Inside the Merton Lawyers Startup Board Conference 2026
Long-time Innovation Bay member Anthony Curtin and the team at Merton Lawyers ran their Startup Board Conference on September 7th at the Sydney Opera House. With a curated attendance of 50 venture capitalists, each also bringing a founder from their portfolio, there were 11 sessions with 35 speakers, focused on best-practice board governance, international scale, and how founders & funders manage M&A best.
Robin Khuda, just named third on the AFR’s list of Australia’s most powerful technology leaders, closed the day with the unfiltered AirTrunk story. Radek Sali unpacked the culture behind Swisse and its $2.1 billion sale. US speakers dialling in are long-standing friends of Merton Lawyers, sitting behind some of the most significant venture deals in Silicon Valley.
The conference is the culmination of [Project Odyssey], Merton’s multi-year research program strengthening board governance across the venture ecosystem, and sits alongside [Project Frontier], a long-standing initiative connecting scaling Australian tech companies with the top-tier Silicon Valley law firms behind the US venture ecosystem.
Anthony Curtin’s full reflection on the day is here….
Project Odyssey > https://www.mertonlawyers.com.au/project-odyssey
Project Frontier > https://www.mertonlawyers.com.au/project-frontier
HERE > https://www.mertonlawyers.com.au/blog/merton-board-conference-2026-reflections
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