PETER IVANY PHILANTHROPIST
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Presented by:
RomulusIT.com
E1 2021 TheABE.com.au
PHILANTHROPIST
PETER IVANY
The former Hoyts Cinemas CEO shares his advice for entrepreneurs,
and explains his value system of giving back to the community
PLUS: BestMentors.com • Acerus Pharmaceuticals • Brookfarm • PRD Newcastle
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Contents
REGULARS
9 Publisher’s Note
FEATURES COLUMNS
10 COVER: Peter Ivany 30 [Legal] Darth Vader, nursing homes,
Businessman and philanthropist Peter and South Australians
Ivany on giving back to the community Kyle Kutasi, Employment & Civil Litigation
13 BestMentors.com Solicitor, Solve Legal
Founder Tori Moses on the benefits of 31 [Geopolitics] Security and
working with a mentor
disinformation – twins that breathe
16 Acerus Pharmaceuticals the same air
(TSX:ASP | OTCQB:ASPCF) Noel Hadjimichael, Public Policy Consultant
CEO Ed Gudaitis on becoming a leading
specialty pharmaceutical company 33 [Politics] Be cautious of a
Biden presidency
20 PRD Newcastle Matt Versi, Government Communications
and Lake Macquarie Specialist
Founding Director Mark Kentwell on
serving the national hotspot of Newcastle 35 [Digital] How can Search Engine
Optimisation (SEO) be applied
26 Brookfarm effectively on an international scale?
CEO Will Brooks on proudly supporting
local farmers Senka Pupacic, Founder, Top 10 SEO
8 The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.au
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The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.au 9
Peter Ivany
Giving something back
M
elbourne-born businessman and philanthropist Hoyts Cinemas
Peter Ivany made part of his fortune as Chief
Executive of Australia’s second largest movie “In 1981, Twentieth Century Fox had been just
exhibitor, Hoyts Cinemas. taken over by Marvin Davis,” Mr Ivany says, “an oil
man from Texas. His group were more interested in
During his time at Hoyts Cinemas, which he ran
the real estate than the theatre business, so they put
between 1988 and 1999, Mr Ivany grew the business
the cinemas business, Hoyts, up for sale. My father-in-
to over 2,000 theatres operating in 12 countries. law, Leon Fink was one of a number of partners that
Further business successes include home video rental owned two theatres in Melbourne and they ended up
business Video Ezy, and retailer Harris Scarfe, and he is outbidding all the others for the Hoyts’ business.”
currently the executive chairman of his own diversified Mr. Fink and his partners invited Mr Ivany to be
investment company, Ivany Investment Group (IIG), as part of the newly extended business and in 1983 he,
well as being equally, if not more, visible for his ongoing his father-in-law and two brothers-in-law bought out
philanthropic activities and community involvement. the other existing partners and began to run Hoyts
Mr Ivany spoke with us recently to tell the story of Cinemas together. “We also ran a range of other
how he made his wealth, shared advice on business businesses at that time.”
for entrepreneurs, and explained his value system of These other businesses included two public
giving back to the community. companies in radio and other media, advertising, film
10 The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.auPeter Ivany
and TV production, including the largest radio network (National Institute of Dramatic Art), the Jewish Film
in the country at the time, Triple M. Festival and the Sydney Film Festival. I delved more
When Peter was appointed CEO of Hoyts, in into the sporting community with the Sydney Swans’
1988, a particularly hard economic time in Australia organisation and the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust. I
following the 1987 property crash, there was much was involved in art through the Art Gallery of NSW and
work to be done to try to turn around the business. the Museum of Contemporary Art and, of course, the
This was eventually achieved with a lot of support, Jewish community with the Jewish Communal Appeal.
hard work, determination, and a lot of sleepless nights. Also, I serve as an Adjunct Professor at University
of Technology Sydney where I lecture and teach. So
“In 1993 my father-in-law, Leon, passed away, those are the few areas I’ve developed more fully in
and I was able to buy out my other partners with philanthropy.”
the help of Lend Lease and Hellman and Friedman, a
private equity firm out of San Francisco. Having had the experience of living on a
kibbutz at age nineteen, Mr Ivany developed a social
“We bought Hoyts out in 1993, started to expand conscience early on in life, and it has stayed with him
internationally and in 1996 we went public, having to this day. His experiences with Hoyts, both good
grown the chain from 40 to over 2,000 theatres and bad, helped him meet the challenges faced in his
around the world. We were public for two or three philanthropic endeavours, ultimately helping them to
years before we decided to sell the business to Kerry succeed.
Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH) in 1999.”
