BIOGRAPHIES

Sacha Krjatian
Sacha Krjatian
CEO and Founder of Sachas


CEO and Founder of Sachas was a position he achieved in 2008 at the age of 18. Sachas is a brand founded on the basis of a 50/50 business model. On this principle, half of its profits are put into its philanthropic arm, Sachas Love. And through Sachas Love, 100% of the funds are used to run innovative programs that provide resources and opportunities to people around the world. In 2010, Sacha published Teens Big Dreams, a motivational and life skills book that he wrote to inspire more people to find and follow their passions. Sacha himself has been interviewed by numerous news groups such as SBS, and runs workshops, delivers keynote speeches and gives business advice to schools, universities and companies globally.

Nathan Murphy
Nathan Murphy
Business Development Manager of Local Measure


Nathan Murphy is an individual to whom entrepenurship is a passion. It began with selling vitamins on E-bay and since then, he has applied himself to a variety of entrepreneurial activities, everything from Telco to tobacco, in the realms of finance and marketing. Self-educated, Murphy enjoys pitching, brainstorming, travelling, and is happy to help others grow their business. He is currently working with Local Measure as a business development manager, leading a sales and growth strategy. Previously, he founded the groups MuesliForMe (a customizable muesli subscription business), AudioHighSchool (an E-learning group), and was the CEO of EyeCrowd (a market research group).

Ben Sand
Ben Sand
CEO and Founder of Brainworth


Ben Sand, CEO and Founder of Brainworth, received his degree in information technology from the University of Sydney. Prior to this, he worked as an IT coordinator for Mensa, a sponsership officer for Sydney Uni, and the IT director for the Young Entrepenaurs Society. He is currently working on Brainworth, a virtual world in which players can move along a path to their educational or professional goal.

Chris Chong
Chris Chong
Co-Founder and Director at Singapore Groupon


Chris Chong, Co-Founder and Director at Singapore Groupon, was engaging in entrepenurial activities even while studying law and media at the University of New South Wales. In 2010, Chong founded Beeconomic, South East Asia's first group buy site. Launching in Singapore, the firm was profitable within three months, and within six, had expanded to the Philippines. After graduating from UNSW in 2012, Chong has since helped found the NSW Tutors Group, has acted as a conference presenter and panellist, and is a council member for the Gerson Lehrman Group, providing services such as marketing strategy, e-commerce, and marketing experience.

At the end of 2010, Beeconomic was acquired by Groupon Inc. Chong has remained with the group, and is currently leading the marketing team in Singapore, and expanding functions from social media, value added services for merchants, customer engagement, to strategic alliances. He has helped Groupon conceptualize its content retail store, and has contributed over eighty business deals.

Bart Jellema
Bart Jellema
CEO and Founder of ZeroMail


Bart Jellema, CEO and Founder of ZeroMail, was programming computers from a young age. Having developed and implemented a complete customer relationship management system at the age of 14, Jellema has since then, he has been developing new software applications and websites for various companies.

In 2007, Jellema founded his first company, Tjoos. The site started as a price comparison engine, but then specialized in online discount coupons. By February 2010, the site had over 1 million unique visitors, and the next month, was acquired by US based Internet Brands (NASDAQ: INET). Over this time period, Jellema founded Startup Australia to help the country’s entrepreneurial activity, and was a mentor/investor in Startmate, a group of startup executives offering mentorship and seed financing to technical founders creating global Internet startups from Australia.

Jellema is currently working on a next-generation email client titled ZeroMail. Operating from Silicon Beach House, Jellema’s company is welcome to share its space with new entrepreneurs.


Lisa Fox
Lisa Fox
CEO and Co-Founder of Open Shed


Lisa Fox, CEO and Co-Founder of Open Shed, held degrees in legal practice, international law, and the arts by 2011. By the same year, she had used that experience in positions in organizations such as the Family Court of Australia, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, and in various other legal departments. But after six years of working in law, policy and government, Lisa chased her dreams, becoming the co-founded and CEO of the peer-to-peer rental and social connection site, Open Shed. This is a peer-to-peer rental site and social connection platform, aimed to reduce the cost of living by providing an alternative to buying and creates new social connections by facilitating the sharing of items between neighbours.

For other entrepeneurs, Lisa advises to "be clear on your 'why' and remind yourself of it every day. It helps keeps you focused and is crucial to know on the low days".

