2022
12/May
My Blog Posts
2019
2/Nov
I had a moment yesterday, when I realised that I have been in a slump for the first half of this year.
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2019
18/Apr
I’ve built my career in agency over the last seven years. In that time, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some smart, passionate, creative people and helped a lot of clients achieve some major business outcomes. But now it is time to move on.
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2018
21/Aug
When it comes to sharing the journey of starting a business, people want to hear about the rags-to-riches or the underdog story. We focus on the “overnight success” that has actually been toiling away for half a decade or more. No one wants to listen to the fact that many entrepreneurs are laying awake at night, sleepless as they contemplate cash flow issues and deal flow and scenarios that either see them become a sustainable business, a complete failure or (hopefully) the next “overnight success”.
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2018
17/Jul
Patient Journey Mapping allows an organisation to reconfigure their resourcing and approach to care, based on the experience of the patient, documented through the patient’s perspective. Not only is it a useful tool to promote better health care outcomes, it is also a powerful approach and mode of thinking that enable staff to uncover opportunities for improvement and innovation within their own work context.
This paper discusses the concept of the patient experience in health care and how journey mapping can be applied within a difficult, complex and ever-changing environment to improve efficiency, effectiveness and accuracy of care delivery.
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2018
8/Apr
I decided to spend a week being completely selfish in my interactions with the world around me. I wanted to imagine how everything would be if it were truly personal to me. I wanted the world to act on my behalf.
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2018
23/Mar
I’ve had the honour and privilege (and all the other superlatives) of spending the whole week on an impact investment course, run by Impact Co. Initially, I was a bit skeptical about the whole process. I’ve been burned badly before and thus approached things with more trepidation than usual. The research I did on the team behind it clearly indicated that they are sharp operators so I thought it was a good path to follow. And I was very right.
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2018
14/Feb
The following is a rough transcript of my presentation from PauseFest 2018. My name is Pete Saunders. Today I am going to talk to you about what it’s like to start a business in Australia and scale it globally. Well, that’s not entirely true. Because we haven’t managed it yet. So to be […]
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2018
10/Jan
I think most entrepreneurs are a little bit insane. Myself included. Particularly those in the early stages of their business, working on a side hustle, trying to create something for themselves. Entrepreneurs invest time, energy and ideas. They sacrifice after work drinks, picnics with friends and date nights to slave over code, spreadsheets or documents. They are stressed constantly and have trouble sleeping.
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2017
10/Oct
Three months ago I was contacted out of the blue and told that I had been identified as a potential candidate for a new role. While that statement in- and of- itself isn’t that interesting, what was interesting was the type and calibre of the role — the CEO of an ASX listed health tech company.
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2017
25/Jul
As we gear up for launch, a moment of truth is on our horizon. The first time we’re really going out to market with a product that will provide value to the dietetics industry. It’s been two years in the making, and if we are doing things properly, there will be many more years of making.
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2017
9/Jun
Over the last week, I was in Sydney attending the European Union-Australia Leadership Forum. A joint initiative, the event brought together around 200 people from around the world. Backgrounds included policy, research, media, politics, innovation and others. I was one of the fifty global and twenty-five Australians selected as part of the “emerging leaders” stream.
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2017
5/May
For reasons unbeknownst to me, over the last twelve months I have found myself frequently presenting to various audiences about innovation in healthcare. When I do, I am quick to point out that I am not and will not be a trained healthcare professional. I am not a doctor or a nurse or anything else. But I have developed an undeniable passion for working in the healthcare sector. More often than not, I am asked why.
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2017
11/Apr
The following is an adaption of a presentation to fifty Master of Public Health students at Melbourne University. It includes all slides, videos and a rough transcript. It took around an hour, followed by thirty minutes of questions.
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2017
6/Apr
Every start up founder wants to attract investment. Investment signifies a lot of things. Yes, money is great and for most new businesses it’s a critical factor, but what investment signifies for a lot of people is belief. That there are people out there who believe in your idea and your future so much that they are willing to take the journey with you. That they will ride the bumps and hopefully all reap the rewards.
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2017
23/Jan
Like many, I spent Friday afternoon glued to various screens watching the events of an “incident” unfold in Melbourne. A news alert popped up to say that a driver, with a gun had gone through the CBD, hitting numerous people.
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2017
8/Jan
The following article has been submitted as part of a collection of stories from Global Shapers about their views of Digital Health in 2030. The full collection is being collated and submitted to the World Economic Forum. For the last few days I felt dizzy and fatigued. At night, I get cold sweats and feel […]
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2016
10/Dec
The Pitch@Palace week is nothing short of surreal. One morning having tea in Buckingham Palace, to boot camps on pitching taught by choreographers. The next moment, learning about international expansion, IP laws and tax concessions, to shaking the hand of Prince Andrew and being blown away by his active, genuine interest in seeing start ups succeed.
