I had a moment yesterday, when I realised that I have been in a slump for the first half of this year.

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.

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.

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.

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 […]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The last few weeks have been a real struggle. But within that struggle I have learned three very important lessons.

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.

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.

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.