• Panellists delved into leveraging technology for innovation, focusing on sustainable platforms and innovative marketing strategies like self-driving initiatives.

• Community-centric strategies took centre stage, emphasising loyalty programs, authentic customer engagement, and the importance of diversity and representation within the audience.

• The panel challenged conventional growth models, prioritising multifaceted development over unicorn status, reshaping success metrics in the industry.

The Growth & Distribution Panel at the Forbes Australia Business Summit became a melting pot of industry insights, spearheaded by discussions ranging from transformative business philosophies to tech innovation and advocacy for diversity and inclusion.

Panellists, entertaining the audience by speaking candidly, explored the intersection of technology and business, emphasising its potential for driving sustainable advancements.

Vida Glow Founder, Anna Lahey

• Vida Glow was the first to market in their category in Australia and sold direct to consumer for two years.

• Substantial investment was placed in consumer studies and clinical trials to help build the market Vida Glow was breaking into.

• Other collagen brands benefitted as the result of Vida Glows path making, but Anna reflected on point of difference and legacy leading the way.

Vida Glow, a collagen-focused brand, made waves in Australia, showcasing a transformative journey in the health and wellness sphere.

Pioneering a new category in the industry at just 24 years old, Anna Lahey, founder of Vida Glow prioritised consumer education, aiming to redefine perceptions and practices in the health and wellness sector.

Directly selling and engaging consumers for their first two years, Vida Glow trail blazed the consumable market, and is now available across Australia in major retailers.

Expanding their reach into China, Vida Glow met a “ready” market, where consumable products were already established.

The brand's commitment to evidence-based products, innovative marketing, and consumer engagement initiatives positioned Vida Glow as a trailblazer in the industry, fostering a community and platform that not only offered transformative products but also enriched lives through knowledge and empowerment.

10 years into their journey, Vida Glow is preparing for a South-East Asia expansion, that aims to include a market they’ve identified as “ready”. The insight Anna gave from her experience in a market where her brand was the first, juxtaposed with a market where consumables were every day common place, helped give the foresight to this next step in her decade long journey.

Finder founder, Fred Schebesta

• Finder's founder, Fred Schebesta initiated the company by valuing consumer adoption, learning from early errors, and continually raising performance standards.

• Finder navigated growth challenges by balancing established practices with innovation, fostering a culture of adaptability and foresight.

• Embodying a relentless pursuit of growth, Fred prioritised self-accountability and tough conversations, learning how to build a team that can adapt with innovation.

• Fred shared his multiple conversations with customers that provided him with feedback on a feelings level, which helped him shape his product to solve their pain points.

Schebesta was candid with his experience in team building and the challenges that faced Finder in the earlier days. He expressed a relentless pursuit of growth and innovation, learning and demonstrating an unmatched level of commitment.

His approach emphasises self-accountability and setting clear expectations, acknowledging the necessity of tough conversations to refine and propel the company forward. With a mindset inclined toward continuous improvement, Finder embraced a culture that questions what isn't working and fosters an environment where mistakes serve as opportunities for growth.

Finder’s journey began by understanding the importance of consumer adoption, drawing parallels with successful business models. As Finder evolved, Fred navigated the challenges of growth, recognising the need to balance sustaining successful practices while fostering innovation.

This involved selecting versatile team members akin to Swiss Army knives—individuals capable of multi-faceted roles, yet knowing when to incorporate specialised expertise in tandem with scaling.

Fred reflected that the “Swiss Army Knife” type of employee can become less relevant as a business grows into a collection of specialists, but when innovation opportunity arises, and it always does, that these people are vital for start ups. Through these approaches, Finder's founder demonstrated a strategic blend of adaptability and foresight, nurturing a culture of agility and innovation within the company's growth trajectory.

LIVEN Founder, Grace Wong

• Grace shared about her #fu*kup blog where she noted her missteps and what she learnt.

• Liven flourished B2B and not engaging in advertising, because of their model. This came from a strong brand identity and vision from.

• Wong challenged herself whilst building Liven and the audience to identify why and how you want to grow, because growth means something different for everyone.

Grace Wong, the driving force behind Liven, embarked on her journey with a clear focus on technological innovation and a community-centric approach. By recognising the significance of technology in transforming the world, Grace propelled Liven as a sustainable, end-to-end hospitality platform, leveraging loyalty programs and cutting-edge marketing strategies like self-driving initiatives.

Built to last, Grace reflected on the importance of building a sustainable model, not a rare “unicorn” to be sold on. Under her leadership, Liven cultivated a culture challenging conventional growth paradigms by emphasising deep, multifaceted development (A Dragon) over seeking unicorn status.

Reflecting on her quiet rise to success, being B2B in a strong niche of hospitality, Grace instilled a commitment to authenticity, engaging customers genuinely and valuing brand identity as a pivotal asset, rather than advertising.

Her forward-thinking approach embraced understanding human behaviour, focusing on long-term sustainable strategies, and actively involving customers in product development, epitomising Liven's ethos of evolving with the customer.

Grace's leadership at Liven embodies a visionary blend of technological innovation, community-driven principles, and a steadfast commitment to sustainable growth and customer engagement, without getting lost in the sauce.

Luli Adeyemo, TechDiversity Executive Director

• Luli Adeyemo, Executive Director of the TechDiversity Foundation, pioneers diversity and inclusion in the tech sector.

• Luli reflected on the misstep of a cooperation not having majority of their audience represented in their marketing and the potential loss when not engaging their audience correctly.

• Adeyemo's leadership prioritises actionable measures, reshaping the tech landscape for multifaceted growth and progress.

Luli Adeyemo, through the TechDiversity Foundation, stands as a vanguard in promoting diversity and inclusion within the tech industry.

Her mission encapsulates a commitment to transforming the industry's landscape by fostering an environment where diverse perspectives thrive. Leveraging technology, the foundation spearheads initiatives that not only advocate for but actively implement strategies promoting diversity and inclusivity.

Drawing from discussions on diversity and representation, Luli Adeyemo's work embodies the essence of creating platforms that amplify underrepresented voices, championing equity, and breaking barriers prevalent in the tech sector. Her leadership navigates beyond mere conversations, implementing actionable measures to bridge the diversity gap and create a more inclusive tech ecosystem.

The TechDiversity Foundation under Luli Adeyemo's guidance echoes the sentiments shared in previous conversations, prioritising community-centric approaches and redefining success by embracing multifaceted development over conventional norms.

To Conclude

From the strategic reinvention of business paradigms to technological innovation and advocacy for diversity and inclusion, these dialogues reverberate with a shared commitment to progressive change.

The summit's exploration of technology's intersection with business, particularly in the hospitality sector, unveiled a roadmap for sustainable advancements, emphasising community-centric approaches and a departure from conventional growth models.