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2016
31/Oct
I recently spent two days attending the Australian Biotech Investment Conference, enticed by the opportunity to present Health Delivered in one of the “early stage” company spotlights. As the final speaker, I chose to attend both days, so I could learn what was important in the eyes of the audience and try to tailor my message to their interests.
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2016
18/Sep
The last few weeks have been a real struggle. But within that struggle I have learned three very important lessons.
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2016
1/Sep
Two weeks ago I had the privilege of representing Melbourne at the Global Shapers Annual Curators Meeting, in Geneva. Over the four days I was able to meet and get to know a number of other Shapers from almost every country on the planet. I was able to visit the World Trade Organization, the World Economic Forum and the United Nations. I was exposed to a variety of customs, backgrounds, viewpoints, struggles, successes and more laughs than I’ve had in a long time. It was definitely memorable and as Shapers usually only get one term as Curator, a legitimate “once in a lifetime” style event.
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2016
14/Aug
I spend a lot of time trying to distract myself from my own thoughts. They have a tendency to take on a life of their own and without management end up spiraling out of control.
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2016
26/Jul
I enjoy writing. I find it cathartic because it’s a way for me to work through the thoughts in my head and hopefully construct a narrative that others will find interesting. Outside of that, it’s a way for me to document how things are going, what’s relevant in my life and to see how I’m progressing as a person. I’ve tried to tackle both professional topics, but also personal ones like resilience, depression, trust and failure.
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2016
21/Jun
I get asked that question a lot. Over my career, I’ve found it harder and harder to describe in a few short sentences what I do because the various titles come with so many preconceived notions and usually don’t give the role justice. After work a couple of weeks ago, we were at the bar […]
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2016
10/May
Around a month ago a potentially life-changing opportunity landed on my desk. It was the chance to combine much of my recent work and expertise on a challenging, exciting and potentially hugely influential project. It was something that sparked a truly emotional response and my first instinct was to drop everything and go for it.
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2016
20/Apr
I was sitting in another meeting with a potential investor last week. It was very much the same old spiel until the woman running it said something that really resonated: “We don’t invest in just anyone. We need to make sure you’re resilient.” That was followed up by a number of examples of resilience at work, in personal life, and during conflict and rejection.
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2016
7/Apr
This has been somewhat of a crunch time week in terms of our company’s progress. We’ve moved past the time of idea generation and ‘what if’. Now it’s about identifying exactly what it is we need to do, why we need to do it and what value it is adding to our product and our customers.
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2016
30/Mar
The following is an excerpt from my presentation to the Melbourne University MPH group for their Health Promotion course. It was presented on 30/03/2016. It includes highlighted slides/videos and edited text.
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2016
21/Mar
I have spent the last few days in Japan, attending the Global Shapers Asia Pacific Conference. With the theme of peace, there was no more fitting place to host it than Hiroshima. I decided to attend on a whim. Finding time to disappear for a few days was not a straightforward task, between paid work, starting a new business and trying to remain very active across two volunteer roles.
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2016
3/Mar
We kicked off with our business advisory team today. Eight hours of questions, conversations, challenges and planning. The first time when someone outside of our team has truly sat down and started to scrutinise what we’ve done to date, what it all means and what the future could look like.
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2016
19/Feb
Most people have ideas. Some are good, most are not. For some, ideas have become their currency, as they develop, design and co-create solutions to problems they’ve identified (or invented). For those of us in the realm of digital development, communications, or dare I say it, the entrepreneurial space, we are judged on the strength and viability of our ideas. There is no better recognition of a good idea than someone external willing to invest their time and money in helping the budding project see the light of day. Between that and someone willing to pay to use your product, it’s ultimately what we all strive for.
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2016
19/Jan
The recent WADA decision to ban 34 Essendon players as a result of the club’s supplements scandal has sent shockwaves through the sporting community. As expected the ruling has lead to numerous debates about who is to blame and whether the penalty is too harsh on the players.
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2015
23/Dec
I started 2015 on a mission. I thought I had finally found where I was meant to be. I genuinely thought I was contributing something of value to places and people who were trying to change the world around them. What I didn’t realise was that I was working my way deeper into the belly of the most toxic work environment I’ve ever been part of.
