What do you get when you cross a pitch slapper and a Digital Deity?

[00:00:00] Genuinely unexpected, so much so that I didn't actually go to the award.

[00:00:05] I hope this isn't a Lifetime Achievement Award, because that's the kiss of death, that's just my career's over.

[00:00:09] Protecting our first child, which is going to change life considerably. Journey's going to continue to grow. We're opening an office in North America. Outside of that, we're in the process of launching another company. Cannot tell you what it is just yet. Probably get in trouble for this. It's cool. It's cool.

[00:00:24] We've got something from Intuit, the release of their Enterprise suite.

[00:00:28] Some new apps have hit the Xero App Store cone, our practice management. A new one called Viable, which is for cash flow funding. We've got SumUp, and then we've got one called Link, which is a scheduling workflow and capacity planning tool.

[00:00:41] Klarna teams up with Xero for buy now, pay later payments.

[00:00:44] More update from Xero. They have updated the dashboard, or I guess maybe tweaked the dashboard a little bit.

[00:00:50] A little bit from me regarding active work papers.

[00:00:53] Merrick has secured $28 million in Series A to automate accounting using AI.

[00:01:01] We know the general direction of firms in the top 50 to the top 100 are looking to work more with mid-market clients.

[00:01:08] Who do you think stands out for you?

[00:01:09] There are certain people that I think have done such a great job for such a long time. Their contributions go way beyond what they just do on a day-to-day basis.

[00:01:18] There's so much to put forward the professionalism of the technology sector. Who cares so deeply and passionately of instilling that into his teams.

[00:01:28] Such an important attribute to have. Because a lot of vendors can form some opinions very, very quickly and easily. And they're not always the right ones to have.

[00:01:37] You need to be around a little bit to understand and then to kind of instill that into the teams.

[00:01:42] What clothing item are you?

[00:01:44] A string vest. Slightly overused baggy scarf. A used pair of Y-fronts.

[00:01:48] Old worn leather jacket. A sock that you turn inside out when you can't really bother washing it.

[00:01:54] A cardigan that's frayed. Frayed and old.

[00:01:56] You're a slightly moth-eaten tank top.

[00:01:58] I'm so tired.

[00:02:00] Hello and welcome to another episode of the DigiTools and a Cruel World Podcast, brought to you by the Digital Disruptors.

[00:02:05] And I was always delighted to say that we've got a fun-packed show, plenty to get on with.

[00:02:10] Lots of news, lots of updates, great interviews and all the usual nonsense.

[00:02:15] So why don't I just quickly hand over to my co-hosts and find out how they're going before we get into the news.

[00:02:22] So Indy, how the devil are you? You good?

[00:02:25] Yeah, I'm really good. I'm fresh off the bat from a very cultured weekend.

[00:02:30] So I spent Saturday at a freeze, the art festival in London.

[00:02:36] And after that went to the theatre.

[00:02:39] Wow, very nice.

[00:02:40] I was joined by a Sunday of semi-DIY.

[00:02:46] I don't know if it is DIY if you don't actually get started, but it was an Ikea trip.

[00:02:51] DIY prep.

[00:02:53] DIY prep.

[00:02:54] Nice, nice. Well, it's all about the preparation because you know what they say about the seven Ps, you know?

[00:02:59] So that's good.

[00:03:00] I mean, we've got a slightly cultured Friday morning planned as well, don't we, this week?

[00:03:07] Maybe, yes.

[00:03:08] Now Ryan's going to be super jealous.

[00:03:10] Why?

[00:03:11] Why have you got a super cultured Friday morning planned without me?

[00:03:15] Why?

[00:03:16] Unbelievable.

[00:03:16] I assumed life just stopped for you both when I'm not around.

[00:03:20] It does. It does, absolutely.

[00:03:21] And then Indy said, like, why don't we go to a life drawing exhibition?

[00:03:26] And I was like, oh, nakedness.

[00:03:27] Yeah, I'll do that.

[00:03:28] Oh, very nice.

[00:03:31] The human body.

[00:03:32] I actually really did appreciate a lot of artwork this weekend.

[00:03:37] It was like, I texted you guys the one image that I thought was quite suitable for accountants is that 17th century Dutch piece where there was, and it is so funny how I feel like there's something poetic about finance and art.

[00:03:53] They both seem to sort of transcend, don't they?

[00:03:55] And it's just all in the interpretation.

[00:03:58] So in that particular image, there was like a look like someone that was still doing all the bookkeeping receipts and filing the accounts.

[00:04:06] And then there was a guy peeping behind the door to say, oh, is it going to catch me?

[00:04:10] Is it going to catch me out?

[00:04:14] Yeah.

[00:04:15] So, I mean, in all seriousness, Ryan, just in case you do want to get a little bit jealous, Indy and I are going to go and see the, is it the wildlife of the year photography competition results?

[00:04:25] I think the images from that.

[00:04:27] So, yeah.

[00:04:28] I am jealous.

[00:04:29] That's always looks cool when I see the snippets, the best pictures they put up.

[00:04:33] So, yeah, I am jealous.

[00:04:34] Yeah, there are some incredible.

[00:04:35] I've seen some of the pictures online.

[00:04:36] They look incredible.

[00:04:37] But how are you, Ryan?

[00:04:38] Anyway, how's fatherly life treating you and everything else?

[00:04:42] Are you still getting no sleep and still feeling a little bit stressed and under pressure?

[00:04:47] I am.

[00:04:47] But for some reason, I feel energized today.

[00:04:49] I think I've gone through the wall and I'm now feeling, you know, I don't know, a new self.

[00:04:56] I'm sure I'll come tumbling down by the afternoon.

[00:04:59] But at this point, I'm feeling, yeah, energized, energetic, ready to go.

[00:05:02] Amazing.

[00:05:03] Excellent news.

[00:05:03] Well, that's good.

[00:05:04] That's good.

[00:05:04] You've pushed through the other side.

[00:05:05] So it's either delirium or something you've been taking.

[00:05:10] Probably both.

[00:05:12] Exceptional.

[00:05:13] Well, let's get into the news and we'll see what's what in the world of accounting tech, shall

[00:05:17] we?

[00:05:22] And I think I'm kicking this one off today.

[00:05:24] So we've got something from Intuit, which is the release of their enterprise suite announced

[00:05:32] actually a couple of weeks ago now.

[00:05:34] So it's a little bit old this, but essentially I guess this is Intuit expanding their reach

[00:05:41] and trying to build out their footprint of products and you're going into that kind of like the

[00:05:46] enterprise ERP solution.

[00:05:48] They're effectively saying that this is a big part of their business.

[00:05:51] You're moving forward.

[00:05:53] They're looking to, well, they've got a senior vice president in charge of this in terms of

[00:05:56] looking after mid-market and workforce solutions.

[00:05:58] And they're saying the cost of the product for a single business operation will be around about $7,800 a year.

[00:06:07] And then around about $12,000 for a company that has multiple business operations under one corporation.

[00:06:12] So not crazy money in terms of costs and things like that.

[00:06:17] And they are forecasting some reasonable growth in this space.

[00:06:21] So they're clearly expecting to sort of develop this market out and things like that.

[00:06:25] But they haven't quite said if there's any particular sectors or types of organization that they're going to go after.

[00:06:30] But, you know, this is an interesting step up, I think, from Intuit QuickBooks and just another part of their world domination attempts, I guess.

[00:06:40] I wonder what this says about Intuit or QuickBooks Online Advanced, where that wasn't that long.

[00:06:46] It was like one, two years ago they released that and now they're already going a tier above.

[00:06:50] I've heard some information about this and they are looking for partners in the UK to help educate, train, implement this system.

[00:06:59] So they're going proper all out for it.

[00:07:02] And maybe they're trying to challenge what Sage are doing with Intact.

[00:07:06] I'm not certain.

[00:07:08] Yeah.

[00:07:08] I mean, I guess the Intact things are probably a slightly different price bracket, I guess.

[00:07:15] But, yeah, I mean, you could see if they're going for that kind of pricing, they're definitely going at kind of like that interim stage, aren't they?

[00:07:21] So I think, yeah, if they're going to bring it into the UK, I guess the likes of iPlicit, Accounts IQ, etc., etc., that we mentioned,

[00:07:28] they're going to have to keep an eye on that and see what the impact is for them.

[00:07:33] Definitely. Mixing it up, mixing it up.

[00:07:35] Well, moving away from the mid-tier space down to the small business space, I, as I love doing, was going to bring some of the new apps that have hit the Xero App Store in the last month.

[00:07:45] And we've got a few that have gone across multiple jurisdictions, some that are hitting the UK.

[00:07:50] So let's focus on those.

[00:07:50] So firstly, Cone, our practice management has now been recognized on the Xero App Store.

[00:07:56] We've talked about Cone before.

[00:07:57] They are a sponsor and they are doing pretty damn good things in that really small practice space, trying to redefine, shape things in a, I guess, a new way, new angle to what has been done before.

[00:08:10] We've got a new one called Viable, which is for cash flow funding and payments for the digital commerce space.

[00:08:17] They are about seeking ongoing capital, planning your finances and delivering business insights and forecasting.

[00:08:25] So I guess all about that supporting those that want to grow in the space.

[00:08:29] And then we've got, we've got SumUp, which everyone probably has heard of, but they have now officially joined the Xero App Store with their integration.

[00:08:37] And then we've got one called Link, which is a scheduling workflow and capacity planning tool for Xero Practice Manager.

[00:08:43] So I know Xero have been pushing Xero Practice Manager a lot more heavily over in the UK.

[00:08:47] And having something that can do capacity planning alongside that is going to be beneficial for all those that want to explore that avenue.

[00:08:53] Quite new, I guess, nowhere near as utilized as over in Australia.

[00:08:58] This is Xero Practice Manager.

[00:08:59] But if it does start to get more of a footing over in the UK, I think you want to explore Link.

[00:09:03] So Chaos from Xero, which is slightly sketchy or light on the detail, is Klarna teams up with Xero for buy now pay later payments, which, as you know, that I've spoken a lot about financing the last few years.

[00:09:18] So it's interesting to see Klarna is going to be offered in Xero, but there's very few details about where it's available.

[00:09:29] It does look like a really great concept.

[00:09:31] Obviously, we've spoken a lot about the different financing options that have been available in Xero before.

[00:09:36] So Targo, Iwoka, Arix and others.

[00:09:41] And more recently, some of the other different platforms that are coming up down the track, such as Nemo on the AR automation.

[00:09:48] But this one doesn't really seem to include a lot of detail.

[00:09:51] It says that Xero can now offer Klarna BNPL payment options.

[00:09:56] So plumbers and heating engineers that use Xero can fix their customers boilers and let them spread the cost,

[00:10:02] while small businesses involved in the collection industry could spread the cost of similar smaller projects over three interest free installments.

