Success and More Interesting Stuff

Welcome to the final episode of Success and More Interesting Stuff for 2024. In this episode, we’re closing out the year with a guest who knows how to deliver a knockout punch. Joe Aston spent 12 years as co-writer of the AFR’s Rear Window column, transforming it from a finance industry gossip page into a hard-hitting, no-holds-barred must-read. With a sharp wit and a fearless approach, Aston took on everyone from prime ministers and billionaires to untouchable institutions. In October 2023, Aston signed off from Rear Window with a bang, exposing Qantas and its CEO Alan Joyce for their conduct during the COVID pandemic. But Aston didn’t stop there. Instead of taking a break, he penned the bestseller The Chairman’s Lounge, a deep dive into how Qantas fell from national sweetheart to corporate villain.   Before journalism, Aston cut his teeth in politics, working with Joe Hockey and Liberal Party icon Bruce Baird. He also spent time inside the walls of Qantas, gaining firsthand insights that would shape his future career. It’s a conversation you won’t want to miss as we wrap up an incredible year. I hope you enjoy this podcast and I look forward to bringing you more episodes of Success and More Interesting Stuff in 2025.

Bega Cheese turned 125 this year. It started as the Bega Co-operative Creamery Company in 1999, and for over a century, things were pretty quiet. That all changed in 2000 when a young dairy farmer, Barry Irvin, took the reins as chairman. From then on, it’s been a whirlwind of growth and transformation. In 2011, Irvin took Bega to the Australian stock market, and under his leadership, the company made several key acquisitions. Today, Bega isn’t just a dairy business. It’s a major player in Australian food, owning brands like Vegemite, Peanut Butter, Dare Milk, and Yo Plait. Now, Bega has a market cap of around $1.6 billion. But Barry Irvin’s story is about more than business success. He’s faced significant personal challenges too. His son, Matthew, was born with profound autism. Irvin became a key figure in Giant Steps, a nonprofit supporting children with autism. In 2019, Irvin faced his own health battle, being diagnosed with bowel cancer. Despite a tough fight, he beat the disease and returned to lead Bega once again. In this episode of the Success and More Interesting Stuff podcast, I chat with Barry Irvin about his journey, both personal and professional. It’s a story of resilience, leadership, and the determination to succeed.

David Lyons has travelled around the world chasing a rugby ball. From the time he started to take the game seriously as a 15-year-old he was earmarked for success. Twice he toured Europe with the Australian schoolboys, opening his eyes to a world significantly larger than the one he experienced growing up in the NSW country town of Molong. Lyons played 46 tests for the Wallabies over 8 years including two World Cups and a British Lions tour. At just 28 years he picked up his ball and moved to Wales for a few seasons before settling in France for a longer stint. It was in Europe that he started to plan for his future. He studied at Oxford and in Monaco. This set him up for a career in finance. Heading back to Australia, Lyons picked up a role at KPMG before eventually deciding to pitch his own tent. In 2021 he joined with some other like-minded professionals and launched AAG Partners. The group specialises in the agriculture sector. Acutely aware from his farming days in Molong of the financial volatility in the agricultural industry, he has deliberately sought out ways to deliver higher returns with less risk. In this podcast, Lyons talks about the journey from rural NSW to representing Australia at an elite level on the global stage. He also shares his passion for continuous learning and how this is helping to uncover new opportunities through his agriculture investment firm AAG Partners. 0:00 - Introduction 1:30 - Growing up in Molong 7:00 - A passion for agriculture and entrepreneurship 9:15 - Building a career in Rugby 16:02 - What it takes to be truly great in any field 21:52 - Going global and moving to Europe 26:13 - Continuous learning and development 28:29 - Returning to Australia 29:30 - Starting AAG Partners 34:45 - A formula for higher returns for less risk in agriculture 39:45 - A revolution in cotton farming

Sometimes, misfortune can lead to opportunity.  Wes Maas was an aspiring young rugby league player trying to establish himself in the NRL. The kid from Dubbo had boundless energy and in his spare time, he worked in an equipment hire business. A football injury not only meant he was out of action on the field, but it also took him out of the hire yard and into head office. It was here that his world opened up.  The family-run business was successful. It concentrated heavily on return on total assets. Wes was quick to catch on. It wasn't long before he threw in his NRL dream and headed back to Dubbo for a fresh start.  Still in his early 20s, Wes spent his savings on a bobcat and borrowed twice that amount to buy a tipper. Suddenly, he was running his own business. Never happy to rest on his laurels, Wes expanded his fleet of equipment. He was keen to diversify and soon started an equipment hire business, leaning on his knowledge from his time in Sydney.  While Dubbo may seem to some to be a remote place to build an empire, Wes saw its potential. He was able to buy a quarry under the nose of an international giant. Then, his world expanded.  Property development and civil works followed in 2020. Wes looked to float the business on the share market, in the hope that a capital raise would help it grow even further. Maas Group (ASX: MGH) listed and started to expand.  Today, this former rugby league player runs a $1.5 billion business and he has amassed a personal fortune in the hundreds of millions of dollars.  The group has assets throughout regional New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, with Dubbo right in the middle. Still, only in his 40s, Wes' journey has a long way to go.  In this podcast, Wes takes investors through his early days as an aspiring rugby league player and the early days of running his own business - back when his family referred to him as "Neville No-Trade".  He also shares some of the plans the Maas Group team has for the future, and some of the greatest moments in the journey so far.  https://www.livewiremarkets.com/wires/the-former-rugby-league-player-who-now-runs-a-1-5-billion-business   Timecodes:  0:00 - Intro  1:54 - Early rugby days  4:18 - Major lessons Wes took away from this time  5:12 - Overcoming injury and why everything happens for a reason 7:17 - Learning the equipment hire game on the job  9:49 - Moving home to Dubbo 11:12 - Starting his own business 17:02 - Building an achievable long-term business plan  20:27 - Scaling the business  24:09 - Expanding into building materials  29:12 - Listing on the ASX and COVID experience 34:32 - Rising rate environment and impact on Maas Group 36:34 - Importance of "steady" not "rapid" growth  38:20 - Growth plans for the future  39:16 - What happens when an acquisition doesn't work 40:12 - Importance of good people  41:17 - Areas that are exciting over the next five years  43:46 - How Wes defines success