February 4, 2025 • 34 mins
Discover the incredible journey of Julian (Jolly) Day, the visionary behind the Consensus Awards, as he shares his insights into innovation. These awards have spotlighted transformative technologies with a unique blend of rigour and support for over two decades.
Join us as Julian recounts his path from the UK computer scene to shaping Australia's tech landscape, armed with experiences from the British and Australian Computer Societies and his editorial role at Software Magazine. You'll learn how the Consensus Awards have become a hallmark for identifying innovations with remarkable global potential and performance.
Explore how the Consensus Awards contribute to Australia's innovation-driven economic growth, offering entrants detailed feedback and unparalleled guidance. Julian discusses how winning this prestigious award can significantly enhance a company's credibility and attract investors, opening doors to global expansion.
Hear about groundbreaking innovations like ARRI Water's stormwater filtration technology and a novel guttering system from Western Sydney, which exemplify the transformative impact and marketplace validation that these awards facilitate.
Engage with stories of innovation from Australia and New Zealand, highlighted by endorsements from influential figures such as Malcolm Turnbull. From AI and machine learning to niche projects like turning deserts into fertile land, these narratives showcase the iterative process of innovation and encourage a vibrant community of creative thinkers.
We invite you to reflect on how you can contribute to meaningful change within your community, drawing inspiration from the pioneers redefining human connection and challenging traditional boundaries. Join us for more extraordinary journeys that continue to inspire and empower.
Thank you for listening!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Leon Goltsman (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to Engaging Conversations
wherever in the world you'retuning in from.
I'm your host, Leon Goltsman,and I am so excited to be here.
It's truly incredible to seeour community grow in the way
that it has, and I want to thankeach and every single one of
you for your ongoing support.
Your passion fuels our missionto spotlight the people, ideas
(00:20):
and innovations that drive realchange.
Before we get into it.
A heartfelt thank you to ourvalued sponsor, ideas and
innovations that drive realchange.
Before we get into it.
A heartfelt thank you to ourvalued sponsor, Niaz Cannoth,
Principal and Lending Specialist.
Your support, Nias, makesconversations like these
possible, and for that, we aretruly grateful.
at Invest Intelligence.
Nias is dedicated to sociallyresponsible investment
strategies, particularly indisability accommodation.
(00:44):
Now, this week's episode issomething special.
We're not just talking aboutbig ideas.
We're talking about what ittakes to make them a reality,
because we all know thatambition alone isn't enough.
It's about the team you build,the guidance you embrace and,
most importantly, the belief youhave in yourself.
Julian Day, founder of ConsensusAwards, has spent decades
(01:06):
recognising and elevatinginnovation, helping visionaries
turn ideas into global brands,just as we've seen with
Atlassian and WiseTech Global.
Julian's own journey is atestament to the power of
collaboration, resilience andbeing open to the right advice.
From his humble beginnings as aUK college graduate to working
(01:26):
alongside prime ministers,academics, industry leaders and
tech pioneers like MikeCannon-Brooks and Scott Farquhar
, his story proves that with theright people by your side, the
possibilities are limitless, andtoday we have the privilege of
sitting down together to hearhis journey firsthand.
What I love most about today'sconversation is that it
(01:48):
celebrates the magic ofpotential, the incredible things
that happen when good peoplecome together for the greater
good.
It's an honor to welcome Julianto the show, so, without
further ado, let's jump straightinto it.
Julian Day (02:00):
Yeah hi, I'm Julian, nicknamed Jolly Jolly Day, and
I'm the founder of the ConsensusAwards, which were started way
back in 1999.
Leon Goltsman (02:10):
Wow, Julian, you've come a long way since
then.
Can you share the pivotalmoments that led to the creation
of the Consensus Awards?
Julian Day (02:26):
Well, I think back to 1978 when I graduated from
college in the UK.
I went straight into thecomputer industry at the
forefront of technology.
Then I worked for a majorAmerican computer company for
three and a half years and didvery well, and then worked for
the company called OxfordUniversity Press, which most
people would know.
The book publishers Fantasticcontract with them and that led
me to focus more on the softwareindustry because I was involved
(02:48):
in working with them toimplement a major new computer
system for one of theirwarehouses and as a result I was
doing all of the qualityassurance on the new software
and it led me then to joining asoftware company.
After that I spent anotherthree and a half years in the UK
before coming out to Australiain 1986 and the thing I've done
(03:13):
all the way along is always putback to industry.
I joined the British ComputerSociety in the UK and
transferred my membership to theAustralian Computer Society.
When I arrived in Australia,and very quickly because I was
in the forefront of usingsoftware development tools, I
started a special interest groupwithin the ACS which was for
(03:34):
computer-aided softwareengineering case technology.
I was having more people attendmeetings than the actual main
meetings of the ACS on a monthlybasis.
So I was encouraged to put myname forward and the following
year I became the statepresident for the Australian
Computer Society.
At the same time I was writingup case technology for a
(04:00):
software magazine and after acouple of years of being a
contributor to the magazine, theeditor of the magazine went on
to other, greater things and Iwas invited to step up to be the
editor of software magazine,which is fantastic.
Leon Goltsman (04:17):
Wow.
So you've gone from being astudent, moved forward a few
years, and then you're now theeditor of a magazine.
All that experience and allthat expertise has equipped you
with the concept and the ideafor the Consensus Awards.
Julian Day (04:31):
Yeah, I was forever sort of seeing new technologies
and I was a real big advocatefor what's locally designed and
developed.
And when I was editor ofSoftware Magazine I was invited
to be a judge of two awardsprograms.
One was the Western SydneyInnovation Awards and also the
Australian Design Awards.
And having done that for acouple of years, I met the
(04:54):
convener of the design awardsthrough a mutual friend at
Christmas in 1998 and said yep,we're ready to go with the
awards this year.
He said, well, no, I'm leavingstandards, taking vacation,
going back to the UK for threemonths.
I said, well, why don't we gettogether when you get back in
April?
And I'd already got it plannedout.
You know, I've got thetechnical background, I know the
software industry pretty well,I know all the vendors and
(05:17):
Terry's been running theAustralian Design Awards so
knows how to run the awardsthemselves.
So when he came back I put theproposal to him and we formed
Consensus and the ConsensusAwards on the 1st of July 1999.
Leon Goltsman (05:31):
Just by making an alliance with the right people.
Julian Day (05:35):
Absolutely meeting the right people at the right
time and, most importantly,doing the right thing for other
people as well.
Leon Goltsman (05:40):
Well, the consensus awards has come a long
way because you've achieved aremarkable track record, with
nine out of ten winnersachieving significant success.
Julian, what criteria do thejudges prioritise when
evaluating potential winners?
Julian Day (05:56):
Yeah, the judges and there's many of them make a
decision based upon number oneis it really really really
innovative?
And we always have a minimum ofnine judges in the room to make
the final decision, so they allhave to agree number one, that
it's innovative.
Secondly, they look at what itspotential is worldwide and, of
(06:17):
course, the people presentingreally need to understand their
market, who their competitorsare, what the landscape is,
what's their value add, etcetera.
And the last one is performance.
Well, what is it?
Tell us more about the valueadd to the people that are
actually going to use thetechnology?
It might be nice having aninnovative technology, but are
people going to buy it and, atthe end of the day, what's the
(06:40):
user experience?
What's the go-to-marketstrategy?
