loader from loading.io

Chris Ridd: On growing Xero in Australia & startup investing

The James Harrisson Show

Release Date: 02/13/2020

65: Abhi Maran - The Venture Capital Fundraising Blueprint show art 65: Abhi Maran - The Venture Capital Fundraising Blueprint

The James Harrisson Show

What you’ll learn from this interview: How to think about approaching a fundraise to increase the velocity and probability of success How to craft your story and structure your raise Common pitfalls at the pre-seed/seed stage that founders need to avoid Today I’m interviewing Abhi Maran, he’s an investor at Rampersand, an early stage Australian venture capital fund. He also writes regularly as part of his substack which is a phenomenal resource for founders looking to navigate the often opaque world of venture capital. I’ve enjoyed reading Abhi’s work and wanted to bring him on...

info_outline
64: Giovanni Pino - Growing Sourci from his spare bedroom to $43 million+ revenue, how to build real company culture, personal growth through entrepreneurship show art 64: Giovanni Pino - Growing Sourci from his spare bedroom to $43 million+ revenue, how to build real company culture, personal growth through entrepreneurship

The James Harrisson Show

What you’ll learn from this interview: What it took to reach the “overnight success” moment that took Sourci from $1M in 2019 to $43M in 2020 The importance of knowing our strengths and doubling down on them after he struggled with dyslexia in school and early career How he thinks about building true company culture as the business has grown to dozens of employees in multiple countries Today I’m interviewing Giovanni Pino, founder & CEO of Sourci which helps Australian businesses connect with world class manufacturers and suppliers. Gio started Sourci with his business partner...

info_outline
63: David Lemphers - 4x successful exits, frameworks for building startups & navigating acquisitions show art 63: David Lemphers - 4x successful exits, frameworks for building startups & navigating acquisitions

The James Harrisson Show

What you’ll learn from this interview: Lessons from building and successfully exiting 4 startups Frameworks for building companies and navigating the unexpected challenges of the acquisition process Lessons from his time at Microsoft, PWC, Amazon, and how those experiences have shaped him as a founder Today I’m interviewing . He's built and exited 4 companies including ZenDeals which was acquired by RetailMeNot for $18M & Code Pilot which acquired by AngelList. David has such an interesting insight into the acquisition process having gone through it multiple times. He’s a...

info_outline
62: Mark Woodland - Lessons from the Australian Army, building Xplor (acquired by private equity) & making healthcare more accessible with Kismet show art 62: Mark Woodland - Lessons from the Australian Army, building Xplor (acquired by private equity) & making healthcare more accessible with Kismet

The James Harrisson Show

What you’ll learn from this interview: What Mark learned about leadership from the army and how he applies that to business today Why his “retirement” after the Xplor acquisition only lasted 2 weeks before he jumped back in the founder seat How he's applying learnings from education with Xplor to healthcare with Kismet Today I’m interviewing , Founder & CEO of which is on a mission to make healthcare more accessible, recently announcing their $4M pre-seed round led by . He previously served in the Australian Army and was the founder of , a product he originally created to...

info_outline
61: Michael Watson - Lessons from Google, building Leesy & frameworks for career design show art 61: Michael Watson - Lessons from Google, building Leesy & frameworks for career design

The James Harrisson Show

What you’ll learn from this interview: Frameworks Michael used to design his career Lessons from his time as a Product Manager at Google How he’s making the renting generation love renting Michael has 8+ years experience managing global products, including successfully launching a global redesign of Google Play (worlds largest double sided marketplace) and scaling up the 3rd largest commercial real estate marketplace in the US. He’s now a Co-Founder of which is on a mission to make the renting generation love renting by building an ecosystem of products & financial services that...

info_outline
60: Rohit Bhargava - Launching a global digital football league, raising a $3M pre-seed round & how to invest in early stage startups show art 60: Rohit Bhargava - Launching a global digital football league, raising a $3M pre-seed round & how to invest in early stage startups

The James Harrisson Show

What you’ll learn from this interview: Tips for founders fundraising in this current environment Frameworks for investing in early stage startups as an Angel Investor How to build strong professional and personal relationships Rohit Bhargava is the Co-Founder of , the world’s first global digital football league, which just recently came out of stealth and announced their $3M pre seed round led by Blackbird and has involvement from a number of international athletes like Naomi Osaka, Nick Kyrgios, Steve Smith, Chris Smalling, Patrice Evra, Kamaru Usman and more. He’s also an investor...

info_outline
How to build a multimillion dollar eCommerce brand in less than 12 months: Sunny Gosal show art How to build a multimillion dollar eCommerce brand in less than 12 months: Sunny Gosal

The James Harrisson Show

What you’ll learn from this interview:

info_outline
4 years of podcasting, burnout and breaking mental patterns & beliefs: Rohit Bhargava show art 4 years of podcasting, burnout and breaking mental patterns & beliefs: Rohit Bhargava

The James Harrisson Show

What you’ll learn from this interview:

info_outline
How Sourci is disrupting the global sourcing and procurement industry: Ellie Vaisman show art How Sourci is disrupting the global sourcing and procurement industry: Ellie Vaisman

The James Harrisson Show

What you’ll learn from this interview:

info_outline
Love, relationships & meaningful work: Ryan Tan show art Love, relationships & meaningful work: Ryan Tan

The James Harrisson Show

What you’ll learn from this conversation:

info_outline
 
More Episodes

What you’ll learn from this interview:

 

  • What Chris learned from a 15 year tenure at Microsoft, and his thoughts on working in corporate and startups
  • How he helped grow Xero in Australia from 7 staff and 4,500 customers, to 270 staff and 320,000 paying customers in 5 years as Managing Director
  • The 3 criteria he uses to assess potential startup investments

 

My guest today is Chris Ridd, he’s a business executive, investor and advisor with 30 years experience in the technology industry. After a long career with Microsoft spanning 15 years, he was appointed Managing Director for Xero in Australia to lead the expansion of Xero’s market share in Australia.

 

Under his leadership Xero grew in five years from 7 staff and 4,500 customers, to 270 staff and 320,000 paying customers.

 

Today Chris has taken his vast experience and applied it as an investor and advisor in a number of exciting Australian technology startups.

 

I wanted to bring Chris on the show to find out what he’s learned from such a wide ranging career working in challenging and high performance environments, how he thinks about investing and what’s next for him