Fred Shipsta is the co-founder of Finder.com.au with a number of business initiatives under his belt.credit:Louise Kinnerley
To be clear, Schebesta is not a clairvoyant. Furthermore, in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, he did not fully appreciate the depth of the chaos that had already taken hold.
But the turmoil that shocked him, the scientist, and his comparison empire Finder.com.au in 2020 could propel his company to the list of Australian tech kings like Atlassian or Afterpay.
“I think this is the time that Finder is moving from being a comparative service to being a fintech company,” says Schebesta.
39-year-old serial entrepreneur whose $ 214 million fortune in November gave him an award Australian financial review Young Rich List for the second year in a row, says it was forced to restart multiple times in 2020.
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His year began with a frantic journey from New York to his native Australia, and his arrival home just three days before the declaration of a global pandemic triggered a period of perpetual motion.
“I would get up at 2 am in the US and do things there. I was talking to the UK team… the Australian team. Schebesta says: “I was literally going 24/7, like napping non-stop and I was furious.
“No company has avoided the pain, some companies have definitely adapted well and really jumped on the wave.”
“I think we made some really good adjustments and made our gains where we could, but we also took some hits, I don’t think we’re totally sure.”
The scholar is more like a blog when Schebesta launched it in 2006 with fellow college student Frank Restuccia. It now employs more than 400 people and compares more than 100 products, from laser eye surgery to slow cookers.
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Much of Schebesta’s plans for the new year revolve around the Finder app, which launched in March amid relatively quiet commotion.
The app combines personal finance management with automatic product comparison, linking users’ bank accounts to find savings through insurance policies, home and car loans, bills, subscriptions, and credit cards.
Shipesta says this is just the beginning. With plans to create a cryptocurrency wallet on the platform early next year, Schebesta’s ultimate goal is to offer automatic comparison and transfer.
The application currently uses data from consumers who have been granted the right to view and offers comparisons in a read-only format. The hope is that the ability to automatically switch between products and policies will be available in the future.
“This is where we are going,” says Shabista. “We have technical teams working on this.”
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Shipesta is consistent in his view that Australian technology and Australian technology companies could be the best in the world. He says the success of Atlassian, Airwallex, and Afterpay is something we can see a lot in the post-pandemic landscape.
“Australia could be a great technological country, it is very stable and very safe. It has a strong economy and has recovered well, ”he says.
“I think this creates a great environment for building technology.”
“What happens in Australia is that we are very far away. We use technology from the beginning. We can communicate with everyone. We are used to that. We have a good leg ”.
Find a window to disruption
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In a year of tremendous change and confusion, Schebesta said Team Finder has a front row seat for community evolution. The increasing phases of closures and quarantines during the year brought an apparent change in the retail landscape.
First came the rush to bulk PPE and kitchen supplies.
“Everything about the PPE was huge,” he said.
Then came stock trading.
“Retail equity trading was huge, worldwide and on our site.
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“And it is still huge. Digital banking is huge. Whoever has not had a digital bank is now in it ”.
Bitcoin is also proving to be hugely popular, with increased interest from institutional investors and older Australians having super self-managed funds that help propel the cryptocurrency to more than 200 percent to new records during the year.
“I think it’s a great alternative to putting money in the bank,” said Schebesta, who debuted in crypto in 2017.
“You know, it’s like the internet wasn’t that big until email came along.”
“Bitcoin is going to be another one of those. People [are figuring out that] Another use case for cryptocurrencies is that they will help you protect your wealth in a large, underperforming inflationary environment. “
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He says that while the stock market has proven volatile and the stimulus-assisted recovery has produced some staggering returns, only top-tier companies will prevail.
“I mean, there is always speculation, and everyone wants to pick a winner in what happens when we get back to normal.
“[But] I think the markets are now looking for value. And I think you’re looking for good companies that don’t actually have a good three or four months, because everyone has been locked up, but what will really survive and endure into the future.
“I think that’s the difference now, I want to see the earnings report for March. I’m not going to judge the company for October ”.
When he can, Schebesta plans to return to the United States.
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“I have a lot of context, being in the market, listening and understanding,” he says.
“I think the UK is probably the leader, but when it comes to fintech, I spend a lot of time there too.
But coming home to Australia hasn’t been without benefits
“It really feels good to be in one place for once. You’re building a routine, it’s really cool. “
“And less suffering when it comes to travel fatigue.”
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