ROI.Partners, Sydney

Managing Director

ROI.Partners is an advisory and board services partner whose mission is to build solid values, uplift business valuation, achieve sustainable growth and generate financial returns for leaders, investors and shareholders. The vision is to unlock exponential win-win situations we can unlock together to live better together.

• Taking on non-executive Director duties and tackling most pressing boardroom challenges.
• Team up with founders, private equity and investors to transform, buy, sell and restructure their firms and multiply their earnings.
• Unlock financing options that a founder or management team may explore and pursue in order to bring a technology from concept to the marketplace.
• Enable C-Suite executive teams with all aspects of strategy, decision making, business simplification, scalability and day to day operations.
• Work side by side with foreign businesses and investors to develop the best strategy to implement innovative solutions for real, lasting change in APAC.

OPEN COLLEGES, Sydney

Managing Director (CEO and Director)

Develop and execute operational plans with key stakeholders across business. Outline individual, team, and division KPIs and priorities, while monitoring KPIs on fortnight basis. Define routine behaviour as per collaboration and feedback via stand-ups, retrospective sessions, and showcases. Initiate performance management and professional development roadmaps. Build, mentor, and lead top-performing executive leadership team of 300 FTE across Australia remote, hybrid, and on campus.  

• Conceptualised and created bottom-up five-year strategic plan in alliance with staff, private equity owners, and independent advisory board via independent external assessment by big 4 consulting firm.
• Masterminded highly complex turnaround project for transforming business from vicinity of liquidation to growth and successful exit within two years, which boosted net sales turnaround from four consecutive years of decline of approx. 45% YoY to 20% YoY growth (FY20). 
• Slashed fixed and variable costs from $93MM to $49MM within 18 months and from 400+ employees to 240 through 45% organisational downsizing. 
• Drove down cost base from $93M to $48M in under two years.
• Doubled average product value within 15 months from $3.5K to $6K.
• Revamped end-to-end operations, which achieved record-breaking NPS 92% (2021) in history of business.
• Transformed business to exit strategy and transaction in Australia for USA Private Equity within two years.

GOOROO (ASX: GOO), Melbourne

Co-Chief Executive Officer

Redesigned internal procedures and controls, reallocated and reorganised staff, and established best practices and performance monitoring systems to drive improvements. Organised strategic intent and management sessions with boards and executive leadership teams to ensure strategic and cultural cohesiveness between management and board. Filed patent application in USA that represented global, distinctive method of examining process of human thinking. Initiated research and experimentation on concept of Artificial Consciousness as step ahead of AI. 

• Successful commercialisation from R&D and cash burning start-up over 4 years, to achieve $1M annual revenue within two years.
• Completed successfully four capital raises within two years.
• Secured Innovation of the Year in the Machine Learning & Big Data category at the Victorian iAwards (2017) and APSCo Award in Innovation and Creativity in 2018.  
• Signed commercial partnership retainers with KPMG, which positioned company as preferred supplier of AI technology applied to human capital. 
• Surpassed KPIs of 500 clients signed up from USA since launch in January 2017; won 1K client sign ups in Q1.

OUA (Open Universities Australia), Melbourne

Executive General Manager (CEO of four businesses)

Executed lead nurturing marketing automation program with $350K investment and $1.5MM ROI within three months. Finalised distribution agreement to penetrate the USA market for establishing new revenue stream. Keenly focused on establishing sales for 250 existing clients instead of acquiring additional clients in Australia. Cultivated and fostered relationships with corporate, government, and other corporate customers. 

