The 2am Macca’s test on loving your startup idea

For episode 67 of Startup 360, Simon and Julie talk with Mark Zmarzley - founder, prolific angel investor and AWS credits-turned-coupons fairy. Or Z. Not Zed, because that sends things into Pulp Fiction territory. Among many hats, the Nebraska-born accidental Australian and former startup whisperer is also a late-in-life basketball tragic, as Startup Basketball fans know. This year, he swapped a 5-star big tech gig for life in startuplandia at Morphless, helping startups cut their AWS bills. Z built and sold his own fintech startup in the 2010s after moving  his wife and three kids to Australia following a chance SXSW conversation and Australian government grant. The rest is now part of local startup history. Having learnt so much building fintech Hip Pocket in 2013, he now reminds other founders about the things they keep forgetting. And the bloke who got a degree in creative writing knows how to tell a story, explaining that you should embrace your quirks because sameness is not a moat. Neither is vibe coding. Yes you can now spin up a product faster than ever, but as Z reminds us: just because you can build something doesn’t mean you should. It all boils down to love. The real founder test comes much later, when it’s 2am, you’re alone in the metaphorical basement of Macca’s, and lonely and exhausted, and have to ask whether you still care enough about the problem to keep going. Z’s someone who can talk about AWS cost optimisation, angel investing, sport, parenting, founder pain and storytelling without it sounding like a LinkedIn B2B sales pitch. He's a three-pointer. Startup 360 is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson, and supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free