I caught up with a former European boss last week, and our conversation took an interesting turn.

We were discussing Southbound Technologies when he mentioned that European technology companies rarely consider Australia a priority market. When expanding internationally, they head straight for the US.

I understand why. The US is enormous, with a concentration of enterprise and government technology buyers that's difficult to compete with.

But it got me thinking.

Are international technology companies overlooking Australia because they think the opportunity isn't there, or because they've never seriously considered what it might be?

Small population. Big economy.

Australia has approximately 28 million people. Yet according to a recent Austrade report, we're the world's 12th largest economy.

And yes, given our recent economic challenges, I appreciate a few Australians might raise an eyebrow at that ranking. But I promise I haven't dusted off a report from the mining boom. It was published last month!

We're an English-speaking economy with sophisticated enterprise buyers, a highly skilled workforce and strong commercial connections across the Indo-Pacific.

We're also innovation-friendly. According to the ABS, 46% of Australian businesses were innovation-active in 2024–25. Austrade describes Australians as early adopters of digital technologies, and Australia ranks #1 in the world for skills in adopting and adapting frontier technologies (UNCTAD Frontier Technology Readiness Index, 2021 data).

Sophisticated enough to challenge your technology. Innovative enough to consider something new. Commercially significant enough to reward you when you get it right.

Cybersecurity isn't optional.

Australian organisations are investing in cybersecurity. Gartner forecasts information security spending in Australia will exceed A$7.5 billion in 2026, up 9.5% on last year. That's around US$190 per person, roughly six times the global average of about US$30 (Gartner worldwide forecast). In total, it's even more than India is forecast to spend, with a population of 1.4 billion.

For cybersecurity vendors, Australia's regulatory environment creates another compelling reason to take notice.

• Our 2023–2030 Cyber Security Strategy is entering its second phase, while the newly launched ASD Essentials expands cybersecurity guidance beyond the Essential Eight.
• Under APRA's CPS 234, boards of regulated financial institutions are ultimately accountable for information security.
• And the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SOCI) imposes security and resilience obligations on entities responsible for certain critical infrastructure assets across 11 sectors.

These frameworks don't mandate particular products, but they create real commercial drivers for organisations to strengthen security and demonstrate compliance.

For innovative cybersecurity vendors solving genuine problems, that's a commercially attractive environment. And importantly, it helps answer the WHY.

Which brings me to my next point.

Could Australia be a smarter place to cross the chasm?

In my last article, From PUSH to PULL, I revisited Geoffrey A. Moore's Crossing the Chasm and the importance of winning lighthouse customers who validate your technology and build market credibility.

Australia could be an excellent place to do exactly that.

The US offers enormous scale, but it's also where seemingly every international startup wants to compete. That's a lot of vendors chasing the same executive attention and budgets.

Australia is smaller, certainly. But for the right technology, a focused approach could offer a better opportunity to stand out, win those first lighthouse customers and build momentum.

Sometimes it's not about chasing the biggest pie. It's about finding a slice you can actually win.

But isn't Australia expensive?

Absolutely. Salaries, operating costs and experienced enterprise sales talent don't come cheaply.

And that's precisely why I launched Southbound Technologies.

Our LAND. WIN. SCALE. approach recognises both the opportunity Australia presents and its relatively high cost of entry.

• LAND: Validate the market, competitive differentiation and commercial opportunity. Start with WHY.
• WIN: Deploy experienced fractional enterprise sellers with established executive relationships, without immediately committing to permanent local sales headcount.
• SCALE: Build partnerships, expand and invest in permanent operations once you've demonstrated traction.

The investment follows the opportunity. Not the other way around.

Australia deserves a second look.

I'm not suggesting Australia is right for every international cybersecurity or AI company.

But we're a significant economy, with sophisticated buyers, an appetite for innovation and a regulatory environment that creates genuine demand.

And with the right market-entry model, getting established here doesn't have to mean committing to expensive permanent operations from day one.

The US might offer a bigger market. But bigger doesn't automatically mean better.

So to my European friends, founders, CROs and investors:

Before you cross Australia off your international expansion list, perhaps it's worth taking another look.

You might be surprised by what you find.

If you'd like to explore the opportunity, let's talk: hello@southboundtechnologies.com

Since launching Southbound Technologies, one of the things I've loved most has been meeting founders and prospective partners who share that same entrepreneurial spirit. The ambition, the passion for what they're building, the determination to make something happen. The energy is infectious.