Lauren Anderson
Lauren Anderson
Community Director at Collaberative Consumption


Lauren Anderson, Community Director at Collaberative Consumption, is passionate about working with leading organisations who take their role in shaping our world very seriously, and are motivated to make change for the better. After careers in coordination and management with groups such as Performance Frontiers, BVN Architecture and Vibewire Youth Inc., Lauren is currently the community director of Collaberative Lab, a role she has held since 2010. Over this time, she has played an instrumental role in building the global Collaborative Consumption movement, named by TIME Magazine as one of the "Ten Ideas That Will Change the World." Over this time she has delivered keynote presentations and facilitated workshops on the impact and potential of Collaborative Consumption across different industry sectors.

Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams
CEO and Founder of Ideaction


Michelle Williams, CEO and Founder of Ideaction, has a career that spans over ten years. With a wealth of experience ranging from sales and marketing to social innovation and management, Michelle is an advocate for participation and participatory methods in enabling resilient communities and unlocking the next wave of business, government and community innovation. She is currently a board member for Vibewire (a media production industry), the founder and CEO of Ideaction, and is an organiser in the Participatory Revolution event. "Participation has become the new consumption," says Michelle Williams, "from crowdsourced advertising campaigns to the open source movement, this participation revolution is already transforming our society. It provides a huge opportunity for innovation, and many more forms of value way beyond simple dollars, but we're still grappling with how to handle the challenges it brings."

Marius Kraemer
Marius Kraemer
CEO and Founder of Matewire


Marius Kraemer, CEO and Founder of Matewire, had education at the Universities of Sydney, Nice-Sophia Antipolis, and the Universitat Mannheim, where he also tutored in business informatics and mathamatics. Also a graduate of the Pushstart Startup Accelerator Program, Marius is a contractor in Android development, and founder at Matewire, a "real-world" social-network for mobile, where users can see and join social & outdoors activities. For aspiring entrepeneurs, Marius offers the following advice:
  • 1. Think big
  • 2. Don't smother your idea
  • 3. Know your capabilities
  • 4. Be open
  • 5. Mix with the insane
  • 6. Embrace failure

Ahmed Haider
Ahmed Haider
CEO and Founder of Zookal


Ahmed Haider, CEO and Founder of Zookal, studied at the University of Technology in Sydney. Here, he founded the Australian Collaberative Entrepeneur Society in 2009, a student run and based organisation that provides a platform for rising leaders, successful entrepreneurs and corporate Australia to interconnect. After leaving the group in 2010, Ahmed handled recruitment and staff selection processes, along with overseeing project management and design, and handled its legal and HR business.

In 2013, Ahmed graduated from UTEC, and is currently working as the CEO and founder of Zookal, Australia's largest and fastest growing textbook rental service.

Tia Saunders
Tia Saunders
Co-founder of Social Startup 48 and Enterprise Network for Young Australians (ENYA) Ambassador


Tia Saunders, Co-founder of Social Startup 48 and Enterprise Network for Young Australians (ENYA) Ambassador, studied business, marketing, and accounting at the University of Technology in Sydney. Here, she co-founded the Australian Collaborative Entrepreneur Society, created to educate, support and inspire students in the field of entrepreneurship. She is also the founder and director of Zookal, Australia's fastest growing university textbook rental company created by five students to solve the problem of expensive textbooks.

Tia has since graduated from UTEC, and has entered the business sphere. She has worked as a strategy consultant for Enzo International (a hair care company with first in the world product and sales innovations), and is currently the ambassador for the Enterprise Network for Young Australians (a not for profit organization providing access to funding, mentoring and education for youth entrepreneurs). Additionally, in 2012, Tia co-founded Social Startup 48, a non-profit organisation committed to driving positive change in society the business way. It is the vision of Tia and her co-workers to provide a launch pad for entrepreneurs who will go forth to create significant social impact in cities around the world.

Matthew Beeche
Matthew Beeche
CEO and Founder of the Shoe String Media Group


Matthew Beeche, CEO and Founder of the Shoe String Media Group, originally worked as the team developer/recruitment manager of Salmat Salesforce, the recruitment consultant for Hays, and the (inside) sales manager for Pitney Bowes. Currently he is with the Shoe String Media Group, a media company based in Sydney and one of Australia's fastest growing and well respected startup/entrepreneur focused websites. Matthew can also be found as a regular panellist and speaker on the Sydney startup event scene.



