Life After Launch with Megan Luttrell & Geo George

Osad

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  Stephen Wools – Be a Cockroach: You Can Survive Anything 15.09.2026 1t 22min

  Stephen Wools has built creative agencies, toured Jordan Peterson and Theo Von, opened one of Melbourne's most talked-about bars, signed the biggest hospitality lease in the city's history four weeks before lockdown, and lost a house and millions of dollars along the way. His advice on how to survive all of it: be a cockroach.Stephen walks through how a floppy disk and a hungover all-nighter got him through his one and only year of uni, how a chance meeting at Big Brother auditions turned into a 20-year business partnership with Josh Lefers, and how "everything's for sale" became the concept behind Pawn & Co, right down to the grand piano someone bought off the DJ booth. Then comes the harder part: signing the lease on a 2,500 square metre venue in January 2020, watching the brewing business collapse under COVID, and rebuilding while banks called in their money.He gets honest about what he'd change, what resilience actually costs, and the three life lessons he's learned the hard way: being ruthless about who you surround yourself with, learning to respect risk instead of running on pure optimism, and knowing when more stops being more.Find StephenStephen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-j-wools-b5240811/Ballers Clubhouse: https://www.ballersclubhouse.com.au/Good Times Tech: https://www.goodtimestech.com.au/Pawn & Co: https://www.pawnandco.com.au/Join the Aussie Founders ClubThe Slack community, the newsletter and everything else live here: https://www.aussiefoundersclub.comWant to partner with Life After Launch?Explore sponsorship and partnership opportunities at https://lifeafterlaunchpod.com/partner-with-usTime Stamps00:00 Cold open: the cockroach theory00:23 Welcome to Life After Launch, introducing Stephen Wools01:51 Growing up, uni, and the floppy disk story04:20 From Big Dog Creative to touring Jordan Peterson and Theo Von05:28 Meeting Josh Lefers and the TV shows that started it all09:44 Learning to love rejection13:42 Competitiveness, imposter syndrome, and outworking everyone20:26 Building Pawn & Co and the story of the $5,000 piano23:13 Launching East 9th Brewing24:30 COVID hits: losing the brewing business, a house, and millions30:28 Signing the Ballers Clubhouse lease weeks before lockdown, and building through it40:26 Scaling Ballers, launching Good Times Tech, and the plan to go global53:41 Building systems, working with AI, and staying frictionless for the customer56:29 Life lesson 1: be careful who you surround yourself with1:02:59 Life lesson 2: respecting risk instead of running on pure optimism1:09:01 Life lesson 3: more is more, and knowing when enough is enough1:22:24 Closing thoughts + outro
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  Nick Maxwell – Be the Duck on the Pond 08.09.2026 1t 11min

  Nick Maxwell got cut by the same football club four years running. Cut at 14. Cut at 15. Cut at 16. Cut at 17, three minutes into a trial, with a snapped vertebra. He made the squad on his fifth attempt and still went undrafted.Four days before Christmas, a phone call changed everything. Nick walks through the voicemail that told him he'd been picked up by Collingwood, the 200-plus games that followed, and how being captain had nothing to do with being the most talented player on the field. It was about the 1%, the tackles, the sprints nobody saw, and showing up for a team that eventually made him captain and led them to a premiership after 20 years without one.Twenty years in sport later, Nick walked away from a stable, structured career to build something of his own. He's honest that the four years since have been harder than anything football put him through, learning IT infrastructure, managing staff, and figuring out leadership without a scoreboard to tell him if he's winning.Stick around for his three life lessons: why resilience is the whole story, why he now buys himself time before reacting to anything, and what two decades observing the Melbourne Storm's most successful leaders taught him about chasing the extra 1%.Find Nick Nick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-maxwell-060a2922/ Eclat: https://eclat.com/Want to partner with Life After Launch?Explore sponsorship and partnership opportunities at https://lifeafterlaunchpod.com/partner-with-usLife After Launch is an Aussie Founders Club podcast.🦘 Aussie Founders Club is a community for founders, operators, and investors navigating the Australian startup ecosystem. What started as an events-first, in-person community has grown into a network of thousands, connecting people building startups with the people who've done it before. Join the conversation and the community at https://aussiefoundersclub.com/Connect with Megan Luttrell on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganluttrell/Connect with Geo George on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/contactgeo/🤝 Kairos Recruitment is a recruitment company supporting startups and scale-ups across Australia, helping founders find the right people to grow their teams. Led by Megan Luttrell. Learn more at https://www.kairosrecruitment.com.au/💵 Mayfly Ventures is a venture studio building industry-focused AI and software ventures. Mayfly is an Australian AI venture studio. We work with industry leaders to validate, build, and scale AI ventures, starting with the strategy and commercial foundations most teams skip. Learn more about Mayfly's approach at https://www.mayflyventures.com/Time Stamps00:00 Cold open: cut 4 times, then 4 voicemails01:31 Welcome to Life After Launch, introducing Nick Maxwell03:07 Manure at 12, KFC at 14, and getting cut from the Falcons 4 times15:15 The Collingwood voicemails, and playing 200+ games17:20 Not the most talented player: doing the 1%ers and becoming captain22:13 Leadership styles, the Melbourne Storm, and the "finished product" trap33:07 Media, an MBA in 18 months, and deciding to leave sport35:57 Why Eclat, and building a "life MBA" into a workspace44:04 Building the team, ownership, and trusting people to do their jobs54:24 The hardest 4 years of his life: building Eclat from scratch58:56 Life lesson 1: resilience is the whole story59:54 Life lesson 2: buy yourself time before you react1:02:41 Life lesson 3: chasing the extra 1%, with lessons from Craig Bellamy1:09:35 Closing thoughts + outro
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  Shane Chanel - Nothing’s Ever Going to Be as Hard as That Day 01.09.2026 1t 8min