“I spend approximately 50% of my time in
“At Hoyts, we rebuilt and reshaped not only philanthropy and 50% in business. During the tough
the Australian cinema landscape but the cinema times of 2008, and even these [COVID-19] times, you
landscape internationally,” he says. “We were the first end up spending more time in business, when it needs
group to build multiplexes in Australia the late 80s it, but over time it sort of averages out so that there is
and by expanding on this format, we saw the level of a balance.”
attendance increase virtually four-fold from the time
Backed by an excellent team at IIG, Mr Ivany can
I started in the business to the time I finished. It was
utilise his entrepreneurial skills on the business side to
very exciting.”
make sure it all runs smoothly and to ensure that they
Mr. Ivany considers this period of his career, provide safe cash flow investments that in turn allows
which he calls ‘phase one’, to have ended with the him to continue with his philanthropic endeavours and
sale of Hoyts in 1999 to CPH. After the sale of Hoyts, find that balance that he enjoys. For him, it’s never
he began to investigate and invest in businesses in been about ‘who’s got the highest net worth.”
different areas. These investments culminated with
Mr Ivany still enjoys the business side of his life. IIG
Mr. Ivany establishing the Ivany Investment Group
is diversified with its investments in property funding,
which also expands on his philanthropic interests and
technology, stocks and bonds and private equity and
activities.
while some investments are passive, some are active.
It is the active ones that provides him an opportunity
Community focus
to use his experiences and contribute mostly to the
A driving force for Mr Ivany in all his businesses visions of others. He has spent considerable time
is the idea that through business acumen and over the last few years working on and developing
generating profits, his companies could make positive the businesses of the Sydney Zoo, Allied Finance and
changes for the whole, creating social benefits as well IMAX, currently three of his larger projects.
as economic ones. “In the past I’ve been involved in quite a few
Rather than spending more of his life building ‘active’ projects that not only build businesses but also
another company, as he did with Hoyts, travelling increases shareholder value such as Video Ezy and
and filling his time with work, Peter wanted to give Tourism Asset Holdings Limited, “TAHL,” managed
something back to society at large, and he wanted to by Accor Hotels, which was Australia’s largest hotel
do it in Australia. operators.”
“After the sale of Hoyts, I decided to spend half The diversification between passive ventures
my life in philanthropy. It was an easy decision for me or investments allows him to be able to allocate more
to make because I wanted to make a contribution, time to his philanthropic and community-based work.
and hopefully a difference, to the community that “The philanthropy is not just a time commitment,”
had given me so much. The interests that I had, I just Mr Ivany says, “it’s also strategic. You’re helping people
continued with them. I’ve stayed in film through AFTRS build their organisations and helping them reach their
(Australian Film, Television and Radio School), NIDA visions for the community. The not-for-profit sector
The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.au 11Peter Ivany
is growing rapidly, probably because more and more you need to believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself
people are finding that, not only is it an important others will as well, because people want answers, they
way to spend their time, it is also vastly fulfilling to be want solutions and they want a pathway in life. Any
involved with organisations that benefit social welfare.” leader has to give people paths.”
“What I have found is that once somebody has
Doing business without fear
become used to running a business themselves, and
When Mr Ivany found himself in the position to has achieved a certain level of autonomy, their skills
buy out his partners at Hoyts, he had no real experience become far more general than specific, and in effect
of what he was going to be up against and therefore they make themselves virtually unemployable in any
he had no fear. This is something he admits was key to other format.”
his success. “If you want to continue to work, then in effect
“For approximately three years, between 1987- you have to continue to be an entrepreneur, because
1990, we were facing huge losses, so I had to ask the really there is no other solution. It’s difficult when you
question, do I go and do something else or do I try to have run your own business, made the decisions, and
find a way to make it work? At the core of it, I believe reached a certain age to then pivot into an institution
I am someone who likes to find solutions and who isn’t with multi-layered, bureaucratic systems. I’m not
afraid of the hard work it takes to make things happen saying that it can’t be done, just that it is difficult to
and even in this situation, I truly believed that I could do.”
find a solution. When I put CEO on my business card
Entrepreneurs are often born by realising that
it enabled me to make the often tough, necessary
they are leaders rather than followers. Once they have
decisions and slowly we made our way back from
found a way to live this lifestyle, it’s all about finding
the negative and started turning it into something
the right people who share the vision and lead them
positive.”
effectively.
Mr Ivany admits that the most important skill
“At the end of the day, I work with a small team.
in that situation is to back yourself and have a vision.
