Alex Carpenter is the founder (or as he puts it, the “Initial Nudger, Steward and Groundskeeper”) of The Guild of Entrepreneurs, an independent organisation that draws on Alex’s experience, as well as that of many mentors within Australia’s startup ecosystem, to support entrepreneurs. Before starting The Guild of Entrepreneurs, Alex founded half a dozen companies, including Citrus WA, a hospitality supplier, and Atlas Events, which organises community events to promotes affordable opportunities for people to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. In his conversation with Adam, Alex discusses how Australia’s startup ecosystem is radically more cooperative and collaborative than in corporate settings, as well as his belief that Australia needs to get better at providing entrepreneurial role models to kids in order to promote startups as a viable career opportunity.
The Guild of Entrepreneurs: https://www.guildofentrepreneurs.com/Citrus WA: https://www.citruswa.com.au/Atlas Events: https://myatlasevents.com.au/
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Adam Spencer: Let me tell you about our partner, Teamified. If you need to build a top-notch team quickly, Teamified is your go-to solution. They not only provide fractional CTOs, they can also do contractors and even remote team members tailored exactly to your needs. And whether you're looking for expertise in the Philippines, India, or Sri Lanka, Teamified has you covered. What's amazing is that Teamified uses a blend of AI and human expertise to cut hiring times by 50%. Their platform handles everything from automated onboarding to day-to-day management and even performance tracking. You can also handle rewards and recognition, buy equipment and order training all through their platform. Simplify your hiring process and get the best talent fast with Teamified. Check them out now and transform your team. Go to dayone.fm/teamified. That's dayone.fm/t-e-a-m-i-f-i-e-d and get started today. Thank you. Hi, I'm Adam Spencer, founder of the Day One Network, which is bringing the history of the Australian startup ecosystem to you. I believe in founders. It's why I do everything I do at Day One and our media company, W2D1 Media. And that's why the Day One Network exists, to create helpful content for founders. We've got some great shows in development, but a large part of what we do couldn't be done without support from our partners and sponsors. And I couldn't be happier than to be working with NTP, who get community better than any other technology recruitment company out there. A Newcastle company like mine, NTP are invested in seeing the growth of the local tech community in Newcastle, Sydney, and more broadly Australia. So thank you NTP for helping us bring helpful content to founders and the startup community in Australia. Back to the interview. Hi, I'm Adam Spencer, founder of the Day One Network, which is bringing the history of the Australian startup ecosystem to you. I believe in founders. It's why I do everything I do at Day One and our media company, W2D1 Media. And that's why the Day One Network exists, to create helpful content for founders. We've got some great shows in development, but a large part of what we do couldn't be done without support from our partners and sponsors. And I couldn't be happier than to be working with NTP, who get community better than any other technology recruitment company out there. A Newcastle company like mine, NTP are invested in seeing the growth of the local tech community in Newcastle, Sydney, and more broadly Australia. So thank you NTP for helping us bring helpful content to founders and the startup community in Australia. Back to the interview. Hi, I'm Adam Spencer and welcome to Day One, the podcast that spotlights Australian startups, founders, and the organizations that empower Australian entrepreneurship. We go back to the beginning to tell the story of Australia's most inspiring founders and how they built their companies. You're listening to a special interview series as part of a documentary W2D1 is producing about the history of the Australian startup ecosystem. On the episode today, we have—
Alex Carpenter: Hi, I'm Alex Carpenter. I've been working to encourage and support entrepreneurs in their earlier stages for the past 10 years or so, and I do that in all sorts of ways through the Guild of Entrepreneurs and through various university engagements as well as through high schools.
Speaker C: What attracts you to this space? Why do you feel compelled to help?
Alex Carpenter: It's actually interesting that someone asked me that question yesterday. Are you more interested in the ventures or the people? And I'm much more interested in the people. And I think it's because I think when someone is doing, you know, the things that they're built to do, then their whole life really flourishes. And it's amazing to see that. And so, I'm really passionate about helping people to you know, do the things that really make their whole life flourish. And so, I think, you know, if you're doing something that you're built for, that it will work much better than if you're doing something that you're forcing yourself to do and that flows through your whole life. Your sleep will get better, your relationships get better, like, it's just everything kind of falls into place. So, I'm super passionate about helping people identify whatever that is. And I think entrepreneurship is the best vehicle for that, 'cause it's all about exploration and trialling different things. Yeah. Roles and different things and seeing what really speaks to you.
