Build It. They'll Come‪.‬ Helen Dalley

You’ve probably never heard of GROW Super or GROW Inc. And that’s just the way co-founder and CEO Mathew Keeley likes it. But GROW Inc is solving some of the logjam problems in the “back office” administration of our massive Superannuation Funds. GROW Inc instigated a new way for Superannuation fund customers like you and I, to better access and engage with our Super Funds, by creating and building an innovative administration software using blockchain, or Distributed Ledger Technology. GROW Inc claims its platform transforms legacy systems and business models and allows fund managers and their funds to offer more streamlined, real time information to customers about their Super.

So how did a 5th generation farm boy, end up revolutionising the way Superannuation Funds interact with clients and members, giving as easy an experience for fund members as Amazon gives their online shoppers?

And how the heck did Mat Keeley, with a tiny team of only 36 employees at the time, persuade one of the world’s biggest wealth managers, the US giant Vanguard – with something like $10 Trillion in their care – to take a punt on his Super fund “back office” platform GROW Inc?  Well, tune in right now and you’ll find out. Enjoy Mathew Keeley’s extraordinary journey with GROW Inc.
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Tasmania born, schooled in Hong Kong, now working in Melbourne, scientist Nick Murphy is on the frontier of IVF reproductive medicine. Nick and his small highly skilled team developed a world-first genetic screening test for IVF embryos capable of detecting several thousand severe genetic diseases and life threatening conditions. And it’s done in one single, simple test, via whole genome sequencing of the pre-implantation embryo. It’s commercialised by Nick’s startup, GenEmbryomics. Dr Murphy will offer this test through existing IVF clinics, at as low a price as possible, and to as many couples going through IVF as need it.While not available commercially yet in Australia, GenEmbryomics is in the process of securing patents for the test in the massive IVF market in the USA, worth some $9billion. There are plans to list the startup on New York’s NASDAQ exchange by mid-2024. It’s been a wild and fascinating journey for this genetic scientist turned entrepreneur, since the GenEmbryomics business began in 2019. Hope you enjoy Dr Nick Murphy.
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An immigrant child of Polish Jewish parents, Jack Gance ended up disrupting several entire industries with HIS model of shopkeeping through suburban Australia. The pharmacist turned into an entrepreneur by chance really. After gaining his Pharmacy degree, Jack and his brother Sam started with just 1 pharmacy in the early 1970’s, which they slowly built on. Along the journey, Jack Gance totally upended the way traditional pharmacies in Aussie suburbs operate, by essentially making all the other products chemists sell aside from prescriptions, much more enticing and cheaper for shoppers. He also built a distribution business in the process.

After 51 years in business Jack Gance, with Sam and co-founder Mario Verrocchi spent the past two-plus decades building their Chemist Warehouse business and brand into a household name, thereby revolutionising not just the pharmacy model, but the entire retailing landscape, by offering discounts on every product in the store. Now with 500 partner/franchise stores and a recently announced deal to merge with Sigma Healthcare, in order to expand the business, we’re replaying the interview we did in 2023 where Jack reflects, just a little, on that amazing entrepreneurial journey. And why he can’t stop!
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Host Helen Dalley interviews plenty more inspiring Aussie entrepreneurs in new episodes coming up in 2024! Both established superstars and newbie startup founders who have nurtured an idea from scratch, building it from nothing into a sustainable successful business.

In each episode Founders reveal deep frustrations, challenges, their doubts and near failures but also how they overcame them, offering up practical insights on how to create and build a fantastic business.

Be sure to stay tuned to Build It. They’ll Come in the new year, after we take a little break.

Thankyou for being great listeners and supporters. See you in January 2024!
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Not every budding entrepreneur wants to start a new bank.  Banking is risky, highly regulated, and in this country dominated by the big 4 banks that could squash any little minnow that tries to challenge them. But my guest Joseph Healy has been a career banker, in fact a successful senior executive in 2 of those the big traditional banks, and his disillusionment with their modus operandi led him to start his own. After extensive chats with mate David Hornery, over beers at the local on a Friday, the pair decided on a vision for a new bank to service small to medium sized businesses, a neglected sector in their opinion. So they set out to back themselves into building that vision into something successful and sustainable.  

Healy and Hornery founded Judo Bank in 2019, in the eye of the Covid storm. But they say that made the bank stronger, and they claim to have delivered what they promised for small to medium-sized businesses.

Now a higher interest rate environment produces new challenges for the minnow bank. Despite its shares being marked down,  Judo’s lending book is now $9bill (as of June 30, 2023), and it achieved a strong 2023 profit. And Joseph Healy reckons they are building the culture, mind-set and model to ensure Judo grows into a sustainable success.
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Soldier-turned-entrepreneur Mark Woodland reckons he learned some tough lessons in the Army. The most fundamental that he brought with him into the startup world was how to be resilient. This self-confessed university dropout draws on his internal resilience he reckons every day, while scaling up his Kismet healthcare platform. Resilience, coupled with setting in stone the internal culture of your business right from the get-go, and staying humble are foundation stones for Kismet’s success.
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