{"$schema":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jsonresume/resume-schema/v1.0.0/schema.json","basics":{"name":"Mark S.","label":"Senior Strategy, Product & Operations Leader","image":"https://saywise-production-profilepicturestoragebucket-kbfooccc.s3.amazonaws.com/profile-pictures/a24bb64b-c4cb-498a-89d8-b019a9a423af/linkedin-1791255845501.jpg","summary":"My background spans business leadership, product development and commercial operations across financial services, technology and ecommerce. I’ve helped launch and run a retail private credit fund, led Australian operations for an international technology company acquired for US$80 million, and founded and run ecommerce businesses, including an online department store with more than 1,500 brands and approximately 600,000 products. I also design and build agentic AI systems that coordinate work across business functions, with defined workflows, decision rules and human oversight. Most recently, I was Head of Product Operations at ASX-listed fintech Butn and Head of Operations at Moneybox, its retail private credit fund. I helped take Moneybox from concept through public launch and into ongoing operations. At Butn, I also assessed technology platforms, negotiated with suppliers and developed new products and commercial partnerships, alongside improving internal systems and introducing practical uses of AI. At Galrie.com, the international art ecommerce business I founded, I designed, built and run a custom agentic AI system that handles substantial work across product data, content, marketing, storefront improvements and commercial analysis. It operates with human approval at key decision points. This sits alongside my experience with Shopify, Mirakl-powered marketplaces, merchandising, customer acquisition and international fulfilment. As Founder and CEO of Shopolla, I owned the P&L, worked with specialist developers on complex catalogue and API integrations, and established cross-border fulfilment. I also founded Marksson, a homewares brand that achieved a top 10 category ranking on Amazon in the US, and co-founded and ran Hyro Digital, an SEO agency. As Country General Manager at Weissbeerger, I led the Australian rollout of an analytics platform to more than 400 hospitality venues across four states. That involved working with CUB and AB InBev, venue operators, installation partners and an overseas technology team. I’m interested in working with founders and leadership teams to build new ventures, develop commercial opportunities and improve existing businesses, bringing together operating experience, commercial judgement and practical AI development.","location":{"city":"Melbourne, Australia"},"profiles":[{"network":"LinkedIn","username":"mark-segal","url":"https://linkedin.com/in/mark-segal"}]},"meta":{"canonical":"https://saywise.com/member7301","version":"v1.0.0","lastModified":"2026-10-06T03:04:07.841Z"},"x_saywise":{"handle":"member7301","pronouns":null,"availability":null,"oneLiner":"My background spans business leadership, product development and commercial operations across financial services, technology and ecommerce. I’ve helped launch and run a retail private credit fund, led Australian operations for an international technology company acquired for US$80 million, and founded and run ecommerce businesses, including an online department store with more than 1,500 brands and approximately 600,000 products. I also design and build agentic AI systems that coordinate work across business functions, with defined workflows, decision rules and human oversight. Most recently, I was Head of Product Operations at ASX-listed fintech Butn and Head of Operations at Moneybox, its retail private credit fund. I helped take Moneybox from concept through public launch and into ongoing operations. At Butn, I also assessed technology platforms, negotiated with suppliers and developed new products and commercial partnerships, alongside improving internal systems and introducing practical uses of AI. At Galrie.com, the international art ecommerce business I founded, I designed, built and run a custom agentic AI system that handles substantial work across product data, content, marketing, storefront improvements and commercial analysis. It operates with human approval at key decision points. This sits alongside my experience with Shopify, Mirakl-powered marketplaces, merchandising, customer acquisition and international fulfilment. As Founder and CEO of Shopolla, I owned the P&L, worked with specialist developers on complex catalogue and API integrations, and established cross-border fulfilment. I also founded Marksson, a homewares brand that achieved a top 10 category ranking on Amazon in the US, and co-founded and ran Hyro Digital, an SEO agency. As Country General Manager at Weissbeerger, I led the Australian rollout of an analytics platform to more than 400 hospitality venues across four states. That involved working with CUB and AB InBev, venue operators, installation partners and an overseas technology team. I’m interested in working with founders and leadership teams to build new ventures, develop commercial opportunities and improve existing businesses, bringing together operating experience, commercial judgement and practical AI development.","profileUrl":"https://saywise.com/member7301","markdownUrl":"https://saywise.com/member7301/profile.md","pdfUrl":"https://saywise.com/member7301/resume.pdf","archetype":{"code":"HS-DG","name":"Launchpad Navigator","url":"https://saywise.com/sca/b2cc6b147f59","rarity":"One of the first Launchpad Navigators on Saywise"}},"work":[{"name":"Moneybox","position":"Head of Operations","location":"Melbourne, VIC","url":"https://moneyboxinvest.com","startDate":"2025-09-01","endDate":"2026-09-01","summary":"Moneybox