You can’t look at it in terms of risk analysis, because I’m still involved in every aspect of all the businesses,
the risks are too big. Mr Ivany feels the main traits but it works, because you don’t have those layers of
of entrepreneurship are having confidence, backing bureaucracy to slow you down and you don’t have to
yourself and working around the clock. ask for permission. With everyone contributing, you
can get ahead of your competition and you take out all
“We were able to find hope when there was
the obstacles to success.”
none,” he explains. “We restructured the whole business
by reducing our bank debt, we sold off surplus assets “Even with big businesses and governments that
and significantly improved our profitability in our core are full of executives, politicians, and policy makers
business.” the final decisions are made by one or two people, it’s
Making a business successful is all about finding just the way the structures work. The key to success
the small positives, which Mr Ivany did as CEO of is to have one clear direction that everyone is pulling
Hoyts, and then timing it right to find the solutions. In towards.”
the late 80’s they could have sold the business cheaply “That’s sort of how it worked for me,” Mr Ivany
and moved on elsewhere, but they held out because concludes, “and then basically I’ve continued that
not only did he enjoy the business, he believed in it. way of doing things across a number of different
“I’m not going to say that there weren’t some organisations, and it’s been effective and it’s been
dark nights, nights where it was hard to see the future. helpful, hopefully. What I’m most proud of, in a sense, is
There were times when you get very little sleep, and that every organisation I’ve been involved with are still
there was no balance in your life. We made it with the thriving today.”
most finite of margins.” Peter Ivany has had an entrepreneurial career
At age 35, Mr. Ivany found that people were that has spanned more than 40 years. During this
beginning to believe in him on the back of this time, he has worked through the highs and lows that
incredible turnaround. This kind of success can provide comes with the territory of hard work, determination,
an enormous amount of confidence for somebody in a and strong business practices. He counts himself
leadership position – and confidence is key. fortunate to be able to take this opportunity to use
“Any leader has to have people that follow them part of his wealth to give back to the Australian
and for people to follow a leader they have to believe in community. For more information on Mr Ivany’s
the person that makes the decisions. To be that leader, investment firm, visit www.ivanyinvest.com.au
12 The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.auBestMentors.com
Connecting mentors and mentees
A
brand new way to find personal and that generally make life better and more enjoyable for
professional mentors, Australian-based everyone. Tori believes that mentorship is an investment
company BestMentors.com has an online in yourself and your life, giving you the chance to work
mentor directory which helps people connect with with mentors to learn from them and create the kind
quality mentors both within Australia and from across of life you want. She created BestMentors.com to allow
the globe. people to easily find the best mentors in the world all
The founder of BestMentors.com is forward- in one place. Tori speaks to us about the founding idea
thinking entrepreneur and businesswoman Tori Moses. behind BestMentors.com, the benefits of working with
A creative problem solver, Tori enjoys finding innovative a mentor, and her own experience with mentorship in
solutions to improve situations and circumstances seeking personal and professional success.
The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.au 13BestMentors.com
Online mentor directory “I think mentoring is so important, because
success takes a lot of time, takes a lot of effort, and
“BestMentors is actually a website,” Tori explains. if you’re working things out by trial and error, you can
“I’ve developed an online mentor directory that brings spend years doing things that could even take weeks
mentors – so experts in any field – together with or months otherwise.”
people who are seeking mentorship in any area.” In a world where people are keen to preserve
The website allows anybody with skills, time and money by doing things efficiently and
knowledge or expertise in any industry to list effectively, the perfect solution is being to pay people
themselves as a mentor in the directory and find to help with that process. This is the main idea behind
clients. The company then markets BestMentors.com BestMentors.com.
and the Best Mentors Directory to would-be proteges Best Mentors covers a wider range of areas than
and mentees who are searching for mentors to work just career building or advancement in professional or
with. business goals. It also serves as a source for finding
The BestMentors directory puts these mentors mentors who can work with people on personal goals.
in front of an audience of ideal clients, who are willing There will be mentors on the directory who
to pay top dollar to be mentored in the field or niche specifically mentor people in building relationships,
that they are in pursuit of and are interested in. dating, interpersonal skills – such as negotiation,
“I looked at finding a mentor for myself, and rapport building, and conflict resolution – finding a
spouse, and many other areas of personal progression.
it was actually quite an awkward process, because
you don’t know who is available to mentor you. You
Working with a mentor
don’t know who the best in the area or industry you’re
looking for is. You hope that you’re going to spend
At almost forty years old, Tori has never
money on somebody who is actually good value,
particularly felt that she has had guidance in her
someone who is actually an expert in their field.” professional life. Her parents taught her what they
This resulted in an arduous process when could, but her own story of finding mentorship reflects
searching for an appropriate mentor, prompting Tori just how important it is to find specific guidance.
to wonder if she could simplify the process by bringing “Neither of [my parents] were very academic,
together all the best mentors in the world in one place. neither of them were very career-oriented. There were
“That’s where the idea came about. I suppose things they couldn’t teach me. I got to my thirties, and
from that point onwards it was really reverse I had done a teaching degree, and I had worked as a
engineering from that solution. I worked backwards teacher and in other areas to find out what best suited
and figured out what needed to be done, and I started me.”