[00:10:11] We'll be interested to see, but there's very little detail in terms of which jurisdictions this will be available within

[00:10:19] or whether it will be via the app store.

[00:10:22] So I had a quick look at this actually, India, and it's basically just a payment solution that you can just add straight into Xero.

[00:10:31] It's already there as well.

[00:10:33] So I saw it pop up when I was in our digital tool Xero the other night and just doing some bits and pieces.

[00:10:39] So it is, by the looks of it, sort of fairly easy to switch on.

[00:10:44] It's just a few clicks and you go through a process and then you're done.

[00:10:46] And as far as I can see, which probably makes it a little bit different to some of the other funding solutions,

[00:10:51] is that the business gets 100% of the receipt.

[00:10:55] Whereas, you know, with some of the things that you talked about, quite often you'll pay a small percentage

[00:11:00] or you'll get, you know, sort of like 95% of the total invoice value and either get the remainder on final settlement

[00:11:07] or you just sort of set that up as a cost of the acquisition of getting that payment.

[00:11:14] So I think this is going to be great for people to add in, particularly like you say, for those types of businesses that are maybe B2C

[00:11:20] and wanting to offer customers a little bit more flexibility.

[00:11:24] And again, depending on what kind of payment solutions you add into your Xero, it means you could offer multiple versions of this.

[00:11:30] So it's going to be at the customer's choice as to how they choose to pay you.

[00:11:33] So it could be card, it could be buy now, pay later, it could be direct debit, it could be bank transfer.

[00:11:38] So it just adds to the flexibility, I think, that Xero offers.

[00:11:43] And, you know, I think particularly in that B2C world, you know, customers do appreciate having multiple options to check out with.

[00:11:49] Thanks, John. I mean, you could have said that at the beginning of my article, but I like that you waited right until the end.

[00:11:56] However, I do find it really unusual that we've not seen as much marketed on that.

[00:12:04] And I just wondered whether that's because it's something that's financing and therefore maybe not the nicest, cleanest reputation.

[00:12:15] I guess, yeah, buy now, pay later does sometimes have a bit of a bad rep sometimes.

[00:12:21] But I guess if Xero can effectively push this in product, which like I say, I've already seen it being pushed in products,

[00:12:29] that's a great way of getting people to engage with these things.

[00:12:33] And maybe that's an alternate route for Xero to kind of promote and push these things out is to just sort of have a, you know, have a splash screen in the product itself as a solution,

[00:12:43] rather than spending lots of money on direct marketing, which might not be quite as effective.

[00:12:48] I have one more update from Xero as well, which is they have updated the dashboard or I guess maybe tweaked the dashboard a little bit.

[00:12:58] And they've added this thing called the insights dashboard into Xero, into Xero HQ actually, just to be more specific.

[00:13:05] And I guess for anyone that's familiar with any of the data integrity apps, so Xavier, which is now Dext Precision, Sift, which obviously we talked about last week and has been recently acquired by Xero and others.

[00:13:20] So, you know, you're probably familiar with this concept of being able to see a whole bunch of particular insights around your clients.

[00:13:27] And what the Xero, the new Xero dashboard does is that it shows you things like when was the last reconciliation done?

[00:13:35] How many transactions are outstanding?

[00:13:37] It gives you some bandings in terms of like the quantity and quantum of transactions that are outstanding on whether or not it's going to have a big impact on the results.

[00:13:47] And it also gives you some other data around the sort of turnover cash balances and accounts receivable, accounts payable, etc.

[00:13:57] So you've got an ability to kind of get a fairly high level overview of what's going on with your clients.

[00:14:02] And I would say at the moment, you know, without somebody or the data that you'd get maybe from Sift as maybe Xero start to build this out and pull that in.

[00:14:10] I think some of this data is is OK, but equally, some of the data isn't all that relevant or all that exciting.

[00:14:16] And I mean, I guess, again, it depends on how you're going to be using Xero from a practice point of view, because if you're into daily bookkeeping and things like that, this will probably be more relevant for rather than for a firm, maybe a little bit like us, where we don't do quite so much of the bookkeeping.

[00:14:29] And more often than not, our clients are operating Xero themselves.

[00:14:33] And so this is a set of insights into which we could be a little bit more proactive, I guess.

[00:14:38] But equally, there might be particular reasons why clients haven't kept up to date with the bank rec, for example, because I might have outstanding queries or waiting for invoices.

[00:14:45] So, so, so, yeah, it's an interesting development.

[00:14:50] It's, it's probably long overdue if I was to be critical of Xero in terms of, you know, they've had this data for a long time and tried to figure out ways of presenting this in the past, but it's now they're in product and available for people to use.

[00:15:01] Yeah, another positive part of Xero HQ.

[00:15:05] And I'm, I'm certain like this can't have been there, them bringing in the tech from SIFT, right?

[00:15:10] That'd be way too quick after the, after the acquisition.

[00:15:15] So surely they've been building this for a while and hopefully what they have acquired through SIFT can help superpower what they've been building with this release.

[00:15:25] A little bit from me regarding active work papers.

[00:15:28] Because they've had some releases in September, they've released things every month, but their September releases were the improvements to processing reviewing journals.

[00:15:36] So if you're not using active work papers or you've not come across them, essentially it connects your traditional Excel working pack to your cloud finance ledger with a cloud work papers.

[00:15:48] That means you can get the power of Excel while still using, utilising the benefit of the cloud.

[00:15:53] So the journals flow has been improved from the active work papers perspective.

[00:16:00] But the one bit I quite liked was they've brought out a profit reconciliation report.

[00:16:04] And this is something that I think every currency firm should be doing is taking what the profit was from the, what you get from the client, showing all of your journals and what they're for and how they've adjusted your finances to come down to the end profit.

[00:16:17] And that's what you should be doing and then reporting back to the client so that it's very easy for them to see what work you've done justify, I guess, you know, your fee.

[00:16:25] So they've brought that into the system.

[00:16:27] And this will be very helpful for any accountants that are using active work papers now or in the future.

[00:16:34] Yeah, some great little updates there from active work papers.

[00:16:37] And I've got a small update from a client window as well.

[00:16:41] They have just released a new feature for keeping on track of the messages that you send back and forth to clients.

[00:16:48] And they've enabled the ability to see sent, received and read notifications effectively in the product.

[00:16:54] So effectively, if you're familiar with your products like WhatsApp, for example, you know that when you send a message, you can see when it's been delivered, when it's been received by the recipient and also when it's been read.

[00:17:05] So this is effectively a replication of that, which is exactly what client window is all about anyway, because it is a layer sitting over the top of like messaging services.

[00:17:12] So it's a nice, neat little thing.

[00:17:15] And obviously, it makes it a lot easier to manage things if you know that you've sent something to a client and they haven't read it or haven't opened it, that at least you've got an idea about why you're not maybe getting a response back on these things.

[00:17:26] So I think that's a neat little update from them.

[00:17:29] And a nice last little one from me as well on Numeric, who has secured $28 million in Series A to automate the accounting sector using AI, which I'm making.

[00:17:45] I've never heard of this before.

[00:17:46] No, it's a but this in this case is for the use of AI agents.

[00:17:53] So it's the numeric lets the accounting team shave days off the monthly book closing and the quarterly book closing process just through the way that the AI agent looks at the different data sources that have been aggregated from a number of the accounting systems and Excel spreadsheets.

[00:18:16] It then overlays that data with the AI agent, who then effectively looks for each line item and how it's changed from one period to the next.

[00:18:25] And then they document that variance in the account.

[00:18:29] So it makes it easier for you to go straight to that entry and see what has happened.

[00:18:35] So I think there's going to be several of these different use cases that come to the fore.

[00:18:42] But these guys have obviously done a great job of locking in the investment really early on because their technology has been leveraged and used from several accounting departments in companies like Brex, OpenAI, Plaid and Welfron.

[00:18:58] So it sounds like they have done a really great job of securing a decent amount of cash for their AI agent.

[00:19:06] Any thoughts on this, guys, seeing as you are very much in this space and we've seen a number of different companies entering the space, either trying to implement AI agents or enrich the different accounting systems and data with AI.

[00:19:22] So what do you think?

[00:19:23] Will this have some legs in our space?

[00:19:27] Well, I guess I'm dubious about how well it will do, given the complexities of a period end.

[00:19:33] But we are seeing a lot of development around, I guess, period end, period processing, speeding up.

[00:19:42] And I think it's great that we're seeing so much development.

[00:19:45] We've not really seen much release, though, which shows how complex it is to solve.

[00:19:50] So if this is one that sticks, is really effective, I think it's going to be welcomed massively in the space.

[00:19:56] It's not something that I know from talking to clients.

[00:19:59] They really want some tools to help them with that.

[00:20:02] So I'm sceptical, but interested.

[00:20:05] I'll keep my ear to the ground on this one.

[00:20:09] Ryan, you sceptical?

[00:20:11] No, I would never believe that.

[00:20:13] Not at all.

[00:20:13] It's rare, isn't it?

[00:20:14] It's very rare.

[00:20:16] When you say there's other apps that are in this space, maybe handling it in different ways, which ones would you then pick on that have managed to do it and then release?

[00:20:27] Or the ones that are at least the alternatives that people could explore?

[00:20:31] So now there's a big one over in the US that has completely lost, just gone from my mind of what it is.

[00:20:38] I know that in the UK, Mayday are building these features out, but have not quite got to that on their very open roadmap.

[00:20:47] And there is another one that hasn't been released yet.

[00:20:51] There's been going through the earlier Doctors Hub, which has been taking a little bit longer to develop.

[00:20:56] I'm not sure if we're at a stage where we should be talking about their name as they're not released.

[00:21:01] So I won't bring that up.

[00:21:02] But if in the meantime, I remember what the heck the one in the US is called, I'll mention it.

[00:21:08] I'm going to do some quick Googling while handing over to John.

[00:21:11] I mean, you've got digits in the US, which might be the one you're thinking about.

[00:21:15] But then there are, and you've got Botkeeper as well, who kind of been in and around this space for a while.

[00:21:20] Although for anyone familiar with Botkeeper, they talked about having AI and then they did a Dext.

[00:21:25] And actually, it was a whole bunch of people overseas just processing transactions for them.

[00:21:28] And now, I guess I have some similar levels of skepticism to Ryan in terms of where this is at.

[00:21:34] And I mean, I think it's really notable that these kind of products are coming out of the US market in particular,

[00:21:40] where the kind of hype around AI and obviously that in the context of their challenges around recruitment

[00:21:46] and retention of accounting staff is a bigger issue than it is certainly in the UK market.

[00:21:51] I think that's one of the reasons why you're starting to see it.

[00:21:53] Clearly, access to capital markets is different over there as well, which is why you're also seeing big fundraisers.

