The Inside Story of Eucalyptus: Tim Doyle on Starting, Scaling and Selling a $1.6 billion business
6/8/20261 hr 5 min
Fresh off the sale of Eucalyptus to Hims & Hers in a $1.6 billion deal, co-founder Tim Doyle joins Equity Mates to unpack the journey from startup idea to global healthcare platform. He shares what it was really like in the deal room, the early lessons from Koala and digital marketing, how GLP-1 medications transformed the business, why Australia needs better startup infrastructure, and what founders can learn about risk, ambition and building at scale.
In this episode:
00:00 – The $1.6 billion exit and signing day chaos
02:49 – Why Eucalyptus decided to sell
10:31 – The origins of Eucalyptus and early startup lessons
17:54 – Good businesses, bad businesses and portfolio thinking
26:34 – Building telehealth amid industry criticism
30:52 – How GLP-1s changed everything
40:53 – AI, startups and the next technology wave
47:50 – ESOPs, startup talent and the future of Australia’s ecosystem
ETFs and Stocks mentioned: Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Atlassian (NASDAQ: TEAM), Woolworths Group (ASX: WOW)
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsBryce Leske· Host0:00
What was the reaction as you were starting to grow and get a lot of momentum from the healthcare industry?
Tim Doyle· Guest0:05
Terrible.
Bryce Leske· Host0:05
Yeah.
Tim Doyle· Guest0:06
Terrible. Eucalyptus has been a very up and down journey. You're always earlier than you think, always. It's early in GLP-1s. 30 mil to 100 mil of revenue a year pre-GLP-1s.
Bryce Leske· Host0:16
[laughs] Oh, fuck.
Alec Renehan· Host0:18
People dream of a business like that.
Tim Doyle· Guest0:19
[laughs] We actually don't need more startups. We have tons of startups. I, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a couple more $1 to $3 billion exits as well in the next couple of years.
Bryce Leske· Host0:28
I gotta ask, has the cash hit your account?
Speaker 40:30
[laughs] [laughs] Equity Mates.
Bryce Leske· Host0:35
Welcome to Equity Mates, a show where we explore what's possible in the world of investing. If you've joined us for the first time, a huge welcome. My name is Bryce.
Alec Renehan· Host0:43
And I'm Ren, and today we are truly talking about what is possible in the world of investing and business. We are talking to one of Australia's most successful founders.
Bryce Leske· Host0:51
Mm.
Alec Renehan· Host0:52
I think we can say that now.
Bryce Leske· Host0:53
Absolutely.
Alec Renehan· Host0:54
He is fresh off the sale of his business. Money literally just hit the account, uh, y- the day before we recorded this.
Bryce Leske· Host1:01
Yeah.
Alec Renehan· Host1:01
Uh, we're speaking to one of the co-founders of Eucalyptus, Tim Doyle, about the inside story of starting, scaling, and selling a business for $1.6 billion.
Bryce Leske· Host1:11
We get into the nitty-gritty. We understand what was happening in the deal room at the time, the hours that they were putting in, uh, what it was like scaling such an incredible business here in Australia, and then what it was like exiting. We also get his views on the Australian budget, and, uh- Yes. [laughs] ... and what he thinks that is gonna do to the Australian startup scene here in Australia.