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Key Takeaways

  • • Victoria’s startup ecosystem is connected and supportive, not competitive for competition’s sake
  • • Word of mouth delivers talent recommendations that would take months through traditional channels
  • • Early-stage talent in Melbourne has often chosen the startup path deliberately – they bring the right mindset
  • • Even if you don’t know anyone, support systems and introductions make it easy to get started
  • • A tight-knit network means you can find the people who’ve already solved your problem

The Network That Gives You an Edge

There’s a narrative in startup culture that bigger is better. Bigger markets, bigger talent pools, bigger networks. The panel pushes back on that. Victoria’s startup ecosystem is smaller, and that’s precisely what makes it work for founders building teams.
In a tightly connected ecosystem, word of mouth isn’t just one channel for finding talent – it’s the best channel. When everyone knows each other, recommendations come with context. You’re not screening hundreds of strangers on LinkedIn. You’re getting introduced to someone a trusted peer has already worked with. The quality of referrals in a tight-knit network is dramatically higher than in a sprawling one. And the people who end up in Melbourne’s early-stage scene have often chosen it deliberately. They’re not defaulting to startup because they couldn’t get a corporate role. They’ve made an active decision to build something – and that mindset matters when you’re hiring for chaos tolerance.
The panel also addresses the fear that stops some founders from leaning into the network: “What if I don’t know anyone yet?” The answer is consistent: it doesn’t matter. The support systems in Victoria – LaunchVic programs, founder communities, industry meetups – make it genuinely easy to get introductions. Someone always knows somebody. And the culture is supportive rather than competitive. People want to help because they remember what it was like to be new. That’s not soft. That’s a structural advantage for founders who know how to use it.

It’s the support systems that are in place. Even if you don’t know anyone, it’s very easy to come in and go, oh, can you introduce me to someone? And someone knows somebody.

— Pavi Iyer, Head of People & Talent, Fortiro

Featured People Leaders

Michael Delaney – Head of People & Culture at JET Charge. Ex-Preezie. Blends people-first leadership with AI-driven strategy to build teams that scale. Former professional ballet dancer with 20+ years in talent and culture at Salesforce, DocuSign, and high-growth startups. Co-hosts the Talent Savvy podcast and leads diversity initiatives with Jobs for Humanity.

Sarah Sherriff – People Experience Manager at Factor House. The Melbourne-based engineering-led software house behind Kpow and Flex. Builds people and culture in “by engineers, for engineers” environments. 13+ years in talent acquisition and people operations across high-growth scale-ups. Joined Factor House after their $5M Seed round to support scaling from 15 to 30+.

Pavi Iyer – Head of People & Talent at Fortiro. Purpose-driven people leader with a background in medicinal chemistry and experience across global organisations, startups, and co-founding a coffee business. Champions workplace cultures that enable individual and organisational growth, and advocates for empathy, mentorship, and supportive networks in the Victorian talent community.

Anthony Meek – Chief People Officer at Edrolo. Australia’s leading edtech. Reformed teacher and people-and-culture champion with an MBA and background in organisational psychology and therapy. Has led Edrolo through two CEO transitions while scaling the team to 200+ and speaks widely on burnout, trust, and building teams you can rely on.

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