Apply NOW for the biggest pitch night of the year!
Small Steps Vol. 86: Giant Leap x The Startup Network’s Impact Pitch Night; nature’s time to shine ✨; and is ‘girl maths’ really just behavioural economics 🤔?
“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
Kick start
❗ATTENTION IMPACT FOUNDERS ❗ Don’t pass on the best opportunity of the year to showcase your impact mission and rocket ship potential on the big stage at our upcoming Impact Pitch Night, proudly hosted with The Startup Network in Melbourne. Historically, this night has the most people in the room of all The Startup Network’s events! 👀
We’re firm believers that impact is the future of finance, and if you’re reading this newsletter, you probably already do too. We can’t think of a better way to spend your night on October 26th than by being inspired by the next gen of impact founders revolutionising the startup landscape. Apply now or send the link to your early-stage founder friends!
📆 Date: October 26th, 2023
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM
🏛️ Venue: The Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre
🗒️ Applications close: October 16th, 2023
What we’re thinking about
🌱 It’s nature’s time to shine. You’ve probably already heard of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), but now its younger, but no less important sibling, is having its moment in the spotlight. At NYC Climate Week last week, the Taskforce for Nature-based Financial Disclosures’ (TNFD) formally announced the release of the full framework for how companies can integrate nature into corporate decision-making.
So what is the TNFD? It’s an international, voluntary framework that sets out risk management guidelines for large companies and financial institutions to report and act on nature-related risks (namely, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation). It’s also an avenue to channel capital flows into positive nature action, and was given political support earlier this year through endorsement by G7 Finance Ministers.
Why do we need an international framework like this? Just like the climate crisis, the nature crisis is already here in full force. We’re seeing biodiversity and nature destruction at unprecedented rates, with the current rate of extinction being tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the past 10 million years. Current business models are based on unsustainable consumption patterns that underpin this loss, with companies paying almost nothing for their natural inputs. US$44 trillion of global economic value generation is dependent on nature and ecosystem services, and faces extreme risk from nature loss – that’s more than 50% of global GDP.
The idea is that making companies report publicly on their contributions to natural destruction (and what they’re doing to change it) is an important step toward curbing the downward trajectory that we’re on. Here’s hoping we see rapid adoption of the framework and some meaningful change as a result.
Graphic sourced from The Guardian here.
Get up to speed on the TNFD with this helpful cheat sheet from our friends at Wedgetail, specialists in investing in biodiversity. Want even more? Read their summary of the four reasons by the TNFD matters.
🧠 Transcranial magnetic stimulation is treating depression. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive medical procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate specific regions of the brain, often employed in the treatment of depression. New research now shows it could also help with the treatment of ADHD, autism and OCD – check out this article from The Conversation for the update on this promising development in the mental health space.
💄 ‘Girl maths’ or behavioural economics? If your algorithm is anything like ours, you may have seen the viral ‘girl maths’ TikTok trend floating around on your feed for the past month or so. Despite its origins as a tongue-in-cheek joke, it has received criticism for encouraging overspending and, in some cases, the harmful misperception that women are poor financial managers.
In response, we loved this commentary by Yiva Baeckstrom, Senior Lecturer in Finance from King’s College London, suggesting that ‘girl maths’ is actually a “demonstration of women’s mastery at applying portfolio theory to their shopping, making them investment powerhouses whose potential is overlooked by the financial services industry”, or this LinkedIn post by Deloitte Economist Evie Fox Koob, that says the trend is really just a 101 in basic behavioural economics (think: willingness to pay, opportunity cost and sunk cost) that consumers of all genders are beholden to.
New paths
🧑🏽💻 Seer is searching for a Senior Legal Counsel (Melbourne) and a Clinical Scientist (Sydney).
🧻 Who Gives A Crap is hiring a Senior Social Media Manager (Melbourne).
🌎 Keen on climate investing? Virescent Ventures is seeking an Venture Capital Associate or Manager (Sydney).
🔥 Also, check out our Giant Leap Fund jobs board for over 45+ available positions or fill out our expression of interest form. There’s even more jobs at ethical companies on the global B-Work job board.
