Now, that passion for building community has earned co-founder Paz Pisarski the title of Industry Champion at the Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards 2026.
Presented by The Pillars, the Industry Champion award recognises an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to strengthening and advancing the Australian startup ecosystem.
After leaving her role at The Startup Network in 2022, Pisarski bootstrapped the business with just $2000, growing it organically through word of mouth and what she describes as “just doing good, reliable work in the industry”.
Over the last 18 months, Pisarski and cofounders Melia Rayner and Jaala Alex launched FKS (the Fomo Killer Society), a free, volunteer-run WhatsApp community connecting the ANZ startup space. The team has also contributed to training and community programs for Startmate, Stone & Chalk, The Hive, The Commons, Airtree, MAP and UNSW.
Notably, The Community Collective has funded 100 scholarships for women, regional, First Nations and culturally diverse community builders to access its educational resources, in an effort to broaden who gets access to Australia’s startup ecosystem.
In an era of rapid AI adoption, Pisarski believes the value of human connection is only becoming more important.
“Anyone can start a business, anyone can use AI,” she told Startup Daily .
“But no one can steal the trust that you’ve built with people over time. And that’s what we teach at The Community Collective.”
Through its eight-week program, The Community Collective trains founders, operators and community professionals to build and scale communities around their businesses, covering everything from strategy and engagement, to measuring return on investment and using AI more effectively.
Across eight sold-out cohorts, hundreds of participants have completed the program, with alumni going on to community roles at companies including Canva, Google, Notion, Startmate, Tractor Ventures, Stone & Chalk and Airtree.
But Pisarski says the real impact extends beyond the program itself, as participants take those skills back to communities reaching hundreds of thousands of people.
“Community is built not for people, but with people,” she said.
As AI becomes embedded across more businesses, Pisarski believes real-life connection is becoming more than just a nice to have..
“We’re seeing companies like Anthropic and Lovable and OpenAI actually launch communities and hire community teams because even though they’re the top AI talent and AI is everywhere, humans want to connect with humans,” she said.
“Trust is the hottest commodity. Community is the moat, and it’s the currency of the businesses that are going to have impact and actually pioneer.”
Pisarski knows the value of community first-hand, pointing to fellow finalists Euphemia’s Judy Anderson-Firth, Mehdeeka’s Kayla Medica and LoanOptions.ai’s Julian Fayad as ongoing sources of inspiration and support throughout her own entrepreneurial journey.
“I used to work with Judy and she’s taught me everything in community,” Pisarski said.
“So it has just been so incredible to grow alongside all of [the other finalists].”
It is an experience that has only strengthened her belief that community should be treated as a core part of how businesses grow, rather than an afterthought.
“If you’re a founder, I really believe that you need to have a look at the growth strategy, whether it is sales, growing through product or partnerships,” she said.
“Community is the future. And actually building a space where your customers belong, rely on each other, and have trust with you is going to be the future.”
See the full Best in Tech winners list here.
Thank you to the Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards 2026 partners:
