Advisor Adventures

Dr. Piyush Madhamshettiwar is a business-focused AI, data science, and big data practitioner who has experience in making data-driven discoveries, uncovering actionable insights, and enabling decision-making to improve business outcomes. In this Podcast Piyush explains what artificial intelligence (AI) is and why AI is picking up now. He answers the question of whether AI will replace humans? He also talks about AI and ethics and the key ethical issues that need effective management and governance and what we can do to build ethical AI systems. He also answers the question of whether AI systems are capable of finding issues themselves. Finally he tells us about a new AI and Ethics Journal, from Springer Nature.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.Advisor Adventures is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Mike spent 25 years firstly in banking and finance and then in large commercial real estate funds management businesses responsible for capital procurement and risk management and uses this experience as a consultant, advisory board member and company director. In this Podcast he talks about the current environment for raising capital and how it been impacted by COVID-19. He also explains what he thinks will happen to funding markets over the next 2 years. And finally whether or not it is a good time to raise capital.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.Advisor Adventures is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

James Scotland is the Queensland President of the Australasian Supply Chain Institute (ASCI) and a renowned thought leader and adviser on the issues of supply chains, the digital economy and the challenges for Australian business in this new economy. In this Podcast James talks about the supply chain challenges for Australian SMEs post-Covid, what the challenges to supply chains in Australia now are, how they impact on business, what we should be doing and how companies can thrive. He focuses on DIFOT, managing cash flows, building strong relationships, branding for an island mentality and considering digital and technology.

Andrew MacDonell is an Associate Director in the Business Services division of BDO and has led Advisory Boards for a variety of successful, innovative and tech-focused businesses since 2010. In this Podcast he talks about what his clients are exploring and focusing on right now in terms of financial imperatives and focus, how every advisor and business can gain from a crises, he compares the GFC to COVID and what the learnings are. He also talks about sacred cows that deserve critical thought and consideration and concludes with advice for businesses who are currently “killing” it.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.Advisor Adventures is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Peter McCleary is the Managing Director of HR Coach and supports more than 8000 businesses across Australia and New Zealand. In this Podcast he talks about which industries are most affected and which are flourishing at present. For business owners he provides advice on what they should be focussing on which includes developing a budget and ensuring their plan is sustainable.He talks about challenges that face business owners at present which includes having little left in their tanks. And finally he provides information about how to align the activity of staff with business owners’ strategy to ensure there is trust, performance and profitability. Peter also offers all listeners access to a free tool to assess how their business is going and what they need to do next.

Corinne Butler is the Advisory Board Chair and a HR and Culture consultant. In this Podcast she presents a Webinar on how to Write an Operational Plan for 2020/21. She talks about how to ensure your vision and values are aligned to the businesses’ direction. The outcome of this podcast is that you will have penned your Operational Plan for 2020/21 and have a Financial Goal, a Customer Goal, a People Goal, a Systems Goal and a Corporate Social Responsibility Goal. Corinne also talks about how we need to stop thinking “post Covid” as it is BAU Business As Usual. She also offers free tools to all listeners for a Business Health Check https://tweakhr.activehosted.com/f/43 and/ or Business Growth Survey https://tweakhr.activehosted.com/f/77.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.Advisor Adventures is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Corinne Butler is the Advisory Board Chair and a HR and Culture consultant. In this Podcast she presents a Webinar on something that we are all about to face - how to manage the return to work process after working from home. This Podcast answers thisquestion and other questions including should some staff keep working fromhome, what routines that we put into place should we continue, and how do wecontinue with improved productivity and performance?

