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There may be more than four letters in “entrepreneur” but it may as well still be a dirty word in Australia. In this ABC interview retired venture capitalist Chris Golis argues that although the federal government is committed to an innovation agenda (you can see Hitler launch the policy in the above video..just take a minute..it’s worth it), they aren’t necessarily realizing the role that entrepreneurs play in making that innovation happen. Golis has a career in business and VC that spans 25 years and includes work with IBM, VeCommerce and Nanyang Ventures, now Kestrel Capital. Today he is a noted author with three books under his belt and a proponent of emotional intelligence.

The good news? Chris says Australia DOES have it’s own version of Silicon Valley and it’s in Perth. The bad news? It’s not in tech but in mining. But with both Perth and Silicon Valley, he says it’s not just the talent or mineral resource they have that make them what they are; It’s the infrastructure where at every level, from the lawyers to the accountant to the venture capitalists, everyone understands and plays the game and a successful, functioning team can be quickly put together.

In this audio interview he draws a lot on Australia’s history and offers some insight on what can be done to encourage entrepreneurialism in a country where it’s a black term.

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