[00:21:58] But I'm yet to see one of these products make a real significant difference to a practice.

[00:22:05] And I guess that's the real challenge here is like, you know, how do these products make themselves invaluable

[00:22:12] or differentiate themselves from other things that we can do, which bring levels of automation,

[00:22:17] like just leveraging OCR technology, for example, and the other thing that's been around for a long time.

[00:22:23] So I think for me, at least, is like the jury is still out.

[00:22:30] These fundraisers are exciting.

[00:22:31] The product releases are interesting to sort of see.

[00:22:34] But so far, you know, we've not had any of the sort of the wow factor yet from any of these products, I don't think.

[00:22:41] And that system is called Flowcast.

[00:22:43] And it's mostly around structuring, not automating.

[00:22:47] But it's one that has been successful in the US.

[00:22:53] So I'm delighted to say I'm joined by Matt Lunes again from iPlisit.

[00:22:57] And we're going to touch a little bit on the partner channel that iPlisit offers to other accountants

[00:23:03] and other people interested in, you know, either getting involved in referring iPlisit to their clients

[00:23:09] or even getting more involved in implementation work for clients.

[00:23:12] And I know, Matt, you were sort of instrumental in kind of creating and building this partnership channel.

[00:23:16] So it'd be great to hear from you a little bit more about, number one, I guess,

[00:23:21] why iPlisit decided to create your partner channel

[00:23:25] and then also what the various opportunities are for accountants and others to get involved in it.

[00:23:30] We formed and launched a market in 2019 and we've doubled in size year on year since.

[00:23:36] We're going to double this year and we're going to double next year.

[00:23:38] Obviously, when you double each year, that gets harder and harder to do.

[00:23:42] And that means more and more customers.

[00:23:45] And being completely frank and honest, we can't continue to grow our professional services team

[00:23:49] at the rate that's required to carry on delivering those services.

[00:23:53] So we identified accountants as the perfect fit for us to partner with because accountants,

[00:24:00] I think it's probably fair to say as a sweeping statement in the main have done the zero conversions.

[00:24:05] Those that have wanted to move or could move have moved.

[00:24:09] The ones that are left now are those that don't want to move, basically.

[00:24:13] So you're getting more zero optimizations now than you necessarily are zero transformations.

[00:24:19] And they've got nothing in the mid-market space that they can use and do to work with these mid-market clients.

[00:24:26] There's been a handful of teams that you'll see, a handful of practices that have got dynamics teams,

[00:24:31] NetSuite teams, but they're few and far between and they're very hard to maintain and keep and keep the training up

[00:24:38] and all that kind of stuff that's wrapped around it.

[00:24:41] So we know the general direction of firms in the top 50 to top 100 are looking to work more with mid-market clients.

[00:24:49] Clients that align with the rest of their practice, that are probably maybe more likely to purchase other services,

[00:24:55] whether that's corporate finance or tax advice or whatever it may be, maybe less fee sensitive.

[00:24:59] And also the members of staff, they're working for these larger firms because they want to work with larger clients.

[00:25:05] There's no disrespect to SMEs, but if they wanted to work with more SMEs, they'd work in smaller practices.

[00:25:11] That's the general sort of gist and rule of thumb.

[00:25:14] So we've identified there's a movement to mid-market in the accounting space.

[00:25:19] We need to have some implementation partners in place.

[00:25:22] We want to be a software business.

[00:25:24] Accountancy firms are service businesses.

[00:25:26] So there's the perfect hand-in-glove fit there where we can enable and upskill their teams to implement the product on our behalf with our support in the background.

[00:25:35] And we can take them through the whole cohort and shadowing process and all of that behind the scenes to the point of where they're self-sufficient.

[00:25:41] And then they can go off and deploy implementations of iPlicit at their own will and generate the level of revenues that they were and are used to by doing it with zero,

[00:25:52] not on the same quantity, but definitely to the same value.

[00:25:54] And so what are the entry points for people to get involved in the partnership program then?

[00:26:02] Because I think there's at least two, possibly three, I think, from memory.

[00:26:06] So we have three offerings.

[00:26:08] You're right.

[00:26:09] Starting at the most basic level was just a referral.

[00:26:11] So we can meet with any accountancy firm, give them a demo of the software,

[00:26:16] and basically just enable you to have a conversation about iPlicit with customers as and when the need arises.

[00:26:21] The second one is implementation partners.

[00:26:24] So again, referrals in that respect, but they can implement the solution themselves.

[00:26:29] So we can train people up on how to implement iPlicit.

[00:26:34] And that'll be groups of people, maybe different levels throughout project managers, trainers, configuration consultants, et cetera.

[00:26:40] And then the third one that we offer is a BPO offering, so an outsourced offering.

[00:26:45] So that is for firms that have got a selection of mid-market clients in their outsourcing teams or virtual finance function teams,

[00:26:53] and they need a mid-market system of choice.

[00:26:55] So for those firms that they're using Xero or QuickBooks for the SME clients,

[00:27:01] but they want to establish themselves in the outsourcing space for mid-market, so that's where we fit in.

[00:27:07] I just want to explore that BPO opportunity because I think that's not something that I'd really consider, to be honest.

[00:27:14] And I know it's probably more popular maybe in mainland Europe than maybe it is in the UK.

[00:27:20] I mean, clearly we see a lot of outsourcing in general in the UK and a lot of outsourcing, particularly in the SME space,

[00:27:27] and maybe a little bit more of that kind of fractional CFO type work.

[00:27:32] But that does tend to still linger around the Xero QuickBooks ecosystem of products.

[00:27:36] It doesn't feel like it kind of operates in that next setup or even in the large enterprise ERP space either.

[00:27:44] So fascinating to see that that's an opportunity that you've seen and also that some of your firm customers have seen as well.

[00:27:52] Yeah, I think that is a huge area of opportunity and growth for us.

[00:27:57] We are speaking of two top 10 firms that want this and need this.

[00:28:02] And we've got other firms outside of that that are also speaking to us about the same thing.

[00:28:06] And I think being honest, it's because they've not had a platform in the past that's enabled them to do it.

[00:28:12] We know that the way to make money in outsourcing is to deliver an efficient, scalable service.

[00:28:17] If you're starting to run multi-entities and you're starting to charge for time rather than value-add,

[00:28:22] you're quickly going to lose that customer as an outsourcing customer.

[00:28:26] We enable you through the efficiencies and through the platform and what we can automate and how much easier we make it for groups of companies.

[00:28:34] We enable you to keep that client and carry on delivering a service that is valued rather than a service that is built around input.

[00:28:42] And I think that's what's opened a lot of people's eyes because they've simply just not had tools to be able to offer this service in the past.

[00:28:49] So when they see this, they understand that actually this is a direction of travel for us now.

[00:28:54] And this is a client that we can keep for longer because typically what I saw in my time of practice was you get to the point of outgrowing zero, your fees become uncompetitive, you lose the client.

[00:29:04] Well, if we can help you keep that client, then that's a win-win all round for everyone.

[00:29:09] Absolutely. And are you seeing a particular type of business that is looking for this kind of service?

[00:29:15] Because I guess if there are accounts that are listening to this and thinking, oh, actually, yeah, this is something we'd love to explore,

[00:29:20] but we're not quite sure where to target in terms of a particular part of the client base.

[00:29:26] Where are you seeing success amongst your client customers?

[00:29:29] Yeah, sure. So I think quite a lot of them have international groups is where they're going to get in that fall.

[00:29:35] And that's where I saw a lot of the outsourcing work coming from in my time, where you've either got a UK parent with a lot of foreign subsidiaries,

[00:29:43] or you've got a foreign parent with a very big UK sub.

[00:29:47] They're looking for you to pull that all together and there'll be maybe non-revenue generate.

[00:29:52] Maybe there's just a lot of cost sharing across splitting across large, large groups, 50, 60, 70 entity groups.

[00:29:58] And then I think outside of that, there's a lot of more sort of service based industry businesses as well.

[00:30:05] They're in the outsourcing space.

[00:30:07] Yeah, fascinating. Well, I mean, I think that's definitely food for thought, right?

[00:30:10] And just, I guess, just to remind people that if they are interested in partnering with iPlicit,

[00:30:16] you've got those three levels of partnership that you can kind of explore from referral to implementability to that full blown outsourcing finance function,

[00:30:26] which I think is a fascinating opportunity.

[00:30:29] And as you say, Matt, it strengthens those client relationships.

[00:30:32] And obviously, you guys make sure that there's plenty of support on offer to support,

[00:30:38] not just the firms, but the clients as well to give them a good experience.

[00:30:42] Yeah.

[00:30:43] I think just the final point on that is the firms that we're talking to,

[00:30:46] what they actually want is they want to move away from the work that's involved in these large groups.

[00:30:51] And they want to deliver advisory work for them.

[00:30:54] That's what they want to be doing for these clients.

[00:30:55] And that's what we enable them to do.

[00:30:57] We can take away that dog work of the intercompany recs and all of that stuff that's wrapped around it.

[00:31:02] And they can start to deliver value.

[00:31:04] And I know it's the buzzword and it's the magic word for now for years,

[00:31:07] but they can deliver advisory to that client and value add to the client.

[00:31:12] That's going to make sure the client wants to stick with them.

[00:31:16] Yeah, that sounds perfect.

[00:31:17] And yeah, look, thank you again for your time.

[00:31:20] It's always great to hear about great products.

[00:31:21] And we wish you ongoing success with the development of both the partnership model

[00:31:28] and also with the product itself.

[00:31:31] I know there's plenty of product updates and things coming through all the time.

[00:31:34] So it's great to see and it's great to hear your continued success.

[00:31:38] Thank you very much.

[00:31:39] Cheers, John.

[00:31:41] Well, you two are going to the Academy Excellence Award.

[00:31:43] So tell me about that.

[00:31:44] I'm not now.

[00:31:47] That bad of sleep, I cannot make it.

[00:31:49] I don't know why I'm in dismay that I'm without you both.

[00:31:52] I feel like I'm having to...

[00:31:54] Do you feel naked without the clothing that is Ryan and John?

[00:32:01] That's my metaphor for today.

[00:32:03] That's sort of like a slightly overused baggy scarf.

[00:32:07] Yeah, what clothing are you to reuse?

[00:32:09] Are you the baggy scarf, John?

[00:32:11] I don't know.

[00:32:13] Just like a sock that you turn inside out when you can't bother washing it.

[00:32:16] An old worn leather jacket keeps you safe, kind of rock and roll,

[00:32:21] reminiscent of my glory days.

[00:32:24] Just kind of, again, it's like hard wearing.

[00:32:26] Yeah.

[00:32:27] And it's very versatile.

[00:32:29] Ryan.

[00:32:32] Like a used pair of wire fronts.

[00:32:36] Is it like a cardigan?

[00:32:38] A cardigan that's frayed.