Speaker C: I don't know if this question will tie into when did you first get involved in the startup ecosystem, but when did you discover what you were built for?
Alex Carpenter: Hmm, yeah, not until quite recently. I mean, I got involved in, I've always been, had that entrepreneurial tick. So, one of my first businesses, which I don't count, but it is, I created pencil cases and went to news agencies and sold handmade pencil cases when I was in in school and that was just, that was the first thing and all of those like, you know, Coke bottles out of the locker room kind of arbitrage opportunities, all those kinds of things, that's what I was doing at a young age. I was really, you know, passionate about business and I enjoyed business, but I ended up doing an accounting degree, which was just awful and I'm very bad at accounting and it's not what I'm built for at all. But I finished that degree and I thought, what on earth am I going to do now? I've got an accounting degree and my WAM was 54, so I was just a terrible student. And so, then I was like, well, maybe I should start businesses because, you know, that could be good. And then I started a number of businesses and some of them went well enough to fund others that didn't do very well. And so, that over about 8 years, I launched 6 companies and then 2 of them went well enough to fund the other 4. And then over the space, I started getting involved in mentoring and teaching and then that started to—
Adam Spencer: Yeah.
Alex Carpenter: Really identify that passion of like, I actually really care about people and I want to help people, you know, not make the same mistakes that I've done. And even if they are going to make the same mistakes that I do, because entrepreneurs are commonly very stubborn and, you know, they want to learn the hard way like me.
Adam Spencer: Yeah.
Alex Carpenter: You know, even if they do want to go down that hard way, I want to be there when everything falls apart and to be able to help pick the pieces back up. And so, I'm really passionate about just maintaining, you know, really long relationships with people and walking with them on that journey, even if they ignore everything I say, because I think that's, that's a great way to learn. That's the way I learn. So I never fault anyone for ignoring me.
Speaker C: Can you share the story about where did the Guild of Entrepreneurs enter your story and how did it come to be?
Alex Carpenter: Yeah. So when the pandemic happened, I really saw it as a great opportunity because so many people were uncertain and the world was going to shift. That much was obvious. And that's now still playing out. We're seeing how that's all changing. And I saw like, oh man, there's so many people that are going to have to embrace entrepreneurship and pursue that. And they're going to make all the same mistakes that I did, that we all do, because we all think there isn't a method behind all of this and everything is unknown. And so, you just kind of wander out there and trip into all the giant chasms that everybody falls into. And I was like, oh, that—
Speaker C: Yeah.
Alex Carpenter: I have to do something to help those people. And so, that's when I was like, well, the first thing is I would be building all of the resources over the past 5 years of all of the go-to stuff that I use to help and mentor and teach. And so, I was like, well, I'm just going to release that. And I'll just give that away for free and hopefully people will find value in that and use that.
Adam Spencer: Yeah.
Alex Carpenter: And that's the Guild Library. So, I launched that. I spent solid 9 months just getting all my notes, everything that I'd accumulated over those years together into one place in a way that was somewhat digestible. And it's huge, but my hope was that someone would find value in it. And then the thought was like, well, you know, that's great, they're resources. But really, people don't even know what to ask. People don't know what to Google. People don't know what— the resource to read, where do they go to ask that question and receive, you know, genuine help from people that they can verify that they know what they're talking about?
Adam Spencer: Mm-hmm.
Alex Carpenter: But also like that encouragement and the support and the help that you see when you find someone else who's struggling with a similar thing or that are further down the road and they're struggling with different things and that real community effect. And so, there was nothing like that. Where it was just free and open and encouraging. And so I thought, well, I need to build that. And so that's what the Guild of Entrepreneurs was. And so from the very beginning, it was always, well, there's so much goodwill in the startup ecosystem. All I really need to do is like open the door and say, goodwill, come in here, and it'll just happen. And to a large extent it did. And so that's why I shy away from using the word founder of the guild because—
Adam Spencer: Yeah.
