When Brodie McCulloch started his business in 2012, it was a simpler time. The world watched the London Olympics, Obama was re-elected POTUS, Kim Dotcom and Megaupload were taken down by the FBI and NZ police. The events of the blockbuster movie 2012 never came to pass and corona was a refreshing beer best enjoyed with a slice of lemon or lime.
Untitled Perth got to sit down and chat with the founder and managing director of Spacecubed, Brodie McCulloch, to chat about the growth of the startup scene in Perth, future opportunities for the city, his 2020 run for Perth Lord Mayor, the power of community and much more.
Brodie McCulloch has grown Spacecubed from one 500 square meter co-working space in Perth’s CBD to seven spaces across Perth and WA, as well as running a multitude of programs and events designed to empower its diverse range of members with the tools needed for startup success.
The effect that a supportive, active, and inclusive, entrepreneur-led, startup community has on a city, its economy and the success rate of startups is a well-known and documented phenomenon and is something Brodie strives to achieve.
After an extended stint overseas Brodie returned to Perth in 2010 and spotted an opportunity
“…for supporting entrepreneurs and supporting innovation, Perth was at the peak of the mining boom at that time and [I] really saw that these sort of spaces and communities were going to be really important in how we both diversify the economy but also ensure that Perth and people in Perth have a great opportunity moving forward in technology which is just growing as a huge industry”.
What Brodie McCulloch and his team have done extremely well is to build a sustainable business that grows the startup community whilst also connecting the different parts of the Perth startup ecosystem. Established companies, government, universities and large corporate entities brush up against budding entrepreneurs at the many community events, programs and in the co-working spaces.
“Lots of different companies are using space, from someone with an idea, to BHP, Google. So, a really diverse use of the space and diverse companies which are using it. Which I think is really important to building that cross collaboration between people.”
Creating density of people, ideas and different organisations provides the opportunities for new innovations to form, new companies to begin and eventually, the generation of wealth to occur. In what is now a local Perth startup fable, the founders of Virtual Gaming World, a local startup today worth over 3 billion, met at a local Spacecubed breakfast.
Not bad.
The success of local startups has a flow on effect for the rest of the ecosystem and helps build a knowledge base that will benefit not only individuals and new companies but Perth and the WA economy.
“Now we are at a really interesting point where we have companies that started nine years ago, like Health Engine, Virtual Gaming World. Who’s founders and founding teams and investors are probably going to see returns on those investments and on the time spent. And basically, be able to take all their experience and time spent and learnings and apply that back into the ecosystem. Whether it’s through new companies, investing in new companies or working in new companies. So, I think that the next two to three years will probably be the most interesting where all of that experience, all of that capital is about to flow back through the system”.
Be sure to watch the full interview with Brodie McCulloch here.
Also visit Spacecubed.com for more information on how co-working can work for you or your team.
And if you’ve been putting off going to networking events or meetups, suck it up, head on down to one of the many Spacecubed events and get connecting. Who knows, you might meet the person with who you build Perth’s next unicorn.
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