Stuart Cook
Stuart Cook
CEO of Zambrero, Director of the E-magine Foundation and Director of MBE Education


Stuart Cook, CEO of Zambrero, Director of the E-magine Foundation and Director of MBE Education, has a career history including positions such as junior accountant, contractor, and business development manager. Since then he has gone on to found the E-magine Foundation, whose goal is to IT centres in schools that have had no computers or IT teaching, and is currently the CEO of Zambrero Pty Ltd. Ranked as the 3rd Fastest Growing Franchise by BRW in 2012, Zambrero is a national Mexican quick service restaurant chain, and plans to expand into the UK and New Zealand. Additionally, Stuart is a non-executive director at MBE Education, delivering business education from entrepreneurs.


Jeremy Liddle
Jeremy Liddle
CEO of Enterprise Network for Young Australians (ENYA), President of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance and Summits, Chief Energy Officer of LED & Solar Solutions, and Co-founder & Director of Riolfie Pty Ltd


Jeremy Liddle, CEO of Enterprise Network for Young Australians (ENYA), President of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance and Summits, Chief Energy Officer of LED & Solar Solutions, and Co-founder & Director of Riolfie Pty Ltd, is an individual who believes that entrepreneurial thinking can change the world. He has dedicated himself to create a world of job creators, people who are in control of their own financial destiny. He is currently Chief Entrepreneur Officer of The Enterprise Network for Young Australians (ENYA), a not for profit organisation established in 2003 with the vision that Australia will lead the world on innovation, and every person in the country will understand that starting their own business is an immediate, viable career choice. Within this role Jeremy is Australian President of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance & Summits (www.G20yea.com), advising world governments on policy regarding young entrepreneurs.

In addition, Jeremy has now authored From Idea to Start-Up, designed to teach budding young entrepreneurs how to write a business plan and launch their ideas as a viable enterprise.

Sarah Marino
Sarah Marino
Donor Relations Manager of Opportunity International Australia


Sarah Marino, Donor Relations Manager of Opportunity International Australia, previouslyworked with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, and as the corporate relations manager of the Greater Bay Make-a-Wish Foundation. Currently she is with Opportunity International Australia, a leading provider and pioneer of socially focused microfinance and support services. Prior to this,





Benjamin Harvey
Benjamin Harvey
CEO and Founder of Authentic Educationer


Benjamin Harvey, CEO and Founder of Authentic Education, has successfully sold for and consulted with many companies including Adecco, Universal Events, Christopher Howard Training, Centrelink, IBM, Apple, St George, Qantas and AGL. During this time, he was responsible for generating annual sales in excess of $20mil and successfully negotiated business deals with CEOs and CFOs from a wide range of industries. After this string of successes, Benjamin launched Authentic Education, dedicated to running personal development courses. It is Benjamin’s intention to help people around the world fulfil their hearts desires by teaching them how to master key areas of their life and make the authentic changes required to expand.


Michael Kelly
Experience Designer at Massive Interactive and Consultant at Inclusive UX


Michael Kelly, Experience Designer at Massive Interactive and Consultant at Inclusive UX, has worked as a developer for various media groups and web agencies. In 2012 however, he left his role as technical lead at a respectable Sydney web agency and headed out to become the human centred designer he knew he was always supposed to be. After eight months of working as a service designer at Spark International Inc., Michael is currently a consultant at Inclusive UX, and experience designer at Massive Interactive. In his own words, Michael has "always liked people. So naturally I pursue a career that allows me to study, engage with, and improve the lives of.. People."



Peter Moriarty
CEO and Founder of ItGenius


Peter Moriarty, CEO and Founder of ItGenius works on the philosophy of “keep it simple.” To this end, he leads IT in helping small businesses break free from outdated technology. The group has provided outsourced, managed IT support services for many businesses in Sydney and across Australia covering thousands of IT devices.

Prior to this, Peter worked as the president of BNI Crows Nest Business Networking, where he managed the leadership team to ensure the growth and ongoing prosperity of our chapter. He has also recently begun serving as a host on Eagle Waves Radio, a platform for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and managers who want to hear the latest tech news and reviews, and how it can help your business. Additionally, Peter delivers presentations o give participants an understanding of what cloud computing is and ideas of applications and services that they can apply in their business. Peter will engage with the audience to tackle real world scenarios and answer any questions that the audience may have.

