‘I’ve wanted to fire myself’: Inside Red Balloon founder Naomi Simson’s rise to success

Naomi Simson is the founder of experience gifting giant RedBalloon and one of Australia’s best-known entrepreneurs. In 2017, she co-founded Big Red Group, the biggest experience marketplace in Australia and New Zealand. It serves an experience every 18 seconds – the equivalent of 1.5 million a year. The former Shark Tank judge shares the habits […]

The Brisbane schoolmates who built a $3 billion edtech juggernaut

How a bunch of school friends built a $3-billion company in Brisbane’s Logan district. Andrew Barnes and Vu Tran were in high school and needed a job. They could have stacked shelves at Coles for $15 an hour. Instead, they started a software business and “made a dollar an hour”.   Watching on in the year […]

How this Byron Bay local launched one of the world’s hottest water toys

Chances are you’ve seen a surfer down at the local beach flying over the water’s surface on what looks like a hoverboard. The electric foil, jokingly dubbed the “jet-ski killer” by David Trewern, CEO and founder of Fliteboard, started as a passion project – now it’s on nearly every superyacht in the world. Six years ago, […]

Meet Australia’s female VC leaders – changing the world of funding

The level of venture capital funding allocated to women-founded and led businesses has halved since 2020 to just 3%. But a growing number of female venture capital fund managers with connections to some of the country’s most influential, wealthiest families, are attempting to provide greater opportunities for women, investors and the economy.  Australia’s female VC […]

The world’s 50 best vineyards

The wineries that should be going on your bucket list, from Spain, to New Zealand and Uruguay.  Issue six of Forbes Australia is out now. Tap here to secure your copy and become a premium member. Catena Zapata in Mendoza was voted number one in the World’s Best Vineyards Awards for 2023 in a ceremony […]

Show business: The making of an ‘Aussiewood’ film industry

For the first time in Australian history, expenditure on scripted screen productions has exceeded $2 billion. However, ongoing skills and capacity challenges remain, and some question whether chasing the dream of ‘Aussiewood’ is misguided. Issue six of Forbes Australia is out now. Tap here to secure your copy and become a premium member. Numbers at […]