POWER, Alex

Degree

Bachelor of Business

Graduation year

2017

Current position

Founder/Director/Delivery Don

Employer

Delivr

What are some of your career highlights?

It’s been a roller coaster; high highs and low lows. Career highlights so far include working with some of the biggest names in hospitality in Australia, speaking in the Future Founders Roadshow, and most recently, being nominated for Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the City of Ballarat Youth Awards.

Describe the most enjoyable and challenging aspects of your job

Imagine working in an industry where every other competitor has little to no regard for profitability, responsibility, or sustainability. I take part in the craziest, and quite possibly the dumbest, industry in the world: food delivery. Every day the largest food delivery companies set their money on fire in the pursuit of one day having a monopoly (which is impossible) so that they may one day become profitable – and in that pursuit create such a hazardous, crazy playing field it’s often more akin to playing Super Smash Bros than it is to playing any form of football.

That being said, what I enjoy the most about my job is it’s never boring; it’s never easy. Delivr’s survival depends on my ability to carve out market share and continue to create value for our restaurant partners, for our drivers, and for our customers.

What are your strongest memories while you were studying at the University?

My strongest memories come from the friendships that I formed throughout my degree(s) and still maintain today. As an international student I definitely felt like I was thrown into the deep end, but with the friends I made along the way I learned to thrive personally and professionally.

My single fondest memory was being referred to the business school career counselor because I insisted that I didn’t want to have a “job” after graduating. This concerned the school greatly (haha).

Do you have any advice about life after study to pass on to current students?

You can literally do anything you want to. It’s really important to believe that anything is possible, primarily because it’s entirely true. I started my university career studying Mining Engineering and graduated with a Bachelor of Business, a general degree.

I started a technology logistics platform that competes with the biggest in the world, on the smallest of scales. In the complete other direction, I also spent the end of 2020 creating an alcohol company with Ballarat’s local distillery.

My best advice is to bet the house on yourself. Believe in yourself. No idea is dumb. Keep showing up.