About Me
I'm an experienced operator and ex-founder who's spent his career building products people love.
I was the Director of Revenue Strategy at Chipper Cash, headed up a corporate accelerator program for Australia's largest general insurer, was the founding GM of Stone & Chalk Melbourne and co-founded an education startup.
I was previously the chairperson of Fintech Australia and a member of the Federal Government's Fintech Advisory Group and ASIC's Digital Finance Advisory Committee.
On nights and weekends, I invest in early-stage fintech startups and pen a newsletter read by 3,600+ subscribers called Fintech Radar.
The Early Days
After graduating from university with a double degree in Commerce and Law – completing both with honours – and a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Melbourne, I started my career at a Big Four accounting firm in Melbourne, Australia. During my four years in consulting, I specialised in international tax structuring and M&A for ASX and NASDAQ-listed companies.
Former Founder
After my time in consulting, I returned to a startup I founded while at university. I led Spectrum Tuition's transformation into one of Melbourne's top K-12 tutoring businesses. I developed a franchise program for the company and its move into digital products, greatly expanding Spectrum's footprint across the country.
Build It, And They Will Come
Looking for a new challenge, I moved into the role of founding General Manager at Stone & Chalk Melbourne, where I collaborated with the Victorian Government to create the Victorian Innovation Hub. During my time at the helm, the hub became the epicentre of the state's fintech ecosystem, attracting well-known international startups like Revolut and hundreds of other residents.
At heart, I'm an operator, so following a brief sabbatical, I joined the African unicorn fintech startup Chipper Cash. During my time there, I spearheaded global expansion efforts across APAC and Canada. After a year, I was promoted to Director of Revenue Strategy, overseeing the company's revenue growth strategies across six markets and all products.
More recently, I headed up IAG's corporate accelerator program. The accelerator was tasked with providing IAG, Australia's largest general insurer, with a way to bring innovation from the "outside world" into the company. The program, brought together eight startups from around the globe to participate in an eight-week program, providing hands-on support to participants and connecting them to key stakeholders in IAG's core business. By the end of the program, we helped three companies deliver high-value PoCs to the business and provided all program participants with direct connections into the Australian insurance ecosystem with many going on to raise successful further rounds of funding.
Building Australia's Fintech Ecosystem
As an advocate for the Australian fintech ecosystem, I've been lucky enough to be one of the many stewards of Fintech Australia, serving as chairperson for three years and deputy chairperson for one year. These roles, coupled with my involvement in the Federal Government’s Fintech Advisory Group and ASIC’s Digital Finance Advisory Committee as a member, have provided me with a deep understanding of the local ecosystem.
I've also been involved in the Australian blockchain sector. I have provided valuable guidance to government departments, ASX-listed companies, angel investor groups, VCs, and startups on the potential impact the technology could have on their sector. From an advocacy perspective, my efforts in leading Fintech Australia’s Digital Currency and Blockchain technology industry submission to the Australian Treasury resulted in the removal of 'double GST' on digital currency in Australia.
In collaboration with RMIT Online, I designed Australia's first blockchain strategy course backed by an Australian University. Today, hundreds of students have graduated from this course, and it continues to receive amazing reviews.
Media
Check out where I've made a comment or been mentioned HERE
Presentations
You'll be able to find materials from my presentations HERE