at that place of website development and it just gained The journey through your twenties can be
momentum from there.” difficult in terms of working out what a professional
For mentors, it can be a rewarding experience future will look like, both in studying in institutions
to train someone up in a particular area of expertise, and then moving into the workforce once you have
helping people achieve their goals, widen their impact graduated.
as individuals, and transferring skills and knowledge “You basically have to work it out yourself. So I
gained throughout a career or personal life. spent probably a decade trying to work out what to
“It’s always easy to learn from someone who’s do and where to go. I ended up wondering – what am
gone there before. I thought, success is entirely I going to do? Around that same time I started seeking
achievable, and it would be easy if somebody would out and listening to mentors, to actually show me the
be there to show me the way. I looked at that and way to achieve success in the areas that I personally
I thought, where could I find this person? How do I was interested in.”
know they’re good value? How do I know they’ve got Tori had always been interested in learning and
the qualifications to teach me and to show me the self-development, but quickly realised that being
way?” successful didn’t need to be such a hard slog or a
Proteges can save a lot of time, money and succession of painful and costly mistakes that wasted
effort by learning from a mentor. A mentor can time and money.
encourage you to achieve beyond what you think is She soon began working with her first mentor,
possible. They can show you the best and quickest internet entrepreneur Tai Lopez, who’s ‘Tai’s 67 Steps
way to achieve your goals, supporting you at every Program’ she undertook as her first paid mentoring
step along the way. experience. Around the same time she began listening
14 The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.auBestMentors.com
to Lakewood Church online with pastors Joel and “The mentoring side of things, as in the practical
Victoria Osteen, who offer messages of hope and skills of engaging with people as mentors, we would
encouragement in faith. actually teach, to ensure that every mentor is on par
with the way that we are going to deliver mentorship.”
“Little by little, I became aware of other mentors,”
Tori goes on to explain, “and I started working with BestMentors.com is looking for experts in any
area or field of expertise in order to train them up to
other mentors, and I started to gain traction and
be high quality mentors and list on its Online Mentor
success in the areas I was seeking after.”
Directory as Best Mentors, for people who come to the
The reality of mentorship is that it spans so website looking for mentorship in any area.
many different industries and areas, with skills learned “We want to check out the people who apply to
usually being transferrable across many disciplines. become mentors on BestMentors.com. Prior to listing
Tori’s vision for BestMentors.com is for people to come we would do a background check, check on their
to the directory to find a mentor in any area. credentials, their reputation, read testimonials about
them, perhaps even ask for referees. It’s very important
“Mentors even have mentors. [Tai Lopez]
to ensure that they meet the standards we are hoping
outlined that he worked with Joel Salatin. Joel was an
to deliver.”
expert farmer, and Tai worked with him in regards to
doing things on the farm. He moved from farming into The focus will be on assuring a standard of quality
of mentors, ensuring that they are decent and qualified
entrepreneurial stuff, but there were elements of that
experts, and safe for people to work with, especially
mentorship that he was able to generically apply into
for one-to-one mentoring. The idea is to bring the very
other areas of success that he moved into.” best mentors to people seeking mentorship.
Tori hopes to achieve a level of quality assurance It is an exciting time for this new business, and
on the website, believing it is important to be able it is currently running a founding mentors promotion,
to substantiate the claims made about the quality where people who are interested in becoming
of mentors available. This means there will be an mentors can join for an introductory price. Find out
application process for all prospective mentors. more by visiting www.bestmentors.com
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The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.au 15Acerus Pharmaceuticals
(TSX:ASP | OTCQB:ASPCF)
Building a sustainable, value-driven company
A
TSX-listed commercial-stage pharmaceutical Nasal testosterone
company, Acerus Pharmaceuticals has a vision
to become a leading specialty pharmaceutical “Acerus is a commercial-stage specialty
company focused on urology and Men’s Health with its pharmaceutical company,” Mr Gudaitis explains. “We
nasal testosterone treatment, Natesto. have an approved product on the market that we
are commercializing, and our focus of effort is on
Founded in 2009 and listed on the TSX (ASP)
specialists, not primary care physicians.”
and the OTCQB (ASPCF), Acerus Pharmaceuticals is
a micro-cap with a market cap of $50m CAD as of Although the company is based in Ontario,
August 25th 2020. Company President and CEO Ed Canada, its business is global. The company
Gudaitis has held numerous senior positions in multi- manufacturers and commercializes its core product,
national pharmaceutical companies, working in both Natesto, in a number of global markets, including the
Canada and the United States, and has been responsible US, Canada, South Korea, and Taiwan, with plans to
throughout his career for launching and building move into Europe in the next eighteen months.
