In this episode of Give It A Nudge, Steve finally sits down with Brendan Malone, Managing Director and Group CEO of Raiz Invest (ASX:RZI), after six years of trying to get him on the show!

Brendan takes us through his fascinating career journey, transitioning from a traditional background in investment banking (RBS) in London and Asia to owning a pub in Newcastle, and finally leading one of Australia’s most successful FinTechs.

They dive deep into the evolution of Raiz (formerly Acorns Australia), managing over $2 billion in funds, and the lessons learned from their expansion into (and withdrawal from) the Asian market. Brendan also discusses the power of "round-ups," the importance of financial literacy, and how Raiz is helping Aussies—and their kids—build wealth during tough economic times.

In this episode, we cover:

* Brendan’s shift from corporate banking to startup founder.

* The "sustainable growth" philosophy vs. burning cash.

* The mechanics of Raiz Rewards and reinvesting $10M+ back to users.

* Lessons learned from listing on the ASX and expanding into Indonesia & Malaysia.

* New features: From Bitcoin allocations to "Jars" for specific savings goals.

* How user behavior changes during market volatility (Brexit vs. Trump vs. Now).

Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro: Finally getting Brendan on the show

02:00 – Brendan’s Background: From Newcastle to Investment Banking in London/Asia

05:00 – The pivot: Owning a pub & discovering Acorns

06:00 – Launching Acorns Grow in 2016

09:00 – The strategy of sustainable growth

12:00 – Explaining the “Round-Up” technology

14:00 – Adding Bitcoin & custom portfolios

16:00 – Raiz Rewards: $10M reinvested into user accounts

17:00 – Rebranding to Raiz & Listing on the ASX

19:00 – The Asian Expansion: Challenges in Indonesia & Malaysia

24:00 – Branding consistency & App design

30:00 – The power of Dividends & Financial Literacy

32:00 – Raiz Kids & Intergenerational wealth

35:00 – Data insights: Raiz Jars & saving for haircuts

46:00 – How Raiz educates users through market volatility

49:00 – What’s next for Raiz?

LINKS

Connect with Brendan → https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanmalone/

Raiz Invest Australia → https://raizinvest.com.au/

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 of Give It A Nudge, Steve chats with James Sneddon, the founder of Hyphen Health, Australia’s largest network of sexual health and harm minimization telemedicine clinics.

James didn’t start in medicine; he started in hospitality. The idea for Hyphen Health was born while owning a café across the street from a GP clinic, watching patients wait hours just to get a simple script. He realized the system was broken, and he built a digital solution to fix it.

Steve and James dive deep into the reality of scaling a business in a high-stigma industry. They discuss why doctors are legally refusing to treat steroid users (and why James steps in to help), the "cooking medication for grandma" privacy problem, and how COVID finally forced the public health sector to ditch fax machines and join the 21st century.

They also cover the massive shifts in the business—from buying out a co-founder and acquiring competitors to landing a world-first partnership with the public health sector.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Intro: Taboo subjects and "Hyphen" Health

00:55 Steroids & Stigma: Why doctors refuse to treat users

02:25 From Hospitality to Healthcare: The "Founder Mindset"

06:10 The Epiphany: Watching the doctor's waiting room from a cafe window 08:40 How COVID killed the fax machine

09:50 Navigating regulatory panic & buying out a co-founder

14:40 "Cooking meds for Grandma": The need for absolute privacy

15:50 The reality of HIV today (vs Diabetes)

20:35 The "Work From Home" impact on testing trends

23:00 Acquiring "Hey Fella" & navigating growth

29:20 The World-First Public Health partnership

33:22 The 84% Statistic: Why you need to get tested

QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE:

"HIV has less of an impact on your life now than diabetes."

"The same reason you don't see a doctor... You're cooking your medication for the next grandma."

"Covid ended the trust. It also encouraged public health to stop in line with fax machines and allow emails to work."

"16% of Australians from 16 to 49 have never been tested... So 84% of the population have never been tested."

ABOUT JAMES:

James Sneddon is the founder of Hyphen Health, a group of digital health brands focused on removing barriers to healthcare. His portfolio includes Stigma Health (sexual health), PrEP Health (HIV prevention), and other harm-minimization platforms.

Starting his career as an accountant before building a hospitality empire in Newcastle, James pivoted to health tech to solve the inefficiencies he saw in the traditional medical system. He has since grown Hyphen Health into a profitable, multi-brand ecosystem that is reshaping how Australians access sensitive healthcare.

LINKS

Connect with James → https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-sneddon-a3a4b52b/

Hyphen Health → https://hyphen.health/

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 of Give It A Nudge, Steve chats with Yash Varma, a seasoned tech founder, investor at Empress Capital, and high-performance coach.

While Yash has a massive background in tech (founding Spaarks, investing in Tesla and Moderna, and studying AI at Stanford), this conversation is not about code. It is about code for the human body. Steve and Yash dive deep into the concept of Longevity to debate why the "retire at 65" model is broken and why health is officially the new wealth.

Yash opens up about the health scare that forced him to stop the "founder grind," the specific habits he uses to optimize his energy (including a live demonstration of a Tony Robbins style state change), and why eating food that "goes off" is actually the secret to living longer.

