Hiring & Team
Recruiting, culture and building the team around the mission.
Your first hires set the ceiling on what you can build. Early on every person is a large share of the company and the culture, which makes recruiting, equity and the call on who to let go some of the highest-stakes decisions a founder makes.
Founders and operators talk through building the team around the mission — how they hired (and mis-hired), how they used equity and option pools, and what changes about leadership as the team grows.
“If you'd told me five years ago we'd be building missiles in Australia, I probably wouldn't have believed you.”
Answers are drawn live from the network's conversations by Ask the Network.
Shows covering Hiring & Team
Building Tech Teams with James MacDonald
5 episodes on Hiring & Team
The History of the Australian Startup Ecosystem - Interview Series
3 episodes on Hiring & Team
In The Blink Of AI with Georgie Healy
2 episodes on Hiring & Team
Pick My Brain with Alan Jones
1 episode on Hiring & Team
First Cheque with Cheryl Mack & Maxine Minter
1 episode on Hiring & Team
Secured by Galah Cyber
1 episode on Hiring & Team
Engineering in the Hunter
1 episode on Hiring & Team
14 episodes on Hiring & Team
▶ Building Tech Teams with James MacDonald · 27 July 2026
How to Build AI Capability Without Chasing Every New Model — Patrick McQuaid, NGM Group
▶ Building Tech Teams with James MacDonald · 20 July 2026
Are Your People More Productive — or Just Faster? — Claudia Barriga-Larriviere, Startup Flamingo
▶ Engineering in the Hunter · 15 July 2026
John Fry: building Australia's first missile factory in the Hunter
▶ Building Tech Teams with James MacDonald · 13 July 2026
Nathan Hill: Managing a Team of Agents Now — What's That Worth?
▶ Building Tech Teams with James MacDonald · 6 July 2026
Guardrails Are Just Suggestions: Securing AI Agents with Okta's Kevin Akermanis
▶ Building Tech Teams with James MacDonald · 29 June 2026
Why Your First Hire Isn't an Engineer Anymore — Michael Batko, ex-Startmate CEO
▶ In The Blink Of AI with Georgie Healy · 26 June 2026
Inside ElevenLabs: Voice AI, Cloning Ethics, and the End of the Call Centre?
▶ First Cheque with Cheryl Mack & Maxine Minter · 8 June 2026
How to Think About Equity as a Startup Employee
▶ In The Blink Of AI with Georgie Healy · 17 April 2026
How to Stop Your AI Agents From Breaking with Josh Clemm, VP of Engineering at Dropbox
▶ Secured by Galah Cyber · 5 February 2026
AI, Hiring, and Trust: Why Shortcuts Break Interviews
▶ Pick My Brain with Alan Jones · 2 July 2025
Hiring in 27 Seconds: Luke Marshall on Growth, Gen Z & Video-First Recruitment with UseVerb
▶ The History of the Australian Startup Ecosystem - Interview Series · 12 April 2022
Brendan Hill examines the war on talent in Australia
▶ The History of the Australian Startup Ecosystem - Interview Series
James Fielding shares his belief that Australia’s talent pool is world class
▶ The History of the Australian Startup Ecosystem - Interview Series
Kylie Frazer discusses some common causes co-founders separate
The Hiring & Team glossary
Option pool / ESOP
Equity set aside to grant to employees as options, usually 10–15% of the company.
Vesting / cliff
Equity is earned over time (vesting); a cliff is an initial period you must pass before any of it is yours.
ESS (Employee Share Scheme)
The Australian framework for giving staff equity, with specific tax rules for startups.
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