billion-dollar pharmaceutical product franchises and “In the US and Canada we commercialize the
country operations. Mr Gudaitis discusses Natesto, product directly through our own sales and marketing
the firm’s disruptive technology that can potentially efforts, while in South Korea and Taiwan, and eventually
secure significant share in a more than $1 billion in Europe, we commercialize through partnerships
USD global market, the unique opportunity available with local operating companies.”
to potential investors in the company, and Acerus’ Unlike some other companies in the specialty
vision to become a leading specialty pharmaceutical pharma space, Acerus is not built on licensing in other
company in urology and Men’s Health. people’s assets. Acerus’ focus is on manufacturing and
16 The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.auAcerus Pharmaceuticals
commercializing its core product in-house, making it a “It’s a little bit like a topical hand lotion that you
unique proposition as a company. would put on your hand. It’s a gel, not a spray, applied
“We’ve been around for a while. Formed in with our dispenser on the inside of your nasal cavity.
2009, the company has gone through a couple of The product is rapidly absorbed, highly effective, with
iterations of strategy. It was previously called the Trimel low side effects.”
Pharmaceuticals company, and it was structured
to capitalize on a core technology, our nasal gel Unsatisfied market
technology, which enables us to deliver products in a
unique, patient-friendly manner.” The uniqueness of this nasal testosterone
technology offers investors an exciting opportunity
The problem that the company looks to solve
to invest in a company with a highly differentiated,
is a very unique. Our primary market opportunity is
unique product offering. The technology is an Acerus
the treatment of low testosterone, otherwise known
propriety technology, which was licensed in by Acerus,
as male hypogonadism. Around 14 million US males
protected by a strong patent strategy.
potentially have low testosterone, making a sizeable
possible market. “The Intellectual Property in the US, Canada and
“It’s about a $1bn USD prescription product Europe is very long-ranging. We have a current suite
market opportunity in the United States, with about of patents that would take us into the mid-2020s.
7 million prescriptions written per year. There are We have new patent filings and strategies that we’re
products that exist today, however there is no truly actively working that would take patent protection
ideal product in the market place. There are a number into the early and potentially the late-2030s. We have
of products with challenges in terms of how they’re a unique technology and a solid IP platform to work
delivered.” from.”
The main options in the market for low This means the company has a ten or twelve year
testosterone currently are testosterone injections, run in front of it with a very large, unsatisfied market
deep and painful injections with a large needle, opportunity to be capitalized on. This opportunity
presenting challenges with self-injection. There are is primarily in the United States, but there is also
also topical gels, which act like a skin lotion that you significant market opportunity in the Canadian and
rub in each day. European markets.
“With the topical gels, you have to worry about “If investors are looking for an opportunity,” Mr
potentially transferring the product to your spouse Gudaitis says, “we’ve got all the pieces in place, we now
or your children,” Mr Gudaitis explains. “After you need to execute and deliver on the opportunity that’s
apply the product to your body, you have to let it dry there. We’ve got a better product, in a large market
for twenty minutes, it can absorb differentially and that’s unsatisfied – let’s go and make it happen.”
not evenly all the time. As a result, there are several
challenges with existing products in this market.” The company’s management team is made up
of Mr Gudaitis, who has been in the pharmaceutical
It is estimated that up to 70% of patients on
business for over 25 years, and new additions who
prescription treatments for low testosterone will
bring relevant expertise within the US pharmaceutical
switch therapy at least once to look for better options,
market - Chief Medical Officer Dr Chris Sorli and US
as patients and their physicians are unsatisfied with
Commercial Leader Kevin Hickey.
the current treatments available.
“I spent about eleven years with Gilead Sciences
“Prescription treatment of low testosterone is
as part of my career journey, some of that here in
a very large market that has been well established.
Canada building the Canadian operation from scratch
Physicians know how to diagnose, treat and prescribe
low testosterone treatments. However, there is no to about a $1.2bn CAD business, but also in the US,
single ideal product in the market. We think we can where I was Senior Director for HIV marketing for a
solve a number of problems within this large market, number of years, launching several large HIV products
providing a patient-friendly, safer, effective alternative in the US.”
in a very large and growing market opportunity.” Dr Sorli is a board-certified US-based
Acerus’ unique technology creates a different endocrinologist and is responsible for the company’s
product than any other in the market for testosterone medical affairs and R&D activities. His background
treatment, an intra-nasal gel application of testosterone is in diabetes, metabolism and Men’s Health. He has
applied with a small dispenser three times a day on previously organized and set-up a large men’s and
the inside of your nostril. women’s health practice in his home state of Montana.
