Founder & Tech Startup Specialist / Startup Success & Community Manager @ Stone & Chalk 🚀

Are you in the early stages of creating an innovative new mobile app, web app, SaaS platform, or any other tech product?

I HELP FOUNDERS LIKE YOU, ACCELERATE THE JOURNEY FROM IDEA TO SUCCESSFUL RELEASE AND BEYOND. 

So, why would you seek help?

When you’re creating a tech product startup, there are many unique challenges that can derail the whole venture, even before it gets off the ground.

The fact is… 91% of all first-time tech founders fail.

Here's the good news… These mistakes are easily avoided and you can 10X your chance of success if you have a proven ‘roadmap’ to guide you.

My goal is to help you defy the odds and become one of the star founders who turn their startup dream into reality.


Let me share a little of my experience.

Over the past four decades, I've been in business. From working in the family company to founding or co-founding over 8 successful startups… Conventional and tech based.

In 2012, I co-founded Buzinga Apps, a small app development company based in Melbourne.

We grew Buzinga to one of the fastest-growing development agencies in Australia, until late 2017 when we sold.

During this period, sadly I witnessed numerous clients fail to achieve commercial success… Many, for reasons I thought were totally avoidable (in retrospect).

This sparked my obsession with success systems for tech startups.

I delved deep into design thinking, lean methodology, lean startup, and exponential growth strategy, among others. And had the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of successful founders, gaining their insights about what it takes.

There are several fundamental steps at each stage of tech business growth that must be completed to have any chance at commercial success.

In the past five years I have coached five tech startups to successful outcomes and impacted more than 120 with advice, guides and training.

If you're a first-time tech founder and could use some help... simply follow me here on LinkedIn.

AND, subscribe to my '10X Founders Edge' newsletter.

Head to my website for more information and resources:  kuboom.com.au

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In 2024, I’ve taken on a new challenge. I’ve joined the passionate team at Stone and Chalk’s Melbourne Hub as ‘Startup Success and Community Manager’.

Stone and Chalk are the largest innovation community in Australia.

If you're the founder of an Emerging Tech Startup and are experiencing some initial traction, be sure to reach out to me…

Let’s explore how we can help you accelerate success and connect you with mentors, customers, investors and other founders in our community.

Graham McCorkill

Is there a secret to commercialising research and deep technology? Tomorrow night at Stone & Chalk in Melbourne you can hear from founders who have successfully navigated the process! 

Join us for a special edition of our Ecosystem Mixer in partnership with CSIRO's ON Innovation Program for a focus on Deep Tech Innovation and commercialisation.

We are going to explore how cutting‑edge research and technology are being transformed into globally relevant solutions… from sustainable materials to advanced, AI‑driven intelligence. 

This isn’t your average networking event...

We’re bringing in three incredible founders who are shaking things up in the Deep Tech space to chat about Innovation:

Our Speakers:

Dr Ranja Salvamoser - Founder at Mermaid Bio & Senior Research Manager at the VCCC Alliance. Ranja led the Mermaid Bio from scientific concept to funded venture across Germany and Australia. 

Kenn Rodrigues - Co‑Founder and CEO at DHI‑AI, a technology company turning unstructured information into actionable intelligence using advanced AI.

Ross Pearson - Co‑Founder and CTO of DHI‑AI, with decades of experience in AI, data science and digital transformation across industry and academia.

This will be a fun night for founders, investors, mentors and innovators to connect over drinks, swap bold ideas and discover tech that transforms how teams work and grow.

 🗓️ TOMORROW - Thursday February 26th | 5pm – 7:30pm
 📍 Stone & Chalk Melbourne | 121 King Street
 💜 Drinks, bites, and big ideas included.

 👉 Find out more & RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/gf35kKjM

Expect insights and conversations that change what’s possible.

Hope to see you there! 😎

Imtiaz Aziz Scotty Allen Megan Luttrell Desmond John Robert Gallup Trevor Brunton Dr Sam Donegan Callum Holt Elisabeth Rotnicki Eike Zeller Annie Le Cavalier Dane McFarlane Olivia Grandjean-Thomsen Caitlin Shepherd

Tech Startup Specialist / Head of Ecosystem @ Stone & Chalk Melbourne 🚀

Stone & Chalk's Ecosystem Mixer is on Thursday February 26th

Their goal is simple: Help a 1000 Australia Start-ups by 2030
This is MLAI, the community for AI and ML in Australia building from Stone & Chalk.

Community Feature x Humans of Australia

Dr Sam Donegan Jasmine Raj Graham McCorkill

Stone & Chalk and One Roof share the belief that diversity fosters creativity, innovation, empathy & social cohesion. Everyone should have the same opportunity for success. 

In this month when we celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating the outstanding women founders in emerging tech as they make an impact in our community and economy. 

Join us for a special edition of our Ecosystem Mixer in partnership with One Roof where we'll hear from the winners of our 2026 Scholarship Program.

Expect an inspiring evening with unstoppable women tech founders driving innovation... There will be founders, investors, mentors and innovators, all connecting over a few drinks and swapping bold ideas that can lead to tech solutions for real world problems.

 🗓️ Thursday next week, March 26th | 5pm – 7:30pm
 📍 Stone & Chalk Melbourne | 121 King Street
 💜 Drinks, bites, and big ideas included.