Emma Jackson www.linkedin.com/in/emma-jackson-b2169015a/ is the Chair of a national organisation, regional organisation, a business owner, a mother, a wife, a daughter and a sister. In this Podcast she talks to us about guidance or mentorship for our leaders, how she sees this crisis affecting personal values and principles, what some of the key strategies business owners and professionals can use to help them and their team connect and how Cape York has responded.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Brendan Goleby www.linkedin.com/in/brendangoleby is a LinkedIn Guru. He shares his experience with us on what LinkedIn is, why we should be investing our time on LinkedIn, how we can improve their experience through an improved Profile, Connections, Engagement and Content and what the benefits are from a business perspective for using LinkedIn.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Craig Richardson www.linkedin.com/in/craigprichardson71 has Faraday & Company www.faraday.company and is a professional advisory board chair. In this Podcast he talks to us about the path that New Zealand has taken in dealing with COVID-19. He provides advice on what companies should be thinking about which includes mergers and acquisitions, reallocation of resources, capital investment, productivity and differentiation. Craig also shares with us what business should be focusing on including not wasting a good crisis, having a clear purpose, knowing your strengths and understanding the trends and potential moves of competitors.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Annette Bourke www.linkedin.com/in/annette-burke-01845589 has had an amazing career including being the Mayor of Darwin. She shares her experiences of how her daily work and leisure has changed, how she is managing restrictions, the importance of a daily routine, how she is enjoying grandparenting via technology, how she has created a support group in her Unit building and much more.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Greg Kentish https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-kentish/ has Acacia Connections www.eapcounselling.com.au and shares with us what an Employee Assistance Program is, why you would access an EAP, what people can do to overcome their fear, anxiety and concerns, how companies can support staff and the HEART model.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Laura Babington has Condamine Accountants and explains to us what the Government’s COVID-19 stimulus package actually means including Boosting Cashflow for Business, Apprentice and Trainee incentives, Job Seeker and Job Keeper allowances, accessing your Super and what questions you should be asking your Accountant.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.Advisor Adventures is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Sara Hales has The Bold Effect which is a bespoke, white label, in-house leadership development program organisation. In this Podcast she shares with us why it is not too start to start business continuity planning now, why a business impact analysis is so important and how leadership is essential. Both Corinne and Sara then share some tips of how they are currently managing remote teams.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Jo Palmer owns Pointer Remote Roles, a remote workforce solutions company. She shares how business owners can manage people remotely, what they need to set up in order to do this, and how to ensure they stay on task and are productive. Jo also talks about what technology is available that makes working remotely seamless. She also shares her advice on how to set up a safe work area at home.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Joy McClymont lives 100kms west of Longreach and has Off the Track Training. In this episode Joy explains how we can maintain fitness while isolated, what to do when feeling overwhelmed, how to boost motivation in isolation and what types of exercise are safe to do. Joy also talks about how to encourage kids to join us while exercising.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

Fleur Anderson has worked remotely for over a decade and shares with us her experiences, her tips to working from home and how to stay sane during this time. She also shares how to manage kids while working from home. Fleur is regularly isolated due to flooding and tells us about this experience, her learnings and how to get through these events.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E17 - Glenn Welby | Principal at Cybercy | Leading cyber security advisorCyber is amongst one of the most significant risks we face in the 21st century. It matters for every individual and every organisation. Yet many business leaders struggle to understand their role. Much existing advice focuses on experts instructing the rest of us. For this episode Corinne Butler talks with Glenn Welby https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennwelby/ from Cyberacy about competencies we can all learn to make cyber less risky. They discuss an approach similar to OHS where everyone has a role in organisational risk reduction. They talk about why you should care and be involved in a change so that the cyber risk is better managed for everyone.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E15 - What are Advisory Boards? When do you need an Advisory Board? What’s the difference between them and Governance Boards? What is the composition of Advisory Boards? And all things Advisory Board is covered in this conversation between Michael Young www.linkedin.com/in/michaelyoungcppd/ and Corrine Butler www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/?originalSubdomain=auFollow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E15 - Leesa Chesser | Non-executive Director | Strategic Governance Specialist | Consultant | Senior LeaderThis week’s show is an interview with Leesa Chesser https://www.linkedin.com/in/leesa-chesser-8b191741/. Leesa is a non-executive director with expertise in highly regulated industries where compliance or regulatory failure is a major risk to a company’s public licence to operate and sectors under going transformation.