Leon Goltsman (06:43):
Certainly, some of the people that have won
awards have ended up reachingglobal status Atlassian and
Wildtech global and notableexamples of companies that
actually gained earlyrecognition through the
consensus awards.
How did winning the awardimpact their trajectories?
Julian Day (07:01):
One thing we found over all the years is that
winning an award is a major liftfor those that win the award
the recognition of theirinnovation and all the hard work
that they've put in.
It's a rubber stamp fromindustry because it's judged by
people from industry andinevitably that opens doors
worldwide industry andinevitably that opens doors
(07:26):
worldwide.
So richard white from wise techglobal openly says that he used
the judging process to validatewhether he was ready to go to
market.
He won an award in 2004 and, asI say, the rest is history a
multi-billion dollar companylisted on the asx.
Second detail that the sameyear actually it was quite a
fantastic year for us Atlassianwon an award and I met Mike and
(07:47):
Scott, the founders, at a ACSmeeting in October 2003 and I
was just talking to themsocially and they were saying
that they're developing thisproduct called Jira and my
background being softwaredevelopment project management,
I latched onto that becausethat's exactly what Jira was
designed to do and I recommendedto them that they enter the
(08:10):
awards.
At the time they won our award.
They hadn't sold Jira, so theywere still going to market.
I recognised the potential.
Obviously, the judges agreedwith me.
A big tick in all those threeboxes, as I mentioned the
innovation, the potential.
Obviously, the judges agreedwith me Big's ticking all those
three boxes as I mentioned theinnovation, the potential and
performance and they are just amammoth organisation worldwide
(08:30):
now.
Absolutely brilliant result.
Leon Goltsman (08:33):
Congratulations, I suppose, to you as well,
because you get to see a lot ofthe things that a lot of people
may not have, and being at theright time being with the right
being at the right time beingwith the right people at the
right place, as you mentioned.
How do you feel about peopletaking shortcuts when it comes
to things like that?
Julian Day (08:48):
yeah, never compromise.
There's no shortcuts.
You've got to do the hard graft.
I speak to a lot of founders.
You know they work extremelylong hours.
You know 100 hours a week orwhatever.
So they're always working atthe weekends and in the evenings
, not just during the daytime.
And it's great that they getthe recognition through an award
(09:08):
because it really gives them anuplift.
And, of course, if there's morethan one just the founder,
maybe there's two or three inthe organisation, it's actually
team congratulations.
It really gives them an upliftand off they go into bigger and
better things.
It's fantastic.
Leon Goltsman (09:23):
With the Australian economy experiencing
gradual growth and a focus oninnovation, how do you see the
role of consensus awardsevolving in the current economic
climate?
Julian Day (09:34):
We're in a very, very strong position as far as
the innovation landscape isconcerned If people actually
enter our awards and win numberone.
Winning the award is stage one,but we keep in touch with all
of the winners so we track themthrough the years.
We've now got many interviewsof previous winners.
(09:54):
You can see them on YouTube insearch for Consensus Awards and
people saying it really gavethem an uplift, an absolutely
fantastic achievement for themactually winning the award.
But what's actually theyachieved on the back of it?
And quite a few cite the factthat, of course, they won the
award.
It allows them to attractinvestors in their business,
(10:15):
which is number one, what theywant to do when they're
obviously looking to goworldwide.
Leon Goltsman (10:19):
Well, the Cons consensus awards have a unique
model, with an open process andindependent judging, as you
mentioned earlier, julian.
Can you explain how this modeldiffers from other award
programs and what its benefitsare?
Julian Day (10:31):
Yeah, we're very specifically looking at
innovation.
At the end of the day it's avery detailed process.
I don't want to scare peopleaway, but it is the most robust
awards program in the technologyspace worldwide.
We've compared it with othersover the years.
And secondly, we spend a lot oftime with each entrant.
We actually help them throughthe process.
(10:53):
They love that because we're asounding board.
Any questions we're asking inthe entry form, we're more than
happy to explain what the judgesare looking for, give them some
ideas.
We also do a complete review ofthe entry form.
I don't know of any otherawards program again that
worldwide.
That actually doesn't that goesto that length actually go
(11:15):
through the detail of the entryform before it goes to the
judges and give them theopportunity to fix things up
that we believe the judges arelooking for.
So it's very much ahand-holding exercise all the
way through and it's quiteinteresting.
We have, each time we run theawards, a previous winner from
our previous year and thespeaker this last year was
(11:38):
fantastic.
Just so that everyone's awarethat, as well as winning an
award, if you're nearly, nearlythere but not quite, the judges
can confer a highly commendedand this particular company were
highly commended in October2023.
And we're now running theawards twice a year and that's
another unique worldwide.
So they entered the awards inthe first half of 2024, and they
(12:02):
won an award.
So I invited them to be a guestspeaker in the second half of
the year edition two in 2024 andthey just spoke unbelievably
you know so confident aboutwinning the award and the value
that it had given to them, etc.
So it does show you that theyou know it works well.
Leon Goltsman (12:23):
We engage with everybody, we help them through
the process and it's great tosee them successful, and what an
experience it must be for themas well, because they're going
to obviously get the kind offeedback they're not going to
get anywhere else, are they?
Julian Day (12:37):
no, that's a good point there, because I go around
I sort of many incubators,startup pubs, universities where
they're doing research acrossAustralia and New Zealand and I
quite often find individuals orgroups of people say researchers
, universities doing exactly thesame thing that others are
doing in other parts the parts.
(13:04):
And I actually say to them andI'm sure I've saved a few
individuals and their parents afair bit of money by saying well
, by the way, the technologyyou're looking to develop
already exists or is beingdeveloped elsewhere.
I really suggest you go andcheck that out before you
actually get your parents to putmore money in, and I believe
that's happened a few times.
But back to your point as wellis the fact that if they do
engage with us, we do believethat they have the opportunity
(13:27):
for success, then the world istheir oyster.
Leon Goltsman (13:29):
Fantastic, what a great investment, isn't it?
Julian Day (13:32):
Yep.
At the end of the day, themoney they spend on the entry
form is actually very, verysmall compared to the feedback
they get from a very largenumber of people from the
industry.
Basically, give them a rubberstamp to say that this is a
technology that is obviouslysomething that could have
worldwide potential.
Leon Goltsman (13:52):
So, julian, what are some of the most memorable
innovations or companies thathave been recognised?
Julian Day (13:57):
I think there's a couple that stand out.
There's obviously Atlassian andWiseTech Global, but there's
one Western Australian companythat won a couple of years ago
and that's called ARRI A-R-IWater and they have spent hard
graft over many, many years youknow 15, 16 years developing a
(14:18):
technology to capture the debrison the streets that goes down
the stormwater drones, and theydeveloped initially cages that
fit very nicely snugly into eachdrain, which are standard drain
sizes across Australia, butthen they developed a filter
which is actually it's called apillow because it fits in snugly
(14:39):
into those cages that they'dpreviously made and it filters
all the water.
So these guys are stoppingleaves and debris go down the
stormwater drains, but they'realso filtering all the water, so
it actually saves all the crapexcuse my French, but all of the
bad stuff going out to sea,which is absolutely brilliant.
I'll mention another onetotally left field.
(15:02):
This is a guy in Western Sydneyand what he's developed is a
brand new innovative gutteringsystem for houses.
You know the old gutters clogup with leaves, even if you put
filters over them, whatever, andthey rust away over the years.
