1
00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:06,760
Speaker 1: This is Locker Flucks.

2
00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:09,640
Speaker 2: I'm Brett and I'm Justin and it's Wednesday, the seventeenth

3
00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:10,000
Speaker 2: of July.

4
00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:13,360
Speaker 1: Jazie Boy. A private Australian company you've probably never heard of,

5
00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,919
Speaker 1: Easygo Solutions, has made more than five hundred million dollars

6
00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:19,680
Speaker 1: in profits in just three years. Well the name might

7
00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:23,000
Speaker 1: not sound familiar. It's the company behind online gaming casino

8
00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,200
Speaker 1: steak dot com and Kick streaming service. And while we

9
00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:28,880
Speaker 1: not a bad result for the two owners aged under thirty,

10
00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:30,480
Speaker 1: not bad at all, pluck them.

11
00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:32,960
Speaker 2: We have a very exciting new feature that we're rolling

12
00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,120
Speaker 2: out in the app this Thursday. Is still very much

13
00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:36,920
Speaker 2: in Beat app, but it's very close to my heart.

14
00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,319
Speaker 2: Now for any of you flucks apbsolutes out there, here's

15
00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:41,080
Speaker 2: a little challenge. Let me know if you see the

16
00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:43,239
Speaker 2: new feature in the app and flick us a message

17
00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,520
Speaker 2: and we will send you some flucks merch.

18
00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,480
Speaker 1: Three marvelous stories today, Josie Boy, let's do it for

19
00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,040
Speaker 1: our first a construction tech company in Australia, has raised

20
00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:54,400
Speaker 1: one hundred and five million dollars as it looks to

21
00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:57,760
Speaker 1: expand into the US and also Europe. If you don't mind,

22
00:00:57,800 --> 00:00:58,640
Speaker 1: and here I was thinking.

23
00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,160
Speaker 2: These hundred baggers were only done in twenty twenty.

24
00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,160
Speaker 1: One, so don't we wore well, Juzzy boy. The name

25
00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:05,640
Speaker 1: of the company is hammet Tech and was founded in

26
00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:07,560
Speaker 1: Melbourne in twenty thirteen, and be man.

27
00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,080
Speaker 2: While it does a host of things for the construction industry,

28
00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,520
Speaker 2: it's digital platform mainly focuses on the fun stuff you'd

29
00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:18,600
Speaker 2: be talking about safety compliance site operation processes like onboarding

30
00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,760
Speaker 2: and safety inspections and incident reporting. Gee, you're getting me

31
00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,240
Speaker 2: revved up and excited, juzzy boy, But be man, this

32
00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:26,200
Speaker 2: is critical in the construction industry.

33
00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:28,880
Speaker 1: In fact, Hamtech is now used by over five hundred

34
00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,800
Speaker 1: construction companies around the world on over twenty thousand projects.

35
00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,839
Speaker 2: And back in twenty nineteen, Hamitech raised ten million bucks.

36
00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:37,840
Speaker 2: But they put their hand back in the cookie jar

37
00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:38,920
Speaker 2: once again.

38
00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,120
Speaker 1: And this time the hand has gone deep in that

39
00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:41,560
Speaker 1: cookie jar.

40
00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,319
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're talking one hundred and five million dollars raised

41
00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,520
Speaker 2: from a US based private equity firm called Riverwood Capital.

42
00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:49,400
Speaker 1: Interesting, So what is the key learning here?

43
00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:52,600
Speaker 2: While flashy tech startups often grab headlines, it's the less

44
00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,880
Speaker 2: glamorous sector that often create the most lucrative opportunities. Industries

45
00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:59,680
Speaker 2: focused on compliance and safety and regulations.

46
00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:04,080
Speaker 1: They might not spark immediate excitement, but they are essential

47
00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:06,000
Speaker 1: for highly regulated industries.

48
00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,799
Speaker 2: Think construction, think manufacturing.

49
00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,760
Speaker 1: And digitizing These platforms saves time but also, juzzy boy,

50
00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:13,920
Speaker 1: also it reduces errors.

