On a high at muru-D with Andy Penn, Telstra CEO!

We’ve finished our year on a high at muru-D HQ with a visit from Andy Penn, CEO of Telstra. He was keen to experience the heartbeat of muru-D and we couldn’t wait to share our vision and founders stories. It was inspiring to show him how we’re positively impacting the world, one startup at a time.

Nine of our alumni founders, and two founders from our next cohort, grabbed the opportunity to do a 60 second “popcorn pitch” (fast, impactful and free-form) in front of Andy and the intimate group of twenty people. An informal chat followed with questions being asked by Andy to the group and vice versa. A common theme from the four SYD1 founders in the room, was how much each company had pivoted or varied their product offering. It was evident that grit, resilience, an effective muru-D experience and continued support has kept them going and growing.

One question posed by a founder was “How will Telstra maximise the value of muru-D? ” Andy responded by painting the big picture of Telstra’s commitment to innovation as the organisation shifts to being a world class technology company that empowers people to connect. Telstra has a number of strategic plays including Telstra Ventures, Telstra Labs and muru-D. muru-D links Telstra into the startup community and contributes to building a healthy, robust startup ecosystem, which impacts positively on the Australian economy.

And then we got into the nitty gritty of what it’s like to be the CEO of a tech company, employing over 30,000 people across 20 countries.

Here’s a snapshot. Andy spends about 50% of his time “managing up”. He believes the single most important skill of a CEO is communication-the ability to communicate succinctly and with clarity the company’s strategy and vision. His favourite part of being a CEO is working with “very capable and smart people”. He also shared some of his least favourite parts of his job and got a few knowing smiles (and chuckles) from our founders.

We loved having Andy in our playroom and appreciate him sharing some authentic insights into his role as a CEO. We’re grateful that Andy and Telstra take the time to listen to our awesome founders and support muru-D’s mission to develop them and positively influence the world.