As 2026 kicks off, Cheryl and Maxine open the year with their annual First Cheque wrap, a grounded, opinionated take on what actually shifted in Australian tech and venture, and what that means for the year ahead.

They break down why 2025 marked a genuine inflection point for the ecosystem, from Canva’s secondary and a surge in M&A to fresh signals that long-awaited liquidity is finally starting to flow. Despite minimal government support, Australia quietly proved itself as one of the most capital-efficient venture markets globally, producing unicorns at roughly twice the rate of the US per dollar invested.

The conversation also tackles the harder truths investors and founders need to reckon with in 2026: early-stage funding compressing while late stage heats up, corporate venture capital retreating, and the gender funding gap sliding backwards. Looking forward, Cheryl and Maxine share their predictions for the year ahead, where funding volumes may land, why seed remains the toughest stage, how AI valuations could trigger a market correction, and why energy and infrastructure may emerge as the next premium asset class.

00:00 – Intro: End of year energy: why 2025 felt different to 2024

03:55 – Election fallout and the government’s “nothingburger” for startups

05:24 – Canva’s secondary and the first real signs of liquidity returning

09:49 – Aussie tech M&A heats up: Canva, Linktree, Jolt, and more

12:09 – The stat that changed the narrative: Australia’s unicorn efficiency

16:14 – The weirdest trend of the year: early stage down, late stage up

18:27 – Tech jobs, data centers, and the infrastructure bet Australia is making

22:52 – Why deep tech and climate are pulling venture dollars again

28:21 – The gender funding gap got worse (and why)

33:09 – Corporate VC is pulling out: what happened to strategic capital

37:02 – 2026 predictions: funding totals, seed pain, and where capital flows next

44:00 – AI bubble risk: tourism, ROI pressure, and the domino effect

47:42 – Hot take: electricity is the next valuation premium

49:00 – Will diversity bounce back in 2026? (vibes, but also logic)

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Max Kausman is the founder and solo GP of Advance VC, Australia's first dedicated fund-of-funds with a focus on secondaries.

Advance VC buys existing positions in Australian and New Zealand VC funds—acquiring stakes from investors seeking liquidity and giving new LPs diversified access to mature, validated portfolios across multiple vintages dating back to 2012.

In this conversation, they discuss why secondaries won't "save" all of venture (only the top performers), how discounts actually work (spoiler: the average is 30-35% but it's wildly bespoke) and why vintage diversification matters as much as portfolio diversification.

02:47 – Max's first investment: lessons as a 14-year-old basketball coach

07:08 – Defining secondaries and Advance VC's unique LP fund focus

09:44 – Why vintage diversification matters as much as company diversification

13:57 – How secondary transactions actually work: the three-way deal between buyer, seller, and fund

19:24 – What Max learned looking under the hood of Australian VCs firms across different funds and vintages

24:09 – Why Max decided on a secondary Fund of Funds (FoF) model

34:16 - Pricing secondaries

42:20 – What discounts actually look like in practice

47:40 – Will secondaries save venture? The truth about liquidity and why it's concentrated in top performers

50:16 – Building Advance VC and the founder journey of becoming a fund manager

Max Kausman - https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxkausman

Advance VC - https://www.advancevc.com/

Matt Browne is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Black Nova Venture Partners, one of Australia’s most active early-stage funds. Before becoming an investor, Matt founded multiple companies, including enterprise software firm Dunsafe, which sold to global corporates like Suncorp and Brickworks, and learned firsthand what it takes to turn “boring” B2B SaaS into beautiful business.

In this episode, Cheryl and Maxine sit down with Matt to unpack what “boring but mission-critical” really means, why operators often make the best early-stage investors, and what it’s actually like to co-found a venture fund. Matt shares his frameworks for identifying resilient software businesses, the economics behind long-LTV enterprise customers, and how his founder experience shapes the way Black Nova supports startups today.

They also dig into the differences between SMB and enterprise sales, why going from enterprise → small business is nearly impossible, and what it takes to build a fund that’s more startup than finance firm. And, in true Matt style, he caps it off with his Big Cojones moment, jumping off Auckland’s Sky Tower to win a customer.

Aussie Angels makes it easy for accredited investors to back early-stage startups alongside experienced syndicate leads. With no platform fees and minimum cheques from $2,500, you can build a diversified portfolio of high-growth companies with confidence.

https://www.aussieangels.com/

Galah Cyber: Galah Cyber are perfect for founder-lead and SAAS businesses. Galah provides advice, education, and training. Get in touch with Galah Cyber for a complimentary call to make sure you’re secured.

https://dayone.fm/galah

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