Well, his is developed usingcolor bond and the color bond is
(15:24):
a casing that goes around thegutter and protects anything
going into the gutter itself andeasy fall, because the water
falls through the gutter veryeasily, easy fall guttering and
just totally, you know, out leftfield.
He saw the opportunity and,based upon the award that he's
(15:46):
recently won he won in early2024, he's putting the foot down
on the throttle and developingit very quickly, which is
fantastic.
Leon Goltsman (15:56):
Wow.
So it's very, very inspiringfor the listeners.
Julian Day (15:58):
So when people are trying to get into a market or
getting some ideas, yeah, therewas even one person last night
and when I told him about thediversity of the awards we have
because we started, obviously,as I said, with my background of
software, but we're now acrossall industry sectors and those
last two examples were good forthat but at the end of the day
(16:22):
this guy just said look, he hasnot seen any awards program and
he knows the industry quite wellthat actually is able to
identify the best and actuallyreward the best.
Many industry associations runawards, but what happens in
those awards typically is thatthey choose one winner.
(16:43):
These are the finalists and thewinner is ours is very unique.
It's up to the judges to giveout as many or as few awards as
they believe meet those threemajor criteria, so there can be
any number of award winners.
So it makes it reallyinteresting on the night of the
awards.
Nobody knows how many winnersare, are going to be, and each
(17:04):
one gets a separate citation asto why it wins an award.
And secondly, they have theopportunity, if they're highly
commended, for example, to getthe feedback constructive
feedback from the judges to thensay, well, let's have another
go, let's actually fix up thefeedback we've had from the
judges and make it a reality.
Leon Goltsman (17:24):
Julian, how do you foresee the consensus awards
contributing to the globalrecognition of Australian
innovation, especially with theplanned expansions?
Julian Day (17:32):
Yeah, over the years , I've always looked to see
whether we could take our modelinto other countries.
I'd say we currently run overAustralia and New Zealand and we
did a lot of work looking atSingapore before COVID hit, but
we put that on hold.
But we're now in a very strongposition to take the awards into
Singapore and we're also beinginvited to potentially set up
(17:57):
the awards in New York as well,which will be absolutely
fantastic.
There are two key issues here.
Number one we obviously want tomake sure that we keep the
robustness of the whole processin place, so we'd be looking to
partner with individuals orsmall firms in those areas that
are totally independent toactually assist us in putting
(18:18):
the whole process in place.
To actually assist us inputting the whole process in
place.
Secondly, looking for a decentnumber of independent judges to
be part of the judging processin each of those locations.
And once we do this, it's great, because what we can do
worldwide, once we've got theseawards happening in different
countries, is we can actuallyinvite the winners from
(18:40):
different countries tocollaborate on new technology.
They're all winners, so whyshouldn't they collaborate to a
next level, which?
Leon Goltsman (18:48):
is great.
Well, that's taking it to thenext level With the current
economic focus on productivityimprovements and technological
advancements and we're seeing alot of that.
How can initiatives like theConsensus Awards drive economic
growth and innovation inAustralia and, I suppose,
regional parts of the country aswell?
Julian Day (19:08):
Yeah, we're not the only awards program in the
technology space.
The ACS, for example, has theirown awards now and there's a
couple of others.
The ACS, for example, has theirown awards now and there's a
couple of others.
I think the prime reason whywe've been so successful in
identifying winners and nine outof ten of those winners go on
to be highly successfulworldwide is because of the
(19:28):
independence and the fact thatwe go out there looking for
potential entrants.
Most of the other awardsprograms we know they rely on
people to approach them.
They're obviously sending out anotice of interest or whatever.
No, but we actually go out, asI mentioned before, to the
incubators.
(19:48):
We talk to the developers theconversation I had the other
night.
This guy is extremelyinterested just because we are
different.
We are the only ones that dowhat I've just other night.
This guy is extremelyinterested just because we are
different.
We are the only ones that dowhat I've just talked about.
Leon Goltsman (20:00):
And that's perhaps how you were able to
overcome and survive thepandemic and other things that
we, a lot of companies, haveexperienced over the past five
years.
I mean, the Consensus Awardshas certainly bounced back after
the challenges posed by theCOVID-19 pandemic.
What adaptations or changeswere made to continue supporting
innovators during this period?
Julian Day (20:22):
Well, we cut back a fair bit.
Obviously, I couldn't go out tothose incubators etc.
But we kept in touch with manyof our previous winners and I
believe that at least half ofthe entries that we got were
actually nominated during thatperiod by previous winners and
our judges because the judgesare obviously in contact with
(20:43):
many people as well.
So we did actually end upgetting a reasonable number of
entrants through that period andwe actually announced the
awards virtually.
Of course, we didn't actuallyhave a big awards night or
whatever, so that's how wecatered for that.
But we really bounced back in2021 and 2022 and the big awards
(21:04):
presentation we had in 2023 wasfantastic, with the federal
minister, ed Hoosick, presentingthe awards, and over the years
and even since we started, we'vehad ministers from both sides
of the fence in politics inCanberra depends who's in power,
of course present the awards.
You know whether it be MalcolmTurnbull or Stephen Conroy or
(21:26):
Kate Lundy.
A whole range of other peoplehave contributed to help us get
the message out that theseawards are number one, unique
and do reward great innovationin Australia and New Zealand.
Leon Goltsman (21:41):
And Australia and New Zealand really are, and
especially Australia is reallyrenowned for its innovation.
Look, I know Malcolm Turnbullpersonally and on one occasion
he actually endorsed a localproduct.
There's a story about that.
He was meant to come and cutthe ribbon and do the launch
when he was InformationCommunication Technology
Minister at the time, and itjust so happened that the day
(22:04):
that he was meant to come andpresent he became Prime Minister
and that was it.
But anyway, he still come good.
He recorded a message from hisPrime Minister's office and he
sent it through and he saved theday.
So that was.
That was good on him, good onhim no, malcolm's been a big
supporter of consent.
Julian Day (22:23):
He's actually presented our awards twice, and
uh prior to that um previousyears.
Well, year one, when we started, we had richard ulston uh
present the awards in march 2000.
And he was the Minister forInformation and Communications
Technology at the time.
So you know, from day one,we've always had a minister or
(22:44):
the shadow minister or someonevery prominent in industry to
present the awards.
It's been great.
Leon Goltsman (22:50):
There you go.
You're certainly making headway, and that gives hope to a lot
of people around the country,because it means that you don't
necessarily have to be in thebig smoke in the city to have
somebody come knocking on yourdoors although sometimes they've
got to make the effort as welland come knocking on our doors,
don't they?
Julian Day (23:07):
Absolutely true and we rely very heavily on, you
know, that network of peoplethat we currently have.
You know our judges previouswinners and you know our judges
previous winners.
And also you know publicitythrough podcasts like this.
It's always great to tell thestory so that we get the message
out there as much as we can.
We're open for anybody to giveus a call just to suss out
(23:27):
whether they have a viabletechnology innovation, and it
can be across any industrysector.
You know, could it be buildingconstruction, it could be
agriculture, it could be, youknow, fintech it can be anything
.
But please don't hesitate tojust give us a call.
I'm particularly people say I'ma very good sounding board
(23:50):
around more than any innovations, and therefore can provide them
good feedback as to wherethey're currently at with their
innovation and the directionthey should follow.
Leon Goltsman (24:00):
Well, julian, I'm going to put your contact
details in the show notes so,for anyone who wants to reach
out, they'll be able to do that.
What's your best website?
Julian Day (24:09):
Yeah, the website.