  Shane Chanel bet his entire life savings, $20,000, on a four-wheel drive racing app when he was 14. It wasn't his last high-conviction bet. He went on to leave a stockbroking career to build Yondr Money, a digital bank that never became a bank, survived a hostile takeover attempt from his own investor, and is now building Kobble, the infrastructure that lets almost any business launch a financial product in weeks instead of years.He's honest about where the drive comes from: a chip on his shoulder he can't fully explain, a family that worked hard for everything, and a day in 2012 he's never spoken about publicly before this episode, the day his uncle's family was found dead and he became next of kin for his baby niece. It's the reference point, he says, for everything since. Nothing has ever felt as hard.Shane walks through the pain points that pushed him from asset management into building a bank from scratch, why he pulled out of the banking licence process, how a chance conversation with former ANZ CEO Mike Smith became one of his best investors, and how a wall covered in Post-it notes from fellow fintech Founders became Kobble.Stick around for the hardest lesson of all: the hostile takeover attempt from an investor who'd only just come on board, and why Shane now tells every Founder to have the uncomfortable conversations early, before you need them.Find ShaneShane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanechanel/ Kobble AI: https://ai.kobble.net/ Kobble: https://kobble.net/ Yondr: https://www.yondr.money/Join the Aussie Founders ClubThe Slack community, the newsletter and everything else live here: https://www.aussiefoundersclub.comWant to partner with Life After Launch?Explore sponsorship and partnership opportunities at https://lifeafterlaunchpod.com/partner-with-usTime Stamps00:00 Cold open + welcome to Life After Launch, introducing Shane Chanel02:54 From wanting to be an aeronautical engineer to financial planning and stockbroking08:35 Identity, the chip on the shoulder, and working twice as hard16:51 Betting his life savings on a racing app at 14, and the idea for a bank25:53 Building Yondr, pulling out of the banking licence, and landing Mike Smith as an investor38:48 The 2012 story: his uncle's family found dead, and the reminder that nothing will ever be this hard45:27 Acquiring Shouta and building Kobble from a wall of Post-it notes53:50 Kobble AI: prototyping a financial product in 15 minutes1:02:09 Life lesson: the hostile takeover attempt, and why you should always do the prenup1:05:12 Closing thoughts + outro
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  Darius Monsef – You're the Number One Consumer of Your Own Bullshit 18.08.2026 1t 5min