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E14 - Brendan Power | Entrepreneur | Advisor | NED | RTO ExpertBrendan Power linkedin.com/in/brendan-power-mba-gaicd-a2816431 entrepreneur and in-demand Governance and Advisory Board member, recently spoke with Corinne Butler, Advisory Board Chair, about all things advice.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E13 – Simon Cohn | Mining Executive | Entrepreneur | Advisor | NEDThis week’s show is an interview with Simon Cohn linkedin.com/in/simon-cohn. Simon is passionate about engaged, inspired leadership and in his board and advisory roles he coaches and mentors senior leadership teams. He strongly believes in building a unified team whose members are empowered to act autonomously while sharing a common goal and prioritises robust partnerships with clients, other businesses and employees.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E12 – Dai Gwynne-Jones | Communications | Brand Strategist | Marketing | Advertising ProgramsThis week’s show is an interview with Dai Gwynne-Jones linkedin.com/in/dai-gwynne-jones-26a7015. Dai understands the need for a strong and well-implemented corporate brand strategy, through the implementation of comprehensive multi-channel communications programs for businesses.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E11 – Chris Eldridge | Business Owner | Advisory Board Client | Advisor | DirectorThis week’s show is an interview with Chris Eldridge https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherpeldridge/. Chris has worked in the technology domain for almost 30 years across delivery, technology management, product management and sales.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair: https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/.This is a Cahoots Radio Production edited by Skye Manson https://www.cahootsradio.com/.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E10 – Matt Forman |Advisory Board Client | Entrepreneur | Artificial Intelligence | Advisor | Leader | Virtual Reality | FuturistThis week’s show is an interview with Matt Forman. Matt loves innovation & accelerating businesses. He has 20 years experience owning and managing high growth businesses online and has seen the internet evolve from the dot com boom and bust, to the current transformation being driven by customer experience, big data, machine learning and analytics.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/This is a Cahoots Radio https://www.cahootsradio.com/ production edited by Skye Manson.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E9 Bonus – A Conversation about Advisors, Chairs, Consultants, Governance Boards, Stages of Business, Financial Pain Points and all things Advisory Boards.This week’s show is a conversation between Brendan Power, Michael Young and Corinne Butler. Brendan, Michael and Corinne are all advisors, advisory board chairs, business owners, non-executive directors, and authors. They have a frank conversation about their experiences and learnings regarding how Advisory Boards can take businesses from good to great They also explore the differences between advisory boards and governance boards and the different stages (pain points) that business go though and what their advisory and governance board needs are at each stage.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/This is a Cahoots Radio https://www.cahootsradio.com/ production edited by Skye Manson.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E9 – Michael Young | Serial Entrepreneur | Marketing Strategist | Advisory Board Chair | Business Mentor | NED | Best-Selling AuthorThis week’s show is an interview with Michael Young. Michael is a serial entrepreneur, business mentor, product and marketing strategist, Certified Advisory Board Chair and Company Director. He works with business owners and executives to create and grow highly profitable, productive and valuable businesses.Extra Reading and Resources:Sustainable Project Management: The GPM Reference Guide by Dr. Joel B Carboni (Author), William Duncan (Author), Monica Gonzalez (Author), Peter Milsom (Author), Michael Young (Author)https://www.amazon.com.au/Sustainable-Project-Management-Reference-Guide/dp/0578196883/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=sustainable+project+management&qid=1574921539&sr=8-3Standards: P5 Standard for Sustainability in Project Management https://greenprojectmanagement.org/the-p5-standardPRiSM methodology https://greenprojectmanagement.org/gpm-standards/prism-projects-integrating-sustainable-methodsFollow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/This is a Cahoots Radio https://www.cahootsradio.com/ production edited by Skye Manson.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E9 - Mike Avey | Chairman | Governance and Advisory Boards | Commercialisation | Investment BankingThis week’s show is an interview with Mike Avey. Mike is a serial entrepreneur, mentor and adviser to many start-up and early-stage businesses. His experience is in investment, financial and corporate structuring and strategy, and is preceded by a strong background in the commercialisation of technology across a wide number of industries.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/This is a Cahoots Radio https://www.cahootsradio.com/ production edited by Skye Manson.