You can do a search for eitherconsensus awards you'll find it
or just consensuscomau very easy.
Um, we've got uh, heaps ofarticles.
So you know, as I'm doing asearch for consensus awards,
particularly the youtube, we'vegot many and say videos up there
of previous winners.
Also, we got, I think it'sthree judges talking about the
(24:33):
judging process.
So you know, they're the onesthat actually do the work for us
and it's useful just to talk,listen to what they're saying,
about what they look for asthey're evaluating the
technologies.
Leon Goltsman (24:45):
Julian, as someone deeply involved in the
tech industry, what emergingtrends or technologies do you
believe hold the most promisefor the future?
Julian Day (24:54):
Oh, look at the moment there's a real big buzz
around AI.
The most promise for the future.
Oh, look at the moment there'sa real big buzz around AI, but
at the end of the day, I go tomany seminars in the industry
and AI is not truly there at themoment.
Artificial Is it trulyartificial?
Most of the technologies thatare now branded AI have actually
(25:14):
just been overnight rebrandedAI and they're driven by
algorithms.
They're not actually artificial.
Machine learning is thedirection and that is that
you're building something thatis actually learning every time
from the decisions it's making.
Therefore, it becomesartificial, because at the
(25:34):
moment, ai, generally speaking,they're not true artificial
intelligence.
But put that aside, nicheplayers you know there are still
opportunities in niche areas todevelop new technologies now.
A good example is, you know,developing a new guttering
system or protecting ourwaterways by putting in
(25:56):
stormwater drain filters.
You know, think outside thesquare what's possible and,
again, happy to have aconversation with anybody about
that as well it's within thosechallenges is where you see the
opportunities.
Leon Goltsman (26:09):
So what's your thoughts on that?
Julian Day (26:12):
yeah, I've got a very good example where and I
can't mention their name, butthere's an organisation that
entered our awards in 2018 inthe Generic Consensus Innovation
Awards, and the technologythey've got could be
world-breaking, like it could bewhat everybody's looking for
(26:32):
worldwide in terms ofeffectively changing deserts
into agricultural land and awhole range of things.
And he ended in 2018, and he'sa very science-based researcher
and what he put forward to thejudges was sort of taken well,
(26:55):
yeah, it sounds like it'll work,but how are you going to prove
it?
And a whole range of things.
So the judges gave him feedbackto say, well, come back when
you you're ready and we'llre-evaluate it.
So they gave him highlycommended in 2018.
Well, he re-entered again in2022.
He's done a huge amount of moreresearch on this.
(27:18):
It's become much more of asolid offering.
But again and this is a totallydifferent group of judges,
which I have to make sure has tohappen, because you can't have
the same judges looking at thesame technology again so a
completely fresh group of judgeslooked at the technology in
2022, but they also said, no,you're still not ready yet.
(27:40):
You really don't know howyou're going to take this to
market and, ideally, what youneed to do is actually create
and set up a prototype so youcan actually see that this
actually does all work.
He's entering again this year,so he ended in 2018, 2022 and
now he's entering the awards in2025.
I spoke to him late last yearand I wished him all the luck.
(28:05):
As he knows, I will provide himas much support as possible to
go through the process again andI wish him well, but that just
just shows that it's great thatpeople will continue on, even
though they might have a setback.
I encourage them and we'll helpthem through the process, and I
always say to anybody that saysthey've got an innovative
(28:25):
technology, even if they don'tcome to us run your idea past at
least five people unique,different people in different
industries.
So not don't.
You know you've developedsomething in the medical space.
Yep, you might talk to a coupleof doctors.
Get their feedback.
No, go and talk to a labourerwho's actually going to buy this
stuff.
Go and talk to a school teacher.
(28:48):
You know, ask them if thistechnology is on the market.
Is it something you'd like topurchase, you know?
So go and talk to a minimum offive people.
You don't have to giveeverything away, but you just
talk broad sense about.
Well, this is what potentiallyit could do, this is what the
product offering would be.
Would you actually purchasethat and go from there, julian?
Leon Goltsman (29:10):
I could talk to you all day.
We have so much to talk about,so I'm definitely going to get
you to come back if you willaccept that offer.
However, I want to ask you onemore question, a very important
one Now.
For aspiring entrepreneurs andinnovators listening today what
advice would you offer to helpthem transform their ideas into
(29:30):
successful, world-class ventures?
Julian Day (29:33):
I think there's three aspects to that.
Number one is whatever the ideais, as I said, is, share it
with at least five people.
If you then still believe that,yes, it's got legs, so to speak
, you've really got to bringtogether some people to advise
you.
Don't do it alone.
I don't see any founders outthere that are actually just
doing it alone.
(29:53):
It's normally a sort of groupof two or three people, so you
need to find at least one or twoother people to help you on the
road.
If you're and people willunderstand this but if you are
really somebody that is reallysort of science-based or
research-based, you obviouslyobviously need somebody on their
team who's actually going totalk about how are you going to
(30:15):
commercialise it, somebodythat's been there, done it.
The third one is context ismake sure that.
Number one yes, it's innovative.
Number two you know what thepotential is, but you then got
to say, well, how are you goingto go to market?
What's your go-to-marketstrategy?
Do you have the context to dothat, and what channels are you
(30:35):
going to use?
Are you going to?
Maybe it's a software product,it could be a sas based product,
so that dictates that you'regoing to be setting it up where
people can just download it fromyour server, you know, maybe as
a a test application, and thenobviously upgrade to the latest
version or whatever um.
But the other point there isthat that might not be the case.
(30:58):
It could be something that'scorporate-based.
Therefore, you've actually gotto partner with maybe one or two
, like Atlassian did you know?
They had three beta customerswhen they won our award.
They did it right.
They actually got these threelarge companies one here in
Sydney, one in the US and one inthe UK to actually be beta
(31:20):
sites.
So they use these sites toactually get feedback of their
technology to actually add morefunctionality into the product
before they went to market.
So think about the channels Areyou going to do it yourself, or
are you going to do it yourself, or are you going to do it
through channel partners?
These are the sass model, etc.
Leon Goltsman (31:39):
Etc or they could just contact you and you'll
guide them.
Absolutely happy to do that.
Julian, you've been fantastic.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for everything.
Thank you for your friendship,thank you for your support and,
most of all, thank you for allthe great work that you're doing
get on your leon.
Julian Day (31:54):
It's great to know you and thank you very much,
pleasure.
Leon Goltsman (31:58):
Thank you.
And that brings the end toanother incredible episode of
Engaging Conversations.
What a journey this has been.
Julian shared some trulyvaluable insights and, while his
style might be a little moredirect, the depth of knowledge
he's brought to the table todayis undeniable.
It's easy to get caught up inthe day-to-day and miss the
(32:18):
bigger picture, but if there'sone thing to take away from this
conversation, it's thatembracing your uniqueness, being
courageous enough to do thingsdifferently and surrounding
yourself with the right peoplecan be the key to success.
The proof is in the resultsNine out of 10 Consensus Award
recipients have gone on to makeglobal headlines, shaking up
(32:45):
industries from construction tofintech, agriculture to
technology.
Julian and the Consensus Awardshave shown that Australia has
world-class talent ready to makean impact, and that success
isn't about privilege.
It's about positioning yourselfin the right place, with the
right people, with the rightpeople at the right time.
Innovation and meaningful changearen't things we wait for.
They happen when we stepforward and make them happen.
