The Startups Drive
The Startups Drive is a podcast built on real, unscripted conversations with people from the startup and business world.
Hosted by Kieran Longhurst, every episode is an open, unfiltered discussion with founders, entrepreneurs, operators, and business leaders — no scripts, no agendas, just honest conversations about what it actually takes to build and grow in today's business landscape.
From early-stage startup founders to seasoned corporate professionals, we talk about the real experiences, challenges, and lessons that don't always make it into the highlight reel.
Topics we've explore so far:
- Startup founding and early-stage growth
- Business strategy and scaling
- Sales, leadership, and team building
- Entrepreneurship and career journeys
- Career transitions and entrepreneurship
- Leadership, accountability, and team building
- The Australian startup and business ecosystem and more.
In season 3 we are bringing you more founder stories, more business leaders conversations, more entrepreneurs and operators insights — the raw, unfiltered journeys of people building companies from the ground up.
If you're a founder, entrepreneur, or someone navigating the business world — pull up a seat.
(Formerly Depth Exchange)
Episodes
20 episodes
🎙️ Closed Circuit Selling: The System Behind High-Performance Sales
On this episode of The Startups Drive, I sat down with best-selling authors Adem Manderovic and George Coudounaris to talk about their newly released book Closed Circuit Selling and the system behind it.Adem...
Accountability, Excuses & Doing the Work That Actually Moves You Forward
On this episode of The Startups Drive, I welcomed back Stephanie Nguyen — construction professional and founder of Threefold Strategy, a business focused on helping people set meaningful goals and actually follow through on...
The Truth About Career Change, Burnout & Starting Again
On this episode of The Startups Drive, I welcomed back Natalie Tran — a business and transition coach and former accountant and finance executive — who helps people navigate career change and business growth through her work at Transition With ...
Starting Out Strong: Networking, Learning, and Building a Career
In this episode of The Startups Drive, I sit down with Robyn Clark — a Media and Communications student with a focus on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Robyn is an emerging talent, eager to learn and build her path in the start...
Beyond Swipes: Building Reev, The Dating App For Real Connection
In this episode of The Startups Drive, I sit down with May Ku — founder of Reev, the upcoming dating app designed to move past swipes and algorithms. May talks about her background growing up in Korea, her path to Australia, and how she made th...
Asia’s Startup Edge, Why Developers Matter, And Australia’s Next Steps
In this episode of The Startups Drive, I sit down with Matt Ainsworth — a startup mentor with years of experience in Asia’s innovation scene. Having lived in Japan for nearly a decade, Matt brings unique insight into the country’s star...
Epic Execution and Foundation for Startups
In this episode of The Startups Drive, I sit down with David Kenney — a legend of Australia’s startup scene, mentor, investor, and author of the best-selling book Epic Execution.We dig into David’s journey and the story...
Global Startup Lessons, AI’s Role, and Equity Truths
In this episode of The Startups Drive, I’m joined again by Nathan Linsley — CEO and Founder of NadoCo Interactive — who recently shifted into the music industry, building tools to solve real problems artists and creators face.Nathan shar...
Transitioning Your Career And Goal Setting
In this episode, I sit down with Natalie Tran — a business and transition coach and former accountant and finance executive — who helps people navigate their career changes and business growth through her business, Transition With Purpose
Understanding Yourself In Order To Succeed And Grow
In this episode, I sit down with Stephanie Nguyen—construction professional and founder of Master of Achievement, a business dedicated to helping others reach their goals.We explore a wide range of topics, including the value of...
Growth, Interesting Conversations, Ideas and Accelerators
In this episode, I sit down with Peter Do, a nurse turned consultant at Oracle and an entrepreneur passionate about the intersection of health, technology, and fitness. We dive into his journey from the medical field to the startup world, the p...
Lead Not Manage, Relationships, Email Marketing
Gunnar Habitz, is a man who moved to Australia from Europe almost 8 years ago. He is an accomplished author who works in partnerships and knows how to build strong relationships with customers and clients. He is also an authority when it comes ...
Founders, Startups and AI
Nathan Linsley is a Senior Full Stack Engineer and the CEO & Founder of NadoCo Interactive. NadoCo works exclusively with startups to help them reach their full potential in the tech space and create any kind of SaaS, Mobile App or Platform...
The Power of AI and Networking
Raghav Ravisankar is a software engineer at Superhero, community organizer and AI researcher. In this conversation, Raghav and I spoke about the future of AI; building a community called Open Coffee Sydney; growing your network; A great and ins...
Podcast Revamp
Just a quick update on the podcast and the future with the revamping of it. Firstly, i want to say thank you to everyone who has listened to the podcast up and until this moment. It means a lot to me. The podcast is going to be cha...
Episode 6 Isaac Adams "It Is A Partnership And Its No Different To Finding A Partner In Life"
Isaac Adams is not only a man who has served his country, he is also a man who has committed his life to horses. He has been riding and training horses for a nearly a decade and has turned this passion into a way of helping people overcome pers...
Episode 4- Christian Valenzuela "The Turnaround And The Speed And Professionalism Its A Great Thing To Be Apart Of"
Christian Valenzuela is a man who has worked in film, videography and editing for nearly a decade. He is a man who loves films and passionate about films and editing. Christian and I sat down and spoke about the film industry, the growth of it ...
Episode 3 Doctor Alexander Roper "The Other Half Of My Job Is Setting You Up For Success Going Forward"
Doctor Alexander Roper has been in the education system for over 30 years, with two decades working in the higher education sector. He has been Dean at numerous institutions and makes it his goal to do what is best to help his students succeed ...
Episode 2- Jerome Buck Coaching At Grassroots "The Focus Needs To Get Back To About Having Fun And Enjoying It"
Jerome Buck has been coaching at grassroots level for over 30 years. He has seen the changes in coaching over his time and the effects it has had on coaches, Players, Parents and Clubs. In today's episode Jerome and I spoke about the changes in...
Episode 1- Chris Barton Building Resilience "A Problem Shared Is A Problem Halved"
Chris Barton is not only a successful entrepreneur he is a man on mission. A mission of Building Resilience and raising awareness of mental health one step at a time. Chris has done many charity walks to help raise awareness and make a differen...
