James Spenceley, Vocus The Unicorn Farm - turning startup horses into billion dollar unicorns

James came along to an Innovation Bay event in late 2015. He was a remarkable CEO. Very young, very dynamic and utterly competent. Whilst at the same time very humble and soft-spoken. Here's an excerpt from the Innovation Bay blog post after the event:


James Spenceley (http://www.innovationbay.com/past-speakers-single/james-spenceley) has overseen the incredible success of Vocus Communications (http://www.vocus.com.au). In 2009, Vocus was Australia's fastest-growing technology company, which led to James winning the prestigious Deloitte Technology Fast 50 award.

Today, Vocus Communications is a member of the ASX200 with a market capitalisation of more than AU$1.493 Billion - a staggering achievement for a start-up that James originally funded through refinancing his home mortgage in 2008. He joined us for our Innovation Bay speaker breakfast in Sydney on November 11, to share what he's learnt so far from his journey and what he hopes to achieve in future.

Quick to stress that success is never by chance, James reflected on his meteoric rise with a sense of humour: 'the harder I worked, the luckier I got.' He also puts the key to customer service equally plainly: 'don't screw the customer.'

But, he also realised there was more to building a strong company. Early on, he learned the importance of having a great organisational culture: 'You need really clear, concise goals to create culture and provide direction. You also need tangible values, which are about how you want to achieve those goals, like "no muppets".'

'When you're looking for people to invest in, look for people who have a thirst to understand all parts of the business.'

His philosophy for sustained success is a simple one, yet not traditionally common in the industry: 'We want Vocus to become the telco of choice. To do this you have to look after your customers, ensuring the contract is fair.'

While there is still a way to go yet, he is seeing positive signs that the Australian government is starting to move in the right direction: 'Government backing for start-ups is really important. They could do more in terms of support, funding and grants, but the government now wants to do something, which is great.'

James wasn't afraid to share his views on the #NBN, either. He provided his opinion on problems with the prior plans behind the NBN, such as the budget; and his sense that Malcolm Turnbull's current scheme - which makes productive use of the existing copper network - is feasible.

Despite having achieved so much already, there is a still a hunger in James to go further: 'I have the desire to prove people wrong. I'm always seeking to learn, and I'm driven by new challenges.'

One of these exciting challenges might come from what could be his next project. Commenting on rumours of a potential joint venture with NextGen, he said: 'A cable from Perth to Singapore is critical for Australian infrastructure.'

While his work may take him further afield, his focus remains on making the most of local opportunities: 'It's important to know what you're good at. There are lots of opportunities in Australia and NZ to focus on.'

In reflecting on his leadership philosophy, he remarked: 'My role is to find the right answer, what's the right way to do something, rather than to just impose an answer on everyone.'