Tony is an entrepreneur, Founder & CEO in online retail. He started his first internet business in 1996 and in 2004 Tony founded Booktopia, an online bookstore, with an allocated budget of $10 a day. The company’s first book sold in 3 days. Fast track 16 years and Booktopia now sells one book every six seconds, with an annual turnover of over $175 million a year. It was listed in AFR/BRW’s Fast 100 eight times, the only company to achieve this feat, and was voted Book Retailer of the Year for the 3rd time in 2019 at the Australian Book Industry Awards.
One of the defining aspects of the business is its philanthropic program. So far Booktopia has donated well over $1 million in books and cash to literacy based projects in Australia including indigenous literacy, writers festivals, readers conferences, library fundraising projects and book industry awards.
In July 2018 Booktopia also won Best Pureplay Online Retailer at the Online Retail Industry Awards and Tony was acknowledged with the Industry Recognition Award.
Booktopia launched a book wholesale distribution business called Booktopia Publisher Services (BPS) in 2016. In 2019 it also launched its own publishing imprint Booktopia Editions so the business can own the whole value chain from publishing right through to distribution as well as retailing.
In 2015 Booktopia bought Angus & Robertson, an iconic Australian book retail brand established in 1886. In 2020, Booktopia also bought The Co-op Bookshop established in 1958 after it went into administration.
In this conversation Tony shares;
– How his ADHD gave him increased understanding around his style of leadership and surrounding himself with the right people
– The evolution of an idea
– Why it’s important to give something of yourself every single day to create that ripple of change for others
– Facing challenges with a smile and saying ‘bring it on.’
If you have any questions at all for Tony he can be found on LinkedIn and asked me to invite you to message him direct.
In the meantime enjoy this conversation
Janine