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E7 - Peter Laurie | Software Engineer | Entrepreneur | Industry MentorThis week you meet Peter Laurie. Peter has been a software engineer for more than 2 decades – he is director of a company that specialises in providing software for technology based start-up’s, he’s an entrepreneur himself and an industry mentor.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/This is a Cahoots Radio https://www.cahootsradio.com/ production edited by Skye Manson.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.aum.auFull Transcript:Corinne Butler: Hi, it's Corinne Butler here from Advisor Adventures, and I'd like to welcome our guest today, Peter Laurie. Welcome.Peter Laurie: Hi.Corinne Butler: Peter you're from Junta. First question I ask everyone is, your business name, how did you come up with that?Peter Laurie: So at the time me and my co-founder, we were looking for words that started with J, for no really good reason. And we found one that we liked, which was Junta. And so the definition was, we were going through word of the day, and the definition is a small group of people seeking to gain power through revolution, which pretty much suited what our mood was at the time.Corinne Butler: So I suppose in business you'd probably see that a little bit, a small group of people who want to make big changes.Peter Laurie: Yeah, that's right. And there's no way to do that in traditional mechanisms so you do that through influence and working with people, as opposed to directing people. Which is where we were at. We are at, yeah.Corinne Butler: So Peter tell me a little bit more about yourself. So who are you and what is your background?Peter Laurie: So my background, I'm an electrical engineer by training, but never worked as one because this thing called the internet turned up. And I burnt my fingers a lot less on the internet. I mean I've been doing software development on and off since I was about 10, but dad put together a computer when I was five. So I'm right at the front of that generation that's always had technology or a computer to play with, so I don't know any different. So I went into electrical engineering after high school and then came out and worked in a few different, what we call startups now, but they were just new ventures back then. So one called Information Dynamics, where we did Ray Whites first website. And then through Y2K, in it's Energex, in their power system. We definitely did fix some things that would have gone explosion. And then went through a few other businesses. I mean I can keep going with the history if you'd like?Corinne Butler: Please, yep.Peter Laurie: So then I was involved in the business that went to crap. We sold it technically, for the technical people out there, we were doing test driven development and we had a model driven architecture at a continuous integration loop. In 2001, was when we were doing it, we solved that technically, it was very much under control and we delivered exactly what we said we were going to deliver. The problem is that the business still went to crap. So I had to work out why. So I went and did an MBA to understand that, and I found out fairly early on in that, that it was actually contract management was the problem. So, not technical. But then I found myself learning whatever I wanted to learn, during this MBA. So I came out of that with strategy, entrepreneurship and multiple economics, which fits my megalomania quite well.Peter Laurie: And I then got involved in starting my own business, after the first six months of that. Because there was a particular bit of insight that I got out of the strategy stuff, which we could talk through later if you wanted to, that unlocked my analysis paralysis. Then in 2011 Steve Baxter said to me "I'm starting a co-working space" so I said shut up and take my money. And then I went down there, took the business, because we didn't need 108 square meters as a two person business. So we went down to the coworking space in Brisbane called Inter City Labs. And then I found myself doing a lot of mentoring and coaching. So I'm the mentor in residence down there now and have been for the last nearly seven and a half years, which is a volunteer position. So I've seen probably several hundred businesses come through and spent a decent amount of time with a few hundred of them.Peter Laurie: And then further to that, I've been doing a lot of entrepreneur in residence roles over the last two years. So two at UQ, two at QUT in the Creative Enterprise and one at River City Labs itself. I do a bunch of mentoring, mainly around startups, and they get me in for the technology to start with and they realize that I actually know a fair bit more than just the technology and we end up working more around strategy and, from the outside it looked like strategic HR.Corinne Butler: So let's talk a little bit more about that mentor in residence. What is that?Peter Laurie: So basically I stick my nose into as many people's businesses that I can. That are in this space. Until they unify against me with pitchforks and torches and chase me out of the room. So they are unified when they do that though, which is an important thing to remember. But basically I jump in and I try and help people out to achieve what they're trying to achieve. And I want them to not fall over in the kiddy pool, to actually get out there and start swimming. So I try and get them to understand the context of what they're doing and how they can go about it and the fact that nobody knows what they should be doing and they need to work it out for themselves.Corinne Butler: So that's huge. Helping people work it out for themselves. How do you do that?Peter Laurie: We do it quite well, thank you.Corinne Butler: How can others do that then?Peter Laurie: So I spent a lot of time teaching people that they need to make their own