[00:32:39] Frayed and old.

[00:32:42] A tank top.

[00:32:44] You're a slightly moth-eaten tank top.

[00:32:46] It's like a grey mixed with, I don't know, like a mauve and like a dirt brown.

[00:32:55] Yeah.

[00:32:57] You get it at Christmas and you're like, I'm never going to wear this.

[00:33:01] That's why I am as a clothing guy.

[00:33:02] One of those terrible, you know, like those sort of, you know,

[00:33:04] when people think they've gone for like a tan leather,

[00:33:07] but it doesn't look like tan.

[00:33:08] It looks more like shit colour.

[00:33:11] I need to swear, John.

[00:33:12] Come on.

[00:33:14] I know.

[00:33:15] I don't think you'd be either, Ryan.

[00:33:17] I'm going to now have a proper think about where you are.

[00:33:20] A string vest.

[00:33:21] A string vest.

[00:33:22] Well, I doubt I'm lingerie, am I?

[00:33:23] Come on, let's be honest.

[00:33:25] I don't know, but yeah, maybe like a,

[00:33:27] why is a string vest helpful?

[00:33:30] Because why is it quite helpful?

[00:33:32] So, I don't know.

[00:33:33] Jockstrap.

[00:33:34] Like a, he's like a, he's like a chastity belt.

[00:33:37] Is that what you're saying?

[00:33:38] Oh, yeah.

[00:33:38] Yeah, it's like that.

[00:33:40] Like a chastity belt.

[00:33:40] You mean, I prevent anyone getting laid?

[00:33:43] Is that what, is that what you mean?

[00:33:45] You prevent, you prevent risks from taking place.

[00:33:49] That's what happens.

[00:33:50] Ah, yes.

[00:33:51] In a medieval fashion.

[00:33:53] In a medieval fashion.

[00:33:55] But, you know, some people mean that.

[00:33:57] I, for one, I am obviously, I have a tween age daughter

[00:34:01] and I would like it if we could reinforce

[00:34:03] or bring back into fashion chastity belt.

[00:34:05] That would be great.

[00:34:06] So, I, well, I, you've heard it here first.

[00:34:09] I'm Indy Tetler's chastity belt.

[00:34:14] With a rusty lock.

[00:34:16] Oh, God.

[00:34:17] Do, do not talk about my rusty lock, please.

[00:34:23] Maybe I should be more celebratory about the awards coming,

[00:34:26] having a seat.

[00:34:27] I just don't know.

[00:34:28] You can't be arsed anymore, can you?

[00:34:30] You'd be like, oh, no one else is going to be there

[00:34:31] that I want to play with, so I'm not bothered.

[00:34:33] No, not true at all.

[00:34:35] The accounting excellence awards are already, if not.

[00:34:37] Well, for what it takes, I am gutted that I can't go.

[00:34:40] So, I'm really, I'm really upset that I can't go

[00:34:42] because I would really like to go.

[00:34:43] I think it's one of the great events of the year

[00:34:46] and it's in the right time of the year

[00:34:47] because it's not when all of the other bloody conferences

[00:34:49] are going on.

[00:34:50] And, yeah, I'm missing it.

[00:34:53] And it's following on the coattails

[00:34:54] of the biggest awards night of the year.

[00:34:56] So, you know, it's perfect time.

[00:34:59] They've got something to live up to.

[00:35:01] Yeah.

[00:35:03] They know that.

[00:35:04] It's a very good awards event

[00:35:06] and I think that I'm really looking forward

[00:35:08] to seeing who the winners are this year.

[00:35:10] Saw a few nominees already,

[00:35:12] so maybe we can talk about those at some point.

[00:35:14] But, yeah, I'm excited to go and to see what happens.

[00:35:17] So, I will keep you guys posted,

[00:35:20] you losers posted who aren't going, okay?

[00:35:23] Yeah, you have to send us some pictures on the night,

[00:35:24] but not too many because I'll get a photo.

[00:35:27] I mean, I'll be asleep, so I'll look at them in the morning.

[00:35:29] I'm so tired.

[00:35:35] Well, here we are.

[00:35:36] I am delighted to be joined by Richard Sargent,

[00:35:39] the winner of our Deity Award

[00:35:41] at the recent Digital Disruptors Award.

[00:35:43] I know you were very proud

[00:35:44] because I've seen the LinkedIn pictures

[00:35:45] and they're sharing it around with lots of people.

[00:35:47] So, how does it feel to have won the award?

[00:35:50] I do not...

[00:35:51] Here he is.

[00:35:54] Very lovely.

[00:35:54] I barely left my sight.

[00:35:56] It's a bit too big to wear.

[00:35:57] That's my only criticism.

[00:36:00] And it could be used as a weapon,

[00:36:01] I've discovered as well.

[00:36:02] But that's just great.

[00:36:04] No, it was really great.

[00:36:05] I was embarrassed, I think.

[00:36:09] I still feel a bit embarrassed.

[00:36:13] It's really...

[00:36:14] It's a real honour

[00:36:15] and genuinely unexpected.

[00:36:18] So much so that I didn't actually go to the awards,

[00:36:20] as you know,

[00:36:21] but that wasn't anything to do with me being offered,

[00:36:23] I promise.

[00:36:24] I heard that you had a better offer anyway

[00:36:26] because I heard you were going to see a band.

[00:36:27] I did.

[00:36:28] Yeah, I went to see Polite Bureau,

[00:36:30] a Greater Manchester Band,

[00:36:32] which I had actually organised

[00:36:33] about a month or six weeks beforehand,

[00:36:37] probably just the same time

[00:36:38] as you're announcing the awards.

[00:36:39] So, it wasn't a better offer.

[00:36:41] It was just alternative arrangements.

[00:36:43] Yeah.

[00:36:44] So, anyway, the next day,

[00:36:45] Ryan tracked me down

[00:36:48] and, yeah,

[00:36:49] embarrassed because, you know,

[00:36:50] it's really touching

[00:36:51] and I haven't won anything

[00:36:52] since about primary school.

[00:36:53] So, yeah, it's great.

[00:36:56] I'm really touched.

[00:36:58] I'm very honest.

[00:36:58] Well, we thought you were a very worthy,

[00:37:01] you know,

[00:37:02] winner of the award.

[00:37:04] I hope this isn't a Lifetime Achievement Award as well

[00:37:06] because that's the kiss of death, isn't it?

[00:37:07] That's just my career's over.

[00:37:09] Oh, yeah.

[00:37:10] It could be, couldn't it?

[00:37:11] That's it.

[00:37:11] Like, I mean,

[00:37:12] I mean, once you've got to godlike status, though,

[00:37:14] because, like, you are, after all,

[00:37:15] like the deity, you know,

[00:37:17] then surely you just become all-knowing,

[00:37:20] don't you?

[00:37:20] It's like omnipotent.

[00:37:21] So, you're everywhere then.

[00:37:22] Well...

[00:37:22] It's not like,

[00:37:22] it's not the kiss of death.

[00:37:24] It's more of like the perennial extension

[00:37:26] of your life forever.

[00:37:27] Oh, that's good.

[00:37:28] That's reassuring.

[00:37:29] Yeah,

[00:37:29] because I'm not sure

[00:37:30] it could extend to my bank manager

[00:37:31] if I ran out of money

[00:37:32] if I stopped turning.

[00:37:35] Absolutely.

[00:37:37] So,

[00:37:39] obviously,

[00:37:40] you know,

[00:37:40] now you've got the award

[00:37:41] and hopefully you're going to hang on to it

[00:37:43] for as long as possible,

[00:37:44] but there will inevitably be another award

[00:37:45] in the future.

[00:37:46] You know,

[00:37:47] that's our plan,

[00:37:48] at least.

[00:37:48] So,

[00:37:48] who do you think,

[00:37:50] if anybody,

[00:37:51] we should be considering

[00:37:53] for next year's,

[00:37:54] you know,

[00:37:54] Digital Deity Award?

[00:37:56] Who do you think

[00:37:56] sort of like stands out for you?

[00:38:00] Um,

[00:38:03] well...

[00:38:04] It's hard not just going to go

[00:38:06] round all your old pals

[00:38:07] because they all do such a great job,

[00:38:08] isn't it?

[00:38:09] You can do that if you like.

[00:38:10] I can do that.

[00:38:11] I mean,

[00:38:12] there are certain people to me

[00:38:14] that I think there are,

[00:38:16] that have done such a great job

[00:38:18] for such a long period of time.

[00:38:21] And,

[00:38:21] you know,

[00:38:22] I always feel

[00:38:23] that their contributions

[00:38:25] actually go way beyond

[00:38:26] what they just do

[00:38:27] for,

[00:38:29] on a day-to-day basis.

[00:38:30] Through many few things

[00:38:31] like just being around

[00:38:32] for so long.

[00:38:34] You know,

[00:38:34] and those kind of old,

[00:38:36] slightly old timers out there,

[00:38:38] you know,

[00:38:38] I'm always duffing my cap to them

[00:38:40] and the things

[00:38:40] that people out there

[00:38:41] I've learned from over the years.

[00:38:43] People like Darren Glanville,

[00:38:45] who,

[00:38:45] you know,

[00:38:46] does so much

[00:38:47] to kind of

[00:38:49] put forward

[00:38:50] the professionalism

[00:38:51] of the,

[00:38:51] of the technology sector

[00:38:53] who cares so deeply

[00:38:55] and passionately

[00:38:56] about doing a good job

[00:38:57] for clients

[00:38:58] and instilling that

[00:38:59] into his teams

[00:39:00] through all the businesses

[00:39:01] that he's worked for.

[00:39:03] The fact that he stayed

[00:39:04] and worked in,

[00:39:05] you know,

[00:39:06] he hasn't moved around

[00:39:06] lots and lots.

[00:39:07] He's kind of worked

[00:39:09] progressively,

[00:39:09] working in a detailed way

[00:39:11] with some,

[00:39:12] some businesses

[00:39:13] and instilling

[00:39:14] culture and values

[00:39:15] in there

[00:39:16] that I think we,

[00:39:17] and the conversation

[00:39:18] I have with Darren,

[00:39:19] the way he talks

[00:39:20] about the profession

[00:39:22] is always so nuanced

[00:39:23] and to me

[00:39:24] that's

[00:39:26] such an important

[00:39:27] kind of attribute

[00:39:28] to have

[00:39:29] because a lot of vendors,

[00:39:31] mainly I think

[00:39:31] it's just because

[00:39:32] of there's so many

[00:39:33] new people that come in,

[00:39:34] not just vendors,

[00:39:35] I mean literally

[00:39:35] new people that come through

[00:39:37] that can form some opinions

[00:39:38] very,

[00:39:38] very quickly

[00:39:39] and very easily

[00:39:39] and they're not always

[00:39:41] the right ones to have.

