The Business Of

‘Dreaming is such an important thing. You have to have space to imagine what something could be.’ 

Carving out the time and space to imagine and ideate is crucial for all business leaders. The development and growth of their companies depend on it.  

And for contemporary artist Ramesh Nithiyendran, finding time to ‘daydream’ is only possible with the strong infrastructure he’s built around himself and his practice. 

Across the first decade of his professional career, Ramesh built a successful art practice by treating it like a startup - reinvesting profits, building infrastructure, and thinking carefully about his brand. He peels back the curtain of the creative industries, talking everything from seeking funding and finding an accountant, to what it means to build a sustainable creative business while maintaining your artistic vision.  

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The Business Of podcast is brought to you by the University of New South Wales Business School, produced with Deadset Studios.  

This episode is hosted by Dr Juliet Bourke, with insights from Professor Claire Annesley. 

The transcript and show notes can be found on our website here. 

Want to follow the latest research and news from UNSW Business School and AGSM @ UNSW Business School? Subscribe to our industry stories at BusinessThink and follow UNSW Business School and AGSM on LinkedIn.  

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At seven years old, Hayley Saddington experienced an incident that became the catalyst for her whole career. 

Decades later, Hayley founded two companies – HALO Medical Devices and PeakMedical – but she’s not your typical tech entrepreneur. For one thing, she doesn’t come from a tech background. 

Both companies have tested her patience, her drive and her sleep schedule, but her deeply personal purpose has kept her going. And as a mentor to budding entrepreneurs, Hayley wants to help others determine their purpose and find that same drive to succeed in business. 

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The Business Of podcast is brought to you by the University of New South Wales Business School, produced with Deadset Studios.  

This episode is hosted by Dr Juliet Bourke, with insights from Professor Barney Tan. 

The transcript and show notes can be found on our website here. 

Want to follow the latest research and news from UNSW Business School and AGSM @ UNSW Business School? Subscribe to our industry stories at BusinessThink and follow UNSW Business School and AGSM on LinkedIn.  

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the early 2000s, and Roby Sharon-Zipser just wants his internet connection to cover his whole house. He’s on his hands and knees, trying to thread a cable through a hole in the floor, caked in white dust when he realises... I need some help! 

In that moment, the idea for hipages was born. And over 20 years later, it’s transformed from a Yellow Pages-style home improvement directory to an app-based marketplace, connecting tradies and homeowners right across the country. 

Roby explains how playing the long game has positioned it as one of the go-to names in its field.  

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The Business Of podcast is brought to you by the University of New South Wales Business School, produced with Deadset Studios.  

This episode is hosted by Dr Juliet Bourke, with insights from Professor Barney Tan. 

The transcript and show notes can be found on our website here. 

Want to follow the latest research and news from UNSW Business School and AGSM @ UNSW Business School? Subscribe to BusinessThink and follow UNSW Business School and AGSM on LinkedIn.  

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re finalists in the 3rd Annual Signal Awards! Help us win the Listener’s Choice Award by voting for The Business Of here.

Bigger is not always better, especially when it comes to data.  

In a digitised world, it is possible to collect reams of data on customers, but at what cost? Many companies don’t even realise they’re suffering an extreme case of ‘bad data hygiene’ which in the face of a cyber incident, could be critical.  

Laura Newton, a regulatory lawyer and cyber incident response lead at Herbert Smith Freehills, explains best practices for managing customer data, how to prepare for a cyber incident, and what to do if an incident breaks out.  

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The Business Of podcast is brought to you by the University of New South Wales Business School, produced with Deadset Studios.  

This episode is hosted by Dr Juliet Bourke, with insights from Professor Barney Tan. 

The transcript and show notes can be found on our website here. 

Want to follow the latest research and news from UNSW Business School and AGSM @ UNSW Business School? Subscribe to our industry stories at BusinessThink and follow UNSW Business School and AGSM on LinkedIn.  

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How productive can you be if your working environment is bad for your mental health? 

Psychosocial hazards at work are often less visible than physical risks but can have a significant impact on employees' mental health and wellbeing and typically arise from the way work is structured, the organisational culture, and relationships within the workplace

How can workplaces be better designed to better care for employee well-being and efficiency? Carlo Caponecchia, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UNSW Science and an expert in psychosocial safety at work, breaks down the key elements every organisation should focus on for a safer, more productive environment. 

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The Business Of podcast is brought to you by the University of New South Wales Business School, produced with Deadset Studios.  

This episode is hosted by Dr Juliet Bourke, with insights from Professor Barney Tan. 

The transcript and show notes can be found on our website here. 

Want to follow the latest research and news from UNSW Business School and AGSM @ UNSW Business School? Subscribe to our industry stories at BusinessThink and follow UNSW Business School and AGSM on LinkedIn.  

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tell the truth and tell it fast, especially when faced with a crisis that has the potential to put people – and an organisation’s reputation – at risk.   

Most businesses have some sort of crisis management plan to enact when threatened with turmoil, but what happens when the best laid plans fail?  

Sue Cato, one of Australia’s leading crisis experts, has been at the coal face of many of those incidents, guiding an array of companies through their most vulnerable moments.   

Sue explains the common mistakes leaders get wrong in a crisis, why your CEO isn’t always the best leader in tough times, and why telling the truth – and telling it early – is always the best move. 

