AGSM Alumnus Matt Barnett is taking communications back to actual human interactions
What's the most valued commodity that a MBA provides?
The answer, according to AGSM graduate Matt Barnett, is time.
"During a MBA you obviously approach a lot of different situations that challenge and develop your thinking and get your mind moving in different spaces," explains the UK-born 30-year-old. "But what you really get is this luxury of time to really explore networks and try out ideas. It's a really good time for innovation. Everyone talks about the stresses of a MBA and the work you have to do, but in reality it's less stressful than normal life."
Having graduated in 2012, Barnett is now the CEO of his own Sydney-based start-up Verbate.co – a company that uses mobile webcam technology to change the way businesses communicate with their teams and customers by moving them back towards actual human interactions.
"The underlying principle is that email and written text only captures about 7% of communication – the remaining 93% is wrapped up in things like facial expressions, body language and tone of voice," he explains. "The language used when we speak is also very different from when we write. What we do is bring businesses back to using this visual communication at scale. We then analyse and interpret things like facial expressions, language, pauses, tone, nuances, and make that data rapidly searchable, enabling businesses to pull out the insights they're missing and give them a better understanding about what people are thinking."
Rather than wait until the completion of his MBA to begin formulating a market offering, Barnett was inspired to start the company during his actual MBA program. Immediately able to apply his learnings to a business start-up context, he was subsequently able to launch his new company shortly after graduation.
"If you're doing finance you can use that to build a business plan, if you're doing marketing you can build a marketing plan," he explains. "A MBA also gives you an all-round knowledge so you can talk to investors and have a handle on all aspects of business. As a future CEO, you get to understand all elements."
Barnett adds that the leadership and people management skills imparted during the MBA program have also played a major role in his success.
"I think the soft skills are super important because when you're running a small team, being able to consciously think about how to inspire and drive them is important," he says. "In a small business it's all about efficiency, and having that insight really contributes to the success of a business."
Two-and-a-half years after Verbate.co's launch, Barnett says the hard work is now paying off.
"It's been a long journey but we've stayed with it and our success now is because of that," he says. "We've learned to become experts in this space so we can go after the market we're pursuing with an understanding of everything that's in play. It's a lot of fun."
Find out more about Verbate.co