TFS#251 - Scott Yang Founder of OzBargain, 20-Yr Journey Building Australia’s Biggest Deal Community

Scott Yang is an Australian software engineer and entrepreneur best known as the founder of OzBargain, one of Australia’s largest and most popular online bargain-hunter communities. He launched the site in November 2006 as a part-time project to share deals with others, and it has since grown into a major community platform with millions of monthly visitors and an active forum where users share and vote on the best discounts and offers.Known for his hands-on technical expertise and commitment to transparency, Scott continues to run OzBargain independently while maintaining its mission of helping Australians save [email protected]://www.ozbargain.com.auCHAPTERS:0:00 – Introduction1:21 – Andy shares that he’s used OzBargain since he was 151:45 – Scott shares how OzBargain started5:36 – Hiring employees and defining the scope of their roles8:28 – How deal review queues work on OzBargain10:26 – How strong deals reach the homepage and low-quality deals get downvoted11:57 – How he handles stress while running OzBargain15:03 – How OzBargain’s business model differs from Amazon18:13 – Why people continue to use OzBargain for many years19:22 – How OzBargain’s community was formed through the forums20:03 – How they organize OzBargain’s community meetup events22:57 –How people react when they meet him in person for the first time24:17 – Thoughts on AI27:03 – How the OzBargain community has remained strong for the past 20 years30:44 – Scott talks about other bargain communities that inspire him32:32 – How transparent OzBargain is regarding moderation decisions34:20 – Best idea they’ve implemented that made a huge impact on OzBargain36:53 – How banner ads make up 70% of their revenue41:08 – How affiliate links work on the OzBargain website44:41 – Competition within OzBargain46:39 – OzBargain’s different site sections49:46 – How 30% of users browse with ad blockers52:25 – OzBargain’s CPM compared to other websites53:54 – New Zealand and Singapore sites56:37 – Why visiting OzBargain has become a daily habit for many people59:29 – Price errors in OzBargain’s live section1:01:39 – The best deal Scott has come across in 20 years on his own platform1:02:43 – OzBargain’s cashback partners1:04:09 – Optimizing contest points1:05:31 – Flight deals on OzBargain1:07:11 – How they manage new and old user accounts1:09:43 – Benefits of having an older OzBargain account1:12:35 – How they handle scammers on OzBargain1:16:46 – OzBargain’s moderation workflow1:19:35 – How they handle fluctuating moderation workloads1:24:23 – How he delegates tasks to his team1:25:41 – How he retains employees long-term1:28:23 – Using time-tracking tools for employees1:29:31 – How they handle 160k newsletter subscribers1:32:45 – Running their own email servers1:36:43 – How he juggles technical issues alone1:39:21 – How he handles website issues while on vacation1:41:42 – Receiving legal letters from McDonald’s and Subway1:44:58 – How their team handles negative reviews on the site1:47:24 – How they create the daily newsletters1:48:54 – How they increase website traffic1:50:20 – Scott shares that many people are interested in buying OzBargain1:51:25 – Why Scott doesn’t want to sell OzBargain yet1:56:28 – Why the community stays active and loyal1:57:51 – Future plans for OzBargain1:59:26 – From a 9–5 job to running OzBargain full-time2:01:42 – Other startups he built before OzBargain2:03:55 – Scott’s reflections on his purpose in life2:07:01 – Running routine2:09:41 – Scott shares where he gets all his running shoes2:10:22 – Scott’s thoughts on investments2:11:58 – Scott’s thoughts on crypto and Bitcoin2:14:16 – Recent life discoveries2:17:43 – Scott talks about his children’s education2:20:13 – How they go to church every Sunday2:21:01 – Goals and focus for the next six months2:22:08 – Scott talks about the products he sets notifications for2:25:19 – Connect with Scott2:25:50 – Outro