Alex Carpenter: Really, I was just the initial nudger of that snowball at the top of the hill and then it rolled down the hill. But it was years and years and years of people who have come before me who have set up that culture of goodwill, who have just like the first people that were helping others without expecting anything in return. You know, there's this huge train of people that are all connected and they're all helping each other without expecting anything. Mm-hmm. And really the Guild is just a vehicle for that to kind of flourish and to be seen by people who aren't inside the community.
Speaker C: Yeah, that culture of goodwill and just the giving nature of this community is cited regularly in interviews as one of the strengths of our ecosystem. And you just pointed to it then and the people that have come before that built that culture. But do you have any insight on how that came to be? Why is that so important? Such a strength of our community here in Australia in the startup ecosystem?
Alex Carpenter: Yeah, it's a good question and I honestly wish I knew more about it, but I know that from when I started back in Perth, when I just finished, finishing up my accounting degree, that wasn't there. It might have been in a, you know, behind a door somewhere and I just didn't know about it, but I started all of those businesses thinking I was totally alone. There was no one there to help. The concept of startups was barely a thing and it's now changed so much for the better. And so, I think wherever it originates from, I'm just glad it did and that it's spreading.
Speaker C: Yeah.
Alex Carpenter: Because it is growing and spreading and it should.
Speaker C: What year was that when you wrapped up your studies and then started those, was it 6 companies? What kind of timeline are we looking at?
Alex Carpenter: Yeah. I think that was back in around 2011, 2012.
Speaker C: When did you— really start to notice the startup community?
Alex Carpenter: Yeah. When I moved from Perth to Sydney, 2015 or something like that, there was a big difference. I noticed it because I started to reach out to people and that's how I ended up in the University of Sydney to begin with is I was, you know, just trying to meet people in Sydney. And at the time I had a social enterprise and so I was, you know, meeting all sorts of people and just reaching out to them cold. And that's kind of got me onto it because they started to be like, oh, you could help with this. You know, we need guest lecturer here and you could do a bit of mentoring there. And I was like, oh, wow, that's fun. Okay, sure. And then it's just one thing led to another. And then that's where it started to become a bit clearer to me. But still, there wasn't one place that I was aware of, even at that time, that it was like, wow, everything's kind of circulating around them.
Speaker C: Right.
Alex Carpenter: And I think it's still growing and there's still lots of little hubs, little silos. But I think broadly that it's easier to find your way into the ecosystem than ever before.
Speaker C: Around that 2015 time, can you try to paint a bit of a picture of what some of those little hubs were looking like? Like, what were some of the things that were visible to you? Can you name them?
Alex Carpenter: Hmm.
Speaker C: Sorry, not only organizations, but people too. Like, who had their heads above the water, I guess, that you could see that these people were kind of not, you know, not beacons of the community, but like just who would visit, what was visible to you?
Alex Carpenter: Yeah, I mean, because I was currently running a social enterprise, I was focused more on that place. So, I initially reached out to the people at SEFAA, Social Enterprise Financing Australia, and that was great. And they put me in touch with a bunch of other people. But I also reached out to Tom from Start Some Good and also the founder of Chuft. And it was just, Like everyone that I reached out to, there was this willingness and excitement to kind of introduce me to more people. And that's kind of really what it is of like, wow, there's this long chain of just these introductions that are mutually beneficial. And that's kind of where it kicked off. And so I just reached out to the people that were the pillars in the social enterprise space at that time. Yeah, one thing led to another and eventually I was introduced to many others.
Speaker C: Yeah, it seems to be, or it seems to me that the onus is on the entrepreneur, right? The founder to do the reaching out, to be the one to go and look for the community. I mean, does that sound right to you or?
Alex Carpenter: Oh yeah, I mean—
Speaker C: Because the support is there, there were people there, but you don't see them until you start looking.
