In this episode, Steve Grace sits down with Kevin Lu, founder of Atrium, to unpack the "reverse journey" of leaving a prestigious career in Venture Capital to enter the trenches as a founder.

Kevin reveals why he walked away from investing in some of Australia's most successful tech companies to solve a problem that haunted him for years, which was the absolute chaos of managing professional relationships.

Kevin breaks down the "Founder Hierarchy" used by top VCs to spot unicorns (and why having a "chip on your shoulder" is the ultimate competitive advantage), the 100-year-old secret from Rockefeller’s Rolodex that inspired his new AI startup, and why he believes constraints rather than massive funding rounds are the true drivers of innovation.

Timestamps:

0:00 – The “Reverse Journey”: Investor to Founder

1:47 – Escaping the “Lawyer Trap” into Tech

6:11 – Corporate VC (Reinventure) vs. Pure Play (AirTree)

10:07 – The 2021 Funding Craze: “It was nuts”

14:10 – The Founder Hierarchy: Why you need a chip on your shoulder

22:42 – REVEAL: What is Atrium?

25:18 – Rockefeller’s 120,000-card secret

30:17 – The joy of co-founding with a sibling

33:17 – Why constraints create value (Bootstrapping vs. VC)

37:47 – US vs. Australia: Risk appetite and hiring bias

40:47 – Where have all the young founders gone?

Links:

Connect with Kevin → https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-lu-514420112/

Connect with Steve → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegrace/

The Nudge Group → https://thenudgegroup.com/

Give It A Nudge Podcast → https://www.youtube.com/@giveitanudge/

The Trouble With People → https://thetroublewithpeople.substack.com/

In this episode, Steve Grace sits down with Arjun — founder of inaam — to unpack how a tragic loss of his father's life savings fueled a mission to disrupt the Australian financial system, and why he believes the local VC ecosystem is fundamentally broken due to a crippling lack of risk tolerance.

Arjun breaks down the dangerous myth that "impact investing" means sacrificing returns (proving it with a portfolio that outperformed the market), why he famously believes the tagline for Australian venture firms should be "F*ck off," and how he is gamifying financial literacy to help young Australians build wealth without compromising their values.

They also dive into:

• The "Oligopoly" problem: Why having only three major VCs is stifling Australian innovation
• The reality of building a fintech as a migrant founder and facing racism on the streets of Melbourne
• The irony of being an award-winning innovator who still doesn't qualify for a National Innovation Visa
• How inaam combines education with execution to bridge the wealth gap
• Why email is a terrible leadership tool and the power of the "Communication Triangle"
• The "Non-Linear" career path: From investment banking to losing it all, to building a unicorn contender

Timestamps:

• 0:00 From investment banking to startup founder
• 6:45 Arriving in Melbourne 3 weeks before lockdown
• 10:27 The "F*ck Off" critique of Australian VCs
• 11:04 Why Australia has capital but zero risk tolerance
• 15:22 The Origin Story: Losing his father's life savings
• 17:20 Debunking the myth: Impact Investing vs. High Returns
• 23:30 The reality of racism and the migrant founder experience
• 28:16 The struggle to get a National Innovation Visa
• 36:00 Why email kills culture: The Communication Triangle
• 43:10 How to start investing with just $10

Links:

• inaam → https://www.inaam.me/
• Connect with Arjun → https://www.linkedin.com/in/arjunagarwal1996/
• The Nudge Group → https://thenudgegroup.com/
• Give It A Nudge Podcast → https://www.youtube.com/@giveitanudge/
• Steve on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegrace/
• The Trouble With People → https://thetroublewithpeople.substack.com/

In this episode, Steve Grace sits down with Mick Liubinskas — founder of Climate Salad — to unpack how a simple newsletter turned into an industry body representing over 800 companies, and why Australia is world-class at inventing technology but historically terrible at commercialising it.

Mick breaks down the massive difference between scaling software and industrial hardware, why the real funding gap isn't at the start but in the messy middle, and why he predicts a massive economic tipping point for climate tech in 2027 driven by policy and profit, not just goodwill.

They also dive into:

- Why Australian corporations refuse to be the "first customer" for local tech

- The "Valley of Death" for funding physical infrastructure

- Real examples of deep tech: Jet engines running on sewage and infinite thermal batteries

- The generational shift from "doing less bad" to "nature first"

- How Wright’s Law is driving down the cost of batteries and solar

- Why capitalist business models are the fastest way to solve climate problems

Timestamps:

0:00 From newsletter to industry body

1:20 The accidental founding of Climate Salad

5:33 Australia’s commercialization crisis

6:37 Why hardware is harder than software

12:14 Capitalism vs. Climate Change

15:53 The investment "Valley of Death"

17:54 Jet engines running on sewage

19:33 The Generational Divide: Nature First

26:19 The 2027 Tipping Point Prediction

35:43 Antarctica and the fragility of nature

Links:

Climate Salad → https://www.climatesalad.com/

Connect with Mick → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mliubinskas/

The Nudge Group → https://thenudgegroup.com/

Give It A Nudge Podcast → https://www.youtube.com/@giveitanudge/

Steve on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegrace/

The Trouble With People → https://thetroublewithpeople.substack.com/