51
00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,720
Speaker 2: All the dreaded risk of legal issues and penalties too.

52
00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,960
Speaker 1: And Josey Boy. Hamitech isn't the first Australian tech company

53
00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,560
Speaker 1: to do well from a traditionally un sexy industry.

54
00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,440
Speaker 2: Ohner remember safety Culture worth a called two point seven

55
00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,800
Speaker 2: billion dollars at its latest valuation in August twenty twenty.

56
00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,560
Speaker 1: Three, And juzzy boy. With this wopp ar raise, Hamertech

57
00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:35,040
Speaker 1: is hoping they can bring their sexy technology to the

58
00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,280
Speaker 1: US and Europe as well. For our second story, one

59
00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,600
Speaker 1: of the major investors in Stripe, Sequoya Capital, is offering

60
00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:44,480
Speaker 1: to buy shares from its earliest investors at a seventy

61
00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:49,799
Speaker 1: billion US dollar valuation. Sequoya buying shares from Sequoya. Interesting move, Sequoya,

62
00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:51,040
Speaker 1: so tell me more, juzzy boy.

63
00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,720
Speaker 2: So Stripe is the fintech company started back in twenty

64
00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:55,720
Speaker 2: ten as a payments processing platform.

65
00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,440
Speaker 1: Also doesn't sound so sexy, but their goal was to

66
00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,120
Speaker 1: take on the likes of Visa and MasterCard for all digital.

67
00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,840
Speaker 2: Payments, and since then, Stripe's partnered with major e commerce

68
00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,680
Speaker 2: channels like Shopify as well as Amazon, and it hurts

69
00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:08,120
Speaker 2: as well.

70
00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:10,720
Speaker 1: Give this little one. Stripe is believed to have processed

71
00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,959
Speaker 1: more than one trillion US dollars through its platform in

72
00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,760
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, or a lazy one percent of global GDP.

73
00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:20,440
Speaker 1: But does boy, It's taken time and a lot of

74
00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,280
Speaker 1: money from investors. In fact, Strippers raised more than eight

75
00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:25,320
Speaker 1: point seven billion US dollars and its.

76
00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:29,280
Speaker 2: Valuation hitter whopping ninety five bill US in twenty twenty one.

77
00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,720
Speaker 1: Then, though it did drop to fifty bill very humble

78
00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:33,679
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three.

79
00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,880
Speaker 2: And now Socoe Capital, one of Stripe's earliest investors, is

80
00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,000
Speaker 2: looking to buy up to eight hundred and sixty one

81
00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,400
Speaker 2: million US dollars worth of Stripe shares.

82
00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,040
Speaker 1: At a valuation of seventy billion usd But.

83
00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,280
Speaker 2: Here's the interesting part, Baman, because it's looking to buy

84
00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:48,920
Speaker 2: the shares from its investors who invested in its own

85
00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,600
Speaker 2: fun between two thousand and nine and twenty twelve.

86
00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,960
Speaker 1: And this is a way for Stripe's earlier investors to

87
00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,920
Speaker 1: get some liquidity on their investments from more than twelve

88
00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,400
Speaker 1: years ago. So what is the key learning here? Venture

89
00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,920
Speaker 1: capital firms are creating new ways for older investors to

90
00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:06,440
Speaker 1: liquidate their shares. You see a man.

91
00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,839
Speaker 2: When investors or limited partners invest in a venture capital fund,

92
00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,240
Speaker 2: they expect to see returns on their investment.

93
00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:13,920
Speaker 1: Generally in a five to seven year timespan.

94
00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:16,719
Speaker 2: The idea is that a VC raises money, invest that

95
00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,600
Speaker 2: money into startups, and the company sells out via an

96
00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:21,680
Speaker 2: IPO or a strategic sale.

97
00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,080
Speaker 1: Be does. The challenge for Stripe is that there aren't

98
00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,240
Speaker 1: many other competitors that can afford to actually acquire them

99
00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:30,080
Speaker 1: for seventy billion US dollars, and Stripes founders have said

100
00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,280
Speaker 1: they prefer to keep Stripe as a private company indefinitely.

