Why I joined Microsoft. And why you should too!

So, a thing happened.

I’m excited to announce that I’ve joined Microsoft as the Managing Director of Startups for Sydney.

My background these past 6 years has been all about startups. From being a former founder myself to acting as a mentor, advisor, angel investor and, more recently, as co-founder and partner of venture capital fund M8 Ventures — this position is a natural fit for me.

In this role, I’ll be leading Microsoft’s startup initiative within Australia. Part of this will be advocating and feeding collaboration between startups and Microsoft, as well as overseeing Microsoft’s startup programs, but most importantly my focus will be on building partnerships with Australia’s wider community to support and grow fantastic startup companies.

For anyone who hasn’t yet seen the announcement in addition to running the ScaleUp program, Microsoft will be an active tenant of the Sydney Startup Hub bringing its global expertise to sparking and supporting the Australian start-up ecosystem. We’ll do this by curating a series of events, hackathons, investor pitch opportunities, CEO sessions, and a range of other activities which will be open to the community through the Sydney Startup Hub.

To bring something like this to Sydney is a smart investment in a more global future and it’s a testament to the innovative work being accomplished by startups here in Australia. Our ecosystem is maturing rapidly and it’s more important than ever to focus our energies on that which pulls us together. Australia’s startups have much to offer, with amazing developments in technology and a swelling interest in harnessing those solutions for good — Microsoft wants to be a part of it — and so do I.

I’m eager to get started. I want to lay the groundwork in our programs which will make it easy to see the value in ethical, innovative and disruptive technologies. We want startups who share our vision to empower people and organisations to achieve more by working together, experimenting, iterating and scaling up.

I made the decision to join Microsoft because it’s an exciting place with its eyes firmly set on the horizon. From leading cutting-edge work in artificial intelligence, mixed reality and accessibility in tech to driving growth in the open source community through its recently announced intent to acquire GitHub — I believe Microsoft is the right company for me. If you’re working in startups and are interested in any of the above, there’s a good possibility it’s right for you too.

P.S. Soon I’ll be looking to hire our team. If you’re interested in the opportunities on offer in this area, stay tuned!