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The Quest for Success
Welcome! Thanks for joining us on this journey. We are a father and son duo on the quest to find the formula to success, and understand what success means to different people. Our goal is to take a deep dive into people's stories and interview people from a range of backgrounds in this quest for success.
About us:
Jam is an experienced founder with over 18 years of experience. He is passionate about helping businesses overcome their supply-chain challenges and achieve success. He is in his final year of the Harvard OPM program where he is deepening his knowledge and network.
Dylan is a renewable energy engineer turned entrepreneur, currently working on building a community based equipment rental platform. He recently completed the Stanford ignite program, a business and entrepreneurship course where he found his love for the startup hustle.
Together, we are on the quest, the quest for success!
The Quest for Success
He Backed More Than 250 Startups Then Walked Away | Michael Batko
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He backed more than 250 startups worth $4.5 billion. Then he walked away.
In this episode of The Quest for Success Podcast, Jam and Dylan Pathirana sit down with Michael Batko, the former CEO of Startmate and co-founder of Hourglass AI, for a deeply honest conversation about building ecosystems, backing founders, knowing when to leave, and redefining success on your own terms.
Michael shares his remarkable journey from growing up in Poland and Austria to becoming one of the most influential figures in the Australian and New Zealand startup ecosystem. After studying in Vienna, Stockholm and London, and working at American Express, PwC and KPMG, he realised he "wasn't built for bureaucracy" and moved to Australia to start building. His first startup job came from a mate's Facebook post about a pet-sitting marketplace. Within a few years, he had joined Startmate as Head of Operations and was soon appointed CEO.
Over eight years, Michael transformed Startmate from a scrappy accelerator into the engine room of the ANZ startup ecosystem, backing 228 companies with first cheques, making over 300 investments now worth $4.5 billion, and helping bring over 1,000 women and 2,000 students into startups. In December 2025, he made what he calls "the hardest decision" of his career and stepped down.
The conversation explores his philosophy on backing founders ("back the hungry, not the proven"), his belief that luck is like a lightning bolt and you increase your odds by expanding your "surface area," the loneliness of leadership, his decision to leave Startmate at the top, and what he's building next with Hourglass AI, a company founded on the conviction that the businesses who win the next decade will be the ones with working AI systems in production now, not the ones reading about it.
Michael also opens up about fatherhood, selling two businesses through LinkedIn posts (one in 10 days) and why he believes "being CEO" was never the goal, "building something epic" was.
This is a conversation about what it means to dedicate yourself to other people's success, and what happens when you finally turn the lens back on yourself.
What we cover:
From Poland and Austria to the Australian startup ecosystem
The corporate career that taught him what he didn't want
First startup job at Mad Paws and scaling Expert360
Joining Startmate and "literally re-founding" it
Backing over 250 companies and the philosophy behind first cheques
The Heaps Normal investment and standing up to consensus
Leading through loneliness and the weight of being CEO
Why he stepped down at the top
Hourglass AI and the execution gap in artificial intelligence
Selling businesses through a single LinkedIn post
Fatherhood and redefining success
The "surface area of luck" framework
Advice for founders and the future of the ANZ ecosystem
Connect with Michael Batko:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/batkomichael/
Hourglass AI: https://thehourglass.ai/
Website: https://batko.ai
Substack: https://batko.substack.com
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