101
00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:35,839
Speaker 1: So as companies like Stripe extend their time in the

102
00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,280
Speaker 1: private markets, it makes it harder for these earlier investors

103
00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,400
Speaker 1: to realize their investment returns.

104
00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:44,479
Speaker 2: Get this, thirty seven percent of unicorns are being held

105
00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:46,680
Speaker 2: for at least nine years by VC funds.

106
00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:48,960
Speaker 1: That's according to Pitchbook, so be Man. It kind of

107
00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,640
Speaker 1: blows up the whole venture capital model. So Josie Waite

108
00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,359
Speaker 1: Sequoia is creating new ways for these old investors to

109
00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,400
Speaker 1: liquidate their shares in older investments. For our third and

110
00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,400
Speaker 1: final story, budget mobile brands I seen double digit growth

111
00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,039
Speaker 1: in subscribers after the latest price increases from telco giants,

112
00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:07,880
Speaker 1: Telstra and Optists. Not what the big dogs want to

113
00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:10,320
Speaker 1: hear right now, be man, so what is happening? Well, Josey. Wait.

114
00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,120
Speaker 1: Last week on the Pod we did discuss Telstra jacking

115
00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,080
Speaker 1: up its prices on mobile phone plans by more than

116
00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:17,279
Speaker 1: the inflation rate.

117
00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,920
Speaker 2: And voterphone Optics have also increased their prices this year

118
00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,120
Speaker 2: for new customers as well. But now, be man, Well,

119
00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,719
Speaker 2: these telco giants have been upping their prices. The budget

120
00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,159
Speaker 2: mobile providers are seizing on this opportunity to undercut them.

121
00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,520
Speaker 1: And low and behold, it is working. Get this. Budget

122
00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:34,520
Speaker 1: mobile brands Felix, Labarra and Cogan operated by TPG have

123
00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,400
Speaker 1: recorded a twelve point six percent increase in subscriber group.

124
00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:40,520
Speaker 2: And b Man, these budget brands now count for over

125
00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,960
Speaker 2: half of TPG's new customers thanks to their lower prices and.

126
00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,440
Speaker 1: Jogieboit it sure helps that digital first mobile phone plan

127
00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,320
Speaker 1: providers like Felix don't have to build their own infrastructure.

128
00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,240
Speaker 1: So what is the key learning here to beat business

129
00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,480
Speaker 1: giants at their own game, borrow their infrastructure and undercut

130
00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:57,160
Speaker 1: their prices.

131
00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,640
Speaker 2: You see mobile phone providers like Felix, Labara Hogan they've

132
00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:04,039
Speaker 2: been able to entice new customers with much lower prices.

133
00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,680
Speaker 1: And it's because upstart telco providers do not build their

134
00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,120
Speaker 1: own infrastructure. They just leverage existing infrastructure so they can

135
00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,000
Speaker 1: offer lower prices and pull market share from the incumbents.

136
00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,520
Speaker 1: And Jessie Boy, we've seen a digital first approach give

137
00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,240
Speaker 1: incumbents a run for their money. In the fintech industry

138
00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:19,240
Speaker 1: for example as well.

139
00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,040
Speaker 2: Yep, we've seen some nearbanks fail, but others like Upbank

140
00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,240
Speaker 2: and Wise and Revolute are exclusively online.

141
00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,880
Speaker 1: And they partner with traditional banks for bank infrastructure like

142
00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:29,240
Speaker 1: funding and compliance.

143
00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,080
Speaker 2: FLUXAMM there is a very exciting new feature big released

144
00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:34,279
Speaker 2: in the Flux app this Thursday, and it is very

145
00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:36,400
Speaker 2: close to my heart and will be close to yours, I'm.

146
00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:36,719
Speaker 1: Sure of it.

147
00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:38,760
Speaker 2: The challenge for you is have a scan through the

148
00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:40,640
Speaker 2: Flux app see if you can find the new feature

149
00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:42,600
Speaker 2: and look us a message and if you can, we'll

150
00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:43,960
Speaker 2: send you some Flux merched.

151
00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,480
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and we'll see you on Friday.