  Darius Monsef has built a colour-palette website that grew to millions of users, sold two companies, raised over $40 million for a paediatric healthcare startup, and shut it all down. Twice. He's brutally honest about why.Darius walks through how a joke website for rating colour squares became a design resource used by Adobe, how wearing his own branded t-shirt got him into Y Combinator, and how Creative Market sold to Autodesk just 11 months after launch. But the real story is what happened after the money landed: the quiet depression of an exit that wasn't life-changing enough, the $40 million healthcare business that scaled before it had product-market fit, and the moment on a plane, mid-fundraise, when he realised he might be lying to himself and everyone else.He's honest about what it cost to walk away from Brave Care, why he now tells Founders to be quitters, and why the businesses that fail teach you more than the ones that limp along for nine years pretending to work.Stick around for his three life lessons: why your health is the input that decides your output, why quitting well matters as much as starting well, and why Founders should set goals they can't reach and still call it a win.Find DariusDarius on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariusmonsef/ What he's building now: https://ozbrain.comJoin the Aussie Founders ClubThe Slack community, the newsletter and everything else live here: https://www.aussiefoundersclub.comWant to partner with Life After Launch?Explore sponsorship and partnership opportunities at https://lifeafterlaunchpod.com/partner-with-usTime Stamps00:00 Cold open + welcome to Life After Launch, introducing Darius Monsef02:16 Growing up in Hawaii, entrepreneurial parents, and the chip on his shoulder06:48 Building COLOURlovers, the shirt that got him into Y Combinator, and 11 years to "overnight success"15:27 Creative Market's fast exit to Autodesk, and why the money wasn't enough21:29 Sightbox, moving to Hawaii, and the depression after doing "nothing"29:32 Raising $40M for Brave Care, scaling before product-market fit, and the collapse mid-fundraise40:53 Shutting down Brave Care, then Genie and Rides, and building Pre50:03 Life lesson 1: treat your health like an athlete's, not an afterthought55:16 Life lesson 2: be a quitter59:55 Life lesson 3: push harder than reasonable, then give yourself grace1:04:33 Closing thoughts + outro
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  Kirstin Hunter – You're Spending 95% of Your Brain on the Wrong 5% 11.08.2026 49min

  Kirstin Hunter has co-founded a super fund, run a startup accelerator, and now leads Australia's biggest crowdfunding platform. None of it was the plan.She grew up in Tweed Heads folding junk mail for two cents a letterbox, trained to be a doctor, then pivoted through law and consulting before a friend told her the pro bono work she loved was just "the trinkets" propping up a job that made corporations richer. That conversation pushed her into Future Super, where a pitch her co-founders called "absurd" turned into one of Australia's first fossil-fuel-free super funds.She's honest about what came next too: the moment she and her co-founders stopped wanting the same thing, and why leaving felt like leaving a marriage. From there she takes you through Techstars Australia, the funding data project that exposed how badly VCs back women and diverse Founders, and how she landed the CEO seat at Birchal, almost by accident.Stick around for the one Revolut stat that makes the case for democratised funding better than any pitch deck could.Find KirstinKirstin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstinhunter/ Birchal: https://www.birchal.com/ Future Super: https://www.futuresuper.com.au/Join the Aussie Founders ClubThe Slack community, the newsletter and everything else live here: https://www.aussiefoundersclub.comWant to partner with Life After Launch?Explore sponsorship and partnership opportunities at https://lifeafterlaunchpod.com/partner-with-usTime Stamps00:00 Cold open + welcome to Life After Launch01:14 Introducing Kirstin Hunter02:16 From junk mail in Tweed Heads to running a $20M student union at 2309:16 Consulting, "the trinkets," and the leap to Future Super15:48 Becoming a co-founder and building Australia's fossil-fuel-free super fund20:39 The co-founder breakdown, and why she walked away24:54 Techstars, the funding gap for diverse founders, and Funding the Balance42:27 Landing at Birchal, and the case for crowdfunding48:06 Closing thoughts + outro
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  Jodie Imam - Sometimes You Don't Need a Rocket Ship. You Need a Tractor 04.08.2026 50min