is a retail private credit fund publicly launched by Butn in June 2026. • Played a central role in taking the fund from operating concept to public launch, coordinating product, operations, technology, legal, compliance, external service providers, investor communications and go-to-market workstreams. • Lead ongoing fund operations across investor onboarding, unitisation, distributions, reporting, portal operations, exception management and compliance processes, including regular liaison with the Responsible Entity. • Developed distribution strategy and partnership propositions, working across commercial positioning, investor communications and regulatory requirements. • Continuously improve investor and operating processes, translating issues and edge cases into clearer, repeatable workflows and product improvements."},{"name":"Butn","position":"Head of Product Operations","location":"Melbourne, VIC","url":"https://butn.co","startDate":"2025-05-01","endDate":"2026-09-01","summary":"Butn is an ASX-listed Australian B2B fintech providing business funding, invoice finance and working-capital solutions. • Led vendor rationalisation, contract review and commercial negotiation across key technology and operational suppliers, materially reducing annual cost while improving service coverage. • Led the assessment and incubation of new financial-product opportunities, developing commercial and operating models, customer journeys and technology approaches, and testing build-versus-partner options to inform investment and prioritisation decisions. • Developed and presented a next-generation lending-platform strategy and led a global vendor assessment across onboarding, verification, data, decisioning, servicing, payments and communications, meeting extensively with specialist providers to evaluate build-versus-partner options. • Designed embedded-finance propositions for major platform and enterprise opportunities, working through customer journeys, eligibility, credit inputs, payment flows, servicing responsibilities and commercial models. • Led the product, commercial and operating workstream for a supply chain finance programme under an executed MOU with a leading international financial institution, announced to the ASX. Translated the opportunity into transaction flows, operating requirements, risk controls and implementation requirements while coordinating the legal workstream with external counsel. • Worked across the executive team, technology, risk, compliance, finance, legal, funding, sales and external partners, frequently acting as the connection point between commercial strategy and detailed execution."},{"name":"Antler","position":"Entrepreneur at Antler","location":"Melbourne, VIC","startDate":"2024-08-01","endDate":"2024-10-01","summary":"• Selected for Antler’s founder programme, working through venture ideation, validation, customer discovery and commercial assessment alongside other founders and investors. • Evaluated multiple startup opportunities and business models, refining ideas through market research, customer feedback and investor-style scrutiny."},{"name":"Galrie.com","position":"Founder","location":"Melbourne, VIC","url":"https://galrie.com","startDate":"2024-02-01","summary":"• Founded and launched Galrie, building an international ecommerce art business with customers across multiple countries and core markets in the US, Australia, UK and Europe. • Built and operate the business end to end, spanning brand and design, product and catalogue, storefront and UX, customer acquisition, retention, content, fulfilment and commercial operations. • Integrated and launched marketplace channels alongside the direct Shopify storefront. • Rebuilt the operating model around a custom AI-agent system that performs real work across product data, advertising, storefront optimisation, lifecycle marketing, content, imagery and commercial analysis. • Use AI coding and browser-operating agents to build workflows, solve operational and technical problems and continuously improve the business, with human approval controls around higher-risk actions."},{"name":"StartupX","position":"Founder","location":"Australia","url":"https://startupx.com.au","startDate":"2023-09-01","endDate":"2025-05-01","summary":"• Founded StartupX, combining premium digital assets with startup strategy, product development and new-venture opportunities. • Curated a portfolio of premium domain names and assessed opportunities to develop selected assets into standalone businesses or commercial concepts. • Developed venture concepts across market research, positioning, branding, product thinking and commercial models. • Built the StartupX brand and digital proposition, creating a professional platform for domain acquisition, venture support and collaboration opportunities."},{"name":"Hyro Digital","position":"Co-Founder / Head of SEO","location":"Melbourne, VIC","url":"https://hyro.digital","startDate":"2021-01-01","endDate":"2023-12-01","summary":"• Co-founded Hyro, a digital growth business focused on SEO, content and organic customer acquisition. • Led SEO strategy and execution across client engagements, covering technical SEO, content strategy, site architecture, keyword research and performance optimisation. • Built and coordinated a distributed network of specialist contractors across content, development and digital marketing to deliver client work. • Worked directly with clients on digital strategy, growth opportunities and practical implementation."