If you are a founder, business leader, or just someone looking to add more life to your years, this is a must-watch.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Intro: Why we need a "grown-up" conversation about longevity

01:18 Defining Longevity: It is about quality of life rather than just years

03:55 Why retirement is an outdated concept

05:00 State Management: Jumping off bridges with Tony Robbins

07:06 LIVE DEMO: Yash teaches Steve the "Power Move" to change energy instantly

12:00 The 3 Pillars of Performance: Work, Purpose, and Health

16:30 "You can’t do anything if you’re dead": Prioritizing founder health

19:00 The Wake-Up Call: Yash’s hospitalization story

23:15 Parenting: Why kids do what you do, not what you say

25:00 The widening gap between the healthy and unhealthy

26:45 AI, Technology, and the "Glasshole" story

36:55 The pros and cons of wearable health tech (Whoop, etc.)

40:00 Yash’s Sleep Routine: Same time, dark room, and "sleepy tea"

46:50 Blue Zones & The "Centenarian Olympics" (Getting up without hands)

50:40 Yash’s advice: Move heavy things, eat fresh food, and connect with people

QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE:

"It's not about living more years, it's about the life in your years."

"I prioritize my health over everyone else’s because if I want to give to my family and my business, I can’t do anything if I’m dead."

"Health is wealth. You can have as much money as anyone in the world, but without your health, you're on a hollow vision of performance."

"People do what you do, not what you say."

ABOUT YASH:

Yash Varma is a global citizen, tech founder, and high-performance coach. After founding and exiting the global software consultancy Spaarks (with offices in London, Glasgow, and Canberra), Yash shifted his focus to empowering other founders.

He is currently a Principal at Empress Capital and an active Angel investor with early stakes in companies like Tesla and Moderna. Beyond business, Yash is a certified high-performance coach, a mentor with Energy Labs, and a dedicated philanthropist leading the Canberra Chapter of Room to Read. He lives by three words: Love, Joy, and Contribute.

LINKS:

Connect with Yash → https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashvarma/

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 Albert Patajo, VP Strategy & Operations at Nexl, to unpack one of the rarest outcomes in Australian tech right now: a local startup hitting Series B, and what it actually takes to get there.

Albert shares his non-founder path into the operator seat, from Deloitte to early-stage startups to capital raise advisory, before joining Nexl with one urgent mandate: raise money and build a more capital-efficient business in a market that had tightened overnight. He breaks down why focus beats ambition, how Nexl went deep in the US Northeast instead of trying to launch everywhere, and what changed when top US investors started coming inbound with term sheets.

They also dig into the founder-operator partnership: trust, low ego, and working like co-founders without the title. Plus why Albert thinks AI’s biggest immediate impact in legal won’t be the practice of law, but everything around it, relationships, BD, and operations.

Timestamps:

0:00 – Intro: Nexl and the Series B milestone

0:40 – Darwin to Canberra to Sydney (and the culture shock)

3:20 – Why consulting is startup training in disguise

6:30 – First startup lessons: being employee #6 and doing everything

9:15 – Capital raise advisory in the 2020–21 boom

10:45 – How Albert met Phil (Nexl’s founder) and why the role existed

12:25 – Why Series B is "escape velocity"

13:55 – The first six months: raising with limited runway

15:30 – Capital efficiency: small bets, incremental hires

16:20 – The focus move: winning the US Northeast (not launching the US)

18:45 – What Nexl does: relationship-first CRM for law firms

20:35 – Inbound term sheets and testing the waters for Series B

22:00 – Bringing in the "dream" investor and why it was worth it

23:05 – Founder-operator dynamic: low ego, high trust

26:55 – Australia as the timezone bridge for US and Europe teams

28:50 – Post-Series B: hiring leaders who’ve "seen the movie"

33:25 – The big ambition: category leadership and deep penetration

35:10 – AI in legal: where it actually changes firms first

Links:

Connect with Albert → https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertpatajo/

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 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/

In this episode, Steve Grace sits down with Tiana Manticos — founder of TX Method — to unpack how her career across airports, QSR franchises, luxury yachts, and global retail brands turned into a repeatable scaling framework now used by founders looking to grow with intention, not chaos.

Tiana breaks down the four-part TX Method framework (Truth, Translation, Transmission, Tempo), why founders should stop obsessing over content execution and start with clarity, and how personal brand can create competitive advantage — without trying to be an influencer.

They also dive into:

• What she learned managing 250+ franchise operators
• Why some brands scale and some burn out
• The difference between perception economy and manufactured hype
• The rise of events and in-person connection post-content fatigue
• How authenticity creates trust faster than perfection
• Why founders need to build brand before they need it

Timestamps:

0:21 What TX Method is

1:55 The system behind scaling brands

4:35 Lessons from franchising and customer behaviour

7:48 Trend-chasing vs long-term growth

10:55 Moving into the luxury sector and Ahoy Club

15:20 Branding founders without turning them into influencers

19:02 The Perception Economy explained

24:57 Personal brand vs vanity metrics

29:21 The TX Method framework

33:12 Content, attention, and the role of events

38:50 Starting vs perfecting

43:40 The reality of becoming a founder

47:53 Final advice: Start with truth, not tactics

Links:

TX Method → https://www.txmethod.com/

Connect with Tiana → https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiana-manticos/

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/