Like many entrepreneurs, my career has been defined by a restlessness and general unease in working for others.  Along the way, I’ve had senior operational roles in startups, invested in startups and coached startup and senior corporate leaders in growing and transforming their organisations. Reinventure is the crystallisation of much of my learning about corporate transformation, particularly informed by the works of Clayton Christensen who has, more than almost any business thinker or economist, demystified the ‘invisible hand of the market’ as it operates over time.  If you’re reading this and you haven’t read The Innovator’s Dilemma, then you really oughta…

I love ideas, patterns and systems – both theoretical and practical – and I love sharing and applying the insights, ideas and lessons I’ve picked up along the way with founders.  At the same time, I continue to love learning, and every founder I work with and invest in is a teacher for me as much as I hope I am for them.  My goal with founders is, as far as possible, to ensure our collective wisdom is brought to bear on the venture as it takes its first faltering steps and beyond.  For me, that means doing my best to be authentic and direct with founders, even when it’s uncomfortable for me and/or for them, and to create space for them to be the same.  I don’t manage to achieve this all the time, but it’s my driving aspiration and I believe it strengthens both the venture and us as humans.

I have two boys in their late teens who are doing their best to dismantle my ego.  I enjoy singing and, when I get the chance, song writing.  I have had political aspirations and have run for office both (successfully) at local council and (unsuccessfully) at national senate level. While my faith in our democratic structures is probably at an all-time low, I continue to be believe in their potential and importance.  Possibly as a consequence, I have served as the Founding President of FinTech Australia, the first national industry body, and continue to do my best to champion the interests of fintech and startup founders within government.