Speaker fees: We're not able to provide this information on the website. Please call us on 0450 077 997 for more information.
Born and bred in the Argentinean Patagonia, global exploration was as dream of Gus’ since he was eight years old when he told his family he was going to stop his studies and travel the world.
By the time he was 17, he had started his own cake business and had won a scholarship to study in Byron Bay, Australia. He spent one year in Australia … the trip forever changed his life.
During this time he met the woman who would become his wife, and he also had an epiphany that guided his life from that point on: traveling is a state of mind before anything else.
With this new philosophy, a small backpack and his hitchhiking thumb, he crisscrossed South America racking up to 40,000 km without spending any money. During that time he enjoyed countless hours speaking with other travellers and dreaming about helping travel guide companies make better products: “This content is so old, I can help you fix this,” he would suggest.
After his trip to South America, he packed up and came back to OZ to chase the girl he fell in love with during his first trip to Australia. For work, he picked macadamia nuts, led a tennis school and started a company which imported and exported goods. One day, however, he saw a newspaper ad for a position with a travel company. It was too enticing to ignore.
Armed with the quintessential Aussie ‘give-it-a-go’ spirit and his family’s encouragement, he applied. Even though the odds were against him, he managed to secure a designer role at Lonely Planet, the most influential travel company in the world.
For Gus, he just landed the job of his dreams!
It didn’t take long to start looking through the information and trying to fix and correct processes and systems in order to improve Lonely Planet’s products.
Fast forward to 2014: Gus was running Lonely Planet after eight different jobs with the company, hundreds of hours of flying and a master’s in Business Administration. Gus became one of three executive directors of LP and the chief technology officer for 18 months before hanging up the boots and ending his career with Lonely Planet.
He had done what he wanted to to do. He launched e-books, new apps, strengthened by 50% the membership of the internet’s oldest travel forum and brought the company from millions of dollars in losses to profit. Together with a team of extraordinary colleagues, he transformed 500 years of momentum in the book industry, and 40 years of inertia in the travel guide business to re-invent the velocity of travel content, the velocity of product creation and the agile mindset of what is now a travel tech company and no longer just a book business.
The information, the battles and the challenges faced under various shareholders – Lonely Planet founders, the BBC and a billionaire from Tennessee — have taught Gus the incredible challenges of innovation, technology, business transformation and human condition.
He has worked alongside some of the biggest companies in the world – Google X, Nokia, Apple, Amazon — to develop cutting-edge technology and products.
Gus will amaze you with his common sense, energy and insights into the transformation, struggles and successes of one of the most loved brands in Australia and the world.
His experiences with technology and business make him an excellent choice for your next guest speaker or keynote speaker at your upcoming symposium or conference.