If today's conversation hassparked something in you, I
(33:09):
encourage you to reach outdetails are in the show notes
and stay tuned, because in thecoming episodes, we'll be diving
into stories that challenge theway we think, from innovators
redefining human connection inunexpected ways to pioneers
carving new paths in industriesyou might have never imagined.
These are the conversationsthat push boundaries, spark new
(33:31):
ideas and remind us of thelimitless potential within our
community.
There are so many extraordinarypeople in our community with
stories that deserve to be told,and I can't wait to share them
with you.
A heartfelt thank you to you,our audience, our guests, our
sponsors and the incredible teamthat helps bring this program
to life.
(33:51):
I'm your host, Leon Goltsman,and until next time, stay safe,
stay inspired and let's keepmaking a difference together.
Hello and welcome back to Engaging Conversations
wherever in the world you'retuning in from.
I'm your host, Leon Goltsman,and I am so excited to be here.
It's truly incredible to seeour community grow in the way
that it has, and I want to thankeach and every single one of
you for your ongoing support.
Your passion fuels our missionto spotlight the people, ideas
(00:20):
and innovations that drive realchange.
Before we get into it.
A heartfelt thank you to ourvalued sponsor, ideas and
innovations that drive realchange.
Before we get into it.
A heartfelt thank you to ourvalued sponsor, Niaz Cannoth,
Principal and Lending Specialist.
Your support, Nias, makesconversations like these
possible, and for that, we aretruly grateful.
at Invest Intelligence.
Nias is dedicated to sociallyresponsible investment
strategies, particularly indisability accommodation.
(00:44):
Now, this week's episode issomething special.
We're not just talking aboutbig ideas.
We're talking about what ittakes to make them a reality,
because we all know thatambition alone isn't enough.
It's about the team you build,the guidance you embrace and,
most importantly, the belief youhave in yourself.
Julian Day, founder of ConsensusAwards, has spent decades
(01:06):
recognising and elevatinginnovation, helping visionaries
turn ideas into global brands,just as we've seen with
Atlassian and WiseTech Global.
Julian's own journey is atestament to the power of
collaboration, resilience andbeing open to the right advice.
From his humble beginnings as aUK college graduate to working
(01:26):
alongside prime ministers,academics, industry leaders and
tech pioneers like MikeCannon-Brooks and Scott Farquhar
, his story proves that with theright people by your side, the
possibilities are limitless, andtoday we have the privilege of
sitting down together to hearhis journey firsthand.
What I love most about today'sconversation is that it
(01:48):
celebrates the magic ofpotential, the incredible things
that happen when good peoplecome together for the greater
good.
It's an honor to welcome Julianto the show, so, without
further ado, let's jump straightinto it.
Julian Day (02:00):
Yeah hi, I'm Julian, nicknamed Jolly Jolly Day, and
I'm the founder of the ConsensusAwards, which were started way
back in 1999.
Leon Goltsman (02:10):
Wow, Julian, you've come a long way since
then.
Can you share the pivotalmoments that led to the creation
of the Consensus Awards?
Julian Day (02:26):
Well, I think back to 1978 when I graduated from
college in the UK.
I went straight into thecomputer industry at the
forefront of technology.
Then I worked for a majorAmerican computer company for
three and a half years and didvery well, and then worked for
the company called OxfordUniversity Press, which most
people would know.
The book publishers Fantasticcontract with them and that led
me to focus more on the softwareindustry because I was involved
(02:48):
in working with them toimplement a major new computer
system for one of theirwarehouses and as a result I was
doing all of the qualityassurance on the new software
and it led me then to joining asoftware company.
After that I spent anotherthree and a half years in the UK
before coming out to Australiain 1986 and the thing I've done
(03:13):
all the way along is always putback to industry.
I joined the British ComputerSociety in the UK and
transferred my membership to theAustralian Computer Society.
When I arrived in Australia,and very quickly because I was
in the forefront of usingsoftware development tools, I
started a special interest groupwithin the ACS which was for
(03:34):
computer-aided softwareengineering case technology.
I was having more people attendmeetings than the actual main
meetings of the ACS on a monthlybasis.
So I was encouraged to put myname forward and the following
year I became the statepresident for the Australian
Computer Society.
At the same time I was writingup case technology for a
(04:00):
software magazine and after acouple of years of being a
contributor to the magazine, theeditor of the magazine went on
to other, greater things and Iwas invited to step up to be the
editor of software magazine,which is fantastic.
Leon Goltsman (04:17):
Wow.
So you've gone from being astudent, moved forward a few
years, and then you're now theeditor of a magazine.
All that experience and allthat expertise has equipped you
with the concept and the ideafor the Consensus Awards.
Julian Day (04:31):
Yeah, I was forever sort of seeing new technologies
and I was a real big advocatefor what's locally designed and
developed.
And when I was editor ofSoftware Magazine I was invited
to be a judge of two awardsprograms.
One was the Western SydneyInnovation Awards and also the
Australian Design Awards.
And having done that for acouple of years, I met the
(04:54):
convener of the design awardsthrough a mutual friend at
Christmas in 1998 and said yep,we're ready to go with the
awards this year.
He said, well, no, I'm leavingstandards, taking vacation,
going back to the UK for threemonths.
I said, well, why don't we gettogether when you get back in
April?
And I'd already got it plannedout.
You know, I've got thetechnical background, I know the
software industry pretty well,I know all the vendors and
(05:17):
Terry's been running theAustralian Design Awards so
knows how to run the awardsthemselves.
So when he came back I put theproposal to him and we formed
Consensus and the ConsensusAwards on the 1st of July 1999.
Leon Goltsman (05:31):
Just by making an alliance with the right people.
Julian Day (05:35):
Absolutely meeting the right people at the right
time and, most importantly,doing the right thing for other
people as well.
Leon Goltsman (05:40):
Well, the consensus awards has come a long
way because you've achieved aremarkable track record, with
nine out of ten winnersachieving significant success.
Julian, what criteria do thejudges prioritise when
evaluating potential winners?
Julian Day (05:56):
Yeah, the judges and there's many of them make a
decision based upon number oneis it really really really
innovative?
And we always have a minimum ofnine judges in the room to make
the final decision, so they allhave to agree number one, that
it's innovative.
Secondly, they look at what itspotential is worldwide and, of
(06:17):
course, the people presentingreally need to understand their
market, who their competitorsare, what the landscape is,
what's their value add, etcetera.
And the last one is performance.
Well, what is it?
Tell us more about the valueadd to the people that are
actually going to use thetechnology?
It might be nice having aninnovative technology, but are
people going to buy it and, atthe end of the day, what's the
(06:40):
user experience?
What's the go-to-marketstrategy?
Leon Goltsman (06:43):
Certainly, some of the people that have won
awards have ended up reachingglobal status Atlassian and
Wildtech global and notableexamples of companies that
actually gained earlyrecognition through the
consensus awards.
How did winning the awardimpact their trajectories?
Julian Day (07:01):
One thing we found over all the years is that
winning an award is a major liftfor those that win the award
the recognition of theirinnovation and all the hard work
that they've put in.
It's a rubber stamp fromindustry because it's judged by
people from industry andinevitably that opens doors
worldwide industry andinevitably that opens doors
(07:26):
worldwide.
So richard white from wise techglobal openly says that he used
the judging process to validatewhether he was ready to go to
market.
He won an award in 2004 and, asI say, the rest is history a
multi-billion dollar companylisted on the asx.