Avis Muhall
Avis Muhall
CEO and Founder of Looloo Paper, Co-founder of mmMule, Founder of Think Act Change


Avis Muhall, CEO and Founder of Looloo Paper, Co-founder of mmMule, Founder of Think Act Change, was recently named in SMH/Sydney Magazines "Top 100" Most Influential People of 2012.” With a passion for social innovation and enterprise, Avis was the co-founder of mmMule in 2011, a social travel network that connects locals who want stuff with travellers who can deliver it, where Avis was responsible PR, social media, community management, marketing strategy & implementation as well as partnership development. Since then, Avis has become the director of AngelMule (dedicated to delivery to non-profit organizations), and has founded Think Act Change group of Sydney changemakers who meet to inspire one another every month. Join us for bit of inspiration and the potential to meet others who want to create positive change in the world. Her current project, Looloo Paper, is a soon-to-launch social enterprise. It will sell toilet paper and use its profits to improve sanitation conditions in developing countries through partnerships with the World Toilet Organisation & Sanishop.

Additionally, Avis is a trustee of The Awesome Foundation and has acted as a mentor for both Startup Weekend Sydney and Social Startup 48. She was also a judge at Startup Weekend Melbourne and recently represented Australia as a delgate for the G20 YES Summit in Mexico in June 2012.

Sean Marhshall
Sean Marhshall
Co-founder of StartNest


Sean Marhsall, Co-founder of StartNest, is currently focussed on open innovation strategies for large corporations. StartNest, is most recent enterprise, is focussed on housing high growth start-ups.

The first company Sean founded was Koti, a consultancy helping small businesses move their systems into the cloud, primarily focussing on CRM and accounting solutions. Simultaniously, Sean was made president Australian Collaborative Entrepreneurial Society, a not-for profit association at the University of Technology Sydney. This group provides a platform for rising leaders, successful entrepreneurs and corporate Australia to interconnect. Between 2010 and 2012, Sean founded two more companies – the Vanguard, which linked entrepreneurial students to courses, events and other opportunities provided by its partners, and Marshall Report, a compilation of early stage tech investment opportunities for active investors. Sean decided to sideline this business however due to lack of resources. After five months of working as the sales and marketing manager of People in the Cloud Pty Ltd, Sean founded StartNest in early 2013.

Niki Scevak
Niki Scevak
CEO and Co-Founder of Blackbird Ventures


Niki Scevak, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackbird Ventures, describes himself as an “entrepreneur, voracious reader and lover of numbers.” After graduating with a degree in economics, commerce, and computer science, and working as an assistant stockbroker at Macquarie Bank, Niki co-founded BookmarkBox in 1998, an online service that let users manage and share their bookmarks online and public users search upon those sites that users chose to be public. From 1999 to 2005 he worked as an analyst at Jupiter Research, before making his next founding. This was Homethinking.com, designed to helph ome owners find a realtor by showing what each agent has sold in the past and what customers have said about the job they did.

Niki remains at Homethinking, and co-founded Startmate in 2010, a mentor-driven seed fund. Blackbird Ventures, is his most recent initiative, an Australian venture fund that invests in global Internet startups being built from Australia.

Epona Schweer
Epona Schweer

Epona Schweer's goal is to demystify the question as to where creativity comes from. Certainly she is not lacking in creativity herself, as she has experience writing, performance, art, and 3D simulation. To this end, she is currently a “culture hacker,” at Indie Bits, a group created to help people go indie, be creative and live well.

Epona initially worked as a freelance editor and illustrator before becoming the editorial assistant/copyrighter for the Intermedia Group. Here, she supported the chief editor through design, edit, coordination, communication and further ad hoc administrative duties. After some work in technical effects, Epona worked as a business development coordinator for the Calumo Group, and a business consultant for Addisons Valuation. After that, she began work at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment as a game development teacher and producer. She has since left these positions to work at Indie Bits.

Ryan Wardell
Ryan Wardell

Ryan Wardell, CEO and Founder of Co-Founder Speed Date, is happy to give startup advice to anyone who cares to ask. Particuarly, he is interested in roles with startups and venture capitalists and also corporate roles where his startup expertise can be utilised. Such experience goes as far back as 2005, where at the age of 19, he was the youngest ever employee in Australia to be promoted to a management position. Here, he worked at DHL Express, though in 2011, he made his first startup with the founding of Project PowerUp, a group where he also held the position of CEO. PowerUp was "Kickstarter for startups," and was the first crowdfunding site in the world to crowdfund itself.

