Experience

Platform Executive Pty Ltd

• Australia
• Technology, Information and Internet
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Managing Director

  • Jan 2020 - Present

  Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Managing Director of Platform Executive Pty Ltd, a start-up membership portal business seeking to democratise access to the knowledge economy. Using our unique next-gen contributor model members gain access to 10,000 in-house company analysis reports, with each report including an expert SWOT, PESTLE, Porters Five Forces, CATWOE, MOST and 5C analysis, with innovation, management and corporate brands benchmarked; along with 100+ industry analysis reports; start-up guides for 170+ nations;… Show more Managing Director of Platform Executive Pty Ltd, a start-up membership portal business seeking to democratise access to the knowledge economy. Using our unique next-gen contributor model members gain access to 10,000 in-house company analysis reports, with each report including an expert SWOT, PESTLE, Porters Five Forces, CATWOE, MOST and 5C analysis, with innovation, management and corporate brands benchmarked; along with 100+ industry analysis reports; start-up guides for 170+ nations; interactive models and templates; have proprietary benchmarking tools; and academic databases. In addition to the analysis, we also use a proprietary algorithm to prognosticate future product developments by company along with potential synergies with other companies. At more than 1.25 billion words, our business intelligence database is arguably the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Our members, clients and partners include household name platform businesses, multinational communications firms and thousands of founders building NewCo's across the digital ecosystem. Platform Executive is global in outlook and offer a dedicated version for each of our 23 supported languages. It is our business to help your business. Show less



Emerging Technology Networks

• Australia
• Technology, Information and Internet

• Founder

  • Jan 2017 - Jan 2020

  Melbourne, Australia The Emerging Technology Networks business acts as a holding company for my interim executive and consulting assignments, textbooks and investments in start-ups. The business offers interim executive management and consultancy services across Australia and the UK, covering everything from business strategy, digital transformations and revenue growth through to audience development, product development and commercialisation. Clients include a Chamber of Commerce, established dot-coms… Show more The Emerging Technology Networks business acts as a holding company for my interim executive and consulting assignments, textbooks and investments in start-ups. The business offers interim executive management and consultancy services across Australia and the UK, covering everything from business strategy, digital transformations and revenue growth through to audience development, product development and commercialisation. Clients include a Chamber of Commerce, established dot-coms, publishing businesses, e-commerce properties and other start-up’s. Platform Executive Pty Ltd, operates a hybrid SaaS and premium membership portal aimed at professionals working within the platform economy. A beta version of the portal, complete with start-up accelerator launched in early FY20. Additionally, a textbook 'Product, Platform and Audience' covering everything from R&A, financial modelling and business planning, through to product development, audience development and scalable commercialisation for membership businesses has been published and available in all good bookshops in the UK, US and Australia. In terms of portfolio, my investment specialisation includes membership-based platforms and publishing start-ups catering for professionals working within high-value industry verticals such as scientific and emerging tech. Show less



Houseandland

• Real Estate
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Interim CEO (fixed-term contract)

  • Aug 2016 - Jan 2017

  Melbourne, Australia Houseandland.com.au is an Australian property portal. This platform features unique proprietary technology that enables users to match house designs from local builders to available land for sale (and vice-versa). As Interim CEO of Houseandland.com.au Pty Ltd (fixed-term contract) I created and then implemented a new business model and business plan; multi-year budget; and a scalable strategy with the aim of massively accelerating growth. Additional key achievements in this… Show more Houseandland.com.au is an Australian property portal. This platform features unique proprietary technology that enables users to match house designs from local builders to available land for sale (and vice-versa). As Interim CEO of Houseandland.com.au Pty Ltd (fixed-term contract) I created and then implemented a new business model and business plan; multi-year budget; and a scalable strategy with the aim of massively accelerating growth. Additional key achievements in this transformational period included (1) hiring a long-term management team; (2) opening the national HQ and regional sales offices across Australia; (3) redesigning and relaunching the PropTech platform; (4) massively scaled the property portals audience, which traffic saw growth of over 400% in four months; (5) created procedures and policies for operations along with Board reporting; and (6) writing an IM for future funding/capital raising activities. Show less



Vertical Networks Group

• Australia
• Book and Periodical Publishing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• CEO

