At the tender age of 26, James abandoned a promising corporate career to launch Australia's first business magazine dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship. Armed with little more than a credit card, some personal savings and the naivety of youth, he moved back home to launch Anthill Magazine from the spare bedroom of his parent's home (much to their horror).
Ten years later, James is one of Australia's most successful digital publishers. He has been named best Small Publisher in Australia twice and, while others struggle to adpat to a challenging media environment, James has successfully transformed his print magazine business into one of the Top 50 Business & Finance websites in Australia, according to Nielsen, making him one of Australia's leading "go-to guys when a big ol' corporate needs to get jiggy with the web".
He describes himself as a "lazy business owner" due to his obsession with automation. From traditional operations management to the number of times he tweets per day, he is a pioneer in the use of analytics, automation tools and game-layer techniques to manage processes, motivate staff and attract and influence customers. As an angel investor, mentor or co-founder, he has helped build several international businesses that can be run from anywhere or, as James likes to say, "in his underpants".
A charismatic and popular presenter, James is able to educate, entertain and challenge, on topics ranging from social media and gamification to innovation and commercial creativity. His own story -- from bedroom to boardroom -- has captured the imagination of audiences from all walks of life (i.e. business owners, politicians, teachers, electricians, professional poker players, whatever!). His education workshops and 'learning-based' presentations have left audiences brimming with ideas, take-homes and actions.
James takes pride in his ability to strip the jargon from technology developments, use story telling to excite, play games to cement learning and and bring future trends back to the fundamentals of business. (James can articulate 'augmented reality' in ways that even your old grandad could comprehend... before commandeering the opportunity to hunt zombies using your iPad as a new-fangled 'walking dead detector' device.)