After working as an event organizer at Pushstart AU and business development manager at Collussion, Ryan founded Speed Date in 2011, a "speed dating" style networking event to connect tech founders with business founders who want to work in startups. The group forged partnerships with the leading Australian startup accelerators: Startmate, PushStart and AngelCube.

Tom Dawkins
CEO and Co-founder of StartSomeGood.com, Director of the Australian Changemakers Festival and Board Member of Vibewire

Tom Dawkins, and CEO and Co-founder of StartSomeGood.com, Director of the Australian Changemakers Festival and Board Member of Vibewire describes himself as a "social entrepreneur, strategist, speaker, busy but happy human." For over 15 years he's been exploring how technology and culture can be harnessed as tools to create a more democratic and participatory society.

Tom founded Vibewire Youth Inc. in 2000 while he was at university, and spent the next eight years building it into an award-winning youth-led non-profit with offices in three states. In 2008, he left the group, where he has since served as board members for the International Institute of Communications Australia and World Summit Youth Awards, change manager for Ashoka, social media consultant for Small Act, and was the manager of communications and emerging media at HopeLab. In 2010, Tom founded StartSomeGood.com, acrowdfunding platform for social impact. His main focus with the group has been growing our community and leading our communications and business development. Since this time, Tom has rejoined Vibewire as a board member, acted as a strategist for Make Believe (a communications agency), and serves as the director of the Australian Changemakers Festival. Still with StartSomeGood, Tom was officially made CEO of the group in June, 2013, as it celebrated the milestone of $1 million raised for social good projects in 23 countries.

Colette Grgic
Colette Grgic, Product and Marketing Manager of Autogenie, Director of the Australian Changemakers Festival and Board Member of Vibewire

Colette Grgic, Product and Marketing Manager of Autogenie, is a startup entrepreneur experienced in strategy, marketing and project management. Currently working at Autogenie, a group founded to help car buyers claim discounts, Colette was the co-founder of RoundtheBendProject.com in 2010,where researched and surveyed the state of authentic eco-tourism and lodging in South East Asia and Central America in order to design a world-class eco-resort. In 2011, she co-founded Arribaa, a custom e-commerce platform to connect travelers directly to unique local experiences, and simultaneously give interesting locals the tools to organize, sell and successfully host such experiences.

Colette has additionally worked as s customer relationships coordinator for Shell Chemicals Americas Inc., a research and marketing assistant for the Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation, a program coordinator for the Alberta Ecotrust Foundation and Pushstart AU, and a research administration officer for the University of Queensland.

Samantha Cran
CEO of One Disease at a Time

Samantha Cran, CEO of One Disease at a Time, was named 100 Women of Influence by Australian Financial Review and Young Human Rights Medal Finalist for the Human Rights Commission of Australia 2012. Since being appointed to the position of CEO in June, 2011, One Disease at a Time has grown more than four-fold, raised over two million dollars’ in funds and has already reduced rates of scabies throughout communities in East Arnhem Land. The group itself is a not-for-profit organisation with the vision to systematically target and eliminate one disease at a time. The first initiative is to eliminate crusted scabies and scabies as a health issue in Australia. Prior to this, Samantha graduated from The University of Notre Dame, Sydney, with a double degree in marketing and communications. She previously held a marketing role with L'Oreal's Luxury Division and later worked with a transport and logistics firm.

Vinko Grgic
Customer Experience Manager of Jayride

Vinko Grgic, Customer Experience Manager of Jayride, is an expert in human centred design, helping agile and innovative tech startups build products that delight their customers. Examples of this include RoundTheBendProject.com, an independently funded project which sought to explore Central America and survey the state of authentic eco-tourism and lodging in the region, and where Vinko worked on the group’s blog in addition to being its co-founder. Prior to leaving the group, Vinko was the co-founder and chief product officer of Arribaa, a marketplace to enable the world's most remarkable local experiences - created for travelers, by travelers. Here, as a founding team designer and product design lead, Vinko was responsible to conceptualise and demonstrate design interaction and user experience for our technology within a highly agile environment.

Currently, Vinko is employed at Jayride. Here, he is responsible for crafting the Jayride user experience across four major areas: customer support, community management, brand engagement, and product design.

Team 2