[00:39:42] So,

[00:39:42] you know,

[00:39:43] you need to be around

[00:39:44] a little bit

[00:39:44] to kind of understand

[00:39:45] and then to kind of instill

[00:39:46] that in other people.

[00:39:47] So,

[00:39:48] people like Darren

[00:39:48] would be on my shortlist

[00:39:50] and then there's

[00:39:51] some new people

[00:39:51] coming through

[00:39:52] that may not know

[00:39:53] but definitely want to watch.

[00:39:55] My old pal Jack Aberton

[00:39:57] as well

[00:39:57] who's now working

[00:39:58] at CancerIQ

[00:39:59] and I love Jack.

[00:40:00] His brain works

[00:40:01] in a,

[00:40:01] you know,

[00:40:02] in a really incredible

[00:40:03] unique way

[00:40:04] and,

[00:40:05] you know,

[00:40:06] maybe he's a digital deity

[00:40:08] for,

[00:40:09] you know,

[00:40:09] for the future

[00:40:11] possibly.

[00:40:12] Yeah.

[00:40:13] Yeah,

[00:40:13] well that sounds good.

[00:40:14] I mean,

[00:40:14] I think there's a couple

[00:40:15] of really great names there

[00:40:16] and I mean,

[00:40:18] I agree with you

[00:40:19] in terms of Darren.

[00:40:20] I mean,

[00:40:20] Darren was probably

[00:40:21] the first person

[00:40:22] that I interacted with

[00:40:23] when it came to

[00:40:25] the whole cloud accounting

[00:40:25] revolution

[00:40:26] when he was working

[00:40:27] back at Xero

[00:40:28] at the time

[00:40:28] and obviously

[00:40:29] had worked,

[00:40:30] you know,

[00:40:30] I think the SAGE

[00:40:31] prior to that

[00:40:31] and,

[00:40:33] you know,

[00:40:33] just his

[00:40:35] guidance

[00:40:35] and mentorship

[00:40:37] around that

[00:40:38] in terms of,

[00:40:39] you know,

[00:40:39] helping me

[00:40:40] as a young accountant

[00:40:41] navigate that space

[00:40:42] not really knowing

[00:40:42] what I was going

[00:40:43] to get myself into

[00:40:44] was really

[00:40:44] helpful to me

[00:40:45] and I know

[00:40:46] that,

[00:40:47] as you say,

[00:40:47] as he sort of

[00:40:48] moved between roles

[00:40:49] and moved between

[00:40:50] some of the other

[00:40:51] opportunities

[00:40:52] that he's had,

[00:40:52] I know that he's

[00:40:53] sort of mentored

[00:40:54] many,

[00:40:54] many people

[00:40:55] in various sort

[00:40:55] of roles

[00:40:56] whether it's been

[00:40:56] sales or

[00:40:57] customer service

[00:40:58] or,

[00:40:58] you know,

[00:40:59] products and stuff

[00:41:00] and so,

[00:41:01] yeah,

[00:41:01] he definitely

[00:41:03] ticks all the boxes

[00:41:04] I think,

[00:41:04] that's for sure

[00:41:05] and,

[00:41:05] yeah,

[00:41:06] Jack was there

[00:41:07] at the awards

[00:41:07] so he's got a feel,

[00:41:09] he's got a taste

[00:41:09] for it already.

[00:41:10] He knows what it's all about.

[00:41:11] He's already doing better

[00:41:11] than I am.

[00:41:14] Absolutely,

[00:41:15] absolutely.

[00:41:16] So,

[00:41:18] what's next for you

[00:41:19] then,

[00:41:19] Richard?

[00:41:19] Well,

[00:41:19] most of my work,

[00:41:20] most of my commercial

[00:41:21] work is working

[00:41:22] on with

[00:41:24] the technology

[00:41:25] sector,

[00:41:25] so software

[00:41:27] companies

[00:41:28] primarily

[00:41:29] and

[00:41:31] over the years

[00:41:31] I've really started

[00:41:32] to,

[00:41:33] you know,

[00:41:34] try and hone

[00:41:34] what it is

[00:41:35] that I do

[00:41:35] for them

[00:41:35] and it can be

[00:41:37] quite difficult

[00:41:37] sometimes

[00:41:38] to explain

[00:41:38] what it is

[00:41:39] that I do

[00:41:39] but most of it

[00:41:41] is around

[00:41:41] trying to

[00:41:42] bring

[00:41:42] some kind

[00:41:43] of insight

[00:41:45] back into

[00:41:46] the vendors

[00:41:46] so they can

[00:41:47] build better

[00:41:48] products

[00:41:48] and they can

[00:41:49] communicate

[00:41:49] and understand

[00:41:50] their audience

[00:41:51] better.

[00:41:52] So,

[00:41:52] I don't do

[00:41:52] marketing

[00:41:53] and that

[00:41:53] kind of stuff

[00:41:54] but what I

[00:41:55] have been

[00:41:55] leaning a lot

[00:41:56] more over the

[00:41:57] last couple

[00:41:57] of years

[00:41:58] is a lot

[00:41:58] around training

[00:41:59] and also

[00:41:59] around research

[00:42:00] work.

[00:42:01] So,

[00:42:01] I've got this

[00:42:02] brilliant title

[00:42:03] of executive

[00:42:04] producer for

[00:42:05] Cancer

[00:42:05] of Intelligence

[00:42:07] and through

[00:42:08] my own

[00:42:09] business

[00:42:09] principal point

[00:42:10] I've been

[00:42:10] doing a lot

[00:42:10] of that

[00:42:11] kind of

[00:42:11] research

[00:42:11] work

[00:42:12] and I'd

[00:42:13] like to

[00:42:13] continue

[00:42:13] to do

[00:42:14] that.

