The DIY mindset is holding Australian startups back
Two startup experts from AWS talk about the limitations of Aussie DIY scrappiness, customer obsession, and the importance of diversity.
Australian startups are celebrated for their scrappy ingenuity. This is born from the challenges of operating in a small, isolated market while also needing to think globally from day one.
But according to AWS’ head of startups for APJ Tiffany Bloomquist and AWS’ ANZ head of startup sales John Kearney, this resourcefulness can sometimes hinder growth as startups navigate the complexities of scaling.
Shifting the startup DIY mindset
“The tyranny of distance from the US means that they need to be self-sufficient a lot of the time, and rely on skills that we have in the country,” Kearney said to SmartCompany at AWS’s re:Invent in Las Vegas earlier this month.
While this independence fosters innovation, it can create blind spots when it comes to seeking help or collaborating with others.
Bloomquist agrees, pointing out the DIY mindset, while useful early on, can limit founders when external partnerships and expertise are required.
“We find that startups also feel like they need to do everything themselves when they start a business – they had to often bootstrap themselves and get across certain barriers,” Bloomquist said.
“So one of the things that we work deeply with partners to do is to show them the value of partnering. There are some things that only they uniquely can do, but there’s a lot of things that our partner ecosystem can help with, a lot of things that we can help with.”
According to both Kearney and Bloomquist, many founders face early “teething issues” such as identifying their target customers and pivoting quickly when market conditions shift.
“They start out thinking it’s going to be easy to sell a product,” Kearney said.
“But at the start, they’ve got to start generating revenue reasonably quickly to extend their money as long as possible.”
He added that early wins often come from SMEs or mid-market clients rather than enterprise customers.
Customer obsession is king
Bloomquist and Kearney both highlighted the importance of customer obsession in overcoming hurdles and refocusing on the problem they are trying to solve.
“The technology is interesting, and it’s easy to get lost in the amazing science and math that goes into it, but really having to focus on customers and delivering value is one of the biggest common denominators that we see in successful startups.”
This echoes sentiments expressed earlier in the week by Jon Jones, vice president and global head of AWS Startups.
“As I ask companies what they’re working on, if [their] answer is explaining their technology versus telling me about the problem they’re solving, it’s probably not a good signal that they’ve thought through what their mission is and what their objective is,” Jones said.
This tension between independence and collaboration can also affect team building.
“Technical founders have a very strong bias towards getting products to market quickly. Nontechnical founders are very good at building teams, building structure,” Kearney said.
He went on to say the challenge is trying to balance the two so you can build a sustainable business as you grow and scale.
Bloomquist highlighted the benefits of collaboration beyond individual startups.
“We’ve been experimenting this week with a couple of different programs that basically enable either enterprises to connect with startups or startups to connect with startups,” Bloomquist said,
“And what we’re finding is there’s often a go-to market the two startups actually build together because they have complementary parts of the solution.”
For Bloomquist, it’s about shifting the founder mindset from ‘I need to do all this on my own’ to ‘I’m uniquely focused on this. This is my value add. I can bring a consulting partner, and to help me with this’.
“Those are beautiful outcomes that we think can only be made when you’ve got a community that comes together,” Bloomquist said.
Fostering diversity and continued growth
Beyond scaling, the ANZ ecosystem also faces diversity challenges. Bloomquist and Kearney both stress the importance of supporting underrepresented founders.
“We run a lot of programs for underrepresented communities within Activate. We partner with VCs and run events that focus on mentoring, technical support, and product direction,” Kearney said.
“It’s a constant focus of ours, and we’ll continue to do it throughout 2025 and beyond. We also have some global programs that we use to support underrepresented founders.”
Bloomquist pointed to AWS’s inaugural Unicorn Tank pitch competition, which ran earlier in the week.
The competition was won by Jessica Powell and her startup AudioShake. It also included diverse founders and judges — including Marcie Vu from Greycroft and Aileen Lee from Cowboy Ventures. Incidentally, Lee also coined the term ‘unicorn’ to refer to billion-dollar startups.
“It doesn’t just happen, right? You have to be thoughtful about creating relationships across teams and startups and finding female founders and helping them very, very strategically,” Bloomquist said.
“But it’s the same on the investment side. We go out of our way to find women who have female-led funds or are focused on female angels.
“There’s lots of different types of diversity in each of the markets that we think about as well. Obviously what they’re focusing on in the US is different than what we focus on across Asia. But the goal is always to ensure that there is representation.”
Bloomquist went on to point towards AudioShake winning the top prize during the event.
“Everybody needs to compete and do their very best, but it’s amazing to see that when you actually give women a chance, what a fantastic outcome.
“And to see Jessica actually on stage – she competed and did an absolutely beautiful job, and deserves that for the work she’s doing with AudioShake.”
The pair said the support and network building doesn’t just stop when a competition or an accelerator ends.
“It continues day after day, week after month, week, month after month through. It’s organic through our business to continue to provide the support to ensure that they have every possibility of being the next unicorn,” Kearney said.
“Our job is all-encompassing, to try and help the startup to become successful.”
The author travelled to re:Invent in Las Vegas as a guest of AWS.
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