Alex Carpenter: Yep. I think that's 100% right. And for me, like, I introduce so many people to so many people now. That's pretty much all I do all day long. And it's interesting because the people that are not quite comfortable with following up on these introductions, I'll introduce someone to them and, you know, they'll be the junior in the introduction kind of scene and they're just afraid. And so, there's this hesitancy because they don't know the culture. And so, even getting introduced for the first time, they're hesitant, like maybe they'll like, "I don't know what I'm talking about and so I don't want to ask them because then they'll realise that I'm a fraud and I don't know what I'm doing." And it's like, no, no, but that's all of us, like don't worry about it, that's all of us, we all don't know what we're doing, that's the whole thing. And so, I find that even now lots of people are just too nervous about actually taking up those introductions. And so, then they end up holding themselves back and leaning out of the ecosystem, which is, I think, a great shame because there's just so much support available. But actually, people aren't asking for it. There's this barrier. There's this lack of humility to go, I don't know what I'm doing. And then the response is almost always, that's cool. None of us know what we're doing. We're all figuring it out together. Welcome. But you need to then take that first step of like, guys, I don't know what I'm doing. And if you can't say that, then you're just going to keep going down, you know, your own road and making your own mistakes without leveraging the support that's actually there for you.
Speaker C: What are some of the gaps, if you want to talk about gaps, that like what, where can we improve?
Alex Carpenter: Yeah, I think role modelling is a huge gap and we're getting better. We're getting so much better in the recent couple of years. And I think people like, you know, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Mel Perkins are just doing just amazing work in this space because kids can't be something they can't see. And until recently, there was no famous Australian entrepreneurs that kids saw in the newspapers.
Adam Spencer: Mm-hmm.
Alex Carpenter: And it's a really important point. Like, people, they like to, you know, trash on media and, you know, say it's not as influential, but like kids just are like sponges. And so, you know, I saw a recent study that showed the most desired job for the next generation is to be a YouTuber. And, you know, that's great, cool. But like, man, there's so many bigger problems to be solving, guys. Like, can we tackle something slightly larger than, you know, making mass content for Google? And there's nothing wrong with that. But yeah, man, we should be aiming bigger than that. And so, but that's only because they want to be what they can see and they're spending so much time on TikTok and YouTube, they're like, man, that looks like a great job. I want to do that. And sure, it might be a great job, but really we're not showing them, we're not exposing them to enough of these role models who are ambitiously, you know, tackling the problems that we're facing in today's society.
Speaker C: Yeah.
Alex Carpenter: And so, we need to be doing a better job of that, I think, and keep doing more of that, getting it into schools more and more.
Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, you said there's nothing wrong with that. I disagree. I think we've got enough YouTubers and Instagram people. That's my opinion and not the opinion of anyone I don't want anyone else to do this series. That's just my bad. There's enough. There's enough YouTube influencers, everyone. Anyway, on a positive note, and we've mentioned one of the positives, like the supportive community, but what do you think we're doing really, really well in this ecosystem, in this community?
