Simon Baker, CEO of RealEstate.com.au and MBA graduate from Melbourne Business School (MBS), was recently featured in Smart Company. In a Q&A with Amanda Gome, he talks about how he's spent the last seven years turning RealEstate.com.au around.
The article provides some excellent insight into entrepreneurial strategy, particularly for an e-commerce company. For example:
Basically we’ve got two ways you can grow this business. One is through organic expansion – throw up a new website and then start from customer number one. The other is through acquisition. Now in 2005 we weren’t 100% sure which was the best way to go. We were, in terms of expansion overseas, babes in the woods, so what we said was ‘well let’s do something simple’.
He also talks about people, culture, and other HR issues. Overall, it makes for a fascinating read.