Meet the Operator Who Helped Nexl Reach Escape Velocity
About this episode
Steve Grace interviews Albert Patajo about Nexl's journey to Series B funding and the dynamics of startup operations.
In this episode, Steve Grace sits down with Albert Patajo, VP Strategy & Operations at Nexl, to unpack one of the rarest outcomes in Australian tech right now: a local startup hitting Series B, and what it actually takes to get there. Albert shares his non-founder path into the operator seat, from Deloitte to early-stage startups to capital raise advisory, before joining Nexl with one urgent mandate: raise money and build a more capital-efficient business in a market that had tightened overnight. He breaks down why focus beats ambition, how Nexl went deep in the US Northeast instead of trying to launch everywhere, and what changed when top US investors started coming inbound with term sheets. They also dig into the founder-operator partnership: trust, low ego, and working like co-founders without the title. Plus why Albert thinks AI’s biggest immediate impact in legal won’t be the practice of law, but everything around it, relationships, BD, and operations. Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro: Nexl and the Series B milestone 0:40 – Darwin to Canberra to Sydney (and the culture shock) 3:20 – Why consulting is startup training in disguise 6:30 – First startup lessons: being employee #6…
More episodes of Give It A Nudge
- The Carbon Fiber Armor Built For Elite Special Forces
- Leaving Deloitte to Build A Tech Startup
- Fired Twice to Building a $7 Million Real Estate Empire
- How Mary Technology Is Killing Fact Chaos In The Courtroom
- Why This VC Quit to Become a Founder
- His Father Lost His Life Savings. Now He’s Fixing Finance.
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Give It A Nudge podcast page.