Morning Startup - Perth

In the fast-paced world of startups, it's easy to focus purely on product, growth, and funding—but what if doing good was also a great strategy for doing well?

We’ve assembled an amazing panel session with WA’s most experienced purpose-driven leaders and founders to explore why weaving purpose and philanthropy into your startup from the beginning isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s a smart business move.

From boosting your brand and attracting top talent to building meaningful partnerships and long-term resilience, they’ll illustrate how giving back actually drives growth, and how startups of any size can make a difference—without needing millions in the bank.

Expect real stories, practical ideas (like the Pledge 1% model), and inspiration to help you find a cause that aligns with your mission. Whether you’re launching, scaling, or just figuring out your why—this session will help you balance business with purpose.

Agenda:

• 7:30 am: Shameless plugs and announcements. Introduce yourself or announce your startup to the Perth startup community!
• 7:45 am: Panel Session - Why Giving Back is Good for Business
• 8:30 am: Networking & delicious breakfast treats
• 9:00 am: Finish

About the panel

Lindsay O’Sullivan – COO, Keystart
Lindsay brings over 25 years of executive experience driving transformation and growth in housing, financial services, and government. As COO of Keystart, he led a major end-to-end transformation that delivered world-class employee engagement, tech modernisation, and 55% balance sheet growth. Lindsay is passionate about purpose-led business and has held senior roles with Bethanie Housing, Veev, and Spacecubed.

Louise Baxter – CEO, Starlight Children’s Foundation
Louise is an inspiring and authentic leader with deep experience across both commercial and not-for-profit sectors. As CEO and Executive Director of Starlight since 2009, she has driven growth through purpose-led leadership, building high-performing teams and embedding innovation into the heart of the organisation. A passionate advocate for philanthropy and civil society, Louise also serves as a Non-Executive Director of the Community Council for Australia and is a sought-after speaker on positivity, resilience, and organisational impact.

Zoe McAlpine – Executive Coach, Former CEO Breast Cancer Care WA
Zoe is a coach and executive leader with 20+ years’ experience building high-performing teams and cultures. She doubled revenue and service reach as CEO of Breast Cancer Care WA and led a $30m fundraising team at Starlight. With a background in education, retail, and nonprofits, Zoe brings a practical, people-first perspective to purpose-driven leadership.

Matt Pirga – Principal, SOLN CO.
With 15+ years in heavy equipment manufacturing and 8 years of small business ownership, Matt blends strategic thinking with a hands-on “get it done” mindset. A proven operator in general management, business growth, and change leadership, he’s passionate about creating value while keeping people and purpose front and center.

Steve North – Managing Director, Veev Group
Steve is a tech founder, strategic consultant, and nonprofit leader with 20+ years in global IT and business transformation. As MD of Veev Group and President of Starlight Children’s Foundation WA, Steve combines innovation and social impact. He’s led projects across industries and continents—and believes in aligning tech, strategy, and values to drive meaningful change.

Morning Startup is a fortnightly morning meetup for WA startups designed to educate, inspire and encourage entrepreneurship in WA.

Agenda:

• 7:30 am: Shameless plugs and announcements. Introduce yourself or announce your startup to the Perth startup community!
• 7:45 am: An awesome presentation on a startup related topic by a speaker yet to be confirmed. Or perhaps we'll have a pitch event, or something else entirely ¯\(ツ)/¯ — Whatever it is, it'll be fun and on-point for Perth / WA startups!
• 8:30 am: Networking & delicious breakfast treats
• 9:00 am: Finish

Morning Startup is a fortnightly morning meetup for WA startups designed to educate, inspire and encourage entrepreneurship in WA.

Agenda:

• 7:30 am: Shameless plugs and announcements. Introduce yourself or announce your startup to the Perth startup community!
• 7:45 am: An awesome presentation on a startup related topic by a speaker yet to be confirmed. Or perhaps we'll have a pitch event, or something else entirely ¯\(ツ)/¯ — Whatever it is, it'll be fun and on-point for Perth / WA startups!
• 8:30 am: Networking & delicious breakfast treats
• 9:00 am: Finish

Calling all startup founders!

On the first Wednesday of each month, let's get together for a tasty beverage or two, celebrate and/or commiserate the month that was, and share plans and ideas for the month yet to be!

You might even meet your future Co-founder, Lead Programmer, or Chief Ninja of Ideation and Crypto Research.

As Elon Musk could have once said, "All my success is due to drinking with other startup founders as often as possible".

This is a very casual, monthly, after-work event, in addition to our fortnightly Morning Startup meetups at Spacecubed. So if you're not a morning person, this is for you!

There will be no speakers or formalities. Just a bunch of startups, in a pub, having fun, and learning from each other.

Pizza will be provided courtesy of our amazing Morning Startup sponsors (see below), but make sure you save up ahead of time to cover the cost of your own exotic cocktails and Perth-priced-drinks.

To find us, ask the bar staff for the Founder Sundowner table and they'll point you in the right direction.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Get around our amazing sponsors!