Profiles
With a portfolio worth $50 million, property developer Johnson Tran is the textbook definition of success… but the 29-year-old Melburnian’s tale is anything but ordinary. Unlike many of his peers, Tran didn’t benefit from an affluent upbringing; rather, he is the son of immigrants who fled communist Vietnam on a boat and arrived in Australia […]
Companies that fail to address latent demand for mentoring forego opportunities to improve employee engagement, retention and productivity, amongst both mentees and mentors, according to Heidi Holmes, co-founder of Mentorloop and former MD of mature age jobs board Adage. Launched in 2015, Mentorloop is a cloud-based, mobile-first platform that assists corporates, universities, not-for-profits and government with introducing and […]
Five years ago, Zeryab Cheema launched Taxi 24/7. The iPhone app, which has been embraced by the London Black Cab network, thrust Cheema into the media spotlight, with appearances on 7News, Today Show, ABC 7:30. On Wednesday (30 Nov), the Sydney entrepreneur launches his second venture, Über challenger HOP. It’s a bold move that’s especially impressive […]
If he wasn’t already busy enough heading up three manufacturing start-ups, Queensland’s Dave Biggars has set his sights on leading the $19 billion-dollar caravan industry out of the bygone era of timber into the era of smart design. Last year, the 32-year-old entrepreneur founded Zone RV, a manufacturer of built-to-order off-road and luxury touring caravans. […]
While his competitors in automotive media ‘clung desperately to print’, Alborz Fallah was able to accelerate his start-up into the digital age. That was ten years ago. In September, Alborz sold a majority stake in CarAdvice to Nine Entertainment Company for $35 million. “It’s worth that and much more,” the 32-year-old Brisbanite told Dynamic Business. […]
The brainchild of Nicholas Reid and Davide De Vincentiis, Konvo was conceived by the Queensland publishing and marketing duo as a unique social media and ecommerce hybrid. Currently in beta testing but with an official launch set for mid-January, the app-driven start-up is, Nicholas told Dynamic Business, “the next generation of social commerce (SoCom)”. “For […]
A few short years ago Melanie Perkins was desperately pitching her graphic design start-up to investors, uncertain whether she’d secure the support necessary to fulfil her mission to democratise design. Today, she and co-founders Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams are being courted by large firms, keen to get in on the action. Since launching […]
The rise of the sharing economy has led to an evolution in consumer behaviour and the disruption of legacy industries. For some, it’s a threat. For others, it’s an opportunity to provide new solutions to old problems and thrive. If there’s one constant, it’s that people enjoy a good, homemade meal. A new ‘shareconomy’ player […]
Seven years ago, siblings Abigail and Jamie Forsyth founded KeepCup. They envisioned it as a business and a line of eco-friendly coffee cups in service of a campaign for behavioural change: ‘from discard to reuse’. Today, more than five million consumers worldwide have joined their ‘Reuse Revolution’. Abigail, the company’s managing director, spoke to Dynamic Business about the […]
Small businesses stand to benefit by borrowing from the rulebook of social enterprise and building strategic alliances in their local communities, according to social philanthropist and former Australian Survivor contestant, Lance Brooks. Brooks is the founder and managing director of Brooks Community Consultants (BCC), a grassroots community engagement and social sustainability consultancy. He also founded Communities […]
With ten start-ups under his belt, Sydney’s Steve Fanale is nothing if not prolific. The industry-hopping entrepreneur, digital industry vet and former footballer has made it his mission to solve business problems with technology. His current venture, Drive Yello, is enabling restaurants, cafes and other food services to better manage their delivery function – or outsource it altogether […]
Fed up with the time and money they’d each wasted on a ‘trial and error’ approach to recruitment, serial entrepreneurs Aleksander Svetski and Todd Pierce partnered to develop an intelligent job-matching system that removes guesswork and uncertainty from the equation. Set to roll-out from November, iRecruit is a cloud-based, data-driven platform that uses cutting […]
The rapid growth of Grace Lever’s latest venture, GraceLever.com, has seen her twice nominated for the Telstra Business Women’s Awards (SA) in the ‘Young Business Women’s Award’ category, which she won this year. Her eponymous brand offers female entrepreneurs practical guidance and proven strategies to help them create businesses that are not just profitable and scalable but lifestyle-friendly. Having previously […]
Succeeding in ecommerce goes beyond hawking one’s wares to an online audience. According to Holly Cardew, founder of Pixc, online retailers can increase their sales just by transforming standard product images into awesome ones. Launched in 2013, Pixc provides on-demand product image editing and optimisation to ecommerce stores. To ensure the process of managing and optimising product listings is […]
Judd Armstrong almost quit the entrepreneurial game when he ‘maxed out’ a credit card starting his first business – but a ‘kick in the pants’ put the Queensland native back on course. While that business survived to make a USD$2m dollar profit, Judd’s follow-up venture, Jaybird, has made waves globally. In April, this year, he sold the […]
Since launching in 2012, online marketplace MyDeal.com.au has enjoyed 150% growth year on year. 2015 was particularly fruitful for the ecommerce start-up – it grew 338% and was named Australia’s 9th fastest growing technology company by Deloitte. The company estimates it will have generated more than $30 million in sales by the end of the calendar year. What’s […]
In the space of 21 months, business partners Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic have transformed their DIY teeth whitening product into a multi-million dollar ecommerce business with a global customer base. The success of HiSmile, which launched in December 2014, is attention-grabbing for a number of reasons. For one, success was achieved in the absence […]
Of the eleven social entrepreneurs who participated in the recent Optus Future Makers Pitch Day, only five were awarded a $50k grant. Melbourne’s Marina Paronetto was one of those few, having impressed the judging panel with her digital innovation Biz: a peer-to-peer mobile app designed to equip teenage girls with the skills and confidence to succeed in business. […]
Dubbed the ‘AirBnB of storage’ by its co-founder and CEO, Michael Rosenbaum, Spacer has experienced considerable growth, despite being a relative newcomer to the sharing economy. According to Michael, formerly the CEO of DealsDirect, Spacer is an opportunity for resource-poor start-ups to reduce their operating costs, freeing up capital for business growth. Co-founded […]
Melbourne-based edutech start-up Xplor recently raised $6 million in Series A funding. It’s a big win for founder and CEO Mark Woodland, who sees it as validation of his vision and business model. Having previously transformed his family-owned childcare centre into $22 million business, he’s determined to disrupt the early learning sector, here and abroad, by […]
