Seize control of your cyber risk! What early-stage founders should be thinking about
Small Steps Vol. 87: Mandatory equity reporting for 50% of the world’s venture capital 💸; Giant Leap’s discount code for Purpose Conference 🎟️; and don’t forget to vote ✅!
“To know how much there is to know is the beginning of learning to live.”
— Dorothy West
Kick start
💻 Kick hackers to the curb. All startup founders know that the risk of a cyber security breach is very real and very serious. However, when you're constantly juggling a hundred and one things, it can be easy to let these questions slip in favour of focus on product and team, or because it’s hard to know where to start.
We recently sat down for a Q&A with Susie Jones, CEO and co-founder of Cynch Security, to find out how she thinks about cyber risk as both a security expert and as a founder herself. Check out her helpful answers to the top questions we get about how, and when, startups should be thinking about safeguarding their data, systems and intellectual property below.
What we’re thinking about
📣 VC equity reporting enshrined in California. In a huge win for diversity, California passed a law this week mandating that VC firms report annually on the diversity of the founders they invest in. The bill, Senate Bill 54, is the US’s first piece of legislation aiming to increase diversity within the VC landscape and comes into force on 1 March 2025.
It applies to all VC firms operating within the state, with investee companies operating in California, or with LPs in California. This is significant because 50% of the world’s venture capital is tied to California. The aggregated data will be publicly available.
We’re thrilled to see this positive progress, particularly following the US Supreme Court’s decision in June this year to strike down Affirmative Action programs in college admissions, which raised concerns about the protection of equal opportunity for historically underrepresented groups.
🗳️ Time to vote. The Voice Referendum is on this Saturday 14 October - check out Giant Leap’s Primer on the Voice to help inform your vote and read about why we’re voting YES. You can also register to take part in a virtual yarning circle on The Voice, hosted by First Nations people.
🙌 Purpose Conference. We’re excited to be partnering with Purpose Conference 2023, an inspiring two-day all about doing business better. Why? Purpose Conference thinks like we do – believing that the world’s most urgent and complex challenges can be solved through the power of businesses that have their focus on purpose as well as profit.
We’ll be heading along for the two day event, held on 8-9 November at Carriageworks in Sydney on Gadigal Land, and we’d love to see you there!
Grab a ticket here. We're offering our community a discount code for tickets to the conference – use the code "giantleap" to get a discounted ticket.
New paths
🧻 Who Gives A Crap is searching for a Senior Growth Marketing Manager (Melbourne or remote).
🐛 Goterra is on the lookout for a HR Business Partner (Canberra).
⚕️ Seer is after a Senior Visual Designer (Melbourne).
🔥 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
🎉 HEX landed a story on the ABC regarding their new partnership with Camberwell Girls Grammar School. The company also recently held their first major conference, HEXPO, which was a raging success!
🌳 Who Gives A Crap has gotten some hot press in NPR for its recent campaign using childhood classic Winne the Pooh to raise awareness about deforestation. Nothing like tugging on the heart strings to remind people that forests are essential to life on Earth.
🙇 WORK180 CEO and co-founder Gemma Lloyd featured this week in Smart Company, decoding the “lazy girl” TikTok job trend and what it means for businesses. In short, “there’s nothing lazy about expecting a job that pays you well, gives you good work-life balance and doesn’t overwork you.”
🖤💛❤️ We’re proud to share that Giant Leap’s Reconciliation Action Plan has been approved by Reconciliation Australia. Read it on our website here.
For the road
💚 Who runs the world? Youth climate activists. A group of Portuguese youth activists, aged 11 to 24, have launched the world’s largest climate legal action against 32 countries in the European Court of Human Rights. The UK is currently under fire, with its key defence falling away thanks to PM Rishi Sunak scrapping key aspects of the government’s 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution.
📝 A smart primer on SAFE Agreements. We’re sure you’re familiar with SAFEs, or Simple Agreements for Future Equity, given their recent rise in popularity with founders and investors – but could you use more detail on how they work? Check out this helpful primer from VC’s Newsletter on the ins and out.
🤖 US VCs band together on ‘Responsible AI’ guidelines. Major firms including Bain Capital Ventures, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Mayfield and IVP have come together on the topic, saying they will consider ethical concerns raised by AI in their due diligence.
💛 Kinder workplaces are more productive. Keeping on productivity, Metta Leaders’ Sophie Bretag argues that bosses who embrace kindness in the workplace will see an uptick in their business performance. You can kick off this behaviour through something as simple as daily check-ins with your team.
✊🏽 BLM’s impact on Corporate America. A good news story for diversity - Corporate America promised to hire more People of Colour, and it actually did. People of Colour represented a massive 94% of the total headcount increase at S&P 100 firms over the past few years.
🌟 ChatGPT users are faster, more effective employees. At least that’s the finding from a recent study from the Harvard Business Review, summarised on LinkedIn by Generative AI founder Steve Nouri. There’s nuances in the data though, with consultants who relied on AI for tasks outside its capability seeing a significant decline in their performance.
🌎 The companies changing the world. Fortune’s annual Change The World list is out. EV makers are topping the list, with retail giant WalMart ranking #3 for its initiative to pay for its team members to undertake a degree to attain higher paying roles.
🐘 Can we use AI to talk to animals? In this episode of the Unexplainable podcast, two scientists explain how AI might help us translate animal squawks, chatter and songs to gain deeper insight into their communication.
🍼 Tips on drafting a parental leave policy. Around 3 in 5 employers in Australia have a paid parental leave policy, making it crucial for attracting and retaining talent in Australia. So how do you create a policy that scales with your company? Airtree has put together a template and guide for startups to show you how, and puts the case for gender-neutral policies.
🚀 A breakthrough in research-led startup funding. Breakthrough Victoria has chipped in $43 million to help fund the creation of startups spun out of university research. Companies who make it into the program can receive up to $500,000 in pre-seed funding to kick start their business.
Save the date
📅 12 October: Press Play’s Women’s Ecosystem Mixer with Stone & Chalk. k. Intended to uplift women in startups, this event will feature women founders, insightful startup investors, and passionate advocates of the startup world. It’s on tonight, so grab a ticket here.
📅 26 October: Join the Wade Institute for a night of big ideas with their annual Showcase Pitch Night. Tickets are free but limited.
📅 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.
📅 31 October: Applications close for the Jupiter Program, aiming to lift more women into STEM-related fields. You can register your interest here.
📅 5 November: Applications close for the Startmate Accelerator Program, which has seen over 200 of its alumni receive funding. The next cohort commences in early 2024.
📅 8 November: Purpose, a two day conference celebrating purpose-led business is back. It’s being held at the Carriageworks in Sydney. Sign up here and use the code “giantleap” for discounted tickets!
📅 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.
📅 December 4: Applications close for the Go-Green Co-Innovation Program’s first round of Grants. The program is a joint-initiative between Australia and Singapore, offering grants up to $500,000.