  6. 8:01 The Vibrant Community of Sydney
  7. 10:51 Misconceptions About Australians and Work Ethic
  8. 12:31 Growth of the Startup Ecosystem in Australia
  9. 15:15 Opportunities for Improvement in Australian Startups
  10. 16:45 The Role of Crisis in Startup Success

Connections

Spot something wrong? Suggest a correction Updated 25 September 2026

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