[00:42:14] The stuff

[00:42:15] which kind

[00:42:15] of adds

[00:42:15] very high

[00:42:16] value

[00:42:17] but probably

[00:42:18] doesn't get

[00:42:18] seen by a

[00:42:19] lot of people

[00:42:20] that kind

[00:42:20] of stuff

[00:42:21] really kind

[00:42:21] of appeals

[00:42:22] to me

[00:42:22] so professionally

[00:42:24] and intellectually

[00:42:24] and they're

[00:42:25] really kind

[00:42:26] of quite

[00:42:26] rewarding

[00:42:27] type projects

[00:42:28] so,

[00:42:29] you know,

[00:42:29] I'm steering

[00:42:30] a little bit

[00:42:30] more towards

[00:42:31] that

[00:42:32] and also

[00:42:33] there's a

[00:42:34] thing which

[00:42:35] I think is

[00:42:36] really important

[00:42:36] and I really

[00:42:36] enjoy doing

[00:42:37] which is

[00:42:38] bringing

[00:42:38] different parts

[00:42:39] of the world

[00:42:40] together

[00:42:40] in a slightly

[00:42:42] kind of chaotic

[00:42:42] way

[00:42:43] and I kind

[00:42:43] of feel

[00:42:44] I have

[00:42:44] different ways

[00:42:44] of doing

[00:42:45] that

[00:42:47] not least

[00:42:47] because

[00:42:48] some of you

[00:42:48] have been

[00:42:48] to my

[00:42:49] boat stuff

[00:42:49] in Bristol

[00:42:51] and we're

[00:42:53] going to

[00:42:53] Lisbon

[00:42:53] next year

[00:42:54] which is

[00:42:54] a new

[00:42:54] adventure

[00:42:55] and just

[00:42:56] to follow

[00:42:56] my nose

[00:42:57] a little

[00:42:57] bit

[00:42:57] I think

[00:42:58] there's

[00:42:58] you know

[00:42:59] I've done

[00:43:00] a lot

[00:43:00] of work

[00:43:00] recently

[00:43:01] with more

[00:43:02] European

[00:43:03] based

[00:43:03] kind of

[00:43:04] tech

[00:43:04] businesses

[00:43:06] and

[00:43:06] that's

[00:43:07] a kind

[00:43:07] of a

[00:43:07] new

[00:43:07] horizon

[00:43:08] for me

[00:43:08] as well

[00:43:09] getting to

[00:43:09] know

[00:43:10] those

[00:43:10] accounting

[00:43:10] worlds

[00:43:11] has been

[00:43:12] something

[00:43:12] I've been

[00:43:12] doing

[00:43:12] slowly

[00:43:13] over the

[00:43:13] years

[00:43:14] but I

[00:43:14] think

[00:43:15] there's

[00:43:15] kind

[00:43:15] of

[00:43:17] where

[00:43:17] are

[00:43:23] people

[00:43:23] they

[00:43:24] so

[00:43:24] just

[00:43:24] having

[00:43:25] more

[00:43:25] of a

[00:43:25] wider

[00:43:26] view

[00:43:26] of

[00:43:27] the

[00:43:27] world

[00:43:28] I

[00:43:28] think

[00:43:28] would

[00:43:28] be

[00:43:29] useful

[00:43:29] but also

[00:43:30] useful

[00:43:30] to some

[00:43:31] of my

[00:43:31] clients

[00:43:31] I'm dealing

[00:43:31] with as

[00:43:32] well

[00:43:32] so

[00:43:32] that's

[00:43:33] where I'd

[00:43:33] like to

[00:43:33] head

[00:43:34] to

[00:43:34] push

[00:43:34] my

[00:43:35] horizons

[00:43:35] a little

[00:43:36] bit

[00:43:36] more

[00:43:37] wow

[00:43:38] that sounds

[00:43:38] incredible

[00:43:39] and I'm

[00:43:40] sure

[00:43:40] off the

[00:43:41] back of

[00:43:42] the kudos

[00:43:43] of winning

[00:43:44] the award

[00:43:44] there'll be

[00:43:45] plenty more

[00:43:46] opportunities

[00:43:46] on the

[00:43:47] horizon

[00:43:48] for you

[00:43:48] and

[00:43:49] look

[00:43:49] I

[00:43:50] completely

[00:43:51] wish you

[00:43:51] well

[00:43:51] I consider

[00:43:52] you a

[00:43:52] friend

[00:43:53] you're a

[00:43:53] great mate

[00:43:54] that we

[00:43:54] get to

[00:43:55] hang out

[00:43:55] at various

[00:43:56] events

[00:43:56] and chew

[00:43:57] the fat

[00:43:57] and talk

[00:43:57] nonsense

[00:43:58] about

[00:43:58] what's

[00:43:59] happening

[00:43:59] in our

[00:43:59] space

[00:43:59] and who's

[00:44:00] right

[00:44:00] and who's

[00:44:01] wrong

[00:44:01] and who's

[00:44:01] doing

[00:44:01] good

[00:44:02] things

[00:44:02] and who's

[00:44:02] doing

[00:44:02] bad

[00:44:02] things

[00:44:03] thanks

[00:44:03] very much

[00:44:04] I do

[00:44:04] appreciate

[00:44:05] it

[00:44:05] thank you

[00:44:05] to you

[00:44:06] and Ryan

[00:44:07] and Indy

[00:44:07] and everyone

[00:44:08] who voted

[00:44:10] for me

[00:44:10] thank you

[00:44:11] pleasure

[00:44:11] thank you

[00:44:12] I am

[00:44:14] really delighted

[00:44:15] to be joined

[00:44:16] by the amazing

[00:44:17] Jordan Vickery

[00:44:18] who has won

[00:44:19] the digital

[00:44:20] marketer of

[00:44:21] the year

[00:44:22] award

[00:44:23] and is

[00:44:23] recently

[00:44:24] coming fresh

[00:44:25] off the

[00:44:25] back

[00:44:25] of

[00:44:26] concussion

[00:44:29] how are you

[00:44:30] feeling

[00:44:30] what happened

[00:44:31] I feel much

[00:44:33] better now

[00:44:33] thank you

[00:44:33] I was

[00:44:36] dismantling

[00:44:36] a wardrobe

[00:44:38] and I

[00:44:39] took the

[00:44:39] screws out

[00:44:40] of all

[00:44:40] the top

[00:44:40] bits

[00:44:41] and thought

[00:44:41] that it

[00:44:41] was going

[00:44:42] to hold

[00:44:42] in place

[00:44:43] and then

[00:44:44] went to

[00:44:45] go and

[00:44:46] start moving

[00:44:47] various bits

[00:44:47] apart

[00:44:48] and the

[00:44:48] whole thing

[00:44:48] just collapsed

[00:44:49] on me

[00:44:51] put me

[00:44:52] on my

[00:44:52] ass

[00:44:53] and then

[00:44:54] yeah

[00:44:54] after a

[00:44:55] trip to

[00:44:55] the hospital

[00:44:55] then a

[00:44:56] trip back

[00:44:57] home

[00:44:57] and then

[00:44:57] another

[00:44:58] trip back

[00:44:58] to the

[00:44:58] hospital

[00:44:59] and then

[00:44:59] another

[00:45:00] trip

[00:45:00] back home

[00:45:00] and I

[00:45:01] called

[00:45:01] the tests

[00:45:01] said

[00:45:02] you've

[00:45:02] got a

[00:45:02] bit of

[00:45:03] a bad

[00:45:04] concussion

[00:45:04] so put

[00:45:04] your feet

[00:45:05] up and

[00:45:05] don't do

[00:45:06] anything

[00:45:06] all week

[00:45:07] so that's

[00:45:07] what I've

[00:45:07] done

[00:45:08] is the

[00:45:08] room

[00:45:08] prepping

[00:45:09] a room

[00:45:10] for

[00:45:10] something

[00:45:10] is that

[00:45:10] nice

[00:45:11] oh we

[00:45:11] are prepping

[00:45:12] a room

[00:45:12] actually

[00:45:12] yes

[00:45:13] I was

[00:45:13] busy

[00:45:13] preparing

[00:45:14] our spare

[00:45:15] bedroom

[00:45:15] to become

[00:45:16] a nursery

[00:45:17] because we're

[00:45:17] expecting our

[00:45:18] first child

[00:45:19] what

[00:45:20] time

[00:45:21] breaking

[00:45:21] how many

[00:45:22] weeks

[00:45:22] how many

[00:45:23] months

[00:45:23] well the

[00:45:25] baby's due

[00:45:25] on the

[00:45:25] 23rd of

[00:45:26] December

[00:45:26] oh my

[00:45:28] god

[00:45:28] so you

[00:45:28] could have

[00:45:29] yeah

[00:45:29] we timed

[00:45:31] it

[00:45:31] timed it

[00:45:32] terribly

[00:45:32] but also

[00:45:33] timed it

[00:45:33] perfectly

[00:45:33] because at

[00:45:34] least you're

[00:45:35] going to have

[00:45:35] time off

[00:45:35] over Christmas

[00:45:36] anyway

[00:45:36] that's true

[00:45:38] it was

[00:45:39] efficient

[00:45:39] was looking

[00:45:40] at the efficiency

[00:45:41] angle there

[00:45:41] got to

[00:45:42] right

[00:45:43] return on

[00:45:44] investment

[00:45:45] that I

[00:45:46] can see

[00:45:47] the ROI

[00:45:48] is not

[00:45:48] looking great

[00:45:49] on the

[00:45:49] baby so

[00:45:49] far I'm

[00:45:49] not going

[00:45:50] to lie

[00:45:51] there's a lot

[00:45:52] of upfront

[00:45:52] costs

[00:45:54] but it's an

[00:45:54] exciting time

[00:45:55] and it's a

[00:45:55] good new

[00:45:56] chapter of

[00:45:56] the life

[00:45:56] to look

[00:45:57] forward to

[00:45:57] so yeah

[00:45:58] lots

[00:45:58] happens

[00:45:59] and daddy

[00:45:59] needs to

[00:46:00] get there

[00:46:00] in one

[00:46:01] piece

[00:46:02] yeah

[00:46:04] a few

[00:46:04] brain cells

[00:46:05] left for

[00:46:05] when they

[00:46:05] arrive

[00:46:06] exactly

[00:46:07] prepare

[00:46:07] yourself

[00:46:08] more

[00:46:08] sleepless

[00:46:09] nights

[00:46:10] endurance

[00:46:11] testing

[00:46:12] anyway

[00:46:13] yeah

[00:46:13] so you

[00:46:14] weren't

[00:46:15] able to

[00:46:15] join us

[00:46:16] but obviously

[00:46:16] we did

[00:46:17] have an

[00:46:18] award ceremony

[00:46:19] we won

[00:46:19] an award

[00:46:20] so we

[00:46:22] didn't really

[00:46:22] get the

[00:46:22] chance to

[00:46:23] give you

[00:46:23] an acceptance

[00:46:23] speech apart

[00:46:24] from John's

[00:46:25] little acceptance

[00:46:26] that said

[00:46:28] Jordan I'm

[00:46:28] going to go

[00:46:29] for a nice

[00:46:29] walk with him

[00:46:30] so I'll give

[00:46:30] him this award

[00:46:31] at some point

[00:46:33] here's my

[00:46:34] makeshift award

[00:46:35] it's a

[00:46:35] pint glass

[00:46:37] I think

[00:46:38] James

[00:46:39] Sunden's

[00:46:39] currently got

[00:46:40] the award

[00:46:41] he's

[00:46:42] going to

[00:46:42] live

[00:46:42] at some

[00:46:43] point

[00:46:43] when we

[00:46:44] catch up

[00:46:45] but yeah

[00:46:46] I'm very

[00:46:46] grateful for

[00:46:47] everybody that

[00:46:48] voted and

[00:46:49] nominated for

[00:46:49] me

[00:46:49] it was a

[00:46:51] nice surprise

[00:46:51] to wake up

[00:46:52] to

[00:46:53] and greatly

[00:46:54] appreciated

[00:46:54] yeah and

[00:46:56] you were

[00:46:56] someone that

[00:46:58] really

[00:46:59] I guess

[00:47:00] you asked

[00:47:00] me just

[00:47:01] before

[00:47:01] what was

[00:47:01] the criteria

[00:47:03] by which

[00:47:04] you were

[00:47:05] voted

[00:47:06] for the

[00:47:06] marketing

[00:47:07] firm

[00:47:08] or marketing

[00:47:09] of the

[00:47:09] year

[00:47:10] marketer

[00:47:10] of the

[00:47:10] year

[00:47:11] and it

[00:47:12] was

[00:47:13] different

[00:47:13] levels

[00:47:14] to it

[00:47:15] but one

[00:47:15] was obviously

[00:47:15] that you

[00:47:16] had received

[00:47:17] an inordinate

[00:47:17] amount of

[00:47:18] nominations in

[00:47:19] your paper

[00:47:19] so a lot

[00:47:20] of people

[00:47:20] that had

[00:47:21] called you

[00:47:22] out

[00:47:22] specifically