The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.au 17Acerus Pharmaceuticals
“[Dr Sorli] has direct clinical experience treating healthcare consultancy in Toronto, plugging him in to
the type of patients we would be treating with Natesto, the start-up, Venture Capital and healthcare consulting
but he’s also very much been on the forefront of spaces.
metabolic disease and diabetes, which is an area that “We’ve added two new board members recently
we’re interested in looking at with respect to Natesto, – a fellow by the name of Scott Leckie, who’s our
and he’ll be actively driving the strategic development Audit Committee Chair, he’s a CFA and has significant
of the clinical profile of Natesto.” investment experience. He used to run a private
Based out of Philadelphia, Mr Hickey brings investment company, so he brings that capital markets/
fifteen years of direct commercial experience in the investment side to the table.”
US and will be responsible for leading the Natesto “We also recently added Geoff Cotton, a US-
business in the US as the company moves forward. based commercial and medical affairs pharmaceutical
“From a management perspective, we’ve got expert. He is an MD by training, has worked in medical
people with direct experience in the U.S. marketplace, affairs, and he’s also launched products in the US and
and relevant experience to our business, to our has run various US businesses, at one point for Gilead,
therapeutic area and to what we’re trying to achieve that range up to about $8-9bn USD in sales.”
onboard at Acerus.”
Block and tackle
The company’s board has also seen some recent
additions, complimenting a number of long-standing
With this mix of long-standing team members
members, including Chairman Ian Ihnatowycz, who
and new faces, Mr Gudaitis is confident that the team
has served as a Director since September 2013.
has the relevant experience and skills to make the
“[Ian] is our leading shareholder; he owns about business a success with Natesto, which he identifies as
84% of the company, and he’s been a long-time board the company’s short-term goal.
member. He’s a long-time investor and has been a core “I usually describe our strategy in three phases
visionary for the company over that period of time.” – phase one is the here and now phase, and really the
Other long-time board members include goal is to get Natesto moving and get it commercialized
entrepreneur Stephen Gregory, and Borys Chabursky successfully in the US. That’s the core platform for the
who is the founder and Chairman of Shift Health, a company, that’s the foundation for the business, and
18 The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.auAcerus Pharmaceuticals
we will build the company around that success, and believes he has learned some important lessons, many
that’s really what we’re focused on right now.” of which came during his time working at Gilead
Sciences, a company that was run on the premise of
The second phase is to leverage the commercial
being lean, hands-on and focused on outcomes.
infrastructure the company has built in the US by
adding more products to its portfolio through business “For a small company like Acerus, I look through
development opportunities that will complement and that lens every day. We have undergone some significant
leverage the investment already made. reorganization and streamlining of the operations. The
biggest lessons for me have been – focus on what you
“The third phase of the growth strategy for us
can control, keep the business lean, and keep focused
would be to circle back to our pipeline and bring in
on the result and the outcome. That’s one of my key
some additional products, whether they are something
takeaways from my Gilead experience.”
that we can build into the nasal gel technology, or even
something that complements our focus on urology Another key lesson learned has been to embrace
and endocrinology from an R&D perspective.” good old-fashioned blocking and tackling, a strategy
that the management and board are well set-up to
The end goal is to have a growing and maturing execute in the case of Natesto to make the business
business with Natesto that becomes the engine of a success.
the company, with a couple of complimentary assets
“If you go in and do the basic executional
added around the product in order to leverage
elements well – build good key opinion leader support,
the commercial infrastructure and investment, and
make people aware of the product, have reimbursement
then something in the pipeline to give the company
in place, have the support systems for physicians and
continuity into the future.
practices to get product to people when they need it,
“So that we have a late-stage mature product, and have patients activated to ask for the product –
we have a growth product, and we have some new you will be successful in this category.”
products,” Mr Gudaitis says. “That would be the With a full product life cycle in front of it, Acerus’
ultimate goal in what we’re trying to achieve in patent strategy presents a unique opportunity for
terms of the short, medium and long-term to build a success for the company and potential investors. Find
sustainable, value-driving company for investors.” out more about Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Over his 25 years in the business, Mr Gudaitis by visiting www.aceruspharma.com
The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.au 19PRD Newcastle and Lake Macquarie
The best, not the biggest
W
ith the highest number of agents serving PRD
the Newcastle and Hunter Region, real
estate business PRD Newcastle and Lake “The PRD brand has been around since the
Macquarie has just been ranked #6 in Real Estate 1970s,” Mr Kentwell explains. “It was founded by Gordon
Business Magazine’s Top 50 offices in Australia. and Archie Douglas, who were developers that weren’t
PRD stands for Property, Research and really getting the service they wanted from young real
Development, and the company is led by Founding estate agencies, so they wanted to start a firm that
had a focus on projects, research and development,
Director Mark Kentwell, who still actively sells prestige
hence the name.”
properties and advises on significant projects with a
strong focus on growing his agents and the company. The Douglas brothers bought the PRD brand and
The company has four outlets in the Newcastle began to extend its reach over the next decade, with
CBD, and a new project suite in Hunter St mall, New the company enjoying average gross sales revenue
Lambton & Warners Bay. It is powered by one strong in excess of $6bn annually. Mr Kentwell and his team
administrative hub and has a dedicated Project became involved with the brand in 2004.
