For the next edition of B&T‘s celebratory content series marking 10 years since our first ever 30 Under 30 Awards, we tracked down another one of our original winners, tech and data expert Will Scully-Power.
By 2010, he had launched and sold his first start-up (a boutique marketing and PR agency MarketingFX) and was managing director of marketing and analytics company Datarati, one of just five individuals from the top 30 who had achieved MD status already.
Will Scully-Power
Then: managing director, Datarati
Now: chairman & co-founder, Datarati
According to our original profile piece in B&T, Scully-Power’s role at Datarati was part of his very specific career goal, which was to be a regional MD of a global marketing automation software vendor, worth more than $1 billion.
We’re happy to report he achieved this goal.
Scully-Power started the Eloqua (now Oracle Marketing Cloud) and the Marketo (now Adobe Marketing Cloud) software businesses in the Asia-Pacific region, building out the marketing, sales, service and training teams and was responsible for the rapid revenue growth for both businesses across the Asia-Pacific region.
Oracle paid US $871 million for Eloqua back in 2012 and last year Adobe acquired Marketo for $5 billion.
Both the executive director of the Australian Cancer Research Foundation and the global campaigns manager at Altium singled out praise for the young MD’s professionalism at the time.
What did it mean to you at the ripe age of 29 that you were chosen as one of B&T’s 30 Under 30?
Being selected as one of B&T‘s 30 under 30 was such an honour. Acknowledgement and recognition by the industry on your contribution is a fantastic gesture and is a great opportunity to showcase the work you are delivering for customers.
How do you think being nominated affected your career, if at all?
Being nominated was a great opportunity to engage with both prospects and customers. It showcases and validates the awesome customer journey and customer experience work in digital transformation throughout the industry.
What’s been the biggest change to your life since then?
Managing rapid company growth. It sounds glorious, but it’s actually super-hard. There are so many aspects to it, that you just don’t learn anywhere but on the job. Find a problem that you are passionate about solving and start and grow a company, it’s your best investment in learning.
What words of wisdom would you have shared with your 29-year-old self back then knowing what you do now?
If you find an opportunity in the market, test it early, learn, iterate and if you have a product/market fit…keep investing your time and money, if not move onto the next idea.
Every time you learn something new, it ends up creating a new opportunity for you down the road.
What do you see as the biggest challenges that face young people in advertising, marketing and media these days?
Specialist skills. There is a massive skills gap in the marketing automation and CRM industry. Employers are no longer hiring for roles like digital campaign manager – they are looking for specialist skills like marketing automation specialist.
Conversely, what’s the biggest opportunity for those under 30 now?
Learn how to learn. Develop specialist skills. Learn how to do basic coding, build a blog, a website, an e-commerce store, an app. Create something, solve a problem.
What can the industry do better to attract and retain young talent?
Establish better graduate programs which are specific to an industry.
If you missed the start of this series, make sure you check out our interviews with fellow original 30 Under 30 winners Chris Howatson, Nic Hodges and Nicole Ghobrial.
Entries for B&T‘s 30 Under 30 Awards for 2019 are now open. For all the details, click here. Tickets are also available for B&T Bootcamp, a day of speed mentoring and masterclasses aimed at up and comers in the industry.
