{"id":41275,"date":"2023-10-20T15:12:52","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/the-20-year-journey-behind-a-perth-entrepreneurs-win-at-the-most-exciting-startup-competition-in-the-world-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:12:52","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:12:52","slug":"the-20-year-journey-behind-a-perth-entrepreneurs-win-at-the-most-exciting-startup-competition-in-the-world-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/the-20-year-journey-behind-a-perth-entrepreneurs-win-at-the-most-exciting-startup-competition-in-the-world-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"The 20-year journey behind a Perth entrepreneur\u2019s win at the \u201cmost exciting startup competition in the world” – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

When Perth entrepreneur Graeme Speak strode down the aisle at one of Silicon Valley\u2019s biggest pitching competitions, the Australian national anthem was playing and he was feeling confident.<\/p>\n

Despite having only slept three hours across the last two nights, Speak had practiced his pitch tirelessly and knew it inside-out.<\/p>\n

As he strode onto stage the lights came down, a spotlight centred on him and Graeme Speak froze.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got on stage and had a total blank out \u2013 what was the first line?\u201d Speak tells StartupSmart<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was completely lost and that rattled me. The first 60 seconds are so crucial \u2013 you need to establish credibility and nail what the problem is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of tension \u2013 a lot was at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Frozen in time<\/h3>\n

It was at the finals of the Silicon Valley World Cup in Tech competition at Microsoft\u2019s Silicon Valley headquarters. Billing itself as the \u201cmost exciting startup competition of the year\u201d, only 24 startups had been selected to pitch and Speak\u2019s startup, bank account security software BankVault, was the only Australian company on show.<\/p>\n

While on stage, in the spotlight, Speak felt like he was frozen in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just can\u2019t believe it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 200 people looking at you. They\u2019re all quiet, the lights were shining on me and I\u2019m not used to that \u2013 I\u2019m not a performer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was so much at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thought about all the work he\u2019d done on the startup over the last 20 years, everything he\u2019d given up for it and the near-one thousand Australians that had voted for him in the company.<\/p>\n

This helped Speak to eventually clear his mind and get going with his five-minute pitch to an audience of high profile entrepreneurs and investors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a memory system and I went back to that and found my pace,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He quickly detailed the technology that BankVault offers and its evolution across two decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an overnight success,\u201d Speak says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pivoted the technology we were building over this time. Eighteen months ago we moved to solve a cyber-security problem and ran into this multibillion dollar market.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A lucrative market<\/h3>\n

BankVault operates on the intersection of fintech and cyber-security, offering software that hardens end-point devices in order to prevent bank account hacking. Its technology can be used to prevent against ransomware and other malware, with bank account hacking costing Australians $1.2 billion per year.<\/p>\n

BankVault\u2019s platform connects smartphones and computers to a virtual desktop session that lets users conduct their online banking in an emulated environment operating outside of their device, with all the data disappearing immediately along with the session.<\/p>\n

Speak says he\u2019s now operating in a highly lucrative market.<\/p>\n

\u201cFintech startups in the US had $20 billion of VC funding last year and cyber-security had $3.3 billion of VC,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just massive and we\u2019re at the intersection of both. We think it\u2019s a multibillion-dollar opportunity for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speak finished his pitch as confidently as he had strode down the aisle only five minutes earlier, and quickly turned to face an imposing panel of judges and their questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey fire questions at you and that\u2019s your chance to really shine,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the guys was smiling and kept nodding at me, that was when I thought I\u2019d nailed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speak, who has been a member of the group running the competition for eight years, says he already felt like a winner just from qualifying for the finals, and hadn\u2019t even contemplated winning the whole thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just don\u2019t know if you\u2019re going to win it, and we felt like we\u2019d won already just by getting to the top 24,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving that acknowledgement meant we\u2019d won already.\u201d<\/p>\n

The emotions boil over<\/h3>\n

But that wasn\u2019t the only acknowledgement BankVault and speak would receive. Later that night, the lights dimmer again and the announcer revealed the winner of the fintech category: \u201cAustralia.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was then that all the tension, nerves and adrenaline left Speak, replaced with raw emotion.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve dedicated so much of my life and energy into this,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sucks all of you in completely: your reputation, your future, your family and your livelihood. I\u2019m Australian at heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very emotional. You don\u2019t realise that until the tension has gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always were doing something important and credible, and something with consequence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the validation and plaudits, Speak says he has already been introduced to some \u201creally serious\u201d investors in Silicon Valley as a result of the competition.<\/p>\n

He says he\u2019s looking to raise funding for BankVault but wants to look internally in Australia first.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Australian at heart,\u201d Speak says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal right now is to raise a bit more money over the next 10 days then basically leverage that into some large channel partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moving forward<\/h3>\n

For Speak and his dedicated team, all the hard work is beginning to pay off.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of what my team has created. It\u2019s such an amazing technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can now go global and expand the business exponentially.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says it\u2019s also a lesson in the importance of putting yourself out there as an entrepreneur and getting on the front foot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important for people to get out and get actively engaged and known,\u201d Speak says<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think they can just have an idea and the world will come to them. But it only comes to you when you earn credibility in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI give a lot of my time to the community to help other people. That\u2019s how people get to know you, get to like you and where your base of support will come from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Above all, Speak\u2019s difficult 20-year journey proves that persistence is the most important part of being an entrepreneur.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless you are completely committed you\u2019ll hit the ceiling and stop,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re committed you\u2019ll keep hitting your head and eventually break through. I\u2019ve broken through plenty of ceilings and there\u2019s nothing special about me except that I\u2019m tenacious.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just can\u2019t give up. You have to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter,<\/em>LinkedIn <\/em>and <\/em>SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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