28 April, 2021

E113 – Peter Dunne, Herbert Smith Freehills

Peter Dunne is one of Australia’s leading venture capital and private equity lawyers, specialising in private capital raisings and M&A. Peter has advised on multibillion-dollar transactions, including acquisitions, buy-outs, disposals, joint ventures and recapitalisations, involving some of Australia’s largest public and private organisations; his clients include Atlassian, Canva, Deputy, Culture Amp, Linktree, BigCommerce, Campaign Monitor, Expert 360, SafteyCulture, Tyro, Zoox…the list goes on.
In this conversation with Ian, Peter talks about…

• Why he became a lawyer and how early experiences shaped his career
• Why he’s more interested in people than the size of deals
• Key differences between private equity and venture capital
• How he got involved in Atlassian’s first capital raise
• His approach to building a tech practice and choosing clients
• His advice for startup founders who are fundraising
• What “legal debt” is and how to avoid it

Quickfire recommendations

• Books: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez & To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
• Podcast: This American Life
• News source: The Economist or The Guardian
• Tech founder: Luke Anear of SafetyCulture
• Productivity tool: Atomic Habits
• TV show: Dr. Who
• Ted Talk topic: How we can inspire and help each other

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