A shared social conscience drives Daniel Petre and Alison Deans

DANIEL SAYS

“ALISON IS very warm and engaging. To anyone who meets her, it’s obvious she is incredibly bright and has all sorts of intelligence: emotional, intellectual, analytical ability, how to build businesses and also how to work with people.

When I decided to start [technology-based investment company] Netus, the first person I rang was Alison. She can do anything, from advising a small start-up with five people on how to hire, build a business plan and communicate, through to running a portfolio with a range of businesses and being a very effective board member of Westpac. It’s an incredible skill set. Very few people can do that.

The thing that she and I share – and this might sound trite – is a deep love of family. Also, we’re both cynical of blowhards who strut around trying to impress everyone; people who use power and aggression. We share a lack of interest in working with those sorts of people.

We’re both socially conscious – we worry about people who are less well-off socially and financially. Instead of just a way of making money, we seek to build businesses where people enjoy working and they feel fulfilled.

Alison is a lot more conservative than me; I’m a bit more out there and inappropriate with my humour. She’s a Scottish girl who went to Cambridge and then met this slightly nutter public-school boy from Turramurra High School [on Sydney’s North Shore] who didn’t have quite the same trajectory.

[After we sold Netus], she wanted to try her hand at large company boards. That was a really good idea because we need more very senior female executives like Alison who are emotionally and intellectually competent.

She’s exceptional. I have three daughters and if any of them goes into business and ends up being half the businessperson that Alison is, I’d be super-proud.”

ALISON SAYS

“I HAD heard about Daniel but didn’t meet him until I was interviewed for the role of setting up eBay in Australia and New Zealand. I went along expecting a typical interview but I don’t think we talked CV at all; it was the most intellectually stimulating, fun conversation. It became a friendship; an incredibly enjoyable, fulfilling relationship. I’ve grown so much through having him as a mentor.

He has an amazing mind and thinks deeply about all sorts of issues, whether it’s philanthropy or technology and how that’s impacted the world, family and work/life balance. Daniel is prepared to stand up and say what he really thinks. Sometimes people find that a bit challenging but it’s part of his magic.

In terms of giving me courage, he’s always believed I could do things. Often, I didn’t know any better so I just believed it, too, and had a go. When he appointed me to the role [in 1999], I’d never worked in a tech company, let alone run one or started one.

The way I think about what a ‘whole life’ looks like – that work is important but so is family and community – is shaped by Daniel. I don’t think I’d have the same balance I have now if I hadn’t worked with him.

When I returned to Netus after my second child was born, I was keen to work part-time and Daniel was very supportive. He made me specify when I would be in the office each day – not so he could check I was doing enough hours but so I could walk out each day in time to see my children, guilt free. And he would shoo me out if I didn’t go because he knew that was the only way to make it sustainable.

He’s one of a kind in the business world. He thinks about change and has deep insight into the long term but also has so many other interests. He nurtured mine and gave me someone to talk to about them.

And he’s hilarious – his humour often comes from saying things that people are thinking but might not say.”