In the press & interesting features 

"Startup team culture expert Claudia Barriga-Larriviere joins our team" by Alan Jones on BlueChilli.com (Mar 2017)

“Startups are businesses at their most vulnerable and uncertain stage,” says Claudia. “We all forget that a startup is run by people who are invested in an outcome broader than their roles, broader than themselves. My job is to make sure we guide them through the change that startup life brings and make sure the team doesn’t lose sight of the final destination.”

“As Labor promises to crack down on skills-shortage visas, will the startup talent gap widen still?” by Stephanie Palmer-Derrien in SMART COMPANY (APR 2019)

Bill Shorten has announced a crackdown on what Labor is calling “457-style” visas, in a bid to make sure Aussies aren’t missing out on jobs.However, with little clarity over what the opposition’s changes would actually entail, the promise may be just another twist in a drawn-out debacle for tech companies trying to attract the best global talent to Australia.

[Press} Student helps problem solve for ABC newsroom by FranCes Morgan FOR The UTS Newsroom (aug 2016) 

When Jane Kewin saw a call-out to take part in a program within the technology division of the ABC, she jumped at the opportunity. The postgraduate student in public relations had little idea of what an "experimental learning program" entailed and no idea that it might change her approach to work. [...]

The project came about when ABC Technology Director Ken Gallacher asked entrepreneur-in-residence Claudia Barriga-Larriviere what she would do to have ABC staff thinking like the team members of a lean startup and implementing innovative ideas. “I told him I’d take them on a journey that challenges their entire way of thinking,” said Barriga-Larriviere.

Gallacher, Barriga-Larriviere and Deputy Director of Technology Margaret Cassidy put their heads together to make it happen. “It’s quite an undertaking and investment,” said Cassidy, “to plan to give the entire workforce of a division of such a large organisation time away from their day to day work in groups to develop these skills. All the staff will be given the opportunity over about two years.”

As the program was being developed Barriga-Larriviere had the idea of asking students to take part .

[Press] "Australian tech leaders issued this joint statement on problems with sexism in the global industry" by Tony Yoo in Business Insider (July 2013)

A group of prominent men and women in the Australian tech community today released a statement in reaction to discriminatory and sexist attitudes in the industry that again hit the headlines over the weekend.

[PRESS] "WHAT TO SAY WHEN SOMEONE ASKS TO ‘PICK YOUR BRAIN" by Amy Molloy on The Collective Hub (July 2017) 

It’s a phrase that’s become increasingly common in the business world: “It would be great to pick your brain sometime.” If you’ve experienced any degree of success in your chosen industry, you’ve probably been on the receiving end of this, often uttered or typed by someone you barely know or have never met, someone who would just love to buy you coffee on one condition – that you fill their knowledge gap with your years’ of experience.

[PRESS] "‘If you can’t see it, you can’t be it’: Female founders crushing stereotypes" BY Tas Bindi ON THE STARTUP DAILY (May 2014)

[...] Claudia Barriga-Larriviere, named as one of Shoe String’s Top Sydney Mentors and an Innovation Manager soon to join the BlueChilli X team, says that at previous jobs, she would make suggestions in meetings that were often shut down, not because they didn’t have merit, but because she suggested them.

It’s easy to dismiss this as paranoia, until you realise what happens next. The man sitting next to her made the exact same suggestion minutes later, perhaps slightly rephrased, and he got an entirely different response.

“They were acting as if it was the best thing they ever heard. I used to let moments like that slide. But I think you have to speak up and say, ‘Hey, that’s what I just said. Why was it a bad idea when I said it?’ I’ve recently started standing up for myself, because if I don’t do it now, it’ll be harder in three years,” says Barriga-Larriviere.

[Feature] "Have You Got A 100 Year Career?" BY George Knight ON THE Hub Blog (March 2015) 

[...] Hubbers Mikey Leung (Co-Founder, Digital Storytellers) and Claudia Barriga-Larriviere (Project Director, Switch Festival) shared their insights and experience with being part of the “Hub tribe” and why it’s an advantage to a traditional workplace.

“As we started building a team having a physical space where we can come and plug in to, that was separate from old ways of doing things (our traditional culture), and cultivate team practises in our own way was important. We’re doing a lot of work with people in the Hub by being here. Having people at arm’s reach is invaluable.” – Claudia Barriga-Larriviere

[PRESS] "I'll sleep when I'm dead...or not" BY Amy Laboyrie on the Renegade Collective (Sept 2014)

As a talent specialist, Claudia Barriga-Larriviere has interviewed thousands of applications for emerging business and startup teams. Yet there's one personal question that she refuses to ask candidates in an interview, even though many of the companies that she's recruiting for would like her to. It's not about sexual orientation or whether a prospective employee has plans to have a baby (both of which are illegal on gronds of discrimination). The personal question is , "How well do you sleep at night?" And, according to Claudia, answering 'I sleep very well, thank you', could cost you a job...