Second detail that the sameyear actually it was quite a
fantastic year for us Atlassianwon an award and I met Mike and
(07:47):
Scott, the founders, at a ACSmeeting in October 2003 and I
was just talking to themsocially and they were saying
that they're developing thisproduct called Jira and my
background being softwaredevelopment project management,
I latched onto that becausethat's exactly what Jira was
designed to do and I recommendedto them that they enter the
(08:10):
awards.
At the time they won our award.
They hadn't sold Jira, so theywere still going to market.
I recognised the potential.
Obviously, the judges agreedwith me.
A big tick in all those threeboxes, as I mentioned the
innovation, the potential.
Obviously, the judges agreedwith me Big's ticking all those
three boxes as I mentioned theinnovation, the potential and
performance and they are just amammoth organisation worldwide
(08:30):
now.
Absolutely brilliant result.
Leon Goltsman (08:33):
Congratulations, I suppose, to you as well,
because you get to see a lot ofthe things that a lot of people
may not have, and being at theright time being with the right
being at the right time beingwith the right people at the
right place, as you mentioned.
How do you feel about peopletaking shortcuts when it comes
to things like that?
Julian Day (08:48):
yeah, never compromise.
There's no shortcuts.
You've got to do the hard graft.
I speak to a lot of founders.
You know they work extremelylong hours.
You know 100 hours a week orwhatever.
So they're always working atthe weekends and in the evenings
, not just during the daytime.
And it's great that they getthe recognition through an award
(09:08):
because it really gives them anuplift.
And, of course, if there's morethan one just the founder,
maybe there's two or three inthe organisation, it's actually
team congratulations.
It really gives them an upliftand off they go into bigger and
better things.
It's fantastic.
Leon Goltsman (09:23):
With the Australian economy experiencing
gradual growth and a focus oninnovation, how do you see the
role of consensus awardsevolving in the current economic
climate?
Julian Day (09:34):
We're in a very, very strong position as far as
the innovation landscape isconcerned If people actually
enter our awards and win numberone.
Winning the award is stage one,but we keep in touch with all
of the winners so we track themthrough the years.
We've now got many interviewsof previous winners.
(09:54):
You can see them on YouTube insearch for Consensus Awards and
people saying it really gavethem an uplift, an absolutely
fantastic achievement for themactually winning the award.
But what's actually theyachieved on the back of it?
And quite a few cite the factthat, of course, they won the
award.
It allows them to attractinvestors in their business,
(10:15):
which is number one, what theywant to do when they're
obviously looking to goworldwide.
Leon Goltsman (10:19):
Well, the Cons consensus awards have a unique
model, with an open process andindependent judging, as you
mentioned earlier, julian.
Can you explain how this modeldiffers from other award
programs and what its benefitsare?
Julian Day (10:31):
Yeah, we're very specifically looking at
innovation.
At the end of the day it's avery detailed process.
I don't want to scare peopleaway, but it is the most robust
awards program in the technologyspace worldwide.
We've compared it with othersover the years.
And secondly, we spend a lot oftime with each entrant.
We actually help them throughthe process.
(10:53):
They love that because we're asounding board.
Any questions we're asking inthe entry form, we're more than
happy to explain what the judgesare looking for, give them some
ideas.
We also do a complete review ofthe entry form.
I don't know of any otherawards program again that
worldwide.
That actually doesn't that goesto that length actually go
(11:15):
through the detail of the entryform before it goes to the
judges and give them theopportunity to fix things up
that we believe the judges arelooking for.
So it's very much ahand-holding exercise all the
way through and it's quiteinteresting.
We have, each time we run theawards, a previous winner from
our previous year and thespeaker this last year was
(11:38):
fantastic.
Just so that everyone's awarethat, as well as winning an
award, if you're nearly, nearlythere but not quite, the judges
can confer a highly commendedand this particular company were
highly commended in October2023.
And we're now running theawards twice a year and that's
another unique worldwide.
So they entered the awards inthe first half of 2024, and they
(12:02):
won an award.
So I invited them to be a guestspeaker in the second half of
the year edition two in 2024 andthey just spoke unbelievably
you know so confident aboutwinning the award and the value
that it had given to them, etc.
So it does show you that theyou know it works well.
Leon Goltsman (12:23):
We engage with everybody, we help them through
the process and it's great tosee them successful, and what an
experience it must be for themas well, because they're going
to obviously get the kind offeedback they're not going to
get anywhere else, are they?
Julian Day (12:37):
no, that's a good point there, because I go around
I sort of many incubators,startup pubs, universities where
they're doing research acrossAustralia and New Zealand and I
quite often find individuals orgroups of people say researchers
, universities doing exactly thesame thing that others are
doing in other parts the parts.
(13:04):
And I actually say to them andI'm sure I've saved a few
individuals and their parents afair bit of money by saying well
, by the way, the technologyyou're looking to develop
already exists or is beingdeveloped elsewhere.
I really suggest you go andcheck that out before you
actually get your parents to putmore money in, and I believe
that's happened a few times.
But back to your point as wellis the fact that if they do
engage with us, we do believethat they have the opportunity
(13:27):
for success, then the world istheir oyster.
Leon Goltsman (13:29):
Fantastic, what a great investment, isn't it?
Julian Day (13:32):
Yep.
At the end of the day, themoney they spend on the entry
form is actually very, verysmall compared to the feedback
they get from a very largenumber of people from the
industry.
Basically, give them a rubberstamp to say that this is a
technology that is obviouslysomething that could have
worldwide potential.
Leon Goltsman (13:52):
So, julian, what are some of the most memorable
innovations or companies thathave been recognised?
Julian Day (13:57):
I think there's a couple that stand out.
There's obviously Atlassian andWiseTech Global, but there's
one Western Australian companythat won a couple of years ago
and that's called ARRI A-R-IWater and they have spent hard
graft over many, many years youknow 15, 16 years developing a
(14:18):
technology to capture the debrison the streets that goes down
the stormwater drones, and theydeveloped initially cages that
fit very nicely snugly into eachdrain, which are standard drain
sizes across Australia, butthen they developed a filter
which is actually it's called apillow because it fits in snugly
(14:39):
into those cages that they'dpreviously made and it filters
all the water.
So these guys are stoppingleaves and debris go down the
stormwater drains, but they'realso filtering all the water, so
it actually saves all the crapexcuse my French, but all of the
bad stuff going out to sea,which is absolutely brilliant.
I'll mention another onetotally left field.
(15:02):
This is a guy in Western Sydneyand what he's developed is a
brand new innovative gutteringsystem for houses.
You know the old gutters clogup with leaves, even if you put
filters over them, whatever, andthey rust away over the years.
Well, his is developed usingcolor bond and the color bond is
(15:24):
a casing that goes around thegutter and protects anything
going into the gutter itself andeasy fall, because the water
falls through the gutter veryeasily, easy fall guttering and
just totally, you know, out leftfield.
He saw the opportunity and,based upon the award that he's
(15:46):
recently won he won in early2024, he's putting the foot down
on the throttle and developingit very quickly, which is
fantastic.
Leon Goltsman (15:56):
Wow.
So it's very, very inspiringfor the listeners.
Julian Day (15:58):
So when people are trying to get into a market or
getting some ideas, yeah, therewas even one person last night
and when I told him about thediversity of the awards we have
because we started, obviously,as I said, with my background of
software, but we're now acrossall industry sectors and those
last two examples were good forthat but at the end of the day
(16:22):
this guy just said look, he hasnot seen any awards program and
he knows the industry quite wellthat actually is able to
identify the best and actuallyreward the best.