Giant leaps
🎉 Huge congratulations are in order for all of our amazing portfolio founders who made it onto The Australian’s Top 100 Innovators List - very well deserved! Shoutout to Jeanette Chea from HEX, Alex and Chris Naoumidis from Mindset Health, Dr Soukayna Bekkali, Jo Montanari and Peter Haasz from Modo, Neala Fulia and Helena Ngo from More Good Days, and Eric Peck and Joshua Tepper from Swoop Aero.
👏🏻 Congrats to the Conserving Beauty team for their world-first dissolvable face wipes being recognised in the global Marie Claire Awards!
🤩 Perx Health has taken home 3rd place at My Startup Gig’s Top Startup Employers of 2023 in the 21-40 employees category, thanks to strong employee sentiment and Perx’s approach to learning and development, diversity inclusion, and workplace benefits.
For the road
🦪 Putting a bit of extra mussel into adhesives. The Nature Podcast looks at how a soya-based oil inspired by the substance mussels use to stick to rocks could be the glue of the future.
🤯 Reading minds with AI. Can a brainscan be used to read your mind? With AI, we’re getting closer to this being a reality. Vox’s latest Unexplainable podcast delves into the ethical and privacy concerns in decoding your brain.
📖 Fixing climate journalism. The Reuters Institute in partnership with the Oxford Climate Journalism Network (OCJN) will be publishing one essay a week on improving climate journalism practices around the globe. It covers advice around sourcing accurate data to finding ways to better integrate human impact with scientific research.
🌡️ Boiling down biases. Your biases aren’t original or unique – as evolutionary psychologist Steve Steward-Williams points out on X, new research suggests that they can be traced back to a few fundamental biases that humans hold, coupled with confirmation bias.
❓ Your burning go-to-market questions answered. The transition from builder to seller can be a difficult, steep journey for founders. First Round Review has pulled together an FAQ on key questions, from running a sales call to effectively projecting your future sales. It concludes that founders share a lot of traits with excellent sales people; it's all about reframing your skillset.
💰 Wondering how much equity to give your advisors? Equity management solution Carta breaks it down, using averages from over 20,000 equity arrangements issued using its platform.
✈️ EU moves on sustainable jet fuel. By 2025, all airlines flying to the EU will have to ensure that 2% of fuel is from sustainable sources. That target will then increase to 6% by 2030.
🏝️ Tuvalu is sinking, but it won’t stop it from existing. In a world first, the island nation -- under threat from rising sea levels due to climate change -- has enshrined its existence in its constitution, even if its landmass disappears.
🧊 Tech’s IPO winter is thawing. Companies like Reddit, peer-to-peer car rental platform Turo and data management platform Cohesity -- who all considered IPOs in 2021 -- are restarting their plans to list. The liquidity events could prove to be a much-needed kick start for lagging global tech investment. They follow Instacart and Klaviyo who both recently listed on the NASDAQ and NYSE respectively.
📝 Pioneering disability tech? Consider flicking an application to the new Remarkable Scaler Program, aimed at helping founders turn their successful product into a successful business. Applications are rolling and have no close date.
👶🏻 The tech helping people take charge of their fertility. Scientists turned founders with first-hand experience with fertility problems are driving a new wave of innovation in reproductive health. Digital Health looks at three companies: Hertility, Fairtility, Embieapp, who are improving outcomes in this space.
🍕And finally, the perils of pleasing every investor…
Save the date
📅 4 October: Following its sellout success last year, the Alt Proteins Conference is on again at the Sofitel in Melbourne. Purchase tickets here.
📅 12 October: Entries close for the Australia and New Zealand TMRRW awards, which recognises companies changing the planet for the better. Early Bird entries (before Sept 30) are $99. Standard entry is $199.
📅 October 25: SXSW Sydney. This huge event is gearing up to set Australia’s tech, culture and art agenda for the next year. The Giant Leap team will be there - grab your tickets here.
📅 5 November: Applications close for Startmate’s Accelerator program, which over the years has seen over 200 of its alumni receive funding. The next cohort commences in early 2024.
📅 November 8-9: Purpose Conference, Sydney. Australia’s most anticipated purpose-driven business conference is back. It runs over two days at the Carriageworks in Sydney - the Giant Leap team will be there as well! Tickets here.
📅 November 28: Climate Salad’s Australian Climate Tech Festival & Awards 2023, Sydney. Gear up for a full day of interactive demos, engaging content, inspiring pitches, networking and awards on climate tech at the Sydney Town Hall. Tickets here, Climate Salad members receive a discount.