decisions, rightly or wrongly. So the first thing that I talk about is that nobody knows what they should be doing. Anybody who tells you that they know exactly what you should be doing is lying to themselves, or lying to you. Generally, the first one, there's not many straight up sociopaths out there. The real trick, especially for small businesses and startup, isn't working out where you should be. It's about working out how you get from where you are to where you should be. And the thing to remember is that you're the world expert in where you are and where you should be is part of the problem but the path to get from where you are to where you should be is actually where the art is.Peter Laurie: And then on top of that you've got to be able to stay alive while you're doing that. So it's actually a fairly difficult problem. And the only thing that makes that even harder is the fact that where you should be moves as well. So a lot of people are out there looking for the perfect solution and they think that they can do it once and then they're done. But the fact of the matter is that everything moves and the only thing you can rationally invest in is, is working out which way to go. Doing a little bit of it and then looking where you should go now. So it's really a lot of mindset stuff.Corinne Butler: So is there a difference, do you think, between being a mentor in residence and an entrepreneur in residence? And if so, what is it?Peter Laurie: I mean the reason that it is the mentor in residence and not the entrepreneur in residence is because at the time I didn't feel like I was very much an entrepreneur. And that's a lot more to do with how I felt about what I was doing, than the role itself. And I constructed the role as a title because I needed to differentiate myself from the mentors that were in for one day a year, when I was in there basically 90% of the days for a year doing a very different role, so I needed to differentiate it. The actual entrepreneur in residence role is a little bit more structured in that there's a program that you're normally working towards, be it a three month or a six month program. Whereas the mentor is much more, for the work that I do, much more focused around the way the team is going in the longterm as opposed to hitting the shorter term goals.Corinne Butler: So one of your other roles was a mission lead? What's that?Peter Laurie: First up, not religious. It's not a religious thing. There's an organization called Startup Catalyst, which I've been the youth mission lead for the last four times it's been run. I'm not running it this year. This year is supposed to be about me doing some of my stuff rather than continuing to do other people's stuff. So the youth mission takes 20 18-29 year olds across to San Francisco, Silicon Valley, from across Australia, and blows their mind. The intent behind it is to actually get people to understand that even though the people in San Francisco are held up as something special, that the sky is blue over there, people are the same, and computers and laptops and technology works exactly the same. So the only real difference over there is the perspective that people have and the momentum that they've got.Peter Laurie: We do two main things when we take them over. Well it doesn't really matter. what else we do, we go and do a bit of startups tours. And so we see Google, Twitter, all those sorts of places. But the two main things that we do is we see a good friend of ours, Joel Pobar, who's at Facebook, who grew up in Beenleigh, which is just down the road from Brisbane. And he takes us through what it's like to be a senior manager inside Facebook. It's seriously one of the best experiences that I've been through, and I've done it four times.Peter Laurie: And the other thing we do is we drop the 20 people, and we call them the youths, and we drop the 20 youths into a startup weekend, in the middle of San Francisco. And they have a fairly large imposter syndrome when they start that day. And remember that these people are actually the best we can find out of Australia. So they've got PhDs, or just about to finish PhDs. Bit of machine learning or maths or computing or something like that. And also we have designers and all sorts of people, they're the best we can find, from about 250 to 300 applicants last time. And they still have this massive imposter syndrome, so we drop them into this thing and they dominate that 54 hour business competition.Peter Laurie: Even though they frame themselves as tech, they dominate it because they're smart. And a bit of coaching for us, we tell them what the context is, but they dominate it. But of course they dominate it because we cherry pick from across Australia. And it doesn't really matter. On the last couple of trips I've experimented with telling them that this is what's going to happen to them and they still don't believe it. And then afterwards they are totally transformed, their templates [inaudible 00:12:44] and they come back here, to Australia, wherever they're from, their various regions. And then they have the impact on the ecosystem where they're operating, which is exactly what we're trying to do.Corinne Butler: Wow, that sounds absolutely amazing. So imposter syndrome, we hear that quite a lot lately. What is it?Peter Laurie: So the way I describe imposter syndrome is that it's that feeling that you get when you're sitting in a room that you feel like you shouldn't be there. And at any moment someone's going to walk in and tell you, actually Mr. Laurie, we need to take you out, you shouldn't be here. And everybody has it. There's people that I've spoken to that are currently looking after $100 million funds for investment that don't think that they should be doing that. And the next year that they're going to get $400 million