  • Jun 2013 - Nov 2015

  Melbourne, Australia Majority owned by the former CEO of REA Group and a number of high profile Australian entrepreneurs, Vertical Networks Group operates a series of membership-based industry portals and B2B conferences. As the CEO of Vertical Networks Group (formerly ArtsHub Holdings) the key objectives were to (1) grow revenue and profitability; (2) improve the cash flow position; and (3) increase value for shareholders by creating a strategy to reposition the business ready for a future listing on the… Show more Majority owned by the former CEO of REA Group and a number of high profile Australian entrepreneurs, Vertical Networks Group operates a series of membership-based industry portals and B2B conferences. As the CEO of Vertical Networks Group (formerly ArtsHub Holdings) the key objectives were to (1) grow revenue and profitability; (2) improve the cash flow position; and (3) increase value for shareholders by creating a strategy to reposition the business ready for a future listing on the ASX. In a transformative two year period for this established 18 year old business, achievements included the following: ► 60% revenue growth ► Quadrupled the groups EBITDA ► Revenue growth in all products, including personal subscriptions, company subscriptions, classifieds and advertising sales ► Acquisition of an established international conference business. Business operates 3-4 conferences per year in the US, Europe and Asia covering the property portal industry ► Developed a proprietary new content platform with dedicated premium membership hubs. These included hubs for the performing arts, screen, visual arts, design and publishing sectors ► Product developments transformed value received by the end user, included a proprietary auction tracker, reputation management tools, more content, community and career advice. ► Launched events division. ArtsHub events and conferences are attended by hundreds of paying delegates and run at an average 28% profit margin Key to my strategy was successfully repositioning the existing business away from purely the arts. The group is now positioned as ‘The home of the XYZ industry’ and has a new proposition based around problem solving for professionals within each sector. This enables scalability via adding new industry verticals to the model. Additionally, worked closely with investment bankers to produce an Information Memorandum to aid in an eventual ASX listing, sale, or other capital raising event. Show less



ArtsHub

• Australia
• Online Media
• 1 - 100 Employee

• CEO

  • Jun 2013 - Nov 2015

  Melbourne, Australia ArtsHub is a membership portal providing professionals working within the Australian and British arts industry with news, data, information and events. As CEO of the parent company Vertical Networks Group, I was also CEO of ArtsHub Australia Pty Ltd and ArtsHub UK Ltd and ScreenHub Limited businesses.



Progressive Media Group

• United Kingdom
• Advertising Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• CEO - Incubator

  • Jan 2010 - Dec 2012

  London, United Kingdom CEO of Progressive Innovations Ltd, a digital product incubator based at Progressive Media Group (nee GlobalData plc). My co-founder and equal equity partner in the business was the CEO of GlobalData plc. The mission was to create tangible innovation in the digital media, publishing and business intelligence spaces; and do this at break-even point, or better. ► Utilised a lean start-up methodology for all software and SaaS product development ► Successful capital raising and… Show more CEO of Progressive Innovations Ltd, a digital product incubator based at Progressive Media Group (nee GlobalData plc). My co-founder and equal equity partner in the business was the CEO of GlobalData plc. The mission was to create tangible innovation in the digital media, publishing and business intelligence spaces; and do this at break-even point, or better. ► Utilised a lean start-up methodology for all software and SaaS product development ► Successful capital raising and multi-year funding ► Evaluated, approved, prioritised all product development as part of a roadmap ► Hired and managed a large offshore web development team utilising Agile principals ► Attracted and retained large teams of onshore and/or offshore staff ► Financial management and planning ► Content management and editorial strategy ► Business management, strategy and planning ► Opportunity research, mapping and analysis ► Marketing planning and sales plans ► KPI's and performance management An example product launched by the incubator was a freemium business intelligence SaaS platform. It benchmarked and then ranked the performance of 40,000 global businesses using (1) social; (2) computational; and (3) analysis-driven scoring algorithm. This cloud-based platform also featured proprietary public/private prediction markets; industry surveys; an integrated job board; e-commerce enabled research and analysis report store; and professional networking tools aimed at new business development. The digital platform formed the foundation for the New Statesman and a number of other web properties across the group. At the same time as being the CEO of this business, I was also Digital Director for a large number of properties at Progressive Media Group, including the New Statesman.

