Making the Cut

Jim Cooper is a political scientist, innovation policy expert and now venture capital advisor with decades of experience across frontier technology, defence and commercialisation.James Yang is the Co-founder of KYZON Solutions, building AI-native workspace and sovereign AI infrastructure products for SMBs and regulated industries across APAC.----------------------------------------In this episode, Jim and James debate whether the SaaS business model is dying as IPO activity returns without a single major SaaS listing in sight. They unpack the Atlassian layoffs, where a company growing at 23% on $1.6 billion in revenue still cut 1,600 people to free up $236 million annually, and what that signals about per-seat pricing in an AI world. The conversation shifts to HSBC's plan to cut 20,000 roles and whether AI is actually replacing real work or just exposing the "bullshit jobs" that were never needed in the first place. They then go head to head on Roblox and Australia's under-16 social media ban, asking whether regulation is killing innovation or creating an unfair advantage for Australian founders willing to build compliant platforms before the rest of the world catches up. The episode closes on oil price shocks rippling through startup economics and a rapid fire round covering Atlassian's 12-month outlook, the death of per-seat pricing, Canva's NASDAQ move and whether Australia can break past 1% of global VC deployment before 2030.----------------------------------------Timestamps:[00:00] Intro[01:12] SaaS IPOs have vanished. Is the model dead? [08:45] Atlassian cuts 1,600 jobs while growing 23%. What's going on?[15:30] Terence Tao on AI as the ultimate idea generator [19:40] 95% of enterprise AI pilots fail. Why the 5% matters more[22:15] HSBC cutting 20,000 roles. David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs thesis[27:00] The Industrial Revolution parallel. Are we ready for this speed?[31:45] Roblox under fire. Should it be included in Australia's social media ban?[38:20] Can you moderate live voice in real-time gaming worlds?[44:10] Regulation as unfair advantage. The founder opportunity most people miss[52:30] Australia's innovation ecosystem. What's broken and what's not[56:00] Oil price shock. What $8 diesel means for early-stage startups[59:15] Quickfire: Atlassian, per-seat pricing, Canva's IPO, Australia's VC future----------------------------------------Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/16jy2Th6ES9uyfge4saltn?si=950d93992dec443eSubscribe on Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-cut/id1895846511Follow Jim Cooper on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spyfor/Follow James Yang on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesyang8/----------------------------------------#makingthecut #jimcooper #jamesyang #saas #ai #atlassian #roblox #australia #startups #venturecapital #innovation #techpolicy