 👉 Find out more & RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/gqCy9aVP

Expect insights and conversations that change what’s possible.

Hope to see you there! 😎

Frances Goh Megan Luttrell Imtiaz Aziz Scotty Allen Liz van Zyl Desmond John Robert Gallup Paz Pisarski Kate Pollard Trevor Brunton Dr Sam Donegan Callum Holt Elisabeth Rotnicki Annie Le Cavalier Caitlin Shepherd Olivia Grandjean-Thomsen Chelsea Newell Ben Colley

Stone & Chalk's Ecosystem Mixer - Thursday March 26th 5pm to 7:30pm. The theme is Women in Technology

I'm someone who likes to get stuff done and move forward. Not just myself, but especially with others. Whether it's supporting someone in their next career step or helping companies grow by implementing tech or hiring the right talent, I love creating momentum.

After 8 years in agency recruitment across Amsterdam and Melbourne, Covid hit and hiring stopped. A great time to explore building something of my own. I co-founded upspark and taught myself no-code app development (the predecessor of vibe coding). I launched a platform connecting people in tech careers with others who'd been there before. That experience of turning an idea into something real sparked something in me. I moved to a VC/Venture Studio to help other founders in that same journey from concept to company.

When the opportunity came up to grow a European HR startup in Australia, I took it. Time to run my own thing again. This was a very challenging journey and taught me what it really takes to create and grow something from scratch virtually by myself. 

Now, as a Venture Builder, I'm combining everything I've learned to help businesses move forward and figure out how to ride the AI wave instead of being consumed by it. I love partnering with SME businesses and turning (part of) their offering into scalable AI ventures with recurring revenue. Whether it's automating a business process or turning deep domain expertise into a new SaaS business, I'm here for it.

Roselle Kruijk

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

As the first gatekeeper at Mayfly Ventures, it’s my job to decide whether we move forward with a venture partnership. I'm a yes-woman at heart and always excited to explore opportunities. There are, however, certain things that will make me say “𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀.”

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝟭: Ethical alignment

Mayfly Ventures aims to build ventures that drive positive change in the world.

That means I say no thanks to:
- Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) companies
- Gambling ventures
- Predatory lending businesses

Roselle de Kruijk

Co-building AI and tech ventures with industry experts | Turn your knowledge into scalable tech products

𝗘𝗨 ❤️ 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮: 𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨-𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

Last night, I went to the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce Australia (NCCA) event on the EU-Australia FTA. Negotiations have been ongoing since 2018, and we’re getting close to finalising this agreement.

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:

- Hugo Klijn shared the growing momentum within the EU with FTAs becoming more common across regions. A few sticking points include beef tariffs and product naming (e.g, feta, prosecco).
- Martijn Bakker shared the success of the EU-NZ FTA, which has been live for 2 years. Increased trade, and millions of $$ saved in tariffs.
- Simon Kuestenmacher painted a broader picture of Australia's economy, focusing on the growing working-age population, which is driving consumption and demand for services. This will result in huge skill shortages. 

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: 
Sooo, let’s get this FTA signed! Opportunities to access a huge (talent) market and reduce trade barriers. Added bonus: it is a strong response to US trade policy. 

Not too sure if we should allow more Dutchies to enter, though 🙃.

Anyone in my network going to the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry & Airwallex Breakfast at the Formula 1 this Thursday?

Looking forward to connecting in person, trackside!

Joe Young and I will be representing Mayfly Ventures. See you there! 🏎️ 🏎️

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

As the first gatekeeper at Mayfly Ventures, it’s my job to decide whether we move forward with a venture partnership. I'm a yes-woman at heart and always excited to explore opportunities. There are, however, certain things that will make me say “𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀.”

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝟮: Doesn’t fit our vertical AI remit

Vertical AI?
= A solution built for one specific industry
≠ Built for everyone (like a generic CRM)

Mayfly builds ventures that solve deep, industry-specific problems. These opportunities are identified by industry experts and can move an entire sector forward. And because of this: big commercial upside.

That means I say no thanks to:
- ERPs, HR/Finance systems 
- A tradie marketplace
- “The next Uber”

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

As the first gatekeeper at Mayfly Ventures, it’s my job to decide whether we move forward with a venture partnership. I'm a yes-woman at heart and always excited to explore opportunities. There are, however, certain things that will make me say “𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀.”

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝟯: Not an impactful business

Our co-founder, Geo, always says we’re in the business of building 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨, not 𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨.

A vitamin is nice to have.
A painkiller solves a real, urgent problem.

Example:
vitamin business = photo filter app.
painkiller business = software that reduces a clinician’s report-writing time by 10x (Lisa Irving)

That means I say no thanks to:
- An AI email summariser
- An AI resume writer
- A habit-tracking app

𝗙𝟭 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁: 𝗩𝗖𝗖𝗜 𝘅 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘅 🏎️

Joe Young and I went to the Formula 1 last week for the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry & 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘅 breakfast.

It was my first time at the tracks, and boy oh boy, these people know how to put on an incredible event.

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
- Nicole Piastri (Oscar’s mum) being interviewed by Kate Reid (Lune croissants) about the reality of having a son compete in a dangerous sport.
- A room full of interesting people to connect with, and great conversations had.

To be honest, I just wanted an excuse to post some photos.

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Roselle Kruijk

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The Battle

Graham McCorkill

Roselle Kruijk

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Graham McCorkill's LinkedIn Performance

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