Investment Thesis with Kali Norman 
About Rohan Workman
Rohan Workman is co-founder and chief executive of Tall Order Ventures (formerly Skalata Ventures), a Melbourne early-stage fund he led from 2018 until a management buyout with chief operating officer Maxine Lee in July 2026, when the firm rebranded to focus on AI-era founders. Under his leadership the fund raised three funds and made more than 80 early-stage investments, including in Doohly, later acquired by Canva. Before Skalata he co-founded the HR software company RosterCloud, later acquired, and ran the University of Melbourne's Accelerator Program, after starting his career in corporate recovery and advisory at McGrathNicol. On Investment Thesis, Workman discussed backing overlooked founders as AI rewrites the venture playbook.
In conversation.
1 episode
Investment Thesis with Kali Norman Go straight to the good bits.
Key moments from Rohan Workman of Skalata — Backing overlooked founders as AI rewrites the thesis.
- 0:00Cold open
- 1:56Accountant in the GFC, to founder, to VC
- 4:46Skalata's first formulaic thesis (and why they unwound it)
- 6:04The thesis today: innovative, capital-lean, market-ready
- 7:42Sector-agnostic — and AI-native operating leverage
- 10:00Cheque sizes: up to $500K at valuations to ~$10M
- 12:08What he looks for in a founder
- 14:25First-time vs repeat founders; backing the overlooked
- 15:22Breaking the rules: Brossa and an ASX-listed medtech
- 18:43Selling Xero too early — why great companies take 10–15 years
In their own words.
“On paper, Uber and Airbnb are the worst ideas — and yet they turned out to be extraordinarily successful companies.”
The path so far.
- Now
Co-Founder & GP · Tall Order Ventures
- Earlier
Corporate advisory consultant · McGrathNicol
- Until 2016 · Startup
Co-founder · HR management software company (sold 2016)
Sources: balancethegrind.co
Tall Order Ventures on Day One
Skalata Ventures is an Australian pre-seed and seed-stage venture capital firm that backs early-stage technology founders — with a track record of supporting overlooked…
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