Swinburne University of Technology - Melbourne Australia

'Jack of all trades' becomes media master

Story by Bianca Nogrady

It took a Hong Kong fortune cookie to help web entrepreneur Domenic Carosa understand the path to business success. "It said 'a jack of all trades and a master of none'," recalls Domenic, 33, one of Australia's top young entrepreneurs.

"I was insulted," he quips lightly, but adds that a couple of years later he realised the cookie's words did describe him.

The late Kerry Packer always recommended hiring people who are better than you in their respective areas - specialists - and Domenic credits part of his own rapid rise in business to adopting that approach.

"I have a broad understanding of finance, marketing, sales and technology," he says. "I've got good enough general knowledge to make sure that what people are saying is right, but I am not shy about taking on the advice of experts."

In his experience, being a successful entrepreneur involves finding the right specialists and talent, but then also being able to steer them in the right direction.

Domenic is co-founder and CEO of destra Corporation, the largest independent media and entertainment company in Australia. He is also chairman of the Internet Industry Association and chairman of the association's digital music taskforce.

destra Corporation has fingers in many pies: its destra Media division develops communications strategies for commercial brands; while the destra Entertainment division includes destra Music (an independent music group covering music licensing, sales and distribution), destra Digital (enabling independent artists and labels to sell their content via digital music retailers) and destra Vision (the largest independent distributor of home entertainment in Australia).

So far it has been a rapid and colourful journey for Domenic and destra. Formed in 1993 by Domenic and his sister, the company was run from his bedroom at their parent's house during its early years and, being unable to secure bank loans, it relied instead on credit cards as a source of working capital.

"In the mid to late-1990s, I told our software developers we were going to go public, and one of the guys turned around and basically said, 'Domenic, you're crazy. How can you go public ... you're still operating out of your bedroom?'"

Domenic likes a challenge.

"I love doing things that people say are impossible ... not to prove anyone wrong, but to be focused on the 'big, fat, hairy, audacious goals' and sometimes this will prove others wrong."

So, flying in the face of all wisdom, destra went public in May 2000, just as the dotcom industry was reeling from its spectacular nosedive. For destra, the rest has become Australian business history.

Up to that point, Domenic was learning on the job. Then he was introduced to Swinburne University of Technology's Master of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (MEI) program - three years Domenic says were some of the best of his life.

"I was doing a commerce degree at another university and I lasted six weeks," he recalls. "I hated it because everyone was focused on beer and chips and I was focused on business."

Six years later, when the destra listing process was in full swing and Domenic was about to become the youngest CEO of a public-listed company in Australia, he completed the MEI program at Swinburne. "It gave me the tools to help run the business, and I certainly attribute part of where the company is to MEI," Domenic says. The MEI course was extremely practical, teaching him skills and applications he could plug directly into his business.

"It taught me about bringing in the experts, and gave me more knowledge across finance, marketing, business planning and operations than I had previously." He also appreciated the opportunity to share experiences and knowledge with like-minded colleagues, some of whom he is still in close contact with today.

The course also led to a major shift in Domenic's general mindset. "When I walk down the street these days, I look at retail shops and rather than thinking about buying something in those retail shops, I think about how they market themselves, what is the cost of goods, how can they expand the business ... it's a completely different perspective on business and life."

Does he ever detach from this constant thought stream? "I work 60 to 70 hours a week, but the way I look at it, it's not actually work," Domenic says. "I still feel like I'm five years old and playing in the sand pit - I love it!"

That said, he does have a sand pit that keeps getting more and more interesting. It is an exciting time for internet enterprises, with the promise of a national high-speed broadband network in the near future. "In terms of digital, the reason we love this space is because we're going where no one's gone before - we're helping create the future," Domenic says. "That to me is the most exciting part of what we do because we're actually shaping the way people will experience advertising and entertainment in the future."

So where does Domenic see himself in 10 years time? "Politics, because I believe I can make a difference." Watch out anyone who tells him otherwise.