to look after. That's international. A lot of people that I speak to here in the ecosystem locally, or even across Australia, actually have a fair bit of imposter syndrome. And the nice thing is that it's a human trait. When you don't have the ability to get yourself to feeling an impostor syndrome, it's actually when you're a bit of a sociopath. So the example I normally use is Trump, right? So Trump never feels imposter syndrome because he doesn't appear to have that self awareness. So confidence just keeps going up. So I see it as a very normal, very human thing and it never goes away. You just learn to deal with it and acknowledge that it's there.Corinne Butler: That's a great definition. So you touched on a day in the life of a Facebook manager. What's that like?Peter Laurie: Well, that's really Joel's story to tell. But I will tell you that the majority of what he's doing is actually people. In the context of technology. And we actually got him out her last year to do a presentation around how he manages the people that he's working with. The last time I spoke to him he had a span of control of about 12, which is ridiculous. They shouldn't be letting him do that. But he was getting it done and he's a very methodical guy. He came back and talked about how he actually gets people and takes them through and teaches them how to lead. Which is excellent. But again, that's really his story to tell. But from a personal point of view, he's no different than anybody that you'd run into in Brisbane. He's got some more experience, he's got some harder problems that he's taken on. But the lovely thing about it is that I run into people who could be as effective and have as big an impact as Joel is having, every day here.Corinne Butler: Wow. That's such an amazing space to be in. So tell me, what else is happening in your industry?Peter Laurie: Well, there's a lot of different things happening in general. Not the amount of investment that's happening in this sort of, I see my industry, it will be the startup or innovation industry or something like that. The first thing I want to do is I want to qualify this with, I'm a little bit inside a bubble, so I'll talk about it in terms of the way that I think about it. I won't try and translate it outside the bubble, because I don't know if I can properly do that. I will do the stuff that I can. So the first up thing is there's a lot more money turning up into the ecosystem at the moment, be it through the super funds look like they're investing locally, or investing through venture capital firms locally instead of overseas, which is a good sign.Peter Laurie: The local angel networks are starting to get better. They're still not great but it's happening. The state government in Queensland is throwing a lot of money, or investing a lot of money, throwing it makes it sound like it's flippant, but it's not. Deliberately investing a lot of money into the region, to everybody's surprise. A lot of that is stuck. So there's been a lot of things that have been very positive, independent of what you read in the papers. A lot of things that are very positive and, not everything's perfect, but as an ecosystem where you used to that, not being perfect. The worst case isn't so much missing out on what's perfect, but what we do not being perfect, is missing out on the opportunity to be perfect, you've got to take your shot. From a technology point of view, the factors of production, so the ability for us to create something is getting easier and easier.Peter Laurie: So it moves from being a technical problem to being more of a creative problem or an artistic problem. So [inaudible 00:17:22] is a good way to speak about it, is that the biggest problem isn't whether we can build stuff now, it's whether we're actually building the right thing. And I spent a lot of time locally talking about ways to actually build the right thing and discover what it is because, like I was saying before, nobody knows what the right thing is. Up here in Brisbane, in Queensland in general, our universities are producing people that are world class. And then there's no denying that. And that seems to be an infinite resource of people coming out of there. The sad thing about it is that not a lot of people end up in this space where it's fully utilizing the skills that they have when they come out. But that's exactly what Startup Catalyst and the startup ecosystem is trying to open up.Peter Laurie: What else is going on? We're in a bit of a transition now. The startup ecosystem has been going long enough that the people that are purely driven by asset are starting to say that they've had enough and we're looking for the next generation of people to start to come through and make sure it's sustainable. And that's drawing a lot of my attention at the moment. That's what's top of my [inaudible 00:18:39]. Is that what you're after?Corinne Butler: That's great, thank you. So the podcast is called Advisor Adventures. And you've just mentioned that this year is really about you doing your stuff. So what adventures are you up to?Peter Laurie: The way that I operate is interesting. And, as someone who does a lot of thinking about it, I can categorize it quite well. I mean, it presents as something that's lacking a lot of focus. So I'm doing lots and lots of different things. I've had HR people talk to me about it being a portfolio career. So I'm doing lots of different things. And the biggest fear for me isn't so much doing the work, it's only doing that work. So for example, whenever I do dip my toe back into corporate work, I go for five weeks and then all of a sudden it's 18 months. So that's the sort of work that I end up doing. To me at the moment there's some interesting stuff around very early stage investment that I'm starting to think about and may