Josh Garratt

It’s an honour to be invited to moderate an important discussion on a topic I'm INCREDIBLY passionate about: "Taking Australian Breakthroughs to the World" at the Semiconductor Australia Conference in Sydney, Australia, next week. So, how do you turn a local breakthrough into a global success story? It’s a challenge many founders face, and this expert panel will be providing the path forward. My take - The journey from a lab in Australia to a boardroom in Silicon Valley (and beyond) often comes down to a few key principles: 1. Lead with a Story, Not Specs. The most brilliant technology can fail if it doesn't connect with people. Before you talk about how your tech works, you must articulate why it matters. A compelling narrative that solves a real-world problem is what builds trust and captures the imagination of a global market. 2. Translate Technical Wins into Market Value. A breakthrough in the lab is not the same as a breakthrough in the market. You must be relentless in translating your technical advantages into clear, tangible benefits. How does your innovation save your customers time, reduce their costs, or create an entirely new opportunity for them? 3. Build Your Ecosystem Before You Need It. Global expansion isn't a solo mission. The most successful companies build strong ecosystems early. This means forging strategic partnerships, engaging with industry communities, and cultivating advocates who will amplify your message and open doors in new markets. 4. Make Marketing a Mindset, Not a Department. In a deep tech company, marketing can't be a silo. It must be a mindset embedded across the entire organization, from R&D to sales. When everyone on your team can articulate the company's story and its value, you create a unified brand that is much more powerful on the world stage. And for those ready for a deeper dive into these growth strategies, particularly in the deep tech space, these are the very frameworks I explore in my new book, "Strategic Entanglement". You can learn more at https://lnkd.in/gX7va3-t. I'm looking forward to exploring these topics further with the panel next week. I hope to see you there! #Marketing #Branding #AustralianInnovation #Semiconductors #GlobalGrowth #StrategicEntanglement #BookLaunch

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🚀 Attention WA founders — this one's time-sensitive. Applications are now open for the 2026 Innovation Booster Grant, offering up to $50,000 to help early-stage startups and SMEs turn ideas into market-ready products. Funding can be used to: • Develop or refine products toward commercial readiness • Test and validate a minimum viable product • Access specialist expertise in IP, marketing, and commercialisation Reduced matched funding requirements apply for regional WA, female-founded, and First Nations founded businesses — a welcome move to broaden access across the state. Since 2021, more than $6.6 million has supported nearly 200 WA businesses through this program. If you've been sitting on a project waiting for the right push, this could be it. ⏰ Applications close: 30 March 2026 More info and apply: https://lnkd.in/gPNmPBq3 Department of Energy and Economic Diversification

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🚀 The refundable component of the RDTI is rising. This tells us one thing: early-stage companies are driving Australia’s innovation future. Maturing startup and venture capital ecosystems are helping new ventures take bold risks, with the RDTI playing a key role. But how do we support these companies through the next phase of growth? 💡 Full insights here:  https://lnkd.in/e99pD-8x #Startups #R&D #Kashcade #RDTI #VentureCapital #InnovationAustralia

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What Happens When We Underfund the Future? In New Zealand, we keep hearing it: Upskill the workforce. Plug the labour gaps. Get future-ready. So we focus on trades. Tech. Agri-business. But here’s the quiet omission: We’re systematically sidelining the creative industries. https://lnkd.in/gBZAKUQh Policy decisions are reshaping vocational education — and creativity is being treated like a luxury we can’t afford. But what if it’s actually the engine we’ve been underestimating? While we pour billions into farming and freight — our creative sector is sitting on untapped potential: 🎬 Global screen co-productions 🎮 Gaming and interactive media 🎨 Cultural exports 🎭 Indigenous storytelling 🧠 Creative IP backed by AI and design thinking Unlike physical exports, these don’t drain the land or require carbon-heavy logistics. They scale through ideas, collaboration, and culture — all things we claim to value, but rarely fund. And yet, here’s the kicker: AI can replicate formats, but not meaning. It can mimic tone, but not lived truth. We keep asking “how do we compete?” But in a world where authenticity is scarce, NZ’s cultural creativity is the competitive edge. So the real question is: Why are we still treating creative work like a side hustle — when it could be a sovereign export strategy? Let’s build an economy that values more than milk and margins. Let’s fund the future we keep saying we believe in. 🌏 What would it take for NZ to truly back its creative thinkers? #creativeindustries #nzfuture #vocationaleducation #AIandidentity #economicdiversification #authenticity #planbthinking #quietbuilders

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Mixed reality is transforming how we train, simulate and operate—across defence, aerospace and advanced manufacturing. As co-lead of the Defence Trailblazer, UNSW is helping deliver real-world outcomes by connecting cutting-edge research with bold industry partners. From immersive simulation and spatial computing to 4D volumetric visualisation, UNSW is building sovereign capability through deep tech that’s deployable, not theoretical. This is what research translation at scale looks like—powered by collaboration, driven by national purpose. #UNSW #MixedReality #DefenceInnovation #DeepTech #SovereignCapability #Trailblazer #CollaborationWithImpact #ResearchTranslation

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The seventh episode of Notion in Practice just dropped, I’m so proud Tim and Jerwin are giving a voice and platform to builders who are quietly building amazing things and sharing knowledge that matters. This episode feels like a birthday present to me, but if you’re a founder, VC, or anyone writing reports, there’s some really solid wisdom here.

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🔋🏛️ New podcast episode: Scaling batteries is easy. Governing them well is the real challenge. In the latest episode of the German Innovators Podcast, I speak with Dominic Spooner, founder of Vaulta (Brisbane), about the policy blind spots emerging as battery deployment accelerates across Australia and globally. Battery uptake is being successfully driven by subsidies and market pull — but design, lifecycle governance, repairability, and data transparency are still lagging. That gap matters because it’s exactly where waste, safety risks, ESG leakage, and public trust failures tend to emerge. 🎙️ Key policy-relevant takeaways from the conversation: 🔁 Why “circularity” must move beyond recycling into design-for-repair, second life, and lifetime cost models 📊 How battery traceability and health data can become a neutral “source of truth” between manufacturers, consumers, integrators, and regulators 🇪🇺 What Australia is likely to inherit from the EU battery passport, right-to-repair, and lifecycle reporting frameworks 🇦🇺 Lessons from Australia’s home battery subsidy rollout: rapid deployment success — but missed opportunities for local capability and skills development 🏗️ Why public procurement may be the most powerful (and underused) lever for building sovereign capability — more so than grants or rebates alone 📐 How policy settings can unintentionally optimise for the lowest upfront cost, while externalising long-term system risk and waste For policymakers, regulators, and advisors working on energy, manufacturing, climate, or industrial strategy, this episode highlights a central tension: ➡️ How do we accelerate deployment without locking in tomorrow’s waste and capability gaps today? 🎧 Listen here: (Spotify / Apple link in comments) I’d be very interested in hearing perspectives from this community: Should future battery incentives explicitly reward repairability, traceability, and local value creation — not just installed capacity? #EnergyPolicy #BatteryPolicy #CircularEconomy #RightToRepair #IndustrialStrategy #FutureMadeInAustralia #BatteryPassport #CleanEnergy #PublicProcurement #ManufacturingPolicy #ESG #ClimatePolicy #GermanInnovatorsPodcast #Vaulta

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