Ed Robinson THE LOWDOWN

Each month, we hack the minds of tech entrepreneurs and digital disruptors to find out what makes them tick.

Age 35

Founded American microinvestment app Stash (2015) with Brandon Krieg and David Ronick. The Australian entrepreneur now lives in the United States.

Capital raised $US117 million (about $160 million)

Favourite app for work

Slack. We’re expanding our team rapidly and it allows new starters to catch up and get a better understanding of what we’re working on. It’s been important to us from day one because it also enables us to connect with third-party providers.

Favourite app for wellness

Samsung Health. I like its pedometer because it makes me realise how much I pace around the office; I do a lot of that when I’m on the phone. I’ve been eating some good, Social network I rely on the most Instagram. It’s one of Stash’s biggest channels for acquiring customers and where we do a lot of messaging about the company. I use it more for professional reasons than personal. Best streaming service Netflix. The American Netflix crushes it compared with the Australian version.

It has so much content and the recommendations engines are incredible; it feels like a personalised experience every time. Favourite news source Flipboard. It lets me select topics of interest such as work or finance. I look at it once or twice a day and the app sends push messages if there’s something relevant. And, like every Australian living overseas, I check

The Sydney Morning Herald or The Australian online. fatty American food so I need to pace a lot.

Book I’ve learnt the most from

The Lean Startup

by Eric Ries. We get all of our new staff to read it. I came across it when we began researching and developing Stash. It focuses on topics like how to research a problem and identify your competitive advantages. We’ve followed many of its guidelines during our journey to enable us to continue improving our product.

Current phone

Samsung Galaxy Note8. The split-screen view is great and its computing power allows the documents I need to be available all the time. I tend to stick with a phone for six to 12 months until it’s time for an upgrade.

Computer of choice

MacBook Pro. It’s super-light, which is good because I’m constantly on the go, and everything is on the cloud these days so I can work on it anywhere.

Tech gadget that changed my life

[Home-security camera] Nest Cam is amazing. I can sit in the living room and make sure my kids are asleep. It means I don’t have to tiptoe my way down the corridor so I don’t wake them. Nest is also building some great innovations for managing your home when you’re not there, including controlling the lights and air conditioning.

Tech gadget that didn’t change my life

3D printers. They haven’t really changed my way of life over the past five or so years. That’s not to say there isn’t something cool around the corner but having my face printed in 3D doesn’t seem necessary.

Last thing I Googled

“Property prices in Sydney.” I saw auction rates are falling so, potentially, I might be able to afford a place there one day!

Startup to watch in 2018

Zumper, which helps people find properties to rent in the United States and Canada. @edwardrobo; @Stash @stash_app

Ed Robinson; Stash Financial