well be able to open up through the crowdsource funding. So filling a gap sort of before Angels, or helping that sort of a phase go quickly, which is really more formalizing some of the investment that I'm doing at the very early stage now.Peter Laurie: Also, as a software developer, I can sit down and have a good idea and build something out, which I find entertaining and fun. I think a lot of other people would consider it work. So I'd probably say I've got about 10 or 15 balls in the air at the moment, which sounds crazy, except to run with the analogy that what I'm focusing on is the ability to juggle. So the balls aren't the things that I'm focusing on. They're opportunities, they're important, I'll push each of them as hard as I can. But the longterm capability that I'm building, the long term skills that I'm building, what I'm constantly trading on, which I'm laser focused on is the ability to juggle. Which has its own set of issues. So at the moment I'm learning to, not so much deal with the fear of missing out or FOMO, it's to embrace what a friend of mine calls the JOMO, which is the joy of missing out, which is a hard transition.Corinne Butler: I think you've got a very valid point there because we do focus a lot on FOMO and I think JOMO is potentially something to even research.Peter Laurie: Yeah, well it's not their term and it's not my term. It's definitely a term that's out there. So by all means have a look.Corinne Butler: So your own personal BHAG so big hairy audacious goal. What's the five-year dream, or 10 year dream?Peter Laurie: I'm a little bit different to a lot of people in that I don't really have a tight five-year or 10 year dream that I'm converging on. Which is described before as the juggling. So my goal isn't to reduce the juggling set down to one ball, it's actually to put more balls in the air. So for me, the goal that loosely describes what I'm doing is to try and get our ecosystem to work properly. One of the attributes when I first started in it, probably closer to 10 years ago, but it's hard. But formally, when the River City Labs opened up, in 2012, is that the ecosystem wasn't flowing. It was just sort of stuttering along. And made a conscious decision to work on that and in that, to make that work. So my five year goal is to have a vibrant, well executing, innovation ecosystem here in Southeast Queensland.Peter Laurie: One of the attributes, because I've got the skills that I have I can go and work wherever I want, and I'd much prefer it to be here than elsewhere. Mainly because I'm here. I don't see a lot of value in heading off elsewhere because it's better there. I mean that's how we never get it here. So I'm trying to get up work here. So I suppose, long story short, five year, 10 year goal is to have a vibrant and virtuous innovation ecosystem here in Brisbane. And as a result of that, across the rest of the state, and then hopefully across the rest of the country as well.Corinne Butler: Sounds great. Now you work with a lot of different businesses and business owners. What would be your top three tips for them?Peter Laurie: Okay, so the first one, like I said before, is that nobody knows what you should be doing. I open with that every time now. Because some people kind of give you a puzzled look and then eventually it turns into this empowering situation. And one of the ways I talked about before is that a lot of people will tell you where you should be, but not a lot of people understand where you're at. And the art's in getting from where you are to where you should be. And then off the back of that, sort of in the same sort of vein, is that to be able to interact with people around that, you need to learn to critically analyze what you're hearing. When you're new to something, you don't have the capability to measure how good someone is, but you can measure how confident they are.Peter Laurie: So you have to learn to listen to everybody and then critically analyze what they're saying to you and then make a decision yourself about what you should be doing, as opposed to blindly following someone. And the main reason behind that is that if you make a decision and it goes wrong, then you learn that you need to make better decisions. If you blindly follow someone and it turns out that they're wrong, your analysis is I need to start and find another person who might know what's going on. So it's really about opening that learning loop, about getting through and doing that.Peter Laurie: So the next one is, I see this one a lot, is that when you're building a business, you're not building products and services. You're building a business that builds products and services. And it's very important to separate yourself out from that. I mean, the goal as a business owner is to become redundant as soon as you can. However people still seem to bring this sort of empire building focus there. You're trying to build something that's sustainable that doesn't require you to be there. You're not trying to construct yourself a job, you're trying to construct yourself a business.Peter Laurie: And even a lot of people that are feeling that through sort of sit back and think about that when I throw that at them. That's a surprising one. I'm just looking down at my notes to see if there was another one that I had. That's probably enough. Actually, the third one is that given that nobody knows what you should be doing, you should be building a business that builds products and services. You're on a constant learning thing. So you need to learn how you learn new things and you need to consciously make that competency stronger. Because that's the only thing that you can rationally invest in given how everything changes so quickly.Corinne Butler: And it's interesting you say that and what you've mentioned there because I