},{"name":"eRefunds","position":"Founding COO | Responsible Manager (AFSL & ACL)","location":"Melbourne, VIC","url":"https://erefunds.com.au","startDate":"2020-07-01","endDate":"2024-11-01","summary":"Founding executive of a regulated consumer financial services business specialising in the recovery of consumer credit insurance and lender-protection insurance premiums. • Led day-to-day operations across customer service, claims management, compliance, partnerships and commercial execution, working closely with the overseas leadership and operations team. • Managed the customer service team and oversaw the customer journey from initial enquiry through to claim resolution. • Led ongoing UI/UX optimisation of the claims platform, substantially improving customer journeys, usability and internal workflows as the business evolved. • Developed the website and marketing materials and led partnership development, including relationships with Insolvency Australia and major insolvency firms. • Served as Responsible Manager across both AFSL and ACL environments, with responsibility for licensing obligations, regulatory compliance and operational governance. • Helped recover several million dollars for Australian consumers across claims involving 20+ major lenders."},{"name":"Hitwise","position":"Digital Strategist | New Business","location":"Greater Melbourne Area","url":"https://hitwise.com","startDate":"2019-07-01","endDate":"2020-03-01","summary":"• Worked with enterprise clients including Nike, ING and ANZ on digital strategy, audience intelligence and growth opportunities using Hitwise market and behavioural data. • Supported new-business development through research, tailored insights, presentations and commercial proposals for major brands. • Translated complex digital and consumer data into practical recommendations across acquisition, market positioning and competitive strategy. • Role concluded when Hitwise ceased operations globally in 2020."},{"name":"Maronette","position":"Founder","location":"Melbourne, Australia","startDate":"2018-07-01","endDate":"2021-01-01","summary":"• Founded and built Marksson, a designer wall-clock and homewares brand selling into the US market through Amazon FBA. • Personally designed multiple clock faces, including dial layouts, hour markers, hands, colourways, numbering and on-product branding, then worked through sourcing and production to bring the designs to market. • Built and managed the international supply chain, including travelling to China to work directly with suppliers across production, quality, freight and replenishment. • Grew the range to approximately 48 SKUs, achieving strong customer ratings and top-10 category rankings across selected products, while building systems and processes that allowed the business to operate with limited day-to-day involvement. • Successfully exited the business through Flippa, closing the sale within one week of listing. Flippa subsequently featured the sale as a seller success story and invited me to speak at an event about the business-sale process."},{"name":"Anheuser-Busch InBev","position":"Country General Manager","location":"Australia","url":"https://ab-inbev.com","startDate":"2017-09-01","endDate":"2018-11-01","summary":"Global beverage analytics and IoT platform for hospitality venues, later acquired by AB InBev for approximately US$80M. • Promoted to Country General Manager after initially joining to lead city operations, taking responsibility for the Australian market. • Led the Australian rollout across 400+ venues and four states, helping scale Australia into the company’s second-largest global market behind Canada. • Owned local go-to-market and execution across customer onboarding, implementation, operations and commercial relationships, working closely with CUB and AB InBev stakeholders. • Acted as the Australian conduit between venues, CUB sales teams, outsourced installers and the overseas technology team, diagnosing field issues and translating them into practical technical and operational fixes. • Took a highly hands-on role in implementation, from troubleshooting IoT equipment on-site and gathering technical evidence in venues to personally reconfiguring hundreds of hardware units when deployment issues emerged. • Trained CUB sales teams in Melbourne and Sydney, delivering large-group sessions to support adoption and effective use of the platform. • Joined global country leaders and senior AB InBev executives at Weissbeerger’s global headquarters for a week-long leadership, product and strategy summit."},{"name":"WeissBeerger","position":"City Operations Manager","location":"Greater Melbourne Area","startDate":"2017-03-01","endDate":"2017-09-01","summary":"• Joined to support the initial Australian launch, leading implementation and venue operations in Melbourne before being promoted to Country General Manager."},{"name":"Weberfy.com","position":"Founder","location":"Melbourne","url":"https://weberfy.com","startDate":"2015-07-01","endDate":"2017-02-01","summary":"• Built a SaaS platform for creative professionals, working across product concept, UX, brand, customer acquisition and go-to-market. • Grew the platform to approximately 1,000 users and developed partnerships with design schools and industry organisations. • Designed and iterated the product and customer experience based on user behaviour and feedback."