Ian is the original “mad scientist” – a digital creative who is passionate about the online market place and its potential to enable smaller businesses to compete on a global stage. Ian’s first (and ongoing) love was music.
While studying for a degree in arts and business law in 1997, he became involved in experimental music. Creativity won over law and he became a successful professional musician. He made it to Los Angeles with a management deal, only to find that Napster was re-inventing the music industry. Rather than accept contracts that required him to clone someone else’s success, he operated independently to produce and market his own music.
Making it as an independent in the music industry required self-marketing and creative use of the Internet and emerging social media platforms such as Facebook. Ian dived in and found a new online space to explore and enjoy – one with huge potential for creative expression and impact. As the business of music started to turn music into a commodity, he moved out of the music industry and into digital marketing.
From his base in LA, Ian started connecting into Silicon Valley and the technical startups of the time, leveraging his music industry marketing experience to develop brands, strategies and tools to successfully sell products and services in the online market place. To the technical experts of Silicon Valley’s startups, he was a marketing “mad scientist”, solving problems they didn’t know they had.
Ian found that his music industry skills translated in many different ways, from his ability to sell his brand and skills, to his ability to co-ordinate a diverse set of individuals into the production of a completed product, whether it was a music album, a website or a social media campaign. Ian returned to Australia in 2011, bringing Mad Scientist to Melbourne.
Music continues to play a part in Ian’s life, but his passion to create strategies that build products and brands which improve lives, create happiness and solve problems is what gets him out of bed every single day. He’s our composer/arranger/conductor, orchestrating the processes and skills that we use to help our clients fight well above their weight in the global marketplace.
To find out more about Ian’s latest shenanigans check out his latest Linked-in bio.
“There is no great genius without some touch of madness.” – Seneca
My genius is:
Dreaming. Leading. Motivating. Collaborating. Taking risks. Creating. Asking the right questions. I am versatile, resourceful, playful, and open-minded, and love to launch new things – often. I am the velvet wrecking ball.
My madness is:
Playing, singing, listening to music. People. Red wine. (In no particular order.)
