So, you want to start a business.    And no matter how big your ambitions are, chances are you’re going to start small as one of the 99.8% of businesses in Australia that operate as small-to-medium enterprises – or SMEs.      Associate Professor Kristle Romero Cortés teaches people how to make confident financial decisions for themselves and their organisations every day at the University of New South Wales School of Banking and Finance. She’s going to help you unpack key concepts as you’re starting with your SME finances.   Once you’ve mastere ..read more

Katrina McPhee is in the superannuation industry for the long haul now, but that wasn’t always the case.   She’s currently the Chief of Staff at Aware Super, one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds, but when she first entered the industry, she wasn’t interested in sticking around in a field not exactly known for its desire to shake things up.  But that all changed after a Royal Commission investigated misconduct in the banking, superannuation and finance sectors, and sparked a renewed focus on members and their needs.   Kat describes this industry-wide transfor ..read more

Tech start-ups have been the darlings of business media in recent years, and for good reason: new technology is exciting and flashy, and tech entrepreneurs tend to share pithy catchphrases about grinding, hustling, or “moving fast and breaking things.”   But what happens when a start-up needs to slow down?   In the case of the investment app Pearler, speed was never the ultimate goal. Co-founder Hayden Smith thinks veering away from that traditional startup mentality has been key to building relationships with Pearler customers who now trust the company to manage approximat ..read more

In their first few years of operation, Humanitix didn’t spend a cent on traditional marketing. Despite this, they managed to build up a client list that includes Google, TED, Red Bull, Canva and Facebook, and gave millions to charity in the process. How did they do it?  Adam McCurdie is the co-founder and CEO of Humanitix, the new contender disrupting the fiercely competitive ticketing industry for all the right reasons. After making a pact with his close friend and co-founder, Adam left the corporate world in search of more meaningful work – and that relentless pursuit of purpose is the ..read more

How do you market your business when consumers pay not to see your ads? How do you make your name stand out when the internet is overrun with marketing? And how do you build trust and make your name sticks when everything’s moving so fast?   Dee Madigan is an advertising expert, a founding panelist on ABC’s The Gruen Transfer and the creative director and owner of ad agency Campaign Edge. Dee breaks down one of branding’s most powerful tools – sponsorship.   She explains to host Dr Juliet Bourke how sponsorships work in today’s digital marketing landscape, why they’re so effecti ..read more

What makes a great marketer? Maybe a good eye for product design, a deep understanding of market dynamics, excellent communication skills and the ability to give customers what they want. But what about a fierce devotion to ethics?   Wendy Mak is the Chief Marketing Officer at Link Group, a global financial services company driven by digital and data technology. Wendy’s excited about the potential productivity gains promised by brand-new technology like generative AI, but she’s not all-in - yet.   As a marketer, everything Wendy does needs to build trust with consumers and clien ..read more

“In future, I expect that everybody will have climate resilience and climate mitigation as part of their roles.”  Penny Joseph is the Head of Climate Resilience at major Australian electricity provider Ausgrid, but when she began her career, this type of role didn’t exist.   As the climate heats up and more industries are feeling the effects of changing weather, Penny explains to The Business Of host Dr Juliet Bourke that roles like hers will become the norm.  How are the leaders of tomorrow learning the necessary skills to thrive in a climate-changed world - like keeping a ..read more

You might have come across the term black swan events – commonly used in the insurance space – they’re considered rare occurrences that are almost impossible to predict.  As our climate and weather patterns continue to change at pace, the unexpected is really all we can expect now. How do businesses like insurers plan for risk and implement resilience strategies in the face of uncertainty?   Leading with clarity during these high-pressure events takes a systematic approach, and for James Fitzpatrick, the Chief Technical Officer at Allianz Australia, this is his bread and butter ..read more

The battle to halt climate change is impacting most aspects of our day to day lives – right down to the cars we drive. But there’s a missing piece in motoring that could improve things – the electric vehicle industry.   Manufacturers are making higher quality EVs than ever before, and more of them. At the same time, more Aussie drivers want their next car to be electric. So why is our country one of the slowest in the world in making the transition? More importantly – how do we get in the fast lane?   Behyad Jafari is the CEO of the Electric Vehicle Council, a national body ..read more

The Business of AI Episode 3: How can consumers and citizens safeguard their right to privacy when using AI, and how can businesses stay ahead of the AI privacy compliance curve?  Host Lamont Tang, Director of Industry Projects and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at AGSM @ UNSW Business School, is joined by Peter Leonard, UNSW Business School Professor of Practice and Principal and Director at Data Synergies, and Professor Mary-Anne Williams, Michael J Crouch Chair for Innovation; Founder, and Director of the UNSW Business AI Lab and Deputy Director of the UNSW AI Institute to discuss.  Find ou ..read more