178 - Alan Sparks - Senior Executive - Harris Technology

Arete Podcast with Richard Triggs

We’ve spoken to some high flyers in our time, but you’d be hard-pushed to find an executive who has hit the heights of Alan Sparks. What hasn’t this man done?!? In no particular order, he’s been the Senior Vice President of Philips Consumer Electronics across Asia Pacific/Middle East/Africa, he’s been the CEO of Cellnet and he’s been the President of Carrier Corporation. Not to mention a whole host of other roles too extensive to fit into an opening paragraph! (see below for the additional roles). Now he’s living out the dream of many execs: a portfolio of four non-exec board roles in exciting sectors, including the chairmanship of Harris Technology. And just for good measure, he runs his own IOT tech distribution business on the side! Alan’s rapid rise from computer salesman to the top of big business is an interesting story in itself, but it’s even more interesting to find out how he’s managed the transition to the exciting world of a wide-ranging non-exec portfolio. How did he build it so successfully? Did he have a formula or did it just fall in his lap? Listen to the show to find out how he did it. Episode Highlights: -How Alan had the vision to pick computer sales as a growth area -Alan’s $280m deal for Philips -Why Alan swapped the corporate high life with Philips -The pressures of laying off staff -How Alan dealt with the closure of a $3bn business -How Alan turned around a business that only had 6 months to survive -How Alan dismissed half of an executive team in order to save a business -The difference between doing business in China, UK, the US and India -When relationship can matter more than a contract -The exciting growth of home automation -Alan’s take on Artificial Intelligence -How Alan built a board portfolio so quickly -How Linkedin helped Alan to build his non-exec portfolio -What it’s like to hold so many board positions at any one time As mentioned above, here are the other roles Alan has had or currently has… -Currently four non-executive roles, having been exec up to a year ago -Chairs board of Harris Technology (online retailer in the IT tech space/gaming/home appliances) -Renewable Power Australia (power plant generating electricity from a sugar mill) -Pacificon (tech distributor across NZ, Aus Pacific Islands) -Australian investment rep for Gazelle Capital in Singapore USEFUL LINKS: Alan Sparks on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-sparks-72b469/ Harris Technology Website - https://ht.com.au/ Richard Triggs on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardtriggs/