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MIKE SMITH PROJECTS
ABOUT
Hey there! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my page. If you're here, it probably means you're interested in finding out a bit more about me and my previous projects. You're in the right place!
To get things started, here's a bit about me and my background...I'm a small town, public-school kid from the North Coast of NSW. I grew up surfing, playing basketball and making noise on a guitar.
After school I moved to Sydney and studied commerce at UNSW. My first job was with an advertising agency. It took me about 3yrs to figure out that wasn't what I wanted to do with my life. So I quit my well-paying job and joined the ranks of the gainfully unemployed.
Since then I've been involved as a founder and sometimes-investor to a number of different projects spanning the surfing, technology, wine, events, marketing, fashion, philanthropic and most recently dunny-cleaning industries. Along the way I've had my fair-share of near-misses, almost-successes and outright failures. I've also been fortunate enough to scale and exit a multi-million-dollar business, be listed in the Australian Financial Review’s Fastest 100 Growing Companies, pick up a Bronze Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Awards, and found a Registered Australian Charity that builds schools in Myanmar (Burma).
If you're interested in finding out more about some of those adventures, please read on...
CAKE WINES
(2011 - 2017)
Cake Wines is a boutique Australian wine brand I co-founded in 2011. During my 6yr journey with the business Cake Wines became one of the most talked about and fastest growing wine companies in Australia. In 2017 the business was listed as one of the 50 fastest growing companies in Australia by The Australian Financial Review. In Sept 2017 Cake Wines was acquired by Casama Group, one of Australia's largest independent wine companies.
FOR GOOD GROUP
(2013 - CURRENT)
The For Good Group is a Registered Australian Charity I co-founded in 2013. The goal of the organisation is to bring the gift of education to those most in need by building schools in impoverished communities. To date For Good Group has built 2 schools in Myanmar (Burma).
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SEAWEED PROJECT
(2019 - CURRENT)
seaweedproject.org is an ambitious project exploring the exciting potential for large-scale seaweed farming to help fight climate change, ocean acidification and fishery depletion.
The project is in its early stages of conceptual development. Further details will be announced shortly! Join my mailing list for updates.
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HOT CHIP
(2010 - 2011)
Hot Chip was a surfing technology start-up Mike co-founded and developed in collaborations with some of the world's best surfers. The company developed (what was at the time) a unique technology solution involving waterproof GPS/Gyro hardware and smart software/database design that tracked surfers' activity in the water (kind of like FitBit for surfing). The technology was acquired by Billabong and launched at the Pipeline Masters World Championship of Surfing event in Hawaii in 2011.
TRAVEL
I love packing my backpack and heading out into the world's great wildernesses. As much as possible I try to explore places off the well-trodden tour trails, although that's becoming increasingly difficult by the day. My travels have taken me to some of the most remote and far-flung places on earth...like the Wakhan Valley along the Tajik-Afghan border, North Korea, Kamchatka, Nagaland, Bhutan, Tibet and Iran to name just a few...
THE LONG NOW
(2016)
I've been writing and performing guitar-driven music since I was in my early teens. Over the years I've played in a bunch of different bands, predominately playing heavy and fast styles of rock n roll.
In 2016 I recorded some demo tracks as part of a folk duo called THE LONG NOW...
If you'd like to find out more about any of my projects or touch base with me about a commercial or charity project please fill out the contact form here.
I'll do my best to get back to you in a timely manner...
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