Marketing team and display gallery. Mr Kentwell speaks “It’s effectively a brand that has a lot of IP and a
to us about the beginnings of the PRD brand, his own lot of opportunity to work nationally, but you really do
journey and success in real estate, and the significant get a very large territory to grow into. You get a lot of
opportunity to grow agent numbers in the national scope to develop your own business model that works
hotspot of Newcastle. with what your objectives are.”
20 The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.auCalling All Real Estate Agents around Australia
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Mr Kentwell and his team wanted to operate impressive technology available, he still feels this is an
across all sectors of sales and property management, under-utilised area of the industry.
both in residential and commercial, as well as
“So I applied some of my brand and event
project marketing for new developments of land and
apartments. management techniques that I had learnt, and with
three modifications of CRMs in now, we’ve got a
“That’s the head office brand, but within our
completely customised system, and it’s made a very
region we have a very strong focus on training and
big difference to how our business operates.”
development, and we really have aimed ourselves
right through the middle in our areas and have a broad Another big element of the firm’s success is in
focus across that whole region.” understanding the numerous blockages that agents
Mr Kentwell was always geared up for business, in an average firm experience during the day, where
having studied business, economics and legal at school. routine and mundane tasks amount to unproductive
He also hedged his bets by spending time studying time. Mr Kentwell approached this issue systematically,
mathematics, engineering, science, woodwork, and coming at it with fresh eyes to find productive solutions.
materials.
“I employed a lot of coaches to help with what
“When I was getting into my later High School
we were doing. I tried it out on clients first, I tried it
Certificate years, I just started really wanting to get out
out on the public. When it was succeeding, I trained
there and creating my own way. I was entrepreneurially
minded and I didn’t think sitting through another five others. By having a tribe of people that are trained at
years of university to get into something that was such a high level compared to what people are used
technically minded was going to suit me.” to receiving as customer service, it automatically gave
our brand a positive response in the local marketplace.”
As a result he moved into mining, managing
bands and events in his spare time and having a share With the underlying PRD brand and a business
portfolio after purchasing a couple of properties of his engine that supports agent growth, Mr Kentwell and
own. Despite being offered a solid career in mining, his team are able to be dollar productive across the
Mr Kentwell didn’t want to settle into one industry at board. In addition to personal success, the focus is
that time.
now on having continued success as a team.
“I was enjoying the people side of it and the fact
With buying a home still considered to be the
that you could get exponential or geometric growth
from an industry that had systems and networking biggest purchase a person will make in their life, there
and marketing associated with it. I was so fascinated continues to be a huge amount of activity in the
that I really thought there was going to be a career for property market, meaning realtors like PRD Newcastle
me that was more suited than the engineering trades and Lake Macquarie have plenty of competition.
I was in.”
“Fundamentally, aspiration is probably driving
After investigating some options, Mr Kentwell a lot of [the housing activity]. Then there’s also the
decided to obtain his real estate certificate and found need side of things – if people are having families
that he was very engaged in the material. The step and they need space, if they’re relocating for work, if
into the industry as a career followed soon after.
you’ve got school zones to consider. Of course there
are separations and people passing away, and financial
Number One selling agent
changes in circumstances. They drive things as well.”
The team has been ranked as the number one Much of this aspirational thinking is driving
selling agent in Regional Australia across all brands, buying property, which leads to selling and improving
which with some 8,000 real estate businesses across
on living conditions. Australia’s wealth is made up of
the country represents quite some achievement.
about 66% in properties, and this has encouraged
“A lot of [our success] comes back to people that there can be positive benefits to these big
understanding the system that agents are using day
decisions.
in, day out to transact property and to engage the
buyers in the first place, and then let them have a look “We’ve been doing this on this planet for
at the product that suits them the best and pay the thousands of years. Building things and improving
absolute premium price.” things, and it’s such a great thing to be able to add
When he first started in the industry, Mr value and be able to improve your lifestyle at the same
Kentwell noticed that there was a low focus on quality time and be rewarded with a financial benefit from
databasing techniques. Even though there is some that as well.”
