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Cameron McIntyre is one of Australia's most respected executives, having played a major part in the Carsales.com (CAR:ASX) journey over the last 15 years, initially as the CFO in the late 2000s where he was charged with seeing the business' transition to the ASX boards, and most recently as the CEO, where he has been guided the business tremendously well through their next stage of growth. Carsales is now a beast of the business, with a market capitalisation of over $7b and a top line revenue of c$450m, making it one of Australia's greatest ever technology companies.

Carsales.com was started in a garage in the late 1990s by Greg Roebuck, and this episode explores the growth journey from these humble beginnings, but more importantly zooms in on the strategic pillars that has enabled the business to flourish.

This episode is a great exploration into the variety of skills required to succeed as a modern day executive, and serves as a great case study on what it takes to build and lead great teams over long periods of time. To hear Cam speak on how he thinks about fostering innovation, retaining great talent and what is on the next horizon for Carsales as it strengthens it global footprint was both enlightening and inspiring. 

You can follow TDM (linktr.ee/tdmgrowth) and host Ed Cowan (linktr.ee/eddiecowan) across social channels.

Show notes;

2:36 – Carsales’ origin story

3:49 – Cam’s first impression of the CarSales business

5:31 – disrupting the secondhand car market

7:05 – key strategic pillars in growing the business and winning the consumer

8:44 – managing important investors

10:38 – finding the right investment partner in the early stages of a business

11:54 – key learnings from the public listing process

14:45 – skill development from a CFO to a CEO role

16:06 – the growth quotient and its importance at an organisational level

17:33 – an entrepreneurial board as growth partners

19:01 – transitioning away from a founder-led business

21:24 – expanding margins in a high growth business

24:22 – growing the business into new, emerging markets

26:19 – fostering a culture of innovation

28:55 – the next big horizon for CarSales

31:34 – attracting and retaining talent throughout the growth journey

34:59 – prioritising diversity and inclusion in a large tech company

36:53 – obtaining board support for diversity and inclusion initiatives

38:45 – growing from mistakes as a leader