},{"name":"Shopolla","position":"Founder, CEO","location":"Melbourne, VIC","url":"https://shopolla.com","startDate":"2012-04-01","endDate":"2015-06-01","summary":"• Founded and launched Shopolla, an online department store created to give Australian consumers greater access to US brands and pricing, ultimately integrating 1,500+ brands and more than 600,000 SKUs. • Led the business end to end across strategy, product, brand, UX, technology, marketing, partnerships, fundraising and operations, assembling and directing specialist freelancers, agencies and technology partners across multiple countries. • Raised approximately $550K in external funding from experienced private investors, including an equity investment at an implied post-money valuation of $8M. • Built a high-scale ecommerce platform capable of handling 600,000+ products with extensive imagery, reviews and rich product content, recruiting specialist Magento architects after the original development partner was unable to deliver the required scale. • Designed and managed a complex cross-border fulfilment model connecting US product supply with consolidation, branded repackaging and international delivery to Australian customers. • Reached approximately $100K in monthly revenue within the first quarter of launch, with the underlying technology later sold to an international logistics company."},{"name":"Kenshoo","position":"State Manager, Victoria","location":"Greater Melbourne Area","url":"https://kenshoo.com","startDate":"2010-12-01","endDate":"2012-03-01","summary":"• Led Kenshoo’s Victorian market for its enterprise digital advertising technology platform, working with major agencies and advertisers across acquisition, account growth and strategic client management. • Managed client portfolios representing approximately $50M in annual digital advertising spend. • Generated approximately $1.5M in new revenue through enterprise sales, account expansion and strategic partnerships. • Worked closely with customers to translate complex advertising technology and performance data into practical commercial and optimisation strategies."},{"name":"Pulse Pharmacy","position":"Online Marketing Manager","url":"https://pulsepharmacy.in","startDate":"2010-03-01","endDate":"2010-09-01","summary":"• Managed digital marketing for one of Australia’s leading online pharmacies, ranked #2 in the market at the time. • Led SEO and paid search across PulsePharmacy.com.au and VitaminMe.com.au, alongside content, email marketing and social media initiatives designed to grow online sales. • Managed online pricing and competitor analysis, using market and performance data to inform promotional and acquisition strategy. • Role concluded when the business entered receivership in 2010."},{"name":"Hitwise","position":"Hitwise Client Insights Manager APAC","url":"https://hitwise.com","startDate":"2007-04-01","endDate":"2010-03-01","summary":"• Advised major enterprise clients including Tourism Australia, Microsoft and BMW on digital audience, market and competitive intelligence. • Managed strategic client relationships across the APAC region, translating behavioural and market data into practical commercial recommendations. • Created thought-leadership content for Hitwise’s 15,000+ subscriber database and developed webinar materials translating complex digital and consumer data into practical insights. • Achieved approximately 95% client retention and generated around $800K in account expansion and upsell revenue. • Selected to contribute to Hitwise’s Product Advisory Board, providing customer and market input into product development and roadmap priorities."},{"name":"Origin HR","position":"Senior Business Development Manager","url":"https://originhr.com.au","startDate":"2005-02-01","endDate":"2007-01-01","summary":"• Joined as one of the company’s earliest employees and helped grow the business across enterprise learning and HR technology solutions. • Generated more than $1M in annual sales, working with major clients including DaimlerChrysler, AIG and Toyota Finance. • Sold finance-focused eLearning and training solutions to enterprise clients, working closely with them to understand requirements and shape the commercial proposition. • Managed opportunities from prospecting and proposal through negotiation, close and implementation handover. • Origin HR was subsequently acquired by Talent2 in 2010 for approximately $17.8M."},{"name":"Mountbatten Internship Programme","position":"Associate, Townhouse Management","location":"New York City Metropolitan Area","startDate":"2004-01-01","endDate":"2005-01-01","summary":"• Selected for the Mountbatten Internship Programme and relocated to New York for a year-long international business placement. • Placed with Townhouse Management Company, an established New York real-estate owner and developer with a portfolio of approximately 800 residential units and other high-value Manhattan properties. • Gained hands-on exposure to the operations of a prominent family-owned property business and the New York real-estate market. • Completed the programme’s academic component, including the Certificate in International Business Practice and Cambridge University International management certification."}],"education":[{"institution":"Monash University","studyType":"Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) & Bachelor of Business (Banking & Finance)"},{"institution":"University of Cambridge","studyType":"Certificate in International Marketing"},{"institution":"Shillington Education","studyType":"Design Cert. IV in Graphic Design"}],"skills":[{"name":"E-Commerce"},{"name":"Artificial Intelligence (AI)"},{"name":"Strategic Partnerships"},{"name":"Product Strategy"},{"name":"Operations Management"},{"name":"Business Strategy"},{"name":"Senior Stakeholder Management"},{"name":"Product Management"},{"name":"Management Consulting"},{"name":"Commercial Proposals"},{"name":"Business Planning"},{"name":"Competitive Strategies"},{"name":"Problem Solving"},{"name":"Microsoft Excel"},{"name":"Analytical Skills"},{"name":"Stakeholder Engagement"},{"name":"Leadership"},{"name":"Strategy"},{"name":"Lean Startup"},{"name":"Continuous Process Improvement"}],"certificates":[{"name":"RG146 / Tier 2 General Advice – General Insurance","date":"2023-01-01","issuer":"Kaplan"}]}