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2015
2/Dec
A few months ago, I was introduced to the notion of “personal branding” by my old boss and one of the best in the game, Pete Singline. Pete described to a small group of us what it meant to go through a personal branding workshop, the types of insights it may uncover and the outcomes you could set up for yourself.
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2015
16/Nov
Ever since I was a child, I wanted to be the best at something. I was never able to decide what, I just had an underlying desire to be the best. Unfortunately, I was a fat kid, so most sports were out, and although I was bright, I never really paid attention in class, so academia was also out. I have a very short attention span and a low tolerance for boredom, so finding a long term career has also proven to be problematic.
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2015
12/Nov
Two weeks ago Global Ideas Forum wrapped up for 2015. I say wrapped up, in the sense that the public event came to a close. The reality is that an event that lasts only a weekend still takes a full twelve months to plan, execute and analyse afterwards.
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2015
25/Sep
Newton’s Third Law states that “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”. My favourite illustration of this is Newton’s Cradle, as it neatly demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy. Over the past few weeks, I have watched with interest as this principle seems to be playing out in the American media and to a lesser extent, our own.
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2015
10/Sep
September 10 is “R U OK?” day in Australia, an initiative that seeks to encourage people to check up on their friends and family by asking how they are in aid of suicide prevention. It is, without a doubt, a very important and worthy cause and one very close to me, which is why I am conflicted about whether I think it is a positive or negative initiative.
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2015
22/Jul
Throughout my career, I have been lucky enough to be exposed to a wide variety of clients, across industry, size and maturity. I have been able to learn more about what creates successful businesses and what employees look for when they seek out work through direct experience and by osmosis, for which I do not claim any credit.
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2015
5/Jul
Three years ago I made the conscious decision to move to Melbourne and start a career in some kind of creative work. I had a Masters degree in Visual Communication, a smattering of internationally published work and clients but no real understanding of the world I was getting myself into. Creative fields, particularly design, are competitive at the best of times but that is magnified in a place like Melbourne, where so many people are vying for so few places. I quickly learned that the functional role of a designer was not for me — I didn’t work fast enough, I wasn’t that technically skilled and my conceptual thinking didn’t translate onto the screen. Most importantly, I felt no passion for the trade I was trained in; I knew the value of good design but I wasn’t the one to deliver it.
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2014
28/Dec
We all have a responsibility to protect our planet and the people who live in it. It’s not just world leaders and businessmen who have the power to create change – we’re all responsible for shaping this world; we’re all designers.
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2014
28/Dec
Earlier this year, Camden Borough Council came under fire for their “Camden Bench”, a design inspired to dissuade drug deals, bag theft, skateboarding and littering. But the design was also heavily criticised for stopping homeless people from using the bench as a place to sleep at night.
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2014
28/Dec
For the last two weeks, the internet across all media has been abuzz with news out of Hobart as the Dark Mofo festival rolled out. A huge variety of events, performances, food, culture, art and a bunch of naked people combined to make Tasmania the go-to winter destination. And at the heart of it all is the MONA (and therefore, David Walsh) brand.
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2014
28/Dec
With the Sochi Winter Olympic Games fast approaching, we’re starting to see lead up advertising. As a life long skier and winter follower, the Olympics are the highlight of my sport watching calendar (especially since the X-Games doesn’t make its way to Australia). Most of the advertising in the lead up is around the network coverage or the event itself. But Procter & Gamble have used it as a platform to deliver an emotionally charged brand message.
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2014
26/Dec
I was lucky enough to attend a focus group session for a client a few days ago. It was my first opportunity to get direct insights into how their audience feels about the brand we represent and the landscape as a whole. I went in without many expectations, not really knowing how these sessions go, and I came out an avid supporter of market research.
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2014
26/Dec
In late 2011, with a couple of friends, I started an online magazine. We had already worked together on different publications during our time at University, picking up a number of awards along the way. There was a mutual respect for our work — design, illustration and writing/editing — and we worked well as a team. I had just taken twelve months off, entirely disconnecting myself from the design world after nearing a breakdown trying to complete my Masters degree. But I came back with a desire to create something meaningful, and importantly, something that we could have complete creative and editorial control over. We wanted to make a magazine. We wanted to contribute something to our industry that would be memorable. Things happened very quickly and we developed the first issue in three months (befitting of our decision to produce it quarterly). We called in a lot of favours to get it done, but looking back, the quality of writing and photography is still remarkably high and set a very good benchmark.
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2021 was a strange year. And I cannot blame it all on COVID either. Having been made redundant and then moving on within a week into a job where I ended up essentially feeling worthless, had a big impact on my professional psyche. And all this was a little over a year since I’d started […]
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