Alex Carpenter: Yeah, I think the level of fear is good. So, I still get asked a lot about people that are scared and like they don't wanna share their ideas and like, can you sign this NDA and I'm gonna get a patent and all those things. And I'm not necessarily saying those things. Things are wrong, but they're often, almost always misguided because those tools are just not effective in this ecosystem. 'Cause, not gonna get into that, but you really shouldn't be worried about someone stealing your idea 'cause if it's that easy, then it's not really a very good idea anyway. And so, you've gotta lean into, you know, what are you here for? You know, 'cause if you're here to do that thing, like if you're built to do this thing, then no one's going to stand a chance at competing with you. It's like, you know, saying like, "Oh, well, I'm, you know, a 7-foot-2, you know, really dexterous, really fast athlete, you know. Oh, but I don't want to tell anyone I'll go into basketball because they might beat me at it." And it's like, "You freaking idiot. Like, you're built for that. You're so tall. You're so dexterous. You're so fast. You're going to smash the competition." You could tell everyone you're going into basketball. And you'll still smash them all. Like, and that's the thing, like everyone's built for something and it's just as soon as you figure that out, you're like, wow, I'm in a league of my own. Like you guys might be doing something similar, but it's not quite the same. And what I'm built for, I am damn good at that and lean into that. And you don't have to be afraid of someone stealing your special sauce. Like if it's that easy to steal it, it's not that great. So, I think that's something we're doing quite well. Is that the culture leans into that and shares our struggles with each other and we generally support and that's good. And so, I think we need to do more of that and figure out a way to on-ramp people from not understanding that culture to understanding it. Because one of the most common things I actually hear is from people that have gone down that corporate route and spent, you know, 5 or 10 years in corporate land or any industry They come into the startup ecosystem and they're just so confused. They're like, I don't get it. Like everyone's so nice. It's weird. It's like, is someone gonna, you know, shiv me at some point? Why is everyone so freaking nice? It's just so unusual. And if you've been indoctrinated into another corporate culture, that makes sense. This totally makes sense. But we have to figure out how to on-ramp them to go, okay, you've got to leave your cutthroat banking business behind. Yeah. Because one, you're not gonna get very far 'cause it's hard to do this on your own. And two, we're all here to help you. Like we're wanting to encourage and support you anyway. We don't wanna steal your stuff. So, you know, drop the attitude, be humble and let us help you and we genuinely will.
Speaker C: This question might be redundant 'cause you've already, you know, there's some good pearls in here for founders, but what one piece of advice would you give a new founder?
Alex Carpenter: I think don't neglect your failures and your past. So often, especially in pitches, like people kind of polish the dusty, dirty road that they've been on to the point to be like, oh, this is just, this all just happened very quickly and it's become very easy and we're very good at this. And it's like, guys, like your story, your perseverance and all your failures, that's the stuff that's so valuable, that's your story. That's your secret sauce. And don't ignore it. Lean into it. Say like, oh man, I did this and it failed. And then this happened and I realised this. And then this customer said this thing, which put me onto that idea. And then boom, that's actually the idea we're going with because I've had all this experience, all this failure to kind of get to that point.
Speaker C: Mm-hmm.
Alex Carpenter: And really you've got to lean into your story. And if it's like, oh, I was I was doing this in high school or I was passionate about this in uni. It's like there's crumbs there. There's all these crumbs throughout your life that kind of point you to the thing that you should be doing. And ignoring that is just the wrong way around. You should be looking at opportunities both around you, but also from your past of like, where are you actually leaning towards and then go forward with that.
Speaker C: With this last minute or so that we've got, keeping in mind that what I'm trying to do here is put together a very holistic and truthful documentary about the history of the Australian startup ecosystem. I want academics, policymakers, founders, investors, everybody from every corner of the startup ecosystem or community to hear this story. What message do they need to hear from Alex? What would you want to tell them?
Alex Carpenter: Yeah, I think I'm a huge huge fan of everyone doing their thing. And it infuriates me so much when, when like the government tries to do something that, you know, the university should be doing, and the university tries to do something that the fund should be doing, and the schools try to do something that the government should be doing. It's like, guys, like, we need everyone playing at their absolute optimal point in order to make this really move. And so we've got to be more collaborative and do more partnerships. Because it's the same, like, in the basketball analogy, it's kind of like the defender trying to shoot all of the goals. And you're like, guys, like, have trust and faith in your other teammates because they're better at that stuff than you are. That's why they're doing it. So, if you are, you know, you're the defender, just be really freaking good at that role and stay out of everyone else's role. And if everyone kind of has that attitude of like, I know what I'm good at and I'm just gonna stay here, and we all get pulled into like the most illustrious looking thing, but that does a disservice to the whole ecosystem. We need to figure out where our lane is and then just get really freaking good at that and just keep doing it.
Speaker C: Thank you, Alex. It's been a pleasure.
Alex Carpenter: Thanks, Adam. So appreciate chatting through all this stuff with you.
Adam Spencer: I hope you enjoyed that interview. More interviews are on the way.
Speaker C: Follow the podcast wherever you're listening right now.
Adam Spencer: Stay tuned for more interviews with many, many more amazing people from the Australian startup ecosystem. Thanks for listening and see you next time.
