The Lazy CEO Podcast with Jane Lu

Today I’m thrilled to be joined by a true industry pioneer who’s reshaped the world of freelancing and online financing - Matt Barrie. Matt is the founder of Freelancer.com, the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace. Freelancer has empowered and connected 77 million of professionals and businesses worldwide. Freelancer is a listed company that has reached a market cap of over $1 billion. In addition to that, his other business Escrow.com has revolutionised secure online transactions, Escrow.com is the world’s largest escrow company. It’s like paypal but for big ticket items. $7 billion of volume. Buying boats, business, airplanes. Like when facebook changed their domain to meta.com they bought the domain and trademarks through Escrow.com, instagram.com to instagram, uber.com to uber, you name it.And lastly, his third business Loadshift, which is Australia's largest heavy haulage transport marketplace, which moves as much freight in distance from the earth to the moon, everyday. Matt’s an old friend of mine that helped me in the early days and has always been a big supporter of entrepreneurship so I’m super excited to catch up.Actually btw - Matt doesn't do anything in halves and likes to go against the grain, which is why he’s so brilliant, so we’re going to go rogue and change up the format

Today I’m joined by one of the most influential people in PR in Australia - Roxy Jacenko! Roxy is a powerhouse entrepreneur and the founder of many successful ventures, including what’s probably the most well known PR agency in the country, Sweaty Betty PR, as well as Ministry of Talent. On top of that she has built her own personal brand into a household name. Roxy is a woman that’s lived many lives, and has had more than her share of ups and downs and I’m so excited to chat to her about it all!

Today I’m chatting with Nick Bell. Yes, one of the shiny new Sharks on our new season of Shark Tank Australia. Nick is the Founder and CEO of First Page and 10 other businesses! Off the back of his first business that failed, Nick started again from his bedroom in 2008. Since then he’s expanded his business into software development, reputation repair, digital marketing, branding longevity and offshore labour hire. Nick has scaled to over 1900 staff members and over $200 million in revenue!

Today I’m chatting with the amazing Hannah Spilva, the co-founder of LVLY. I think it’s pretty safe to say that everyone listening has either received, gifted or seen a co-worker receive a gorgeous bundle of LVLY Flowers and Gift Package. LVLY started 8 years ago and has not only become a household name here in Australia but has also become a global business - which is no easy feat for you’re doing same day gifting of fresh flowers!Han has recently sold her business for a valuation of $35 million and now she sits on the board of LVLY and is diving right back in with 2 new startups in the world of beauty and self-care. 

Welcome back to part 2 with Robert Herjavec. He recently sold his cyber security business Cyderes for almost a billion dollars and is of course one of my fellow Sharks on Shark Tank Australia, and also US Shark Tank and Canadian Dragon’s Den. Make sure you listen to part 1!

My next guest needs no introduction, but here’s one anyway. It’s none other than my fellow Shark on Shark Tank, Robert Herjavec. Robert is one of the most renowned entrepreneurs globally and is an OG Shark from the US Shark Tank, Canadian Dragon’s Den and of course Shark Tank Australia. From humble beginnings as a poor refugee, he built and sold his first company for $600,000. From there, he started a software business that he sold to AT&T Canada for $32M. From there, he built his next business Cyderes in cyber security which he recently sold for almost a billion dollars. (That’s in USD, so he’s technically a billionaire in Australia dollars though.)Robert is literally one of the funniest, kindest and most interesting people I know, and you guys are absolutely going to love this chat! Alright let’s get into it!

Today I’m chatting with Annabelle Chauncy, who co-founded the Aussie non-profit School for Life at just 21 years old, with the bold ambition to educate poverty out of existence. School for Life started in 2011 in Uganda with 81 students, and purchased their first 10 acres of land with $16k. 15 years on, School for Life is raising over $6m a year and is impacting the lives of more than 4,500 vulnerable children across East Africa, and has a vision to reach 10,000 children in the next 5 years. Despite initial doubts due to her young age, her belief that no matter where they are born, every child deserves access to a safe childhood and quality education, pushed her to overcome numerous challenges. We’ll delve into the key learnings, incredible milestones, and the hurdles she faced along the way, revealing how her unwavering passion and determination was so strong that she refused to take no for an answer, turning her vision into a reality.

Today’s guest is the CEO and Co-Founder of Lendi Group, David Hyman. 11 years ago, Dave spearheaded the creation of Australia’s first online home loan platform - Lendi, revolutionising the traditional mortgage process by enabling customers to compare loans from multiple lenders in real time.3 years ago, Lendi merged with the iconic household brand, Aussie Home Loans, forming Australia’s largest mortgage brokerage and establishing Lendi Group as a leader in digital financial services. Cut to today, Lendi Group has a $100B loan book, which means they’re currently servicing $100B in loans, their revenue is in the hundreds of millions and they are the biggest retail distributor of mortgages outside of the big 4 banks.David Hyman is a serial-entrepreneur with a unique skill set that spans across corporate strategy, technology, product, customer acquisition and operational excellence. This is my first fintech interview and Dave’s business journey is so fascinating!