[00:47:23] obviously

[00:47:24] there were

[00:47:24] some

[00:47:24] references

[00:47:25] to some

[00:47:25] of the

[00:47:25] other

[00:47:25] marketing

[00:47:27] campaigns

[00:47:27] that you've

[00:47:28] done

[00:47:28] this year

[00:47:29] notably

[00:47:30] with

[00:47:30] pitch

[00:47:30] slap

[00:47:31] account

[00:47:32] text

[00:47:32] which you

[00:47:32] did

[00:47:32] with

[00:47:33] Adam

[00:47:33] and then

[00:47:34] also

[00:47:34] of course

[00:47:35] with the

[00:47:36] digital

[00:47:36] accounting

[00:47:36] show

[00:47:37] where

[00:47:38] with

[00:47:38] Dan

[00:47:39] and

[00:47:39] all

[00:47:39] of

[00:47:39] the

[00:47:40] marketing

[00:47:40] around

[00:47:41] math

[00:47:41] promotion

[00:47:42] and the

[00:47:44] engagement

[00:47:44] that you

[00:47:46] encourage

[00:47:46] throughout

[00:47:47] the events

[00:47:48] and in

[00:47:48] the run

[00:47:48] up to

[00:47:49] it

[00:47:49] so

[00:47:49] there

[00:47:50] was

[00:47:50] a lot

[00:47:51] of

[00:47:51] references

[00:47:52] that

[00:47:52] the judges

[00:47:53] were able

[00:47:53] to speak

[00:47:54] about

[00:47:54] and then

[00:47:55] specifically

[00:47:56] we also

[00:47:57] had the

[00:47:58] opportunity

[00:47:58] to all

[00:47:59] table it

[00:47:59] and go

[00:48:00] through

[00:48:00] all the

[00:48:01] nominations

[00:48:01] and

[00:48:02] everybody

[00:48:02] kept

[00:48:03] drawing

[00:48:03] different

[00:48:04] contexts

[00:48:04] different

[00:48:04] references

[00:48:05] to

[00:48:05] campaigns

[00:48:06] and

[00:48:06] materials

[00:48:06] that

[00:48:07] you

[00:48:07] were

[00:48:07] connected

[00:48:07] to

[00:48:08] via

[00:48:08] journey

[00:48:09] so

[00:48:09] which

[00:48:09] is

[00:48:09] amazing

[00:48:10] or

[00:48:10] originally

[00:48:11] so

[00:48:11] everyone

[00:48:13] had a Jordan

[00:48:13] story

[00:48:14] let's put it

[00:48:14] that way

[00:48:15] and then

[00:48:16] of course

[00:48:17] everyone

[00:48:17] both

[00:48:17] incredibly

[00:48:18] feel good

[00:48:19] stories

[00:48:19] yeah

[00:48:20] I mean

[00:48:20] mine

[00:48:21] wasn't the

[00:48:22] best

[00:48:22] that was

[00:48:23] my own

[00:48:24] fault

[00:48:24] because I

[00:48:25] probably drank

[00:48:25] too many

[00:48:26] champions

[00:48:26] but anyway

[00:48:28] I

[00:48:28] could I do

[00:48:29] a few

[00:48:29] quick

[00:48:30] shout

[00:48:30] outs

[00:48:30] since I

[00:48:31] didn't

[00:48:31] get to

[00:48:31] do it

[00:48:31] in the

[00:48:32] acceptance

[00:48:32] feed

[00:48:32] yeah

[00:48:34] all right

[00:48:35] number one

[00:48:35] shout out

[00:48:36] is to

[00:48:36] Adam

[00:48:36] Clark

[00:48:36] who was

[00:48:37] the

[00:48:37] chief

[00:48:38] creative

[00:48:38] officer

[00:48:39] behind

[00:48:39] pitch

[00:48:39] slap

[00:48:40] so

[00:48:40] without

[00:48:41] Adam

[00:48:41] there

[00:48:41] would

[00:48:41] have

[00:48:42] been

[00:48:42] no

[00:48:42] pitch

[00:48:42] slap

[00:48:42] he

[00:48:43] walked

[00:48:43] around

[00:48:44] the

[00:48:44] context

[00:48:44] with

[00:48:44] me

[00:48:45] all

[00:48:45] day

[00:48:45] filming

[00:48:46] often

[00:48:47] having

[00:48:47] to

[00:48:47] run

[00:48:47] because

[00:48:48] I'd

[00:48:48] literally

[00:48:48] see

[00:48:48] someone

[00:48:49] sprint

[00:48:49] up

[00:48:49] to

[00:48:49] them

[00:48:49] to

[00:48:49] try

[00:48:50] and

[00:48:50] get

[00:48:50] them

[00:48:50] and

[00:48:51] did

[00:48:51] an

[00:48:51] amazing

[00:48:52] job

[00:48:52] on

[00:48:52] the

[00:48:52] edit

[00:48:52] and

[00:48:53] brought

[00:48:53] fonts

[00:48:54] into

[00:48:54] that

[00:48:55] video

[00:48:55] that

[00:48:55] I've

[00:48:55] not

[00:48:55] seen

[00:48:56] since

[00:48:56] the

[00:48:56] late

[00:48:56] 90s

[00:48:57] so

[00:48:57] pretty

[00:48:58] incredible

[00:48:59] job

[00:48:59] there

[00:48:59] and

[00:48:59] thank

[00:48:59] you

[00:49:00] Adam

[00:49:00] and

[00:49:00] then

[00:49:01] another

[00:49:01] big

[00:49:01] shout

[00:49:02] out

[00:49:02] goes

[00:49:02] to

[00:49:02] somebody

[00:49:03] you

[00:49:03] may

[00:49:04] or

[00:49:04] may

[00:49:04] not

[00:49:04] know

[00:49:04] is

[00:49:04] Taylor

[00:49:05] Housden

[00:49:05] Taylor

[00:49:05] was

[00:49:22] wow

[00:49:22] wow

[00:49:23] very

[00:49:23] humble

[00:49:24] and

[00:49:24] you've

[00:49:24] obviously

[00:49:25] read a

[00:49:25] lot

[00:49:25] of

[00:49:25] different

[00:49:26] games

[00:49:27] in

[00:49:27] that

[00:49:27] time

[00:49:27] because

[00:49:28] Journey

[00:49:29] feels

[00:49:30] like

[00:49:30] an

[00:49:30] international

[00:49:32] agency

[00:49:32] of

[00:49:33] real

[00:49:33] minds

[00:49:34] is that

[00:49:35] right

[00:49:35] yeah

[00:49:36] we've

[00:49:36] got

[00:49:36] team

[00:49:36] members

[00:49:37] in

[00:49:37] I

[00:49:38] would

[00:49:38] guess

[00:49:38] maybe

[00:49:39] like

[00:49:39] 12

[00:49:39] countries

[00:49:40] so

[00:49:42] we've

[00:49:42] got

[00:49:43] myself

[00:49:43] in

[00:49:43] the

[00:49:43] UK

[00:49:44] a

[00:49:44] couple

[00:49:44] of

[00:49:44] others

[00:49:45] people

[00:49:45] in

[00:49:45] Rome

[00:49:46] Serbia

[00:49:47] Albania

[00:49:48] the

[00:49:48] Philippines

[00:49:49] Australia

[00:49:49] Canada

[00:49:52] I'm

[00:49:52] probably

[00:49:52] forgetting

[00:49:53] one or

[00:49:53] two

[00:49:53] other

[00:49:53] places

[00:49:54] but

[00:49:54] yeah

[00:49:54] international

[00:49:55] agency

[00:49:55] offices

[00:49:56] in the

[00:49:56] UK

[00:49:56] and

[00:49:57] Australia

[00:49:57] and

[00:49:57] soon

[00:49:57] to be

[00:49:58] North

[00:49:58] America

[00:49:59] wow

[00:50:00] 247

[00:50:01] marketing

[00:50:01] that's

[00:50:02] what we

[00:50:02] should

[00:50:03] we

[00:50:03] should

[00:50:03] the

[00:50:03] tagline

[00:50:04] needs

[00:50:04] to be

[00:50:04] journey

[00:50:05] 247

[00:50:06] marketing

[00:50:06] well

[00:50:07] we're

[00:50:07] actually

[00:50:07] trying to

[00:50:07] position

[00:50:08] ourselves

[00:50:08] as more

[00:50:09] than

[00:50:09] marketing

[00:50:09] because

[00:50:09] marketing

[00:50:10] only ends

[00:50:10] up being

[00:50:12] a large

[00:50:13] part of

[00:50:13] what we

[00:50:13] do

[00:50:13] but not

[00:50:14] everything

[00:50:14] that we

[00:50:14] do

[00:50:14] I

[00:50:15] think

[00:50:15] for the

[00:50:15] most

[00:50:15] part

[00:50:16] it's

[00:50:16] go to

[00:50:16] market

[00:50:17] so

[00:50:17] it's

[00:50:17] looking

[00:50:18] at

[00:50:18] the

[00:50:18] wider

[00:50:20] almost

[00:50:21] like

[00:50:21] the

[00:50:21] whole

[00:50:21] four

[00:50:22] piece

[00:50:22] product

[00:50:22] price

[00:50:23] place

[00:50:24] promotion

[00:50:24] so

[00:50:25] it's

[00:50:25] not

[00:50:25] just

[00:50:25] looking

[00:50:26] at

[00:50:26] the

[00:50:26] promotion

[00:50:26] aspect

[00:50:27] it's

[00:50:27] incorporating

[00:50:28] all of

[00:50:28] the other

[00:50:29] important

[00:50:29] factors

[00:50:29] that are

[00:50:30] so

[00:50:30] crucial

[00:50:30] for

[00:50:31] apps

[00:50:31] to

[00:50:31] get

[00:50:31] right

[00:50:32] in

[00:50:32] this

[00:50:32] space

[00:50:32] but

[00:50:33] isn't

[00:50:33] it

[00:50:44] most

[00:50:44] of

[00:50:44] the

[00:50:44] professors

[00:50:46] enrolled

[00:50:46] into

[00:50:47] the

[00:50:47] Chartered

[00:50:48] Institute

[00:50:48] of

[00:50:49] Marketing

[00:50:49] and

[00:50:49] had

[00:50:49] to

[00:50:50] go

[00:50:50] through

[00:50:50] and

[00:50:50] learn

[00:50:51] and

[00:50:52] the

[00:50:54] cornerstone

[00:50:54] of

[00:50:54] marketing

[00:50:55] and

[00:50:55] the

[00:50:55] fact

[00:50:56] is

[00:50:56] that's

[00:50:56] what

[00:50:57] you

[00:50:57] guys

[00:50:57] do

[00:50:57] a

[00:50:57] really

[00:50:57] great

[00:50:58] job

[00:50:58] but

[00:50:58] I

[00:50:58] just

[00:50:58] think

[00:50:58] that

[00:50:59] when

[00:50:59] I

[00:51:00] call

[00:51:00] it

[00:51:00] marketing

[00:51:00] I

[00:51:00] don't

[00:51:01] just

[00:51:01] see

[00:51:01] it

[00:51:01] as

[00:51:01] the

[00:51:01] promotional

[00:51:02] element

[00:51:02] that

[00:51:03] you

[00:51:03] do

[00:51:03] on

[00:51:03] the

[00:51:03] reverse

[00:51:04] but

[00:51:04] instead

[00:51:05] it's

[00:51:05] that

[00:51:06] exactly

[00:51:06] what

[00:51:06] you

[00:51:06] said

[00:51:07] the

[00:51:07] understanding

[00:51:08] of

[00:51:08] the

[00:51:09] go-to-market

[00:51:09] and

[00:51:10] the

[00:51:10] best

[00:51:10] way

[00:51:11] to

[00:51:11] transmit

[00:51:12] it

[00:51:12] comes

[00:51:13] from

[00:51:13] a

[00:51:14] range

[00:51:14] of

[00:51:14] different

[00:51:14] tactics

[00:51:15] and

[00:51:15] techniques

[00:51:16] and

[00:51:16] case

[00:51:16] in

[00:51:16] point

[00:51:17] is

[00:51:17] one

[00:51:18] of

[00:51:18] the

[00:51:18] reasons

[00:51:19] I

[00:51:19] again

[00:51:20] even

[00:51:20] had

[00:51:21] embarked

[00:51:21] on

[00:51:21] this

[00:51:21] podcast

[00:51:22] was

[00:51:22] because

[00:51:22] it's

[00:51:23] all

[00:51:23] about

[00:51:23] being

[00:51:24] able

[00:51:24] to

[00:51:25] transmit

[00:51:25] information

[00:51:26] in a

[00:51:26] more

[00:51:26] effective

[00:51:27] way

[00:51:27] and

[00:51:27] that

[00:51:28] was

[00:51:28] at

[00:51:28] the

[00:51:28] point

[00:51:29] where

[00:51:29] I

[00:51:29] was

[00:51:29] in

[00:51:29] ARIX

[00:51:30] so

[00:51:32] this

[00:51:33] is

[00:51:33] an

[00:51:36] entirely

[00:51:37] different

[00:51:37] podcast

[00:51:37] episode

[00:51:38] all about

[00:51:39] what

[00:51:39] go-to-market

[00:51:40] actually consists

[00:51:41] of

[00:51:41] because

[00:51:41] marketing

[00:51:42] is a

[00:51:42] very

[00:51:42] small

[00:51:42] part

[00:51:43] of

[00:51:43] that

[00:51:44] but

[00:51:44] maybe

[00:51:45] we

[00:51:45] leave

[00:51:46] that

[00:51:46] for

[00:51:46] another

[00:51:47] time

[00:51:48] so

[00:51:49] we

