| Speaker: | Hernus Carelsen |
| Topic: | Profit Engineering: Building an Internal Economy Through Incentives, Structure, and Culture |
| Date/Time: | Wed 23 Apr 2025, 8:00–10:00 AM |
| Location: | Cliftons Margaret St, Level 13, 60 Margaret Street, Sydney NSW 2000 |
About This Free Event
Join us for an early-morning session with Hernus Carelsen, serial entrepreneur and who started Strategic Founders, as he shares practical frameworks for engineering profitability into your business from the inside out.
This isn't about traditional financial management—it's about building an internal economy that naturally drives financial performance. You'll learn how to structure incentives, make smart equity decisions, implement effective reporting systems, and cultivate a culture where everyone thinks like an owner. You'll leave with practical tools you can implement immediately.
What You'll Learn
- Building an Internal Economy: Create systems where financial thinking is distributed across your organisation
- Incentive Design: Structure compensation and bonuses that align individual behaviour with company profitability
- Clever Organisational Structuring: Design teams and reporting lines that naturally drive financial accountability
- Equity Decisions: When equity makes sense, when it doesn't, and alternatives that preserve ownership
- Meaningful Reporting: Build dashboards and reports that actually drive better decisions (not just track history)
- Culture Engineering: Cultivate a mindset where everyone understands and cares about financial performance
- Profit Levers: Identify and pull the specific levers that drive profitability in your business model
- Operational Metrics: Connect daily operations to financial outcomes everyone can understand
About the Speaker
Hernus Carelsen is a serial entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience building and scaling businesses. He has co-founded and led multiple successful companies including Innogence (120 employees in 7 years, 7th fastest startup in AFR Fast Starters list, acquired by NTT Data after featuring in AFR/BRW Fast 100), Bluleader (100+ employees, sold to DXC), and most recently HR Crowd (40 employees in two years, 16th fastest startup in AFR Fast Starters list).
As a Professional EOS Implementer and business coach, Hernus has worked with numerous mid-stage companies navigating the challenges of scaling from 20 to 200 employees. His expertise lies in engineering profitability and growth through organisational design, incentive structures, culture building and execution discipline—helping founders/owners get what they want and helping employees to think like owners.
Hernus started Strategic Founders as a Sydney community where founders/owners of companies with 20–200 employees gather 9 times a year to share insights, inspiration, and strategies for navigating the unique challenges of mid-stage growth. All events are free to attend—no fees, no sales pitches.
Who Should Attend
This event is perfect for founders/owners who:
- Want their team to think more like owners without giving away equity
- Struggle with aligning individual incentives with company profitability
- Feel like they're the only one who cares about the bottom line
- Are considering equity grants but uncertain about the implications
- Need better reporting that drives decisions, not just tracks history
- Want to build a culture where financial performance matters to everyone
Event Schedule
- 8:00 AM - 8:15 AM: Breakfast and networking
- 8:15 AM - 8:45 AM: Profit Engineering fundamentals
- 8:45 AM - 9:30 AM: Interactive case studies and group work
- 9:30 AM - 10:00 AM: Q&A and troubleshooting specific challenges
What You'll Receive
- Incentive structure templates and frameworks
- Equity decision-making checklist
- Financial reporting dashboard templates
- Internal economy design worksheet
- Culture assessment and action planning tools
Venue
Cliftons Margaret St provides a professional, modern environment in the heart of Sydney's CBD, perfect for our early-morning founder sessions.
Address: Level 13, 60 Margaret Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000
Getting There: Wynyard Station is a 5-minute walk. Martin Place Station is a 7-minute walk. Paid parking available nearby.