5 minutes with… Explorate Co-Founder, Alex Ewart.
Disruption of an old-school industry is in equal parts exhilarating and challenging as Alex Ewart, Co-Founder of digital freight forwarder, Explorate knows. While the logistics industry isn’t typically described as ‘modern’, ‘innovative’ or ‘competitive’, with Explorate’s end-to-end service, transparent pricing and instant quote platform, Alex hopes that will change. By saving businesses an average of 20% on their freight forwarding costs, modern day corporates and SMEs are now able to maximise the efficiency of their business operations across all departments without compromise.
How do you usually start your day?
I’d like to say some form of exercise as that always seems to keep my energy and focus up throughout the day. Being from Queensland and now living in Melbourne, this habit has been hard to maintain due a combination of the Antarctic temperatures down here and severe lack of sunlight in the morning! (the sun is usually up between 4:30–5am in Brisbane).
Any rules for meetings?
Be yourself and remember that the person you’re meeting is only a human. I used to get so worked up and nervous before meetings, particularly when the stakes were higher than usual. This nervousness significantly compromised my pitch… and general ability to speak English. Now when I’m talking to new customers or potential investors I try my best to respectfully remove the context around their job title and speak as freely as possible.
How do you find inspiration?
I’ve got an incredible support network around me that constantly provides me with inspiration to continue and push harder. My family, wife and friends inspire me on a personal level and my co-founder, team and mentors bring out the best in me professionally. It takes a village to raise a startup, and my situation couldn’t be a better example of that.
Last eureka moment?
Our business went through a huge shift in direction a few weeks after the start of the Skalata program. The team at Skalata sat my co-founder and I down and forced us to take a long and hard look at our business’ performance to date and to define what was and what wasn’t working. This simple exercise was the start of our major eureka moment, as straight after this consultation we made the decision to concentrate on our strengths and cut ties with what was weighing us down. Since then, our growth has been really strong and our vision is clearer than ever.
Something you do every day
Being based in Melbourne has meant working remotely from our team up in Brisbane. I’ve been diligent in checking in with the team at least once a day to not only keep me up to date with the on-goings in the office, but to ensure I am connected to the engine room. I’m all for remote working and flexible hours, however if working away has taught me anything, it’s the value and efficiency that you can only get from face-to-face contact.
Something you wish you did more of
Reading. The positive impact on your vocabulary and general knowledge is immeasurable. Unfortunately I suffer from get-sleepy-as-soon-as-I-start-reading-itis which means I usually get 3 pages into any book and I’m out like a log.
How do you stay motivated?
When I’m low on motivation I remind myself how fortunate I am to be doing what I do. I get to work on building my dream business everyday and I’m so damn thankful for that opportunity.
One thing you’d change about your industry
For both our industry and our customers, I’d love to see more of an open mindedness to change. Logistics is still very much led by the old guard. I remember when I heard a senior VP for a global logistics giant go on record to say “come back in 10 years and I guarantee nothing would’ve changed” when commenting on the impact of digital disruption. I imagine back in the 90’s many travel agents and taxi drivers held the same view… and how wrong were they?
What are you reading at the moment?
Measure what matters by John Doerr — as a founder you’re stretched across so many facets of your business and it’s incredibly easy to lose track of how your team and business is performing. I’ve found setting OKR’s (the prevalent teaching in measure what matters) super helpful in keeping our business and team on track.
Explorate is a Skalata Ventures portfolio company. For more information please visit explorate.co.
