Michael is a startup, business and innovation thought leader with experience working in startups and big corporates across the globe. Based in Melbourne, Michael is currently Founder, CEO of Thriday, a digital neobank for SMEs. Michael recently returned to Australia after living in New York for the past three years. Michael was VP, Digital at CheapOair; the second largest online travel company in the US. Before moving to New York, Michael founded Parkhound – the Airbnb of parking – which was acquired by Spacer in 2017. Michael grew Parkhound into one of the largest sharing economy platforms in the world, with over 100,000 members and 20,000 parking spaces registered. Michael appeared on Shark Tank in 2016 and the company received offers from three sharks for $400,000. Michael caused much controversy by being the first participant to reject an offer from the sharks on the Australian series. Prior to Parkhound, Michael lived in London and was Head of Mobile Banking at RBS for two years and then Lloyds - the UK’s largest bank - for three years. When Michael launched Mobile Banking at RBS, this was the first Mobile Banking app to be launched in the UK market. During his time at Lloyds he oversaw a number of strategic developments that resulted in Gartner rating their Mobile Banking service the Number 1 in the UK. Michael is an active startup advisor through his role coaching at the Melbourne Accelerator Program (Melbourne University), Monash Generator and Skalata Ventures. Michael has also invested in some of Australia’s fastest growing startups including Nura, Cadmus, ProcurePro and Mindset to name a few. Michael enjoys playing an active role in shaping the future of technology globally. He has spoken and moderated at major conferences ranging from London to Yangon and Tehran. Michael is a regular author and blogger on topics including startups, banking, innovation and technology. His articles have been published in leading publications including the Huffington Post, Ameri