agree with you. I see a lot of the time is people don't do themselves out of jobs and they don't invest in themselves. So I think that's great advice. So Peter, what else would you like our audience to know? Any other adventures that you'd like to share?Peter Laurie: Well look, probably the first thing I'd do is, one of my problems that I've got with the innovation ecosystem is that everybody thinks that it's executed by people who are 19 years old and skate to work. When that's not the situation at all. I mean it is who I spend a lot of time working with because that's the only people that turn up. In fact, there's a lot of data suggesting that the most successful entrepreneurs are 45 plus. And the ones that are 18 and do this thing are absolute anomalies and highly unlikely to be successful. And I find a lot of people ruling out this is an option because they think they're not the right person to do it. So I treat this as an invitation to go down and get involved with your innovation ecosystem.Peter Laurie: So there'll be called startup spaces or coworking spaces. There'll be things like startup weekends and events and meet up groups. And get down there with your eyes open and critically analyzing everything, but get involved. You'll find that you are actually sitting on a whole bunch more skills than you think. And if I could make you do one thing, it'd be try and go out and do a startup weekend. It's by no means a comfortable experience, but it's an incredibly solid way to learn what you need to know to be able to execute in this newer, faster moving environment.Corinne Butler: I think that's great advice. I think we should all go and do a startup weekend.Peter Laurie: Yeah.Corinne Butler: So Peter Laurie from Junta. Thank you so much for joining us today on Advisor Adventures.Peter Laurie: You're welcome. Thank you very much for having me.

S1E6 – Linda Ginger | Advisor | Data & Science Innovation & Market StrategistThis week’s show is an interview with Linda Ginger. Linda uses data & science to enable entrepreneurial business owners to confidently launch their ideas and is an innovation and market strategist.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/.The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair https://www.advisoryboardchair.com/This is a Cahoots Radio https://www.cahootsradio.com/ production edited by Skye Manson.Hosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/.Let us know your favourite news stories for the week on email corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E5 – Sarah Hunter | Change leader | agriculture & animal health | NED | board advisor | rugby tragicThis week’s show is an interview with Sarah Hunter https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahahunter/ . Sarah is a change leader with a passion for business. In this episode she talks about her experience as a member of a professional business advisory board.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair www.advisoryboardchair.com.auThis is a Cahoots Radio production edited by Skye Manson www.cahootsradio.comHosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/Let us know your feedback and suggestions corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E4 – Stuart Allinson | Advisor | Emerging TechThis week’s show is an interview with Stuart Allinson https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-allinson-0a56b7/ . Stuart is an environmentally motivated business advisor with a special interest in emerging tech as it relates to the energy sector.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair www.advisoryboardchair.com.auThis is a Cahoots Radio production edited by Skye Manson www.cahootsradio.comHosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/Let us know your feedback and suggestions corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E3 – Differences Between Governance Boards and Advisory Boards?This week’s show provides an overview of the differences between governance and advisory boards and provides information about why a business owner might choose one form of Board over the other.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair www.advisoryboardchair.com.auThis is a Cahoots Radio production edited by Skye Manson & produced by Fleur Anderson www.cahootsradio.comHosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/Let us know your feedback and suggestions corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E2 – Business Life CyclesThis week’s show provides an overview of the different stages of business and some of the strategies that business owner use in order to ensure they have the right advice in order to suite the life stage and ambition of their business.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair www.advisoryboardchair.com.auThis is a Cahoots Radio production edited by Skye Manson & Produced by Fleur Anderson www.cahootsradio.comHosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/Let us know your thoughts and suggestions corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au

S1E1 – What is an Advisory Board?This week’s show provides an overview of what an Advisory Board is, when a business might need one, and what the benefits of having an advisory board are.Follow Us:Join the Advisory Board Chair community and join the conversation over at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advisoryboardchair/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/19196502/admin/The Secret Life of Advisors is the podcast of the Advisory Board Chair www.advisoryboardchair.com.auThis is a Cahoots Radio production edited by Skye Manson www.cahootsradio.comHosted by Corinne Butler https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnebutler/Let us know your suggestion and feedback corinne@advisoryboardchair.com.au