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The Business Of podcast is brought to you by the University of New South Wales Business School, produced with Deadset Studios.  

This episode is hosted by Dr Juliet Bourke, with insights from Professor Barney Tan. 

The transcript and show notes can be found on our website here. 

Want to follow the latest research and news from UNSW Business School and AGSM @ UNSW Business School? Subscribe to our industry stories at BusinessThink and follow UNSW Business School and AGSM on LinkedIn.  

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Would you describe yourself as a right-brained or left-brained thinker? 

We’ve been conditioned to believe you’re either one or the other. And while we all know a math genius who couldn’t hold a paintbrush if they tried and some creative geniuses who’d be lost in the simplest of spreadsheets, we can all develop both our creative and logical abilities. And in business, having a balance of both is key to great leadership. 

Alexandra Smart knew this when she co-founded the fashion label Ginger & Smart. Without innovative designs and forward-thinking product development, the brand might not have stood. And, without the business savvy to actually make money, none of those designs would have graced a catwalk or a shopfront.  

Alexandra shares how this balance of creative and commercial thinking shaped their business strategy and go-to-market plans, and how in her current role as an executive coach she teaches other leaders to get this crucial balance right. 

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The Business Of podcast is brought to you by the University of New South Wales Business School, produced with Deadset Studios.  

This episode is hosted by Dr Juliet Bourke, with insights from Professor Barney Tan. 

The transcript and show notes can be found on our website here. 

Want to follow the latest research and news from UNSW Business School and AGSM @ UNSW Business School? Subscribe to our industry stories at BusinessThink and follow UNSW Business School and AGSM on LinkedIn.  

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s attention economy, it’s all about getting and keeping eyeballs on your product or service. How do you capture attention in an increasingly crowded market? And once you have it, how do you convert a casual fan into a die-hard fan? 

Darren Werner is the Head of Marketing at Kayo Sports, an Australian streaming service that airs live and on-demand programming. He explains how to capture viewer attention by adapting your product to changing consumer habits and leveraging the media platforms fans already love.  

He’ll also tell you what he learned about promoting the same product across vastly different markets while working with the NBA. 

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The Business Of is a podcast from the University of New South Wales Business School, produced with Deadset Studios.  

This episode is hosted by Dr Juliet Bourke, with insights from Professor Barney Tan. 

The transcript and show notes can be found on our website here. 

Supporting audio for this episode was sourced from Fox Sports, 11Alive, Netflix and WWE.

Want to follow the latest research and news from UNSW Business School and AGSM @ UNSW Business School? Subscribe to our industry stories at BusinessThink and follow UNSW Business School and AGSM on LinkedIn.  

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Business is an incredibly powerful force – how do you use it for good? 

How do you balance ambitious social impact targets with the realities of day-to-day operations? 

For Adam McCurdie, co-founder of social enterprise ticketing platform Humanitix, creating social impact was the priority from day one. How was he going to change the world? By starting a software company with a difference: one where he and his co-founder have no exit plan, and the profits go to charities around the world.  

But that’s not the only way to do well and do good. For Tristan Harris, the co-CEO of Harris Farm Markets, social impact evolved from a successful business model. After building a devoted consumer base that wanted more ethically produced products, Tristan realised he could make decisions that were good for the planet – and he could do this much faster than bigger competitors. And for Frances Atkins, the CEO of Givvable, long-term, ‘big picture thinking’ shaped the start up’s purpose. 

If you want to dive deeper into the business of profit and purpose, listen to previous episodes of The Business Of featuring Adam McCurdie, Tristan Harris and Frances Atkins. 

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The Business Of podcast is brought to you by the University of New South Wales Business School, produced with Deadset Studios.  

The transcript and show notes can be found on our website here. 

Want to follow the latest research and news from UNSW Business School and AGSM @ UNSW Business School? Subscribe to our BusinessThink newsletter and receive business insights and groundbreaking research and follow UNSW Business School and AGSM on LinkedIn.  

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What will you need to know – or know how to do – to succeed in business over the next ten years?  

A decade ago, the answer would have been to up-skill in tech. According to Lee Hickin, the AI Technology and Policy Lead for Microsoft in Australia, the advances we've seen in the last decade mean that “technology is not this thing that happens as a segment of a business, it’s actually how a business runs today.” 

And mitigating the risks and impact of climate change is the new frontier. Penny Joseph, the Head of Climate Resilience at electricity distributor Ausgrid, believes more companies will create roles like hers, and explains the unique mix of skills roles like hers require.  

Behyad Jafari, the CEO of the Electric Vehicle Council, has already seen entire industries updating the priorities of their skills base – he sees a future built on a ‘purple collar workforce,’ and explains what that looks like in the car manufacturing industry. 

If you want to dive deeper into the skills of the future, listen to previous episodes of The Business Of featuring Lee Hickin, Penny Joseph and Behyad Jafari. 

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The Business Of podcast is brought to you by the University of New South Wales Business School, produced with Deadset Studios.  

The transcript and show notes can be found on our website here. 

Want to follow the latest research and news from UNSW Business School and AGSM @ UNSW Business School? Subscribe to our industry stories at BusinessThink and follow UNSW Business School and AGSM on LinkedIn.  

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.