Our next guest debuted for QLD in State of Origin at just 18 years of age and now heads up the organization that is Queensland Rugby League.

Although Ben Ikin began his sporting pursuits as a keen AFL player, his transition to rugby league came as a result of his time spent battling away in interschool sport, where he quickly showed potential and was thrust into the rugby league pathway.

Whilst injuries hampered Ben’s career, forcing him into retirement at just 26 years of age, as you’ll gather from the interview, Ben didn’t feel sorry for himself or become frustrated but instead quickly found ways to create a career outside of professional league.

After attaining a degree and picking up a commentary gig at Channel 9, Ben quickly made a name for himself in the media before eventually being picked up by Fox for the launch of NRL360.

From there, Ben has moved on from the media spotlight, taking a role at the Broncos before his current role now as CEO of the QRL.

On todays podcast we hear about Ben’s playing career and how that shaped him into the business leader he is today.

We hear about his transition from the high paying, high octane world of professional league to life after football.

Ben gives us an overview of his current role as CEO of QRL and everything his job entails.

And finally we hear about his thoughts on the future of the NRL and the likely further expansion teams.

We hope you enjoy.

Today’s guest is literal career rocket scientist Michael Smart – chief technology officer and co-founder of Hypersonix. A world leader in scramjet technology, Michael spent 10 years as a Research Scientist at the NASA Langley Research Center: Scramjet Branch. A pioneer in scramjet engine and hypersonic vehicle design, Michael was awarded Australia’s top scholar in his field of Aviation & Aerospace Engineering in 2020. Michael is the vehicle and technology architect of DART AE, Delta Velos, Delta Velos Orbiter and the Wirraway satellite launch system — all products in the exciting rollout portfolio of Hypersonix.

While there are currently over 100 small launch vehicle companies in development internationally, few use green hydrogen as fuel, and none use scramjet technology for small satellite launches. Hypersonix is leading the world in green scramjet engines and hypersonic aerospace design and engineering and today we hear from the man who has essentially built it all.

On today’s podcast we delve into the fascinating company that is Hypersonix. We hear about its world leading technology, it’s real life applications and the future of this exciting Qld born company who with

This week, Charlie and Will were lucky enough to be joined by Llew Jury. Llew successfully founded and exited two businesses in his time including leading web design, app development and digital agency Alfresco in 2006 followed by his successful development and sale of digital marketing agency Reload Group to Hardie Grant Media in 2022.

Now Llew puts his time into his role as Founder and Executive Chairman of Sprint Ventures – a venture capital firm based out of Brisbane.

With minimal track record in funds management prior to starting Sprint, Llew has developed the VC into a highly respected presence in the Australian Venture landscape. How has he managed to do this you might ask? One word that drives private markets more than interest rates, inflation and P/E ratios combined - relationships.

On today’s podcast we unpack with Llew the considerations for any business that is going through global expansion, the art of managing an exit process and we get an insight into what Llew looks for when investing in a business.

This week’s episode is the greatest insight into a career in investment banking available. Will and Charlie are joined by one of Australia’s most highly regarded investment bankers, Tim Foy. From the mouth of a long-lived investment banker, the discussion unpacks Tim’s journey into investment banking, what it is like working on a live deal, and finally we yield some invaluable advice for aspirational bankers who are pursuing what Tim details as a highly demanding yet rewarding career in finance.

On today's podcast, Charlie and Will were lucky enough to be joined by Playbook Co-Founder Chelsea Murphy. Playbook is an online marketplace that connects people who love playing sport to coaches and mentors so they build confidence and enjoy the sport they play. Chelsea and husband, Kieren's journey of building Playbook from the ground up, with numerous challenges along the way - including having to sell their house - is nearly unfathomable. Hearing from the founder of a start-up was extremely eye-opening for Charlie and Will as they gained a behind the curtain look into what it takes to start and grow a business. On today's podcast we unpack the origins of a Brisbane-based startup with a national presence and global ambitions, Playbook. We explore

Photo credit: Courier Mail

On this week's podcast, Will and Charlie learnt about one of the most pressing issues facing contact sports in across the world. The man aiming to fix this problem by putting objective data around the detection and prevention of concussions is Mike Vegar - CEO and Founder of HitIQ. Through specialised high-tech and highly accurate sensors implanted in a mouthguard, HitIQ's technology can measure the number of head injuries sustained over the course of an athlete's life along with the level of force of each concussion.

Throughout the episode, we unpack with Mike his background in US college sport which led to his interest in solving the concussion problem. He walks us through the origins of HitIQ and what it is like to develop a Medtech startup. He outlines how his company helps prevent the long-lasting effects of concussion through early detection. And finally, he lets us in on how he goes about running a small ASX-listed company as CEO and how he manages all the moving parts.

Please leave a 5-star review if you enjoyed.

On today’s podcast, Will and Charlie were lucky enough to be able to sit down with rugby league legend, turned highly successful businessman, Darren Lockyer and his equally as successful business partner Grant Wechsel. During the interview we delve into a side of Darren Lockyer’s life that is underexplored – his illustrious business career. We hear the story of how Grant approached Darren and convinced him to become his business partner. We learn about the pair’s current business interests. We hear about Darren’s transition from the sporting world to the business world, and finally, we sneak in time to get his thoughts on the upcoming origin series.

We hope you enjoy this exclusive and rare insight into Darren’s post playing career alongside his business partner Grant.

In this week's episode, Will and Charlie get to talk to one of Australia's more successful property investors - Warren Ebert - the founder and CEO of Sentinel Property Group. On the podcast, we get to unpack how Warren has built Sentinel Property Group to become the largest private property fund in Australia. Warren's story of how he got started in property is fascinating and his obsession with reading and acquiring more and new knowledge has held him in good stead in fashioning his property investment style to deliver terrific returns to investors for over 20 years. Warren also tells us on the podcast why he has not listed any property funds and why he champions giving investors consistency. We also delved into the general property market in Australia and what is coming in the coming years.

We hope you enjoy!

This week on The Business Of we had the privilege of interviewing Australian sporting legend Kieren Perkins OAM. With Kieren, we got into the simultaneously lucky and unlucky story of how he started swimming, his transition from athlete to executive and go into his current role as head of the AIS and ASC. Since his time in the pool, Kieren has held executive positions within NAB Personal Bank, President at Swimming Australia, CEO of Australian Unity Bank and currently CEO of the Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian Sports Commission. Kieren unpacks his rise to CEO of the AIS and ASC and the story of how he initially turned down the role, before some persistence from the AIS finally got him over the line. Kieren also gave us an insight into the funding side of the AIS and ASC and how they allocate this to best ensure Australia performs across all its competing sports.

We loved the chat and thank Kieren for his time.

As always if you enjoyed please leave a 5-star rating as it really helps, follow the podcast and follow our LinkedIn and Instagram!