[feature] "Should your Employees work from home?" by Lisa Messenger on SMarter Telstra (February 2015)

“The biggest pitfall of the working-from-home model is looking at it purely from a financial point of view and ignoring the potential eradication of collaborative creativity,” says Claudia Barriga-Larriviere, Innovation Strategist for Start Mesh, which helps mid-tier start-ups transition into scalable businesses.

“If you look at it purely from a financial point of view, the savings in rent, insurance, office furniture and stationery, and other materials are incredible. But, isolating employees from their peers is very risky as you are potentially eliminating any form of casual interaction, bouncing of ideas and accidental strategising.” 

[FEATURED] "Startup Vame champions cultural diversity with name pronunciation tool" BY Tas Bindi ON THE STARTUP DAILY (april 2014) 

[...] In a conversation with Claudia Barriga-Larriviere, one of Shoe String’s Top Sydney Mentors and soon-to-be Bluechilli’s Change Manager, she admitted that since migrating to Australia from Peru, people have been advising her on how to pronounce her own name. They’d say, “It’s Cl-or-dia, not Cloud-ia.” Barriga-Larriviere would think, “It’s MY name, thank you very much.”

What’s interesting about this, is that people have felt entitled to a particular pronunciation because Claudia is a fairly common Western name.

Others have also communicated a similar situation with their names, which have a different pronunciation to the common Australian one; and the very offence they take from that correction reinforces once again that a name is part of the identity that the person built over the course of their lives.

[featured] "QUT Creative Enterprise Australia launches intensive program for fashion entrepreneurs" BY Liz Leigh ON THE STARTUP DAILY (Dec 2015) 

[...] As Claudia Barriga-Larriviere wrote for Startup Daily after FashHack, Australia’s first fashion tech hackathon earlier this year, “fashion and tech are a reluctant partnership…tech thinks fashion might be beneath them and doesn’t take fashion seriously. Businesses like The Iconic are often not considered to be in ‘fashion’ but rather it’s an ‘e-commerce’ site. On the opposite end, fashion has historically been afraid of tech and has its own set of prescribed condescension: unless you are sketching a design or cutting a pattern, you are not in fashion.

[Press] "How the ABC is using startup thinking to reinvent itself" by
DINUSHI DIAS on StartupSmart 9Feb 2016) 

[...]Commencing the trial about six months ago, Gallacher is now focusing on partnering with groups, from startups to incubators.

“From a tax payers point of view, our goal is to make sure every dollar is spent wisely so I would rather find out very quickly experimenting in a few areas that this is something worth considering,” he says.

On finding and harnessing entrepreneurial talent at big companies, Gallacher says it starts at the recruitment process.

“Stop pandering to the vocal minority”: Startup community says 457 visa changes fail to represent Australia’s inclusive spirit" By Dominic Powell in Smart Company (Nov 2017)

"On April 18, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull went live on Facebook, declaring to all Australians the government would be axing 457 visas in an effort to “protect” local jobs. For 457 visa holder Claudia Barriga-Larriviere, the day after the unexpected announcement was the worst of her professional life."

[Featured] "ACS Digital Pulse: Australia needs 200,000 more tech workers in five years" BY Yolanda Redrup In the financial review (Jun 2018)

The technology skills gap in Australia is deepening, with an extra 200,000 technology workers needed in the next five years if the country is going to be a world leader in the digital economy, according to a new report from the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and Deloitte.

[PODCAST} "Founders, Geeks and Voodoo!" Episode 23 of TechKnowledgy (Jun 2018)

Interview begins on minute 30. 

[Featured] "LET’S TALK… CULTURE" by JAMES HARKNESS in DYNAMIC BUSINESS (Mar 2018)

Let’s play a game of word association. When I say ‘company culture’… what do you think of? Happy, entrepreneurial employees with meaningful work? Shared values and beliefs? A competitive advantage in terms of recruitment and retention? Table tennis or foosball? Transparent leadership? Perhaps the saying “all talk, no walk” comes to mind...

"LET’S TALK… MENTAL HEALTH" BY GALI BLACHER in DYNAMIC BUSINESS (JUL 2018). 

LET’S TALK… MENTAL HEALTH

Having a happy and healthy team is key to the overall success of a company. It’s not just about talking the talk and a fruit bowl. It’s about talking openly about mental health and putting systems in place to ensure a happy, healthy and motivated team. Work is important but we all have our own lives and personal ambitions.