[00:51:49] will

[00:51:49] do

[00:51:49] another

[00:51:50] episode

[00:51:51] to do

[00:51:51] it

[00:51:52] what

[00:51:53] would

[00:51:53] be

[00:51:53] really

[00:51:54] good

[00:51:54] to

[00:51:54] know

[00:51:54] is

[00:51:56] what

[00:51:56] your

[00:51:56] plans

[00:51:57] are

[00:51:57] for

[00:51:57] the

[00:51:57] next

[00:51:57] 12

[00:51:58] months

[00:51:58] and

[00:51:58] how

[00:51:59] things

[00:51:59] are

[00:51:59] shaping

[00:52:00] up

[00:52:00] from

[00:52:00] your

[00:52:01] vantage

[00:52:02] point

[00:52:02] on

[00:52:02] journey

[00:52:03] and

[00:52:03] where

[00:52:04] you're

[00:52:05] anyone

[00:52:05] to be

[00:52:06] what's

[00:52:06] the

[00:52:07] moonshot

[00:52:07] in a

[00:52:07] year's

[00:52:08] time

[00:52:09] I'm

[00:52:09] going to

[00:52:10] become

[00:52:10] a

[00:52:10] father

[00:52:10] which

[00:52:11] is

[00:52:11] going

[00:52:11] to

[00:52:11] change

[00:52:13] life

[00:52:14] for

[00:52:14] me

[00:52:14] personally

[00:52:14] quite

[00:52:15] considerably

[00:52:16] so

[00:52:16] I'm

[00:52:16] hoping

[00:52:16] to

[00:52:17] spend

[00:52:18] time

[00:52:18] with

[00:52:18] my

[00:52:18] daughter

[00:52:19] where

[00:52:19] I

[00:52:19] can

[00:52:20] which

[00:52:20] is

[00:52:21] going

[00:52:21] to

[00:52:21] be

[00:52:21] a

[00:52:22] very

[00:52:22] fun

[00:52:22] balancing

[00:52:22] act

[00:52:23] of

[00:52:24] journey

[00:52:24] plus

[00:52:24] some

[00:52:24] other

[00:52:25] things

[00:52:25] plus

[00:52:25] parenthood

[00:52:26] so

[00:52:27] I've

[00:52:27] got

[00:52:27] all of

[00:52:27] that

[00:52:27] to

[00:52:28] figure out

[00:52:28] so

[00:52:28] if

[00:52:29] anyone's

[00:52:29] got

[00:52:44] from

[00:52:45] either

[00:52:46] the

[00:52:46] UK

[00:52:46] and

[00:52:46] Australia

[00:52:46] because

[00:52:47] that's

[00:52:48] something

[00:52:48] that we've

[00:52:48] done

[00:52:48] once or

[00:52:49] twice

[00:52:49] now

[00:52:49] with

[00:52:50] apps

[00:52:50] either

[00:52:50] looking

[00:52:51] to

[00:52:51] launch

[00:52:51] from

[00:52:51] Australia

[00:52:52] to

[00:52:52] the

[00:52:52] UK

[00:52:52] or

[00:52:52] the

[00:52:52] UK

[00:52:53] to

[00:52:53] Australia

[00:52:53] and

[00:52:54] the

[00:52:54] benefit

[00:52:55] of

[00:52:55] working

[00:52:55] with

[00:52:56] us

[00:52:56] on

[00:52:56] the

[00:52:57] ground

[00:52:57] and

[00:52:57] a

[00:52:58] deep

[00:52:58] understanding

[00:52:58] of

[00:52:59] each

[00:52:59] of

[00:53:16] I

[00:53:17] cannot

[00:53:17] tell

[00:53:18] you

[00:53:19] what

[00:53:19] it

[00:53:19] is

[00:53:19] just

[00:53:19] yet

[00:53:21] I

[00:53:21] can

[00:53:21] tell

[00:53:21] you

[00:53:21] what

[00:53:22] it's

[00:53:22] called

[00:53:22] I

[00:53:22] think

[00:53:24] it's

[00:53:25] called

[00:53:25] the

[00:53:26] firm

[00:53:27] and

[00:53:28] it's

[00:53:29] not

[00:53:29] an

[00:53:29] accounting

[00:53:29] firm

[00:53:29] before

[00:53:30] you

[00:53:30] ask

[00:53:32] and

[00:53:32] that's

[00:53:33] all

[00:53:33] I'm

[00:53:33] going

[00:53:33] to

[00:53:33] say

[00:53:33] for

[00:53:33] now

[00:53:35] the

[00:53:35] firm

[00:53:35] is

[00:53:36] coming

[00:53:37] I'm

[00:53:37] hoping

[00:53:37] it's

[00:53:38] coming

[00:53:38] in

[00:53:38] the

[00:53:38] next

[00:53:38] month

[00:53:39] or

[00:53:39] so

[00:53:40] yeah

[00:53:41] that's

[00:53:41] really

[00:53:42] exciting

[00:53:43] when

[00:53:43] are

[00:53:43] you

[00:53:44] going

[00:53:44] to

[00:53:44] sleep

[00:53:44] when

[00:53:45] are

[00:53:45] you

[00:53:45] going

[00:53:45] to

[00:53:46] find

[00:53:47] a

[00:53:48] moment

[00:53:48] for

[00:53:48] yourself

[00:53:49] because

[00:53:49] that

[00:53:49] sounds

[00:53:49] like

[00:53:50] an

[00:53:52] incredible

[00:53:52] next

[00:53:52] year

[00:53:53] ahead

[00:53:54] yeah

[00:53:54] yeah

[00:53:55] and

[00:53:55] we've

[00:53:55] got

[00:53:55] a

[00:53:56] couple

[00:53:56] of

[00:53:56] them

[00:53:56] the

[00:53:57] very

[00:53:57] fortunate

[00:53:58] thing

[00:53:58] about

[00:53:58] journeys

[00:53:59] that

[00:53:59] we

[00:53:59] get

[00:53:59] to

[00:54:14] and

[00:54:15] you're

[00:54:15] giving

[00:54:16] me something away careful jordan although i do think by the way i'm here for it there was

[00:54:22] so much of a gap that i can see that marketing has been able to benefit from in the sense that

[00:54:31] you learn from so many people's um approaches into the market and there's a lot of lessons

[00:54:39] there that are invaluable in terms of where the gaps are so i can see that there is them

[00:54:46] there's there are spaces even even from this podcast when we connected with the networks that

[00:54:54] we have and the community that we've built you start to learn where the gaps are in the market a

[00:54:59] lot better and if you're just again it's being in the right place at the right time but also having

[00:55:06] the resources that can carry you through that cycle and the speed to then get there quicker i think

[00:55:13] there's a magic formula in there somewhere that i can see the journey right at the epicenter of

[00:55:18] because you've worked with so many different apps in this space yeah and i think it what it also comes

[00:55:24] back to is that we're both myself trend and everybody in the team are very connected where we can be to

[00:55:30] the actual accountants and bookkeepers that we're serving as well so for all of our clients we spend

[00:55:35] a lot of time speaking to firms to to really understand you know what are their problems what

[00:55:40] are the pains they're facing what are their challenges we we don't assume this stuff um which

[00:55:44] is often a mistake that some marketing teams will make because they they don't spend enough

[00:55:48] time actually with the end customers really understanding that their business and their

[00:55:51] world and what's going on and and we're we're very fortunate through the work that we do to be

[00:55:56] able to spend a lot of time with accounts and bookkeepers many of which we can call good

[00:55:59] friends and we can go out for drinks and dinner with and you know really get under the skin and

[00:56:03] figure out what's happening in their worlds and because of that it does help with not just

[00:56:07] marketing our clients but also helping to understand where there might be other opportunities

[00:56:12] to help that's really interesting and we're really looking forward to at least

[00:56:17] seeing a little bit more about what you're doing um not least of all because uh i love babies

[00:56:23] i love babies so i can't wait to see little baby pictures i was going to say directly she's going

[00:56:30] to come out with a mustache but that would be uh that would be concerning for her

[00:56:36] hey i'm born indian and when they come out they come out hairy

[00:56:42] you would be asking the wrong person here but um i do remember actually like my daughter when

[00:56:49] she was born obviously as a mother you think oh they're the most beautiful things in the world

[00:56:54] like there's nothing more beautiful than my baby and then at the time i was um we were with like a

[00:57:02] i can't remember there's like an american friend that we had and uh you know he's he's probably not

[00:57:09] used to seeing an indian baby so we showed the picture and he said oh my god how cute it's like

[00:57:15] the hair just goes all the way down the face

[00:57:18] that's exactly what every name mother was to give and i think um is any other shout outs you'd like

[00:57:25] to give to anyone or who else you think actually next year should win the award um based on what

[00:57:33] you've seen in the industry um it's hard like there's there's people doing great marketing in

[00:57:42] in this space like specifically some accounts and bookkeepers do a great job of marketing their firms

[00:57:47] and um there's a number of people that have done a great job building personal brands on social media

[00:57:52] and have really you know taken the time the way i think about it is that they're not trained marketers

[00:57:59] as such right they're coming from an accounting background and trying to learn marketing um and

[00:58:03] applying it really really well and obviously seeing great success so there's some great examples there

[00:58:07] um on the vendor side there's also some um some apps that do a nice job with their marketing i'm

[00:58:14] trying to think of a few up the top of my head but you put me on the spot now um there was a couple

[00:58:18] of other nominations that i thought were interesting rachel from rich harris tribex i think

[00:58:24] doing really well at the moment and um uh i think it's clear to see the unquestionable momentum and the

[00:58:32] style is unmistakable so i think that's really great because it stands out in this space

[00:58:36] uh i agree with you some of the firms that i have the the tech firms um have that have at least

[00:58:42] managed to engage a bit i guess like could we pick on who could we pick on

[00:58:48] um i i like what i see from free agent recently um that's true you know doing a good job um

[00:58:55] and i saw campaigns and i i still out of home campaign uh both with the uh

[00:59:03] the uh kind of electronic billboard thing which was quite cool like it's it's nice to see people

[00:59:09] experimenting with that stuff it's also something that we're we're starting to consider for some of

[00:59:13] our clients um so yeah go free agent thank you for um jumping on with us to talk about um the award

[00:59:22] win congratulations again and and definitely looking forward to seeing how journey and the firm shape up

[00:59:29] the next year so um we'll look forward to having you on another episode to talk more about the go-to market

[00:59:35] thanks for having me

[00:59:38] well there we go that wraps up another episode of the digitals and accrual podcast uh brought to you

[00:59:44] as ever by the digital disruptors and um uh we thank you of course for listening and we'd love to hear

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