• Group Marketing, Circulation & Digital Director

  • Jun 2011 - Aug 2012

  London, United Kingdom Continuation of my career at Progressive Media Group. Again, reporting directly in to the Chairman, this time in the combined role of Digital Director, Marketing Director and Circulation Director I had C-level responsibility for the private-side of one of Europe's largest media conglomerates, including New Statesman and many other magazine, publishing and digital brands. Responsibilities included all things digital; e-commerce; product development; marketing; audience development;… Show more Continuation of my career at Progressive Media Group. Again, reporting directly in to the Chairman, this time in the combined role of Digital Director, Marketing Director and Circulation Director I had C-level responsibility for the private-side of one of Europe's largest media conglomerates, including New Statesman and many other magazine, publishing and digital brands. Responsibilities included all things digital; e-commerce; product development; marketing; audience development; advertising sales; membership and subscription efforts for the group. The aim was to make all the properties within the group dominant within their niches. To turn each property into a high margin digital-first product with explosive traffic and revenue growth whilst staying within tight budgets. As Digital Director, the devised strategy included building a massively scalable platform for all private-side websites, starting with the New Statesman, then on to Press Gazette, Spears, Elite and numerous B2B industry portals. This new digital platform was: ► Built entirely in the cloud and ready for Blitzscaling ► Developed using Agile principals ► Created unique innovation in a proprietary prediction engine ► Featured automated A/B testing headlines for articles based on clicks ► Sentiment-based algorithm so as to score, benchmark and rank businesses within the company database In terms of marketing, audience development and advertising sales: ► Responsible for the turnaround, overall strategy, creation of new value propositions and group performance ► Hyper-growth of the New Statesman audience. It’s now the highest trafficked political website in Europe (2.5m unique browsers) ► Digital sales team in place to maximise revenue ► Massive increase in digital subscriptions ► Turnover for the business increased to the equivalent of $8m ► The decline in New Statesman’s print subscriptions was reversed for the first time in decades ► Average circulation growth of 8% p.a across the portfolio



Independent investor

• Entrepreneur & Investor (Digital Media and Internet Publishing Start-ups)

  • Jul 2003 - Jan 2012

  London, United Kingdom Parallel to my day job, I have undertaken a number of digital media investments, or start-up projects, including: ► Founding, growing and then selling the worlds highest-trafficked GPS website ► Management of a large premium domain name portfolio ► Investment in multiple platform-based start-up businesses (accompanying Non-Exec roles in two) ► Creation of popular, 5 star rated IOS and Android social media app's monetised by mobile advertising ► Training and paid consultancy… Show more Parallel to my day job, I have undertaken a number of digital media investments, or start-up projects, including: ► Founding, growing and then selling the worlds highest-trafficked GPS website ► Management of a large premium domain name portfolio ► Investment in multiple platform-based start-up businesses (accompanying Non-Exec roles in two) ► Creation of popular, 5 star rated IOS and Android social media app's monetised by mobile advertising ► Training and paid consultancy across audience development, platform development for hyper-growth / scalability, content development, social media, e-commerce and digital marketing fields ► Advisory Board and Interim Executive positions at digital media and SaaS platform start-ups Show less



Progressive Media Group

• United Kingdom
• Advertising Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Digital Director (Group)

  • Dec 2007 - Jan 2010

  London, United Kingdom Employee number two for PMG (now branded GlobalData plc) and reporting directly in to the Chairman, I was responsible for creating innovative digital media and content-based products and heading-up the groups audience development and marketing activities. This included developing the core strategy and business models for 200+ websites; digital advertising; subscription and membership; databases; publishing; e-commerce; and single-copy products. Also responsible for the… Show more Employee number two for PMG (now branded GlobalData plc) and reporting directly in to the Chairman, I was responsible for creating innovative digital media and content-based products and heading-up the groups audience development and marketing activities. This included developing the core strategy and business models for 200+ websites; digital advertising; subscription and membership; databases; publishing; e-commerce; and single-copy products. Also responsible for the following: ► Management of the digital incubator business P&L ► Advised on potential business acquisitions and corporate strategy ► Imagined and created a vertical advertising network and marketplace ► Product development ► Marketing strategy ► Social media management ► Project management (both in the UK and offshore utilising both Agile and Lean methodologies) ► Creation of the group’s 3-million records marketing database Along with being the Digital Director I was also the CEO of the incubator business at the group, which was later spun off into Progressive Innovations Ltd. Show less



Datamonitor

• Digital Director (Group)

  • Sep 2003 - Dec 2007

  London, United Kingdom As Digital Director I was responsible for both founding digital properties at the group and the digital transformation of the business. Successes included the following: ► Creation and launch of more than 50 highly successful industry-specific 'hub' websites including Computer Business Review, Pharmaceutical Business Review, Energy Business Review, Automotive Business Review and Banking Business Review ► Multiple profitabile e-commerce-based products ► Development, negotiation and… Show more As Digital Director I was responsible for both founding digital properties at the group and the digital transformation of the business. Successes included the following: ► Creation and launch of more than 50 highly successful industry-specific 'hub' websites including Computer Business Review, Pharmaceutical Business Review, Energy Business Review, Automotive Business Review and Banking Business Review ► Multiple profitabile e-commerce-based products ► Development, negotiation and sale of bespoke marketing products for >$200k The majority of these B2B properties dominate their verticals globally and have exceptional margins. The properties were later acquired by Progressive Digital Media Group plc. In this wide and diverse business management role I was able to utilise a large part of my skill-set, including: ► Business management ► Strategic planning ► Digital transformation ► Product development ► Web development (Agile) ► Audience development, including SEO and SEM ► Onshore/offshore content publishing ► Marketing planning ► E-commerce ► Sales Growth (advertising and subscriptions) Datamonitor was eventually acquired by Informa Group for approximately $1 Billion (USD). I left the company post-acquisition to join the Founder of Datamonitor in his new venture, Progressive Media Group as employee number two.