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National hotspot last few years, which Mr Kentwell puts down to the
attractiveness of both its geographical and economic
The company’s footprint is currently Newcastle elements.
and Lake Macquarie, but it is also looking to expand
“I think always Newcastle and Lake Macquarie
into the Central Coast, which represents a significant
has had lovely geography. It’s surrounded by sea and
geographical area almost equivalent to its local
surroundings. it’s got the biggest salt water lake in the southern
hemisphere. It’s quite beautiful, it’s quite a good
“It is just our neighbour basically,” Mr Kentwell
climate, but realistically it has a very robust economy
says. “There are some good operators down there,
and a lot of growth drivers for the property market.”
but they seem to be spotted fairly substantially apart.
There’s not really a lot of brands that cover the whole In particular the change from being a coal and
coast, or one database with one set of leadership. steel town to being a substantial regional city, the
There are a few chain offices, but most of them are second biggest in NSW, has made it an extremely
independently owned and operated.” attractive area for people from around Australia to live
This has created huge advantages for the and work.
company to target people migrating from capital “We’ve got several sectors of employment that
cities up north and moving backwards and forwards are substantial – we’ve got a massive health sector;
between regions, and it has already begun to apply its RAAF Base, retail and accommodation; education
blueprint in the Central Coast to take advantage of the is massive, and our university has just been ranked
opportunity. number one for law in Australia, and top ten in Australia;
The Newcastle and Greater Hunter region there are a lot of government jobs here as well. So the
has become a bit of a national hotspot over the employment side of it is driving growth.”
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24 The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.auPRD Newcastle and Lake Macquarie
Over the last ten years, the company has “We continue to grow,” he says. “We have a great
had more agents serving the region than any of its hub for agents, and we want to keep growing our hub,
competitors. With a high barrier to entry, this means so we can see ourselves doubling or tripling in agent
that the agents that are working for the region are of count with no problem at all with the base that we’ve
a very high quality. built.”
Mr Kentwell credits a particularly effective Mr Kentwell concludes by highlighting the
program created by a strong leader in the industry, significant opportunity that exists in the Newcastle
and Hunter Region for more agents to come on board
Bradley Brown, who runs 21 offices for Fletchers Real
and take advantage of the increase in people moving
Estate in Victoria. The program is known as RIRO:
to this national hot spot.
Recruit, Induct, Retain and Outplace.
“I can see that there will be a great opportunity
“Outplacing is important if you don’t have people
to bring in more [agents] from across Australia into
that match your culture. We’ve got a very strong
our brand in our region. I would have a good look
culture, and we’ve had some very high performers in at Newcastle and get in touch with me personally
our business that we’re very proud of what they’ve through our website. I’d love to talk to you about the
gone and done, if they’ve ever left. We’ve got other opportunities to come and be part of our great region
people that even though they might have been good and the expansion opportunities that are there.”
financially, they haven’t been good culturally.”
With a focus on being the best, not the biggest,
This kind of approach can lead to tough decisions PRD Newcastle and Lake Macquarie will continue to
needing to be made, but Mr Kentwell is sure that if you grow agent numbers to serve the Newcastle and Hunter
are clear about what you stand for as a business, then Region. Find out more about PRD Newcastle and Lake
the predominant behaviour from agents stays strong. Macquarie by visiting www.prdnewcastle.com.au
The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.au 25Brookfarm
Australian owned and made
A
generational family business that proudly Macadamia farmers
supports local farmers, Byron Bay-based
Brookfarm sources as many ingredients as “We’re in the month of our 20th birthday,” Mr
possible from within Australia for its range of quality Brook says. “Brookfarm was started by my parents,
products, from farms practising sustainable farming. Pam and Martin – thirty years ago we bought this farm,
Owner and CEO Will Brook took over the reins which ended up being degraded and covered with
at Brookfarm from his parents, Pam and Martin Brook, weeds. There was nothing going on, and it wasn’t well
loved.”
in 2018. A family dream to move to the country and
a passion for quality healthy food sparked Pam and With Pam working as a dentist and Martin as
Martin to buy a run-down Byron Bay dairy farm in a film director and producer, the couple began the
1988, transforming it into a working macadamia farm enterprise with no farming experience, but received
and regenerating an ancient sub-tropical rainforest. excellent advice to plant macadamias and regenerate
Brookfarm is now committed to creating more jobs a patch of rainforest on the farm.
in regional communities and is proud to employ over “That’s where the love of the land really
75 local staff across three facilities. Mr Brook talks to started, and ten years after that we were passionate
us about the origins of the farm where the company macadamia farmers. We had this beautiful nut, but it
operates, the ethos of sustainability at the core of was basically just being processed, exported and sent
Brookfarm’s products, and the new family venture off for other people to enjoy. We really wanted to get
investing in climate action projects to reduce carbon it into people’s homes every day, and that’s where we
from the environment. started with our first products.”
26 The Australian Business Executive - www.TheABE.com.auYou can also read