• Turned-around higher education business by achieving positive EBITDA for three consecutive years, controlling costs with operational margins from 46% to 52%, and suspending unprofitable business lines.
• Increased revenue from $95M to $200M+ and grew customer base from 30K to 60K in 20 months.
• Simplified and enhanced business by downsizing organisation from 600 headcount to 265 within two years.
• Grew unprompted brand awareness from 6% to 10% and prompted brand awareness from 22% to 31%.  
• Amplified sales channel mix from 65% outbound / 35% online sales to 40% outbound sales / 60% online sales, which led to $100M ROI.       
• Acquired, oversaw, and streamlined corporate learning business operations, strategy, which resulted in successful sale for 55% higher cash out value at exit within three years. 
• Founder and successful monetisation of freemium Open2Study business, which attained $1M in revenue per annum and 65% profit margin. 
• Founder and successful commercialisation of new technology business in global top level domain businesses.
• Secured $26M NPV within 18 months by planning and directing digital transformation across all operations and customer channels. 
• Positioned company’s website as top-tier website across Australia in ‘online learning’.

SEEK LIMITED (ASX: SEK) | IDP EDUCATION (ASX: IEL), Melbourne

VP Digital Transformation / Analytics Executive

Secured board endorsement to set up, implement, and expand online sales operations in APAC. Spearheaded cross-functional projects across APAC with over 100 employees located across 10 countries. Engaged with Executive Leadership Team to build and steer strong web presences in highly competitive global market and deliver online sales. Established and led online sales operations in over 15 countries. Created, integrated, and drove digital marketing, web development, web analytics, and online CRM. Uncovered, examined, and exploited opportunities in Search Engines to increase business growth in job employment market across Australia and New Zealand.

• Realised 300% growth in new customers across China, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. 
• Launched 20 latest multilingual websites in 15 different markets in Asia, Middle East, and Europe.   
• Achieved 40% of total sales from online sales within two years in China, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines. 
• Expanded search engine campaigns in job employment market of AU and NZ, which led to 10% market share growth in NZ within 12 months (2008); Saved 4%-8% of monthly digital marketing expense between 2008-2009.     

GOOGLE (NASDAQ: GOOG), Dublin, Ireland

Senior Account Associate & Product Development Specialist

• Optimised hundreds of online campaigns resulting in increased revenue of 600% in 2006 and 2007 years.
• Contributed to building sales operations in Europe and Latin-America when we opened more than 20 direct offices in Europe and two in Argentina and Brazil.
• Supported organisational revenue uplift in Europe> 50% Year on Year.
• Contributed to the successful launch of Google Analytics version 1.0 and 2.0 in 2005 and 2006.
• Assisted in managing the dramatic organisational growth between2005 and 2007 in Europe (from 350 employees to 3,000+).

Additional Experience            

• Technology and Consulting, Senior Financial Analyst at FUJITSU LIMITED (TYO: 6702)
• Transport infrastructure and urban services, Supply Chain Analyst, Ferrovial (IBEX: FER)
• Retail and Telecommunications, Marketing Analyst at CARPHONE WAREHOUSE GROUP (LON: DC)
• Real Estate & Body Corporate Management, Accountant at USERA PLAZA Pty Ltd

Directorship and Advisory

Non-Executive and Independent Chairman

Sprout, Sydney, 2022 06 – Current

Sprout is a SaaS platform that automate compliance for Early Childhood Education Providers.

Non-Executive and Independent Chairman

International House Sydney Training Pty Ltd, Sydney, 2022 01 – Current

International House Sydney is providing world-class education, service and employment by connecting students, educators and employees in caring and supportive environments throughout Australia. 

IH Sydney vision is to create a better world of global citizens through life-changing learning and shared experiences. 

Non-Executive and Independent Chairman

Being Early Education, Sydney, 2022 06 – Current

Being provides Early Childhood Education to children in NSW. 

Independent Board member, Council’s Audit, Risk & Improvement Committee

Hunters Hill Council, Sydney, 2022 06 – Current

Hunters Hill is a leafy sandstone peninsula stretching from Pittwater Road to Onions Point, at the confluence of the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, located approximately 7 kilometres from the CBD of Sydney.

Corporate Advisor

Investor Gate, London, 2022 01 – Current

Investor Gate is a digital content platform bringing expert insight into the world of investment, markets, corporate finance and business.