And interestingly, one book keeps coming up in our conversations: Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore.

I first read it years ago as part of my MBA marketing course. Fast-forward a few decades, and here I am building a business designed to help emerging cybersecurity and AI companies tackle the very challenge Moore described. Funny how things come full circle.

I've just ordered myself another copy. It's now in its third edition, and if you haven't read it, I highly recommend you do. If you read it years ago, perhaps it's time for a refresher, because I think its central lesson is particularly relevant to the AI boom we're experiencing today.

Having extraordinary technology doesn't necessarily mean you have a commercially viable business.

The next wave of winners won't necessarily be those with the most impressive technology. They'll be the ones solving the right problems, for the right customers, with a compelling commercial return.

The AI boom has brought us back to the WHY

Simon Sinek popularised the importance of starting with WHY through his Golden Circle. While his work focuses on purpose and leadership, I think there's an equally important commercial question for technology founders:

WHY did you build this product in the first place?

• What problem were you trying to solve?
• Who has that problem?
• What is it costing them?
• Who else is already solving it?
• And what makes your solution genuinely different or better?

Because innovation alone doesn't create demand. A compelling business problem does.

We're seeing this play out across AI. The initial excitement has been extraordinary, but enterprise customers increasingly need to understand where AI can deliver measurable value. Can it reduce operating costs, improve productivity, increase revenue or reduce risk? Can it solve a problem that was previously too expensive or complex to address? And can it deliver those benefits at a cost that makes commercial sense?

Look at AI companies like Anthropic, which are building enterprise sales teams alongside applied AI roles focused specifically on helping customers achieve outcomes. To me, that reinforces an important point.

The challenge isn't simply getting organisations to adopt AI. It's finding valuable use cases that justify the investment. That's what will move AI from enthusiastic early adopters into mainstream enterprise adoption.

The chasm is a confidence problem

Moore's central argument is that early adopters and mainstream buyers behave differently. Early adopters are prepared to take risks because they see the potential of something new. Mainstream enterprise buyers want proof. They want to know the technology works, that it solves a meaningful problem and that adopting it won't create unnecessary risk.

For an emerging cybersecurity or AI vendor entering Australia, that presents a challenge. You may have a brilliant product and enthusiastic customers overseas, but Australian enterprise buyers may never have heard of you. They don't have local references. They don't know whether your technology will work in their environment. And they don't know who will answer the phone if something goes wrong.

If the fit hits the shan at 2 am in Sydney, who's going to fix it?

That's not a hypothetical concern for a CISO. It's a perfectly reasonable question, and it's why crossing the chasm requires more than a great product and a salesperson with a revenue target.

First, establish that the technology deserves to be sold

This is where The Southbound Method™ begins. We start by investigating the WHY. Why does the technology exist? What problem does it solve? How does it compare with existing alternatives? And which Australian organisations have that problem, with sufficient urgency and budget to act?

We're also building a vendor advisory board of experienced CISOs and CROs to help challenge those assumptions.

Our CISO advisers bring the buyer's perspective. Does the technology solve a genuine security problem? Is its differentiation credible? Will it integrate into the customer's environment? And is the vendor capable of supporting Australian customers when things go wrong?

Our CRO advisers bring the commercial perspective. Is there a viable market? Who owns the problem? Where does the budget come from? Is the pricing realistic? And can the vendor build a profitable, repeatable business?

We don't want to represent every emerging technology. We want to represent the ones that deserve a place in the market, because they're solving a unique problem, or solving an existing problem in a genuinely unique way.

That's also why we've committed to representing only one vendor per technology category. Our reputation depends on getting those decisions right.

Then comes the trust gap

I've spent more than 25 years in enterprise cybersecurity sales, and one thing hasn't changed: customers buy from people they trust.

I'm not talking about someone with a large LinkedIn network. I'm talking about experienced enterprise sellers who've spent decades in the trenches with their customers. They've navigated difficult projects, resolved problems, managed crises and earned reputations for sound judgment. They understand the customer's business, the pressures their executives face and the consequences of getting technology decisions wrong.

So when one of those sellers introduces an unfamiliar technology, the conversation starts from a different place. They've earned the right to be heard.

That's one of the advantages of Southbound Technologies' experienced fractional sales model. We bring established relationships and commercial credibility to emerging vendors that haven't yet built their own reputation in Australia.

But there's an important distinction.

The seller's reputation opens the door. The technology must then prove it deserves to be there.