"Innovation face off: Why we need to look outside government for answers" By Anne-Marie Elias on Smart Company (February 2016). 

"[...] We formed a formidable team and got the absolutely best in the business to collaborate – Alan Jones, Phil Morle, Joanne Jacobs, Claudia BL and many more who gave up their time to come out to Liverpool in Sydney’s Western Suburbs." 

[Press] "Mentors Australian startups should to Get to know" by MAt Beeche on the Startup Daily (March 2014) 

Another Pollenizer alumni, Claudia Barriga-Larriviere is a surgeon when it comes to startup strategy and hiring the right team in the early stages of a business. Barriga-Larriviere is a team intelligence and change management expert and works with a lot of startup founders in the B2B space.

Barriga-Larriviere is also a huge supporter of the SocEnt space having been heavily involved in Project Futures and TedX Sydney. When it comes to technology her expertise is working with startups and businesses on how they can cut through the noise and dominate the online space.

[Press} "500 Startups engaged in deceptive behaviour – THAT should result in LaunchVic pulling financial support" by Mat Beeche on The Startup Daily (July 2017)

There are so many layers to this onion, that is why it has taken a few days for me to issue a formal response to the events within the startup ecosystem – in particular those involving firm 500 Startups, government-backed body LaunchVic, and the long-overdue need for a conversation about abuse of power and perceived status within the tech ecosystem.

As I write this, my whole team and I have just retired for the evening to our motel rooms in Dubbo, where we are engaging in activities tomorrow for the Australia Post Regional Pitchfest and our regional startup initiative Silicon Paddock. The drive down here allowed us to have some quality discussion about equality and safety within the tech sector and indeed all industries.

[PRESS] "Innovation face off: look outside government for answers" BY Anne-Marie Elias ON The Mandarin (Feb 2016)

A few weeks ago start-up mentor and innovator Claudia Barriga-Larriviere invited me to speak to a crew at the ABC about innovation and government. Claudia has been taking the ABC through a start-up process and journey to help them innovate and transform from old world to new world thinking. The visionary is CIO Ken Gallacher who had the courage to bring this concept to his team — now that’s major innovation... 

[VIdeos] "INterchange 2015: Find your Inner entrepreneur" with Host Avis Mulhall for Interchange TV

Interchange is open to all UNSW, UTS, University of Sydney , Australian Catholic University and University of Western Sydney International students. Interchange is open to both undergraduate and postgraduate international students. It is an active learning journey designed to help you find your inner entrepreneur and develop your professional skills, including communication, innovation and leadership.  

Video 1 - Overview  Video 2 - Customer Empathy  Video 3 - The Pivot 

Video Credits: Digital Storytellers

[multimedia] "The Human Side of Startups" with host Rebecca Tapp for The Supernova Tribe

 The Supernova Tribe and Supernova Speakers are a collective of charity leaders, charity ambassadors, founders of social enterprise and purpose driven people who take action to create world change. They are keynote speakers, facilitators and community leaders with messages that are underpinned in creating positive social impact. What makes our tribe truly unique is our intention. Our job as leaders, thought leaders and educators is to inspire corporate organisations, students, entrepreneurs, communities and individuals to use the tools, talents and time they have available to CHANGE THE WORLD, and solve social justice issues against mankind, the animal kingdom and the planet....This is the Supernova kind of world. 

Podcast: Supernova Podcast Episode 6 (Sept 2015)

Video: Claudia Barriga-Larriviere, On Being Human at Work

[PRESS] "Working tribes get set for century-long career" BY Shane Rodgers ON THE Australian (March 2015) 

[...] Claudia Barriga-Larriviere, project director of Switch, and Mikey Leung, the co-founder of Impact Strategist and cinematographer of Digital Storytellers, are embracing the new “hub” working model at Hub Australia in Sydney. Ms Barriga-Larriviere said her team was determined to build a collaborative approach to work, unrestrained by the legacy of older corporate models. “It’s amazing to be able to see into that world,” she said.

[featured] "Brands with a cause click with Australians" on Marketing Mag (Oct 2013)

Effective Measure’s Claudia Barriga-Larriviere says the holy grail for brands is relevant consumer engagement, and the research is clearly showing brands with a conscience are creating consumer grip. “By understanding what motivates and inspires consumer involvement, brands will resonate deeper with their optimal consumer group.”

Social activist organisation, Project Futures, has been working with Effective Measure on targeted campaigns that are aligned with brands that share the same ethics and a digital audience’s motivations and affiliations.

“Brands aligning themselves with causes are not only securing more consumer consideration, but are also earning their dollars and support,” says Project Futures founder and CEO, Stephanie Lorenzo. 

Kind words FROM AWESOME PEOPLE

Here are some nice things other people have to say about me and my work.