ScaleHQ Podcast

Selling your business is a big deal. It’s highly likely you’ll only ever do it once, maybe twice at the most. But there’s so much you can learn, and prepare for early, that will help you maximise the deal value.  If you’re keen to sell your business at some point in the future, you’ll love this episode. Today we interview (for the second time) Shawn Flynn, Investment Banker and mergers and ac...

During COVID many businesses shelved their international expansion plans. However, the world is opening back up and now is an excellent time to be recommencing that strategic discussion in your business. If you’ve considered exporting to China, now might be the perfect time. This week China market expert, growth strategist, TV Host, celebrity and influencer with over 6m followers, Heidi Dugan, sha...

If you don’t currently have a business purpose, or feel your current purpose lacks impact with your customers and team… this is the episode for you. This week on ScaleUps Podcast 10 Minute Thursday we unpack how to develop or improve your business purpose. We cover questions like: Why does having a purpose matter? How do you go about developing a purpose? What to include or avoid when writing the...

I’m very excited today to be sharing detailed insights into what’s in the ScaleUps Roadmap program that’s currently under development. Scaleups Roadmap is an exclusive cohort-based program that helps first-time Founders develop a strategy and execution plan that will enhance their growth rate, profitability, valuation & exit options. Participants will walk away with a clear growth strategy for...

What’s brand positioning vs product positioning? How does messaging strategy fit in? How do I cut through a cluttered and noisy market to ensure my offerings are communicated in a clear and unique way? If you want some tips on how to better position your products for cut-through in the market, this is one episode you want to listen to. This week we interview John James, growth marketing expert, Di...

Selling your business is a big deal. It’s highly likely you’ll only ever do it once, maybe twice at the most. But there’s so much you can learn, and prepare for early, that will help you maximise the deal value. If you’re keen to sell your business at some point in the future, you’ll love this episode. Today we interview Shawn Flynn, Investment Banker and mergers and acquisitions specialist who no...

Few people build and sell one business. But even fewer build a portfolio of businesses and run them in parallel. But there can be a lot of benefits. T If you’re already running a business, but have a few other ideas you want to pursue that could become separate companies then you need to start thinking about bringing a portfolio mentality to your ventures. Today we unpack the story of Thomas Woudw...

What’s the difference between an ordinary contributor, and an impact player? What differentiates them? How do you find more of them? What kind of environment do you need to create to help them thrive? If you want to build a team of high performing impact players, you need to listen to this week’s episode with Liz Wiseman. Former senior executive turned researcher, executive advisor and best-sellin...

When you can’t afford talent who’ve already made it to an executive level, how do you get access to people with big potential that can make a huge difference to the trajectory of your business? And once you’ve got them, what do you need to do as a leader to unlock that potential? You’ll love this week’s interview with Bryan Watson.  The former CEO of IDS and current co-Founder of Ovida transf...

Quick note from ScaleUps Podcast Host Sean Steele about this week's episode.

Should strategy be done once and then just heads down until it’s delivered on? Or should it change every month or quarter based on reality? What are the characteristics of good strategy? What are the factors that influence the ability of the organisation to execute it? Should you share your strategy with your customers? So many questions, and so little time.  But in today’s episode we give an...

I’m sure you’d agree that by the time you’ve got 100,000 customers on your platform, almost 1 million users and have a valuation of over 1bn you’ve probably learned a thing or two about scaling an organisation! But Employment Hero, led by Founder and CEO Ben Thompson has not been an overnight success.  There was a series of businesses Ben led before Employment Hero in the same space, solving...

A quick update on why there’s been a short gap in programming from your ScaleUps Podcast host, Sean Steele.

Doing startups is hard. Doing just one is usually enough for most people. But doing 100 in 5 years, that’s a special kind of insane or amazing depending on how you look at it! That’s precisely what Mark McNally Co-Founder and CEO of Nobody Studios and previous guest and Co-Founder, Barry O’Reilly have done. They’re seeking to launch one hundred compelling businesses in 5 years. That’s right. One h...

Third-party cookies are about to become a thing of the past. Company’s reliant on using cookies to track users and personalise experiences to support their customer acquisition and customer experience objectives will find it increasingly difficult to kick goals without leveraging their own data. Enter stage left, Matt Forman the Founder and CEO of XPON Technologies ( www.xpon.ai ) who is materiall...

I know you probably think you’ve got feedback nailed as a Founder, or you’re probably not bad at least. But what about your managers? Are they nailing it? What about your team? Are they great at asking for feedback as well as giving it to each other, their one-up managers, their direct reports? If the answer is “maybe not”, then there’s something to learn! This week I interview Amy Sandler, Chief...

If you’re curious about early-stage megatrends that are going to shift the way your customers and employees think about your business, what they expect from you and from each other… this is your episode! This week I interview Barry O’Reilly… best-selling author, speaker, faculty member at Singularity University on innovation, entrepreneur, advisor, co-founder of Nobody Studios and ExecCamp.. the l...

This was one of my most fun interviews to do.  Why? Because we’re talking marketing with Timbo Reid. How much time do you dedicate to marketing in your business? Does it feel like a chore or a hobby? Do you have fun doing it? Marketing should be fun! It doesn’t have to be boring and serious and given it’s your business and you built it to have an impact, perhaps it’s time to try something new...

When you think about it, how much time and professional development attention gets given to building business acumen in your business? How much time do you spend teaching your teams about the inner workings of cash, profit, assets, growth and people? If you did, would they be able to make better decisions that would likely help the business grow?  And if you wanted to increase the level of bu...

If you own a property, you know the name BMT Tax Depreciation. They’re Australia’s #1 for property depreciation schedules, and number 1 by a country mile. Being #1 doesn’t mean it’s easy, in fact that can make it harder but it does afford you some benefits. This week Brad Beer, CEO of BMT Tax Depreciation Australia’s #1 for property depreciation schedules, shares the highs and lows of growing to 1...

Resilience is far more than having coping strategies when things get tough.  Resilience practices can be done proactively, intentionally, purposefully.  There’s going to be a new challenge just around the corner.  That’s business.  That’s life.  If you want to be better prepared for the next one, this week’s episode is for you. After a devastating accident at the age of 12...

When you think about it… every bit of work your team ends up focusing on is a result of the questions you’ve asked and the answers you’ve come up with.  That turns into what to focus on, how to do it, when to do it and why it’s important.  Imagine if you could improve the quality of your questions by 20-50%... would you get the same correlation in improved performances?  Join us thi...

If you’re doing well in a super competitive market but feel you’re ready to make a major step change in your business, you’ll love the story of Direct Connect.  This week Paul Docherty, former Founder and CEO shares the journey of leading the business from 0m in 2006 to a sale with Lumo Energy to Snowy Hydro for $600m in 2014 and is now successfully incubating numerous startups and scaleups t...

If you’ve thought about international expansion as part of your growth strategy there is a LOT to get right. But there have been many failed attempts, particulary by companies from the West expanding into the East, which share common characteristics which we can learn from. If you’ve been considering expanding internationally this is the episode for you. Steven McGiness, author of 'Surfing the Asi...

Hopefully, everyone’s had at least one “SuperBoss”.  That leader who had a transformational impact on your work, who brought out your creativity and had you desperate to give your absolute best to the job and company.  Unfortunately, we’ve all experienced the complete opposite. What are the characteristics of a SuperBoss and what can you do to become a leader who transforms the lives of...