Don't just win customers. Build a market

This is another lesson from Moore that I think startups should pay close attention to.

Winning five customers across five unrelated industries might generate revenue, but it doesn't necessarily create a repeatable business. Winning two or three credible lighthouse customers in a focused market segment, solving a similar problem with measurable outcomes, is a different proposition.

Now you have evidence. You understand the objections. You can demonstrate the commercial value. And you have customers who can help establish your credibility with others facing the same problem.

Don't just chase logos. Build a market.

That's how you begin moving from PUSH to PULL. In the beginning, you're pushing to create awareness, secure meetings and convince customers to take a chance on an unfamiliar vendor. But as you establish references, prove outcomes and develop trusted partnerships, something changes:

• Customers start recommending you.
• Partners start bringing you opportunities.
• Prospective buyers begin approaching you because they've heard about the problems you've solved.

The market starts pulling your technology towards it, rather than you having to push it into every conversation. That's market momentum.

Why we're building Southbound Technologies differently

I don't believe an emerging cybersecurity or AI company should commit to an expensive permanent Australian sales operation before understanding whether it has a viable market here. That's why we've structured Southbound Technologies around three stages:

• LAND — Find the WHY. Validate the technology, its differentiation, the competitive landscape and the Australian customers with compelling problems worth solving.
• WIN — Earn the trust. Deploy experienced fractional enterprise sellers who can open doors, uncover genuine opportunities, prove value and secure the lighthouse customers that establish market credibility.
• SCALE — Build the momentum. Use those customer outcomes to expand into adjacent markets, develop partnerships and build the local capabilities needed for sustainable growth.

The investment follows the evidence of commercial traction. Not the other way around.

The real opportunity

The AI boom is creating extraordinary opportunities, and so is the continuing innovation across cybersecurity. But not every innovative technology will become a successful business. And not every successful startup in one market will automatically succeed in another.

The winners will be those who identify the right problems, demonstrate a compelling commercial return, earn customer trust and turn early successes into repeatable demand.

That's the thinking behind Southbound Technologies, and it's the journey we want to take with the founders and technology companies we work with. From PUSH to PULL.

Introducing our Portfolio Partner Program

This thinking sits behind something new we're launching: the Southbound Technologies Portfolio Partner Program, for venture capital, private equity and growth equity firms.

If your portfolio companies are looking at Australia, we can help them validate the market before they commit to expensive local headcount, then build the trust and lighthouse customers that turn early wins into momentum. It's the same principle: the investment follows the evidence.

If you'd like to explore how we could support your portfolio, I'd love to talk. And if you're a founder considering Australia, the same invitation stands. Email hello@southboundtechnologies.com.

The Portfolio Partner Program is now our Strategic Partner Program.

So here's my question for founders, CROs and investors:

When you enter a new market, are you investing in someone to push your technology, or are you building a business that customers will eventually come looking for?

I'd love to hear your perspective.

I've spent more than 25 years in enterprise cybersecurity sales, and lately I've been asking myself a question.

Why do we assume that the best way to sell enterprise technology is to employ a salesperson full-time, exclusively representing one company?

It's the model most of us grew up with.

Join a vendor. Build your territory. Develop your customer relationships. Sell the portfolio. Move to another vendor. Start again.

And for many companies and salespeople, that model works perfectly well.

But I'm beginning to wonder whether there's a better alternative for some of us.

Fractional enterprise sales.

Not outsourced telemarketing. Not a junior SDR making cold calls on behalf of five different companies.

I'm talking about experienced enterprise sales professionals who have spent decades building relationships, developing commercial judgment and learning how to sell complex technology from start to finish.

People who know their customers. Understand their businesses. Know what keeps their executives awake at night.

What if those people could put that experience to work across a carefully selected portfolio of innovative technology companies?

I think the benefits could be enormous.

First, let's clear up a misconception: fractional doesn't necessarily mean part-time

A fractional salesperson might work three days a week for one technology company and two days for another.

They're still working full-time. They're just not working exclusively for one vendor.

Or they might choose to work three days a week because that suits their life.

That's the beauty of the model.

Fractional isn't necessarily about working less. It's about working differently.

• For the salesperson, it creates greater choice over the companies they work with, the technologies they represent and how they structure their working lives.
• For the vendor, it means accessing experienced enterprise sales capability at a level of investment that matches their stage of growth.
• And for the customer, it means the trusted salesperson they've worked with for years can introduce them to a broader range of innovative technologies, rather than being limited to a single vendor's portfolio.

