A Global Perspective on the Future of Entrepreneurship
For four seasons, I had the incredible privilege of sitting in the red chair as a Shark on Network Ten's Shark Tank Australia. It was one of a handful of shows in a global television phenomenon that has captivated audiences around the world. From Shark Tank in the US and Australia to Dragons' Den in the UK and Canada, the format is a powerful one. It pulls back the curtain on the high-stakes, nerve-wracking, and deeply human process of investing in a dream.
From that chair, I met hundreds of passionate founders. I heard their stories, interrogated their numbers, and, on many occasions, put my own money on the line to back their vision. It was a role I loved—a chance to support the startup community that is the lifeblood of our economy.
But I’ve always been curious. What is it like in the other "Tanks" and "Dens" around the world? Are the challenges entrepreneurs face in Sydney the same as those in Toronto? Is the investment philosophy in Australia similar to that in Canada?
That's why I was absolutely thrilled to sit down for a very special podcast episode with a fellow investor from this unique global tribe. Her name is Michele Romanow. While I was a Shark, Michele has been a Dragon on Canada's version of the show, the hugely successful Dragons' Den.
This was a conversation I had been looking forward to for a long time. What happens when a Shark meets a Dragon?
The result was an energetic, insightful, and incredibly inspiring conversation that went to the very heart of our mutual love: entrepreneurship. We talked about our experiences on television, the common mistakes we see founders make, and, most importantly, the game-changing work Michele is doing as the co-founder of Clearco, which has recently launched here in Australia.
Today, I want to unpack the key themes from our conversation. This is a global perspective on what it takes to succeed and how the very nature of funding that success is being radically transformed.
The Universal Truths of the "Tank" - What Every Founder Needs to Know
As Michele and I compared notes on our experiences, it quickly became clear that despite being on opposite sides of the world, the fundamental truths of a successful pitch are universal. The entrepreneurs who succeed in the Tank or the Den—and in the real world of raising capital—are the ones who master these three things:
1. Know Your Numbers, Cold.
This is the price of admission. It is the absolute, non-negotiable foundation. You must know your revenue, your profit margins, your customer acquisition cost, your lifetime value, and your valuation, and you must be able to justify them without hesitation. When a founder stumbles on their numbers, it sends a clear signal to an investor: either you don't know your business well enough, or you're trying to hide something. In either case, it's an immediate red flag.
2. Tell a Compelling Story (The "Why").
Facts and figures get you through the door, but the story is what gets an investor to lean in and truly connect. Why did you start this business? What is the problem you are obsessed with solving? What is the vision that pulls you through the tough times? A great founder is a great storyteller. They can weave a narrative that connects their product to a human need and their business to a bigger purpose. When you can make an investor feel your passion and believe in your "why," you are halfway to a deal.
3. Demonstrate Unwavering Coachability.
This is the subtle X-factor that many founders miss. Investors are not just investing in your current business; they are investing in you and your ability to learn, adapt, and grow. When a Shark or a Dragon challenges your assumptions or offers a different perspective, how do you react? Do you get defensive and argumentative, or do you listen with curiosity and demonstrate that you are open to new ideas? A founder who is coachable is a founder who can evolve. A founder who thinks they have all the answers is a founder who is destined to fail. We are betting on your future potential, and coachability is the clearest indicator of that potential.
The Great Uncoupling - Separating Your Bank Account from Your Business
This is where our conversation shifted from the universal truths of pitching to the revolutionary work Michele is leading with Clearco. And it addresses one of the biggest and most painful barriers that has held back countless businesses, particularly in e-commerce and consumer goods.
For decades, founders have been forced into a terrible choice. To fund their growth, they have been told they need a loan. To get a loan from a traditional bank, they often have to put up their personal assets—their family home—as collateral. They have had to personally guarantee the debt of their business.
This is a fundamentally broken model. It forces a founder to risk their family's security to pursue their professional ambition. It is a massive barrier to entry, especially for women and founders from diverse backgrounds who may not have the same level of personal assets to begin with.
Michele's work with Clearco is about severing this unhealthy link. They are pioneering a new model where funding is based not on your personal credit score or the value of your home, but on the strength and performance of your business itself. They connect to your business's revenue and marketing accounts, and using data and AI, they can provide capital based on your actual sales and growth metrics.
This is a profound and powerful shift. It means:
- Funding becomes objective, not subjective. It removes the bias from the lending process. It doesn't matter what you look like, where you went to school, or who you know. It only matters if your business has strong unit economics.
- Founders can sleep at night. By removing the personal guarantee, you de-risk the entrepreneurial journey. You can take calculated risks in your business without fearing that you will lose your family's home if things don't go to plan.
- The playing field is levelled. It opens up access to growth capital for a much wider and more diverse group of entrepreneurs.
This is not just a new financial product; it's a movement towards a more equitable and accessible entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The Equity Dilemma Revisited - The Rise of Non-Dilutive Capital
This brings us to the second, and equally powerful, innovation that Michele and I are so passionate about. Clearco is at the forefront of the non-dilutive capital revolution.
As I've written about before, for too long, the only answer for a fast-growing business that needed cash for marketing or inventory was to sell equity to venture capitalists. As our conversation reinforced, this is a path that should be taken with extreme caution.
Clearco provides an alternative. It is a new tool in the founder's toolkit that allows you to fund your growth without giving up ownership. It's revenue-based financing—you get cash upfront, and you pay it back as a small percentage of your future sales.
Why is this so important?
- You Retain Control: You remain the sole owner of your business. You get to build the company you want to build, on your own timeline, according to your own values.
- It Aligns Incentives: The funding provider only gets paid back when you make sales. Their success is directly tied to your success. This is a true partnership model, unlike a traditional loan with fixed monthly payments that can cripple you during a slow month.
- It's Fast and Data-Driven: Because it's based on your real-time business data, the funding process can be incredibly fast—often in a matter of days, not the months it can take to raise a VC round.
This is about giving founders more choice. It’s about creating a spectrum of funding options that fit different business models and different founder ambitions. It is, as I see it, the democratization of growth capital.
A Meeting of Minds
Our full conversation was everything I had hoped it would be. It was a high-energy, high-impact meeting of minds, fuelled by a shared passion for empowering entrepreneurs. We shared behind-the-scenes stories from our respective shows, debated the future of retail, and celebrated the incredible innovation we are seeing in both our countries.
To hear from a trailblazer like Michele—a serial entrepreneur who has built multiple successful companies, become a national television personality, and is now fundamentally rewiring the infrastructure of startup funding—is to be inspired and educated at the highest level.
A New Era for Entrepreneurs
What happens when a Shark meets a Dragon? You find that the language of entrepreneurship is universal. The challenges are shared. The passion is mutual. And the desire to see good founders succeed is a global mission.
Our conversation affirmed my deeply held belief that we are entering a new, more exciting era for entrepreneurs. It’s an era where the old, rigid rules are being broken.
- An era where your personal assets don't have to be on the line for you to pursue your dream.
- An era where you have more choice than ever before about how to fund your growth.
- An era where you can scale a global business without having to give up control of the company you are pouring your heart and soul into.
It’s a future being built by innovators like Michele Romanow. And it’s a future that I am incredibly excited to be a part of.