Many industry associations runawards, but what happens in
those awards typically is thatthey choose one winner.
(16:43):
These are the finalists and thewinner is ours is very unique.
It's up to the judges to giveout as many or as few awards as
they believe meet those threemajor criteria, so there can be
any number of award winners.
So it makes it reallyinteresting on the night of the
awards.
Nobody knows how many winnersare, are going to be, and each
(17:04):
one gets a separate citation asto why it wins an award.
And secondly, they have theopportunity, if they're highly
commended, for example, to getthe feedback constructive
feedback from the judges to thensay, well, let's have another
go, let's actually fix up thefeedback we've had from the
judges and make it a reality.
Leon Goltsman (17:24):
Julian, how do you foresee the consensus awards
contributing to the globalrecognition of Australian
innovation, especially with theplanned expansions?
Julian Day (17:32):
Yeah, over the years , I've always looked to see
whether we could take our modelinto other countries.
I'd say we currently run overAustralia and New Zealand and we
did a lot of work looking atSingapore before COVID hit, but
we put that on hold.
But we're now in a very strongposition to take the awards into
Singapore and we're also beinginvited to potentially set up
(17:57):
the awards in New York as well,which will be absolutely
fantastic.
There are two key issues here.
Number one we obviously want tomake sure that we keep the
robustness of the whole processin place, so we'd be looking to
partner with individuals orsmall firms in those areas that
are totally independent toactually assist us in putting
(18:18):
the whole process in place.
To actually assist us inputting the whole process in
place.
Secondly, looking for a decentnumber of independent judges to
be part of the judging processin each of those locations.
And once we do this, it's great, because what we can do
worldwide, once we've got theseawards happening in different
countries, is we can actuallyinvite the winners from
(18:40):
different countries tocollaborate on new technology.
They're all winners, so whyshouldn't they collaborate to a
next level, which?
Leon Goltsman (18:48):
is great.
Well, that's taking it to thenext level With the current
economic focus on productivityimprovements and technological
advancements and we're seeing alot of that.
How can initiatives like theConsensus Awards drive economic
growth and innovation inAustralia and, I suppose,
regional parts of the country aswell?
Julian Day (19:08):
Yeah, we're not the only awards program in the
technology space.
The ACS, for example, has theirown awards now and there's a
couple of others.
The ACS, for example, has theirown awards now and there's a
couple of others.
I think the prime reason whywe've been so successful in
identifying winners and nine outof ten of those winners go on
to be highly successfulworldwide is because of the
(19:28):
independence and the fact thatwe go out there looking for
potential entrants.
Most of the other awardsprograms we know they rely on
people to approach them.
They're obviously sending out anotice of interest or whatever.
No, but we actually go out, asI mentioned before, to the
incubators.
(19:48):
We talk to the developers theconversation I had the other
night.
This guy is extremelyinterested just because we are
different.
We are the only ones that dowhat I've just other night.
This guy is extremelyinterested just because we are
different.
We are the only ones that dowhat I've just talked about.
Leon Goltsman (20:00):
And that's perhaps how you were able to
overcome and survive thepandemic and other things that
we, a lot of companies, haveexperienced over the past five
years.
I mean, the Consensus Awardshas certainly bounced back after
the challenges posed by theCOVID-19 pandemic.
What adaptations or changeswere made to continue supporting
innovators during this period?
Julian Day (20:22):
Well, we cut back a fair bit.
Obviously, I couldn't go out tothose incubators etc.
But we kept in touch with manyof our previous winners and I
believe that at least half ofthe entries that we got were
actually nominated during thatperiod by previous winners and
our judges because the judgesare obviously in contact with
(20:43):
many people as well.
So we did actually end upgetting a reasonable number of
entrants through that period andwe actually announced the
awards virtually.
Of course, we didn't actuallyhave a big awards night or
whatever, so that's how wecatered for that.
But we really bounced back in2021 and 2022 and the big awards
(21:04):
presentation we had in 2023 wasfantastic, with the federal
minister, ed Hoosick, presentingthe awards, and over the years
and even since we started, we'vehad ministers from both sides
of the fence in politics inCanberra depends who's in power,
of course present the awards.
You know whether it be MalcolmTurnbull or Stephen Conroy or
(21:26):
Kate Lundy.
A whole range of other peoplehave contributed to help us get
the message out that theseawards are number one, unique
and do reward great innovationin Australia and New Zealand.
Leon Goltsman (21:41):
And Australia and New Zealand really are, and
especially Australia is reallyrenowned for its innovation.
Look, I know Malcolm Turnbullpersonally and on one occasion
he actually endorsed a localproduct.
There's a story about that.
He was meant to come and cutthe ribbon and do the launch
when he was InformationCommunication Technology
Minister at the time, and itjust so happened that the day
(22:04):
that he was meant to come andpresent he became Prime Minister
and that was it.
But anyway, he still come good.
He recorded a message from hisPrime Minister's office and he
sent it through and he saved theday.
So that was.
That was good on him, good onhim no, malcolm's been a big
supporter of consent.
Julian Day (22:23):
He's actually presented our awards twice, and
uh prior to that um previousyears.
Well, year one, when we started, we had richard ulston uh
present the awards in march 2000.
And he was the Minister forInformation and Communications
Technology at the time.
So you know, from day one,we've always had a minister or
(22:44):
the shadow minister or someonevery prominent in industry to
present the awards.
It's been great.
Leon Goltsman (22:50):
There you go.
You're certainly making headway, and that gives hope to a lot
of people around the country,because it means that you don't
necessarily have to be in thebig smoke in the city to have
somebody come knocking on yourdoors although sometimes they've
got to make the effort as welland come knocking on our doors,
don't they?
Julian Day (23:07):
Absolutely true and we rely very heavily on, you
know, that network of peoplethat we currently have.
You know our judges previouswinners and you know our judges
previous winners.
And also you know publicitythrough podcasts like this.
It's always great to tell thestory so that we get the message
out there as much as we can.
We're open for anybody to giveus a call just to suss out
(23:27):
whether they have a viabletechnology innovation, and it
can be across any industrysector.
You know, could it be buildingconstruction, it could be
agriculture, it could be, youknow, fintech it can be anything
.
But please don't hesitate tojust give us a call.
I'm particularly people say I'ma very good sounding board
(23:50):
around more than any innovations, and therefore can provide them
good feedback as to wherethey're currently at with their
innovation and the directionthey should follow.
Leon Goltsman (24:00):
Well, julian, I'm going to put your contact
details in the show notes so,for anyone who wants to reach
out, they'll be able to do that.
What's your best website?
Julian Day (24:09):
Yeah, the website.
You can do a search for eitherconsensus awards you'll find it
or just consensuscomau very easy.
Um, we've got uh, heaps ofarticles.
So you know, as I'm doing asearch for consensus awards,
particularly the youtube, we'vegot many and say videos up there
of previous winners.
Also, we got, I think it'sthree judges talking about the
(24:33):
judging process.
So you know, they're the onesthat actually do the work for us
and it's useful just to talk,listen to what they're saying,
about what they look for asthey're evaluating the
technologies.
Leon Goltsman (24:45):
Julian, as someone deeply involved in the
tech industry, what emergingtrends or technologies do you
believe hold the most promisefor the future?
Julian Day (24:54):
Oh, look at the moment there's a real big buzz
around AI.