For the salesperson: freedom without giving up the thrill of the hunt

One of the things I love about cybersecurity is that there's always something new.

A new threat. A new problem. A new technology that challenges the way we've been doing things.

And some of the most exciting innovations are coming from startups.

Small, entrepreneurial businesses developing genuinely different approaches to problems that large technology companies haven't solved, or haven't solved particularly well.

Working with those businesses can be exhilarating.

You're closer to the founders. Closer to the product. Closer to the decisions.

Fewer layers of management. Less bureaucracy. More opportunity to influence the outcome.

And you're not necessarily spending the next five years selling the same portfolio.

But there's another benefit.

Flexibility.

• Maybe you're a working mum who loves enterprise sales but doesn't want to sacrifice time with your children to meet someone else's expectations of what a working week should look like.
• Maybe you're an experienced seller who wants to work three days a week rather than five.
• Maybe you simply don't want to commute into an office to prove you're working.
• Or perhaps you've reached a point in your career where you want greater control over the work you take on, the companies you represent and the way you spend your time.

Fractional sales can create those opportunities.

It isn't necessarily easier work. You're still accountable for delivering results.

But it can offer something that traditional employment doesn't always provide.

The freedom to build a career around your life, rather than your life around your career.

And I think there's something powerful about that.

For the customer: the relationship doesn't have to end when the salesperson changes jobs

This is the part I find particularly interesting.

Enterprise customers spend years building trusted relationships with good salespeople.

They know which salespeople understand their business.

• Which ones tell them the truth.
• Which ones won't waste their time.
• Which ones will pick up the phone when something goes wrong.

But traditionally, when that salesperson leaves a vendor, the relationship changes.

The customer gets a new account manager, and the salesperson starts representing a different product portfolio.

What if the relationship could remain, while the technologies being introduced continued to evolve?

Imagine a trusted cybersecurity salesperson who understands your organisation's challenges and can introduce you to carefully selected emerging technologies from several innovative companies.

Not simply because they have a quarterly target for a particular product.

But because they understand your problem and believe a technology might genuinely help solve it.

That could make for much more interesting conversations.

Of course, trust comes with responsibility. Representing multiple vendors means being transparent about commercial relationships, avoiding conflicts and knowing when a product isn't the right fit.

That's why, at Southbound Technologies, we represent only one vendor in each technology category.

But done properly, I think this model could create enormous value for enterprise buyers.

For technology startups: prove the market before you build the company

Now consider the other side of the equation.

You're a Series A or Series B cybersecurity startup.

You've built something genuinely innovative. You've secured customers in your home market. You're starting to think internationally.

Australia looks attractive.

But establishing a local operation is a significant commitment.

You need to understand the market, identify the right buyers, develop relationships, navigate procurement, establish partners and win your first reference customers.

Traditionally, you might hire a country manager or enterprise salesperson, establish a local presence and hope the market develops as expected.

That's a substantial investment before you've necessarily proved that your product and commercial model will translate.

What if you could test the market before making that commitment?

1. Engage experienced local sales capability.
2. Validate the opportunity.
3. Build relationships with the right enterprise buyers.
4. Develop qualified pipeline.
5. Win your first lighthouse customers.

Then, when you've established genuine traction, make an informed decision about investing in a permanent Australian team.

It's not risk-free, and it isn't a substitute for having a great product.

But it offers a different way to manage the risk of international expansion.

Prove the opportunity. Then double down.

Perhaps the future isn't about choosing between people and technology

In my previous article, I talked about how AI is creating an opportunity to put more of the enterprise sales process back into the hands of experienced sellers.

Fractional sales takes that thinking one step further.

Imagine experienced enterprise hunters, supported by AI, working flexibly across a carefully selected portfolio of innovative technologies.

• Sellers who can focus on what they're best at.
• Customers who benefit from trusted relationships and access to new ideas.
• Startups that can enter new markets without immediately building an entire local organisation.

The salesperson gets more freedom. The customer gets more innovation. The vendor gets a lower-commitment path to market.

That's the model we're building at Southbound Technologies.

And I suspect it's a model we'll see a lot more of.

So here's my question.

If you're an experienced enterprise salesperson, would you trade the security of a traditional full-time role for more flexibility, variety and ownership of your career?

And if you're a technology founder, would you rather prove a new market with experienced fractional sellers before committing to a permanent local team?

I'd be interested to hear both perspectives.

