đź’¸ Fund-of-FUDs
Risk-taking is core to the world of startups and those who invest in them. So there are always going to be issues when governments get involved, especially when they're investing directly.
Like many expats coming back to Australia after a stint in the US, I found myself at a career crossroads. After helping set up Culture Amp's presence in the US market and seeing it grow from eight people in a co-working space in Melbourne to a company with more than 400 people across three global offices, I was worn out and knew the prospect of burnout was real.
And so I did an unlikely thing and went for the comfortable life of a public servant. Well not quite, but I did join LaunchVic, a Victorian government initiative to help foster startups. It was an eye-opening experience.
That experience came to mind this week as controversy swirled around another government-funded startup endeavour, the $2 billion Breakthrough Victoria fund, which is facing growing media calls to be wound up amid concerns over a lack of transparency, and questions around support for a struggling medical device startup, at a time of growing worries over the state's mounting debt.
My biggest takeaway from that period in government was that folk only “manage up” — that is, do whatever it takes to keep the relevant minister happy. Priorities change on a minister’s whim or with a change of minister, and everyone works in paralysing fear of any sort of “media beat up” about where taxpayers' dollars are being spent.