The most promise for the future.
Oh, look at the moment there'sa real big buzz around AI, but
at the end of the day, I go tomany seminars in the industry
and AI is not truly there at themoment.
Artificial Is it trulyartificial?
Most of the technologies thatare now branded AI have actually
(25:14):
just been overnight rebrandedAI and they're driven by
algorithms.
They're not actually artificial.
Machine learning is thedirection and that is that
you're building something thatis actually learning every time
from the decisions it's making.
Therefore, it becomesartificial, because at the
(25:34):
moment, ai, generally speaking,they're not true artificial
intelligence.
But put that aside, nicheplayers you know there are still
opportunities in niche areas todevelop new technologies now.
A good example is, you know,developing a new guttering
system or protecting ourwaterways by putting in
(25:56):
stormwater drain filters.
You know, think outside thesquare what's possible and,
again, happy to have aconversation with anybody about
that as well it's within thosechallenges is where you see the
opportunities.
Leon Goltsman (26:09):
So what's your thoughts on that?
Julian Day (26:12):
yeah, I've got a very good example where and I
can't mention their name, butthere's an organisation that
entered our awards in 2018 inthe Generic Consensus Innovation
Awards, and the technologythey've got could be
world-breaking, like it could bewhat everybody's looking for
(26:32):
worldwide in terms ofeffectively changing deserts
into agricultural land and awhole range of things.
And he ended in 2018, and he'sa very science-based researcher
and what he put forward to thejudges was sort of taken well,
(26:55):
yeah, it sounds like it'll work,but how are you going to prove
it?
And a whole range of things.
So the judges gave him feedbackto say, well, come back when
you you're ready and we'llre-evaluate it.
So they gave him highlycommended in 2018.
Well, he re-entered again in2022.
He's done a huge amount of moreresearch on this.
(27:18):
It's become much more of asolid offering.
But again and this is a totallydifferent group of judges,
which I have to make sure has tohappen, because you can't have
the same judges looking at thesame technology again so a
completely fresh group of judgeslooked at the technology in
2022, but they also said, no,you're still not ready yet.
(27:40):
You really don't know howyou're going to take this to
market and, ideally, what youneed to do is actually create
and set up a prototype so youcan actually see that this
actually does all work.
He's entering again this year,so he ended in 2018, 2022 and
now he's entering the awards in2025.
I spoke to him late last yearand I wished him all the luck.
(28:05):
As he knows, I will provide himas much support as possible to
go through the process again andI wish him well, but that just
just shows that it's great thatpeople will continue on, even
though they might have a setback.
I encourage them and we'll helpthem through the process, and I
always say to anybody that saysthey've got an innovative
(28:25):
technology, even if they don'tcome to us run your idea past at
least five people unique,different people in different
industries.
So not don't.
You know you've developedsomething in the medical space.
Yep, you might talk to a coupleof doctors.
Get their feedback.
No, go and talk to a labourerwho's actually going to buy this
stuff.
Go and talk to a school teacher.
(28:48):
You know, ask them if thistechnology is on the market.
Is it something you'd like topurchase, you know?
So go and talk to a minimum offive people.
You don't have to giveeverything away, but you just
talk broad sense about.
Well, this is what potentiallyit could do, this is what the
product offering would be.
Would you actually purchasethat and go from there, julian?
Leon Goltsman (29:10):
I could talk to you all day.
We have so much to talk about,so I'm definitely going to get
you to come back if you willaccept that offer.
However, I want to ask you onemore question, a very important
one Now.
For aspiring entrepreneurs andinnovators listening today what
advice would you offer to helpthem transform their ideas into
(29:30):
successful, world-class ventures?
Julian Day (29:33):
I think there's three aspects to that.
Number one is whatever the ideais, as I said, is, share it
with at least five people.
If you then still believe that,yes, it's got legs, so to speak
, you've really got to bringtogether some people to advise
you.
Don't do it alone.
I don't see any founders outthere that are actually just
doing it alone.
(29:53):
It's normally a sort of groupof two or three people, so you
need to find at least one or twoother people to help you on the
road.
If you're and people willunderstand this but if you are
really somebody that is reallysort of science-based or
research-based, you obviouslyobviously need somebody on their
team who's actually going totalk about how are you going to
(30:15):
commercialise it, somebodythat's been there, done it.
The third one is context ismake sure that.
Number one yes, it's innovative.
Number two you know what thepotential is, but you then got
to say, well, how are you goingto go to market?
What's your go-to-marketstrategy?
Do you have the context to dothat, and what channels are you
(30:35):
going to use?
Are you going to?
Maybe it's a software product,it could be a sas based product,
so that dictates that you'regoing to be setting it up where
people can just download it fromyour server, you know, maybe as
a a test application, and thenobviously upgrade to the latest
version or whatever um.
But the other point there isthat that might not be the case.
(30:58):
It could be something that'scorporate-based.
Therefore, you've actually gotto partner with maybe one or two
, like Atlassian did you know?
They had three beta customerswhen they won our award.
They did it right.
They actually got these threelarge companies one here in
Sydney, one in the US and one inthe UK to actually be beta
(31:20):
sites.
So they use these sites toactually get feedback of their
technology to actually add morefunctionality into the product
before they went to market.
So think about the channels Areyou going to do it yourself, or
are you going to do it yourself, or are you going to do it
through channel partners?
These are the sass model, etc.
Leon Goltsman (31:39):
Etc or they could just contact you and you'll
guide them.
Absolutely happy to do that.
Julian, you've been fantastic.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for everything.
Thank you for your friendship,thank you for your support and,
most of all, thank you for allthe great work that you're doing
get on your leon.
Julian Day (31:54):
It's great to know you and thank you very much,
pleasure.
Leon Goltsman (31:58):
Thank you.
And that brings the end toanother incredible episode of
Engaging Conversations.
What a journey this has been.
Julian shared some trulyvaluable insights and, while his
style might be a little moredirect, the depth of knowledge
he's brought to the table todayis undeniable.
It's easy to get caught up inthe day-to-day and miss the
(32:18):
bigger picture, but if there'sone thing to take away from this
conversation, it's thatembracing your uniqueness, being
courageous enough to do thingsdifferently and surrounding
yourself with the right peoplecan be the key to success.
The proof is in the resultsNine out of 10 Consensus Award
recipients have gone on to makeglobal headlines, shaking up
(32:45):
industries from construction tofintech, agriculture to
technology.
Julian and the Consensus Awardshave shown that Australia has
world-class talent ready to makean impact, and that success
isn't about privilege.
It's about positioning yourselfin the right place, with the
right people, with the rightpeople at the right time.
Innovation and meaningful changearen't things we wait for.
They happen when we stepforward and make them happen.
If today's conversation hassparked something in you, I
(33:09):
encourage you to reach outdetails are in the show notes
and stay tuned, because in thecoming episodes, we'll be diving
into stories that challenge theway we think, from innovators
redefining human connection inunexpected ways to pioneers
carving new paths in industriesyou might have never imagined.
These are the conversationsthat push boundaries, spark new
(33:31):
ideas and remind us of thelimitless potential within our
community.
There are so many extraordinarypeople in our community with
stories that deserve to be told,and I can't wait to share them
with you.
A heartfelt thank you to you,our audience, our guests, our
sponsors and the incredible teamthat helps bring this program
to life.
(33:51):
I'm your host, Leon Goltsman,and until next time, stay safe,
stay inspired and let's keepmaking a difference together.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.