  If you've ever felt like you're not a "real" Founder because you're not chasing unicorn status, this episode is your permission slip to build differently.Jodie Imam has done almost everything you can do in the Australian startup ecosystem. She co-founded Occasional Butler and went head to head with Airtasker (who eventually acquired her), opened depo8, one of Melbourne's first coworking spaces, and now runs Tractor Ventures, the revenue-based funding company backing the Founders who don't want to ride the VC rocket. And it all started at age 12 with a business called The Ironing Lady.You'll hear the moment at Ericsson that convinced Jodie she could never trust a corporation with her future, and the trade she made to escape it: her car space for a job with fashion designer Leona Edmiston, working weeks for free to prove herself. She's honest about what that costs, and why she tells anyone changing direction that you can't expect a corporate wage while you do it.Then there's the Occasional Butler story, including the very first job posted on the platform (a $5 gig to eat a packet of Doritos, planted by a rival you might have heard of), the Gumtree hack that finally unlocked their flywheel, and the raise-or-sell decision she faced while pregnant with her third child.Jodie also opens up about the journaling moment that led to Tractor Ventures (she wrote "I want to work with Matt Allen one day" and he messaged her that same day), the EOS framework and visionary-integrator split that transformed how she and Matt run the company, and the spiritual awakening after her divorce that has her exploring goddess rituals and witchcraft alongside running a venture funding business.Stay to the end to hear why Founders are whole humans, and why you can absolutely manage millions and pull tarot cards in the same week.Find JodieJodie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodieimam/ Tractor Ventures: https://www.tractorventures.com/Mentioned in this episodeRocket Fuel - the book behind the visionary and integrator split Jodie describesJoin the Aussie Founders ClubThe Slack community, the newsletter and everything else live here: https://www.aussiefoundersclub.comWant to partner with Life After Launch?Explore sponsorship and partnership opportunities at https://lifeafterlaunchpod.com/partner-with-usTime Stamps00:00 Cold open and welcome to Life After Launch01:05 Megan's disclaimers: buying the gear, timing references, and learning to stop saying "yes"02:18 Introducing Jodie Imam03:11 The Ironing Lady at 12: where the independence drive began04:00 Watching Ericsson make 30-year veterans redundant, and the seed it planted05:13 Trading a car space for a job: nine years growing Leona Edmiston from 3 people to 10009:17 The owner's mentality: why Jodie told her bosses "I have to feel like it's my business"10:26 Babies as the catalyst: leaving to start Occasional Butler with her husband12:39 Selling the house, moving to Melbourne, and going all in on two businesses with two babies14:47 The first job ever posted: a $5 Doritos prank from a familiar rival16:00 The Gumtree hack that finally kicked the flywheel18:23 Building too much before testing, and why launching feels like standing on stage naked20:09 The exit story: the capital-raising mistake that cost months, and the board move that worked23:16 Selling to Airtasker while pregnant with baby number three24:51 Setting up Innovation Bay in Melbourne27:02 COVID kills depo8 overnight, and Tractor Ventures is born from a lockdown living room33:06 The journal entry and the WhatsApp message: how Jodie and Matt Allen teamed up34:23 How Tractor actually works: the first $2 million, revenue-based finance, and the funding stack37:26 Why Tractor only hires senior people39:54 Rocket Fuel, EOS, and the visionary vs integrator dynamic (plus seagull management)44:01 Life after exit and divorce: spiritual awakening, goddess rituals, and witchcraft47:41 Quickfire: what's inspiring Jodie and the ecosystem shoutout49:16 Outro
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  Dom Pym – How To Build From Abundance, Even When You Have Nothing 28.07.2026 47min

  If you've ever talked yourself out of reaching out to someone because they're "too successful to reply", this episode will change how you send your next message.Dom Pym co-founded Up, one of Australia's fastest growing digital banks, and has personally invested $85 million into the Australian startup ecosystem. But he started with nothing. Dom tells Megan and Geo about growing up in a family that lost everything, and the "golden purse" his mum kept that somehow always had just enough in it, a lesson in abundance he's carried into every company since.You'll hear the full story of how Dom and his co-founder walked into Bendigo Bank asking for money and walked out bidding to rebuild their entire banking system, with a team of two and zero banking experience. You'll learn why he treats confidence and honesty as two separate skills you need at the same time, the exact cold outreach tactics that have actually worked on him (including one that involves sticky-taping a $1 coin to a letter), and why he believes chasing busy, successful people a hundred times is a feature, not a flaw.Dom also shares the two policy ideas he's pushing right now, free universal childcare and a dollar-for-dollar rebuild of the R&D tax incentive, that he reckons could make Australia a world superpower.Stay to the end for the quickfire round, where Dom reveals the plane crash he survived in 1999 and the one interview question that lets him see straight into a Founder's soul.Find DomDom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dompym/Up: https://up.com.au/Euphemia: https://euphemia.com/Join the Aussie Founders ClubThe Slack community, the newsletter and everything else live here: https://www.aussiefoundersclub.comWant to partner with Life After Launch?Explore sponsorship and partnership opportunities at https://lifeafterlaunchpod.com/partner-with-usTime Stamps00:00 Cold open and welcome to Life After Launch01:17 Introducing Dom Pym02:33 The childhood moments that shaped Dom: footy, family, and sliding doors06:09 The golden purse: building an abundance mindset from nothing08:20 The three people who taught Dom how money really works11:03 Why you should chase successful people a hundred times (the Marty Howell story)14:15 The most creative cold outreach Dom has ever received16:07 The $1 coin letter and why positive affirmation actually works19:19 The Bendigo Bank story: two people, supreme confidence, and a live demo that broke the rules26:26 Confidence vs honesty: crossing ThoughtWorks off the whiteboard29:13 Up's world firsts: Afterpay, Apple Pay instant issuance, and Google Cloud31:05 Comparing your bank to Instagram: the activity feed that banks worldwide copied32:48 Fixing Australia: free universal childcare and rebuilding the R&D tax incentive37:38 1.4 million customers and the countdown to overtaking the big banks40:30 Quickfire: the 1999 Qantas crash, the ecosystem stars you should know, and the question that reveals a Founder's soul46:56 Outro
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  COMING SOON: Life After Launch 21.07.2026

  Watch this space.