• Marketing Director

  • Jul 2001 - Sep 2003

  London, United Kingdom Reporting directly to the CEO and Chairman, my achievements at this London-based market analysis and consultancy business included the following: ► Development and management of the white label e-commerce platform, which was the first *full* white label e-commerce website in the publishing sector. Partners included The Times newspaper, Factiva, The Register, Hoovers, Yahoo and many other major publishers. New business revenues through the platform topped $9 million by 2003, with $50… Show more Reporting directly to the CEO and Chairman, my achievements at this London-based market analysis and consultancy business included the following: ► Development and management of the white label e-commerce platform, which was the first *full* white label e-commerce website in the publishing sector. Partners included The Times newspaper, Factiva, The Register, Hoovers, Yahoo and many other major publishers. New business revenues through the platform topped $9 million by 2003, with $50 million of sales being generated during its lifecycle. ► Growth of the core Email marketing list from under 25,000 to almost 1 million. This was achieved by using (amongst other things) a viral free report property I had built for the group. This list growth was responsible for powering significant new business revenues, new products and subscription/membership sales across the group. ► In terms of audience development, I was responsible for the hyper-growth of the Datamonitor website. It grew from 20,000 page impressions to 3+ million page impressions in less than 12-months. ► Additionally, I developed and managed the groups emarketing, audience development, brand management, project management, overall e-commerce strategy, communication plan, advertising sales, some operations management tasks and was an active contributor to corporate strategy and new business development activities.



The Industry Standard

• Book and Periodical Publishing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Audience Development Manager

  • Sep 1999 - Jul 2001

  London, United Kingdom Headed up the digital marketing and audience development work for Standard Media International, the publisher of The Industry Standard magazine and website. The role had a heavy concentration on organic SEO and link building activities as the primary KPI was audience growth. ► Grew the web property from nothing into one of the highest trafficked, most influential and top content websites in the world before its untimely demise. Additional green-field work included the… Show more Headed up the digital marketing and audience development work for Standard Media International, the publisher of The Industry Standard magazine and website. The role had a heavy concentration on organic SEO and link building activities as the primary KPI was audience growth. ► Grew the web property from nothing into one of the highest trafficked, most influential and top content websites in the world before its untimely demise. Additional green-field work included the following: ► Membership, subscriptions and circulation activities ► Creation of an European advertising plan ► Production of banners and creatives for the website (inhouse/outsourced) ► E-commerce and audience development strategy ► Digital business strategy ► Contract negotiation for content partnerships and other joint ventures ► Web analytics reports ► Brand management ► Press releases Show less



Digital consultancy

• Founder & CEO

  • Jan 1997 - Sep 1999

  United Kingdom Founded and then sold a profitable SEO, digital marketing and e-commerce consultancy start-up that specialised in all aspects of SEO, ePR, audience development, guerrilla marketing and Email campaigns. A large client list including notables such as Barclaycard ePDQ, Guinness, uBoot, Carrot, Cycosmos. Additionally, we pioneered full service IP and cookie-based white labelling e-commerce solutions to digital agencies and publishers throughout the UK. ► Successful start-up business… Show more Founded and then sold a profitable SEO, digital marketing and e-commerce consultancy start-up that specialised in all aspects of SEO, ePR, audience development, guerrilla marketing and Email campaigns. A large client list including notables such as Barclaycard ePDQ, Guinness, uBoot, Carrot, Cycosmos. Additionally, we pioneered full service IP and cookie-based white labelling e-commerce solutions to digital agencies and publishers throughout the UK. ► Successful start-up business strategy ► Operational management and financial management of the business ► New business development, opportunity mapping, sales and account managment tasks ► SEO and off-page link building / seeking for audience development campaigns ► Creation of advertising materials, banners and advertising strategy for clients ► Guerrilla marketing techniques ► Web development and e-commerce strategy ► Contract negotiation and joint ventures ► Web analytics reports ► Brand management for clients ► Training for clients ► Press release writing, optimisation and distribution Show less