Wednesday, May 20, 2026

2:25 PM - 3:10 PM

Crown Ballroom 3A

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Details

Building a startup is hard. Building it with other humans - under pressure, capital constraints, and constant uncertainty- is often the hardest part of all. This session is a candid, closed-door-style conversation on the human realities of company building: co-founder dynamics, leadership evolution, burnout, capability gaps, and the difficult moments when founders must decide whether to step up, step back, or step aside. Featuring experienced founders, operators, and board-level leaders across Australia, North America, and global markets, the discussion will explore how strong teams are built- and rebuilt, through the most fragile stages of a startup’s life. Panellists will share hard-won lessons, uncomfortable decisions, and the “quiet failures” rarely discussed publicly. Designed for founders navigating early to growth-stage complexity, this session offers practical insight, shared experience, and reassurance that many of the toughest challenges in company building are not personal failures - but structural, solvable, and deeply human.

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Speaker