AFC's Wrap Up Panel: The Good, The Bad & The F*ck-Ups They Won’t Forget 🎄
My favourite format of the year is back!
AFC presents AFC’s Wrap Up Panel: The Good, The Bad & The F*ck-Ups They Won’t Forget
Every founder’s LinkedIn tells the highlight reel. Nobody posts the week it almost fell apart.
Most founders are quietly convinced their mess is the unusual one - that everyone else has a plan that’s actually working. The wrong move is pretending it’s all under control instead of naming what actually went wrong, because the real learning sits in the near-misses and the calls that didn’t pay off, not the wins everyone’s happy to talk about.
This month at Aussie Founders Club, we’re sitting down with three founders closing out a brutal, brilliant year to talk about the calls that almost broke them, the ones that paid off, and everything in between.
Key event details
Date: Thursday 26 November 2026
Time: 5:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: Everest Engineering, 2/39 Little Collins St, Melbourne
Food and drinks: provided, wine in hand for the panel
Who should attend
Founders in the thick of building right now - the ones holding a near-miss, a bad call, or a decision they’re still not sure about. This one’s for anyone who’d rather hear what actually went wrong than another polished founder story.
The panel
Tim O’Sullivan - Founder, Bae Juice: Tim is an entrepreneur and brand builder with a passion for turning wild ideas into reality. With a no-BS attitude and a creative mindset, he’s all about pushing boundaries, building brands and chasing the next big thing.
Millie Marconi - Founder & CEO, TestFeed: Millie is a non-technical founder who pivoted from a workforce-planning product into TestFeed, an AI tool that lets users preview how their content will land with a synthetic audience before posting it. A demo she shared on LinkedIn went viral, racking up hundreds of waitlist sign-ups and hundreds of comments.
Charles Wood - Cofounder, Vitadrop: Charlie co-founded Dropco Studio and Vitadrop after exiting Studio Tekni in 2022, bringing a background in science and marketing. He’s spent his career commercialising and communicating science and technology for startups, scaleups and ASX medtechs, including Tetratherix and NicoLab.
What you’ll learn
What it actually feels like when a company comes close to not surviving, and what stops you walking away
How to tell the difference between a sure thing that just needed more time and one that was never going to work
Why the smallest changes sometimes carry the biggest payoff
How to know when persistence has turned into stubbornness
What’s made the whole thing worth it, on the days it didn’t feel like it
Learn from those who may a step or two (and beyond) in the journey!
Thanks to Our Sponsors
🛠 Our Venue & Catering Sponsor: EverestEngineering
We’re stoked to be hosted by EverestEngineering, a world-class product development partner that helps startups build, scale, and accelerate their software dreams. With a sharp focus on engineering excellence and collaboration, EverestEngineering takes the hassle out of product delivery - so founders can stay focused on what matters most.
🤝 In-Kind Event Sponsor: Kairos Recruitment
Another shout out to Kairos, my recruitment company that has continued to make these events possible. Through running AFC and working deeply with startup clients, we help companies scale their teams with the right people, at the right time. Whether you're hiring your first engineer or your next Head of Growth, we knows how to match startups with standout humans who thrive in the chaos.
Proudly Supported by Innovation Victoria
Innovation Victoria exists to grow Victoria’s startup and innovation ecosystem by helping more people turn good ideas into successful, scalable companies.
We bring support, capability building and investment together in one place - so it’s easier to move from idea to commercialisation, growth and global impact.
By connecting entrepreneurs, founders and investors with the right tools, advice and pathways to capital and customers, we help accelerate progress, unlock opportunity and drive long-term economic benefits for Victoria.
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