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Paul Bassat

Co-founder & Partner at Square Peg

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Paul Bassat

About Paul Bassat

Paul Bassat is co-founder and partner of Square Peg, the venture capital firm he started in 2012 to back founders building global businesses. He has led Square Peg's investments in companies including Airwallex, Athena, Constantinople, Rokt, UpGuard and Zeller. He has been an AFL commissioner since 2012, and in 2023 he founded AMPLIFY, a non-partisan community organisation that he chairs.

Before Square Peg, he co-founded SEEK in 1997 and was its chief executive, then joint chief executive, until 2011. He was a director of Wesfarmers from 2012 to 2018.

On Day One's History of the Australian Startup Ecosystem interview series, he examined how the ecosystem has evolved, and he also features in the companion documentary.

In conversation.

3 episodes

Start herePaul Bassat examines the evolution of the ecosystemHis own interview, which traces his move from law to co-founding SEEK in 1997 and its 2005 listing.

Documentary: The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem

The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem - Part 4

With Simon Thomsen, Tim Boyle, David Burt, Rachel Yang, Sarah Pearson, Bruce Tulloch, Cheryl Mack, Lucinda Hartley, Joshua Flannery, Megan Sebben, Alex Scandurra, Phil Ireland, Julie Trell, Peter Devine, Dean McEvoy, Craig Swann, Colette Grgic, Pete Horsley, Aaron Birkby, Annie Parker, Maxine Sherrin, Malcolm Turnbull, James Alexander, Melissa Widner, Hamish Hawthorn, Lauren Capelin

Go straight to the good bits.

Key moments from Paul Bassat examines the evolution of the ecosystem.

  1. 0:29Meet Paul Bassat
  2. 0:44Paul’s First Exposure to the Internet
  3. 1:26The Startup Ecosystem in the 90s
  4. 2:14The Idea for SEEK
  5. 3:43The Authenticity of Founding Stories
  6. 5:04Reflections on the Journey to Entrepreneurship
  7. 6:01Resources for Startups in the 90s
  8. 8:47Advantages from Legal Experience
  9. 9:38Roles and Responsibilities at SEEK
  10. 10:42Transition to Square Peg

In their own words.

“A good but imperfect answer to the right question is so much more valuable than a perfect answer to the wrong question.”
Paul Bassat — Paul Bassat examines the evolution of the ecosystemThe History of the Australian Startup Ecosystem - Interview Series · 24 February 2022

The path so far.

  1. Now

    Co-founder & Partner · Square Peg

  2. 1997–2011 · Scale-up

    Co-founder; CEO, then Joint CEO · SEEK

  3. 2012–2018

    Board Director · Wesfarmers

  4. Until 1997

    Lawyer · Arnold Bloch Leibler

Sources: squarepeg.vc, forbes.com.au

Square Peg on Day One

Square Peg is a venture capital firm founded in Australia in 2012 that backs startups from Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Israel, with investment themes…

2 people · 5 episodes
Square Peg

Across the network.

Spot something wrong? Suggest a correctionUpdated 29 October 2026

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