Chad Stephens and three mates couldn't get a rental in Brighton. After filling out the same two-page paper application for property after property, Chad and his best mate Chris Koch went looking for an online version. There wasn't one, so they built it. That became 1Form, which ended up used across most of the Australian rental industry and was bought by REA Group in 2014. Everyone they pitched told them it was just a form. Chad walks through funding it with maxed-out credit cards, a bank loan for a car they never bought and the sale of the cars they already had, then moving back home. He explains how they won over one of Melbourne's most respected property managers by building everything she asked for, how lunch in an empty fine dining restaurant led to $250,000 from the people behind Carsales, and the $5 save button that finally made the business money. Then comes the sale. REA had once told them it would build the idea itself, and eight years later it bought the company, cutting the agreed price from $17 million to $15 million a week before signing. He also covers Fillr, which burned $300,000 a month, pivoted to mobile checkout for buy now, pay later apps, and sold to Rakuten after COVID derailed a Series B in March 2020, with his wife running the legals while he walked the pram. He finishes with his next venture, Formlytics, and three life lessons: why friends and family loving your idea is a warning sign, why a blocked road is just a stop sign, and why knowing your weaknesses tells you who to partner with. Find Chad Chad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadstephens1/ Fillr: https://www.fillr.com/ Join the Aussie Founders Club The Slack community, the newsletter and everything else live here: https://www.aussiefoundersclub.com Want to partner with Life After Launch? Explore sponsorship and partnership opportunities at https://lifeafterlaunchpod.com/partner-with-us Life After Launch is an Aussie Founders Club podcast. Aussie Founders Club is a community for Founders, operators and investors navigating the Australian startup ecosystem. What started as an events-first, in-person community has grown into a network of thousands, connecting people building startups with the people who've done it before. Join the conversation and the community at https://aussiefoundersclub.com/ Connect with Megan Luttrell on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganluttrell/ Connect with Geo George on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/contactgeo/ Kairos Recruitment is a recruitment company supporting startups and scale-ups across Australia, helping Founders find the right people to grow their teams. Led by Megan Luttrell. Learn more at https://www.kairosrecruitment.com.au/ Mayfly Ventures is an Australian AI venture studio building industry-focused AI and software ventures. We work with industry leaders to validate, build and scale AI ventures, starting with the strategy and commercial foundations most teams skip. Learn more about Mayfly's approach at https://www.mayflyventures.com/ Time Stamps 00:00 Cold open: "You can't make money from a form" 00:43 Welcome to Life After Launch, introducing Chad Stephens 02:24 Growing up in Bayside, tennis dreams and the milk bar plan 04:30 The black sheep of six kids, and running a cafe in Brighton 06:21 VenueHQ, the first idea that didn't work 07:06 Four blokes, one Brighton rental and the application that became 1Form 11:18 Maxed-out credit cards, a car loan with no car, and moving back home 14:19 Winning over property managers with no marketing budget 20:41 Lunch in an empty restaurant and pitching the people behind Carsales 26:12 The GFC, and the $5 button that finally made money 32:03 Hiring, growing and the squiggly signature 36:13 A team of five, 50% margins and testing the US 43:17 Selling 1Form to REA Group: $17 million, then $15 million 47:55 Fillr: burning $300,000 a month and pivoting to mobile checkout 51:57 COVID, the Series B and selling to Rakuten 55:05 Angel investing and building Formlytics 56:30 Life lesson 1: if friends and family love your idea, pivot 58:45 Life lesson 2: a blocked road is just a stop sign 1:00:44 Life lesson 3: know your strengths, and who to partner with 1:03:06 Closing thoughts + outro