When Leigh Jasper was helping out in his dad’s car business, as a kid in north-eastern Victoria, he of course couldn’t foresee that he would create and build one of Australia’s great innovation success stories of recent years. But that’s exactly what Jasper, with co-founder and long-time mate Rob Phillpot, did when the pair came up with the idea that the project management part of what they saw as the messy, uncoordinated and document-heavy construction sector needed streamlining, to help the industry itself become more efficient. They created Aconex in 2001 as a web-based platform where all documents relating to a project build could be stored and accessed on one digital platform, by every participant in the project, from the owner and builder right through to all sub-contractors. Aconex suddenly offered better transparency, improved cost controls for all participants in a building project, thereby reducing risks of cost overruns and delays or disagreements. Within 2 decades Aconex grew to become an ASX 200 listed public company, offering their SaaS (software as a service) product to massive engineering, construction and infrastructure projects across global markets. Projects like the large 3rd lock expansion to the Panama Canal, and the Marina Bay Sands complex of buildings dominating the Singapore skyline. Before selling out eventually in 2018 to US giant Oracle, which valued Aconex at over $1billion, company revenue hit almost $200million. So how did they do it? Well like many great success stories, it started with a lightbulb moment. Enjoy Part 1 of my chat with Leigh Jasper.

<p>When Leigh Jasper was helping out in his dad&rsquo;s car business, as a kid in north-eastern Victoria, he of course couldn&rsquo;t foresee that he would create and build one of Australia&rsquo;s great innovation success stories of recent years. But that&rsquo;s exactly what Jasper, with co-founder and long-time mate Rob Phillpot, did when the pair came up with the idea that the project management part of what they saw as the messy, uncoordinated and document-heavy construction sector needed streamlining, to help the industry itself become more efficient. They created Aconex in 2001 as a web-based platform where all documents relating to a project build could be stored and accessed on one digital platform, by every participant in the project, from the owner and builder right through to all sub-contractors. Aconex suddenly offered better transparency, improved cost controls for all participants in a building project, thereby reducing risks of cost overruns and delays or disagreements. Within 2 decades Aconex grew to become an ASX 200 listed public company, offering their SaaS (software as a service) product to massive engineering, construction and infrastructure projects across global markets. Projects like the large 3rd lock expansion to the Panama Canal, and the Marina Bay Sands complex of buildings dominating the Singapore skyline. Before selling out eventually in 2018 to US giant Oracle, which valued Aconex at over $1billion, company revenue hit almost $200million. So how did they do it? Well like many great success stories, it started with a lightbulb moment. Enjoy Part 1 of my chat with Leigh Jasper.</p>

Candid interviews with successful Self-starters. On Build It. They'll Come, you'll hear from some amazing Australian entrepreneurs who bet big to build great businesses. Journalist Helen Dalley interviews business innovators and visionaries on how they turned their lightbulb idea into a viable, sustainable enterprise. 

This podcast is about the human face behind taking a simple idea and turning it into a business or movement. It's the beating heart behind what it takes to build an empire, from concept to execution, and how they actually achieve it. Fuelled by blind faith and hard slog, how they transform their dream idea into concrete reality.

Journalist Helen Dalley interviews business innovators and visionaries on how they turned their lightbulb idea into a viable, sustainable enterprise.

Build It. They'll Come.

How Aconex cofounder Leigh Jasper jumped from pumping petrol as a kid, to building an online document-sharing platform that revolutionised construction project management worldwide & became an ASX 200 public company, with $200mill revenue

Advertisement