Ep 17: Karen Lawson - CEO

On today's show I am joined by Karen Lawson. Karen is an award winning business executive and leader in the digital and startup industry. As the former CEO of Slingshot, she grew the business into the #1 corporate accelerator in Australia, having accelerated more startups and run more corporate programs than any other provider in the space. She drove the total market capitalisation of its alumni to over $507m and accelerated over 128 businesses. The $15m Slingshot Venture Fund also invested into early stage founders driving innovation, economic growth and employment. Prior to her role at Slingshot, Karen served as CEO of CareerOne, a joint venture between News Limited and Monster Worldwide, and she also served as the General Manager at Yahoo!7. Karen is also a huge 'foodie' and has been a food and luxury travel journalist for over thirteen years. In this interview Karen speaks about her journey to becoming a CEO. We also talk a lot about the challenges of people management, the role of the leader, & her self care regime. If you are a corporate executive or a startup founder I'm certain you will take something away from Karen's amazing insights and experience.