Michael studied Commerce and Law at the University of Queensland before trying his hand in the legal profession at the commercial law firm Clayton Utz. Law wasn't for him and he went on to spend several years in business management roles at Australian retailer Supercheap Auto Group, finally settling into their marketing team as a business analyst. He developed a passion for retail at Supercheap Auto Group, and then discovered online marketing so he moved on to work in an advertising sales role at Google, managing their Online Sales and Operations Agency team for Australia and New Zealand, whilst fostering revenue growth of 50% in 12months.
Always having had an interest in starting a business Michael dabbled in various startups while working full time jobs, including a travel guide website and joke online dating site. His dual passions for retail and online marketing came together and in August 2009 Michael left Google to co-found Shoes of Prey, a website where women can design their own fashionable shoes which are then hand made and shipped to them. Michael manages buying, business operations and marketing for Shoes of Prey.
Shoes of Prey is a website where you can design your own unique shoes that are then custom made with a four week turnaround, this process has seen over 10 million shoes being created. Shoes of Prey employs over 50 people in their Surry Hills head quarters and recently raised 3 million in Series A funding from 9 Australian investors.
Join us for the next Startup Grind Sydney edition where we learn about all things ecommerce and fashion!