How WiseTech's Richard White built a 26-bagger growth darling

Richard White always wanted to be a rockstar. He was still young when it dawned upon him that it might be more profitable and realistic to become a tech titan instead. 

Sounds simple enough, but the journey has taken many twists and turns. Over 40 odd years, White thought life was perfect, hanging out in a rock band and rubbing shoulders with the likes of ACDC and The Angels. Unfortunately, he was going broke. 

A problem solver, he pivoted and thought repairing guitars for established rock stars was a way to make an interesting living. The business was a resounding success, but it wasn't perfect. It couldn't be scaled. And another salient lesson was learned. 

Nexy, a lighting business was built and sold, and then a stint in the computer hardware distribution game rounded out some much-needed business skills. 

In between ventures, White took on some consultancy work. Just by chance, some of his clients were in the freight forwarding game and White, ever alert, identified things could be done a lot better. 

So he got to work again and started writing software. Even though he had little practical training, he had twigged the entire freight forwarding industry needed a hand, and he took his products and started selling them more broadly. It is rare that one individual can write the software and then sell it. That was way back in the late 1980s. 

During the 1990s, his business became the platform for many major transport companies. Not satisfied, White decided to disrupt his own business. In the early 2000s, he rebuilt his product suite before forging into North America and Europe with a name changed to WiseTech. 

The company followed its customers and spread its tentacles around the globe. In 2016, White decided to list on the ASX. He thought publicly traded shares would give him the currency he needed to buy the missing bits to cement a global empire. 

And he was right. Close to 50 acquisitions later, WiseTech owns the space. The share price has risen a staggering 26 times from $3.35 to $90. Today WiseTech is valued at $30 billion and is the largest software company listed on the ASX. 

According to White, the music is still playing. And WiseTech has a few hit songs to knock out yet. 

Note: This podcast was recorded on Wednesday 24 April 2024. 

Timecodes: 

• 0:00 - Intro 
• 2:29 - Richard's favourite musicians 
• 4:27 - Richard's on his enduring love for music 
• 6:46 - The influence of Richard's upbringing on his career
• 11:17 - The importance of being able to put ideas into practice 
• 13:58 - How Richard taught himself how to build hardware 
• 16:01 - On sales (and lessons learnt from his previous businesses)
• 17:18 - Why cash is king 
• 19:36 - The importance of persistence 
• 21:59 - How Richard identified a problem he could solve in freight forwarding
• 26:14 - Why good sales is actually marketing 
• 27:42 - The beginnings of WiseTech
• 30:38 - On the importance of education and how it helped grow WiseTech
• 32:46 - Taking WiseTech global
• 34:35 - External investment in the company and an IPO
• 40:16 - On signing DHL pre-IPO
• 41:37 - Dealing with volatility: commentary on the 2019 short attack and early COVID-19 struggles 
• 44:45 - WiseTech has acquired 49 companies since listing 
• 45:48 - Why people are a business's most important intellectual property
• 49:13 - Educating the next generation (and why "STEM" isn't working)
• 52:08 - The DNA of WiseTech Global today...
• 53:09 - ... And what could disrupt that
• 55:38 - Richard on his succession/retirement and legacy