Profile: Julian Persaud
By Jenny Lloyd | thebigchair.com.au | 18 February
Ten years ago, sitting on a beach in Bali, communications graduate Julian Persaud could never have predicted how close he was to discovering what he wanted to do with his life.
But shortly after returning to his native England and observing the dot-com boom in full swing, he would experience an epiphany.
Seduced by the ‘sexy’ new business models that harnessed network effects, the one-time beer seller secured a job interview with the UK online auction house QXL - and was sounded out for the role of online marketing manager in a car park.
“QXL was such a vibrant start-up that they’d run out of office space,” recalls the quietly spoken Persaud, who has no doubt that his willingness to take a risk and follow his intuition contributed to his first big career break.
“I knew that any company that was growing so fast had to be an interesting place to work. QXL was also preparing to float on the London stock exchange, so it was a very exciting time to get involved with them.”
Remaining with QXL for the next two-and-a-half years, Persaud managed and developed the company's key online partnerships and channels. Promoted to head of marketing, he also increased customer acquisition volumes while simultaneously cutting budgets when the dot-com bubble burst.
“There was no blueprint or road map for how things should be done at QXL. My boss at the time said, ‘It’s good to make mistakes as it shows you’re taking risks, but just don’t make the same mistake twice.’ And I think that’s a good adage to have.”
“One of the things you quickly learn about the online industry, and one of the things I love about it most, is that what you did yesterday doesn’t necessarily have any relevance to what you’re doing today or going to do tomorrow.”
Persaud moved to Overture (now Yahoo! Search Marketing) in 2002 and stayed for nearly three years, working his way up through the company in various strategic sales and marketing positions.
The experience of recruiting and developing teams to drive revenue and sales operations brought home to Persaud just how valuable a sense of humour is, as well as the importance of developing an effective leadership style.
“I don’t believe in micromanaging people. I believe that you should empower your team with a clear vision and directions, but ultimately let them create their own solutions.”
“That’s the way I’ve always been managed, and I’ve taken inspiration from a number of former bosses as a result.”
Persaud soon took on the challenge of relocating to Sydney to head up marketing and business development at Yahoo! Search Management Australia. He led the company’s efforts in developing and acquiring distribution partners and new online advertisers, while establishing a more satisfying work-life balance in the process.
“Relocating to Australia with my family was a difficult career decision, but there are a lot of forward thinking companies here that value experience in different markets, so it’s been one of my best decisions, too.”
Recruited to lead all strategic business development activities at Google Australia in 2005, Persaud is still enjoying negotiating deals “for three, six or nine months and then seeing the fruits of my labour when the partnerships go live”.
“Transitioning from marketing to business development has been very engaging, and developing business in an area that gives great results to customers really makes a difference day to day.”
Over the next year, Persaud says mobile web advertising will be big, as well as the continual movement of advertising dollars from traditional media to online.
“Online media is a daily part of people’s lives, but the benefits of moving more spend and activity into the online space are still not widely acknowledged,” he says, noting that 25 per cent of media time is spent online but only 8 per cent of advertising dollars go online. (In comparison, according to Nielson NetRatings only 7 per cent of consumers spend time with newspapers but 41 per cent of advertising revenue is spent there.)
Describing his business philosophy as “to be as approachable as possible”, Persaud makes time for start-ups, and has a healthy deference for his corporate heritage.
“Two guys in a garage started Google, just as Yahoo! began life as a student hobby, and a former journalist created QXL. So I think it’s important to treat small and large businesses in the same way, with the same respect.”
As for what’s next in his career, Persaud sees himself continuing to be involved in the online space.
“It’s a very vibrant, high growth area to work in. With more people online and more innovations, it’s only going to get bigger. But not knowing what tomorrow will bring is actually a great part of working in this industry,” he says.
Career highlights
2005 Head of Business Development at Google Australia
2004 Director of Marketing and Business Development at Yahoo! Search Marketing Australia
2003 European Sales Operations Director at Yahoo! Search Marketing Europe
2002 Head of Online Channel (UK) at Yahoo! Search Marketing Europe
2000 Head of Marketing at QXL
1999 Online Marketing Manager at QXL