Here's an unpopular opinion: the technology industry has spent the last decade breaking the enterprise sales role into five or six different jobs. I'm not convinced it's made us better at selling.

Recent headlines about AI-driven recruitment and allegations of discrimination against applicants over 40 caught my attention. At the very moment AI should be making experienced people more productive, we risk using it to screen them out.

"Résumé Botox"

I recently watched a 60 Minutes Australia report about experienced jobseekers struggling to get past recruitment screening. One expression stopped me in my tracks: "Résumé Botox."

Apparently, we've reached a point where experienced professionals are being advised to remove graduation dates, strip out older roles and trim 20 or 30 years of career history down to the last 10 or 15, all to appear younger to recruiters and automated screening systems.

Think about that. We're telling people to erase the very experience they've spent decades earning.

At Southbound Technologies, we're taking the opposite approach. We don't want you to Botox your résumé. We want to see what you've achieved. Because when you're building a new market, experience isn't something to disguise. It's your competitive advantage.

We're actively seeking out experienced enterprise cybersecurity sellers whose capabilities may be overlooked in an increasingly automated recruitment process. Yes, that includes salespeople in their 40s, 50s and beyond. People with 10, 15, 20 or more years of experience. People who've built markets, opened doors, navigated difficult deals and learned lessons that no AI model can replicate.

Because some of us remember when a sales rep actually had to know how to sell from start to finish.

We did the lot

When I started in cybersecurity, we didn't have SDRs generating meetings, BDRs qualifying prospects, customer success teams managing relationships and renewals specialists securing contracts.

We did the lot. We prospected, cold-called, got rejected, built relationships, uncovered business problems, negotiated, closed and looked after our customers. We were hunters, farmers, strategists and negotiators, all rolled into one.

Today, the industry has fragmented that role into increasingly specialised functions. And while specialisation has its place, particularly in large organisations, I'm not convinced it's the right model for startups entering new markets.

A Series A or Series B cybersecurity startup entering Australia doesn't necessarily need five different sales functions. It needs someone who knows how to build a market from nothing. Someone with the relationships, commercial judgment and confidence to create opportunities where none exist.

Now imagine giving that person AI

For most of my career, I yearned for dedicated inside sales support. Someone to research accounts, identify prospects, map contacts, prepare outreach and handle the administration. Today, AI can do much of that at a fraction of the traditional cost. Suddenly, an experienced seller has the potential productivity of a much larger team.

We used to call it inside sales. Now we call it AI.

But here's the distinction:

• AI can identify a thousand prospects. Experience knows which ten are worth pursuing.
• AI can write a personalised message. Experience knows what will genuinely resonate.
• AI can book a meeting. Experience knows how to turn that meeting into a qualified opportunity.
• AI can help build a pipeline. Experience knows how to navigate the politics, personalities and commercial complexities that turn pipeline into revenue.

AI can do the work. Experience knows what work needs doing.

And that's the opportunity we're pursuing at Southbound Technologies. One experienced seller. Selling from start to finish. AI-powered productivity.

Resilience, grit and a love of the hunt

But experience alone isn't enough. We're looking for something else: resilience, grit and a genuine love of selling.

Those of us who learned to sell the old-fashioned way learned how to hear "no" a hundred times, pick ourselves up and make the next call. We learned to love the chase.

Because for a true salesperson, selling isn't just a profession. It's what makes them feel alive. The thrill of opening a door, building a relationship from nothing and winning a deal you've worked tirelessly to earn.

Those are the people I want working with me. The people who wake up excited about the hunt. Who have the courage and resilience to build something where nothing existed before. And those are the people I want representing our vendors in Australia.

Not because younger salespeople can't sell, but because we're looking for a particular breadth of experience, depth of capability and old-school grit. Now put AI in their hands. That's a formidable combination.

We want to hear from you

If you're an experienced cybersecurity enterprise seller who still loves the hunt, knows how to build a market from scratch and has the grit to keep going when the answer is no, we want to hear from you.

And if you're over 40 and wondering whether the industry still values everything you've learned along the way? We do. We're looking for people who know how to own the entire sales process, from the first cold call to the signed contract.

Interested? Tickled by the idea of fractional sales? I'd love to hear from you. Join our enterprise seller network or email hello@southboundtechnologies.com.

So here's my question to the industry:

Have we made enterprise sales more effective by dividing it into five or six different jobs? Or has AI finally given us the opportunity to put the best parts of it back together?