Heritage
Starting a business is easy. Building a successful business is more difficult. Building a world leading business, respected by industry leaders for thought innovation, in one of the hottest business areas of the moment - that is special.
As with any business that seems to “appear” on the world stage from nowhere there is a lot of history. To be in the hot place today means you've probably spent a long time out in the cold, an outsider, considered to be “interesting” by your industry.
There is a tenacity required to keep going when all around are doubting you. As Rudyard Kipling said in his poem “If”:
“If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;”
The founders of rhipe (then known as NewLease) had this tenacity in bucket loads. Doug Tutus and Dawn Edmonds founded the business in 2003 and as the timeline below shows, the business has grown rapidly in vendor, customer and geographic scope. There were as is to be expected “interesting times” along the way and Dawn is using that experience to continue guiding the business as the COO and Director. Having guided the business all the way from startup to listing on the ASX, Doug tragically passed away in March 2014. He continues to be a beacon for the organisation through the culture he instilled, the people he recruited and above all, the memory of his passion as a business leader and his warmth and generosity as a man.
Culture
The culture at rhipe is best described by what it’s not:
- You’re never treated like a number – one of our core values is respect – for each other, for the cultures, business practices and traditions that are important in the places we operate in and for everyone’s contribution to the organisation as a whole
- You don’t stand still – innovation and agility is critical in our industry and we value people who can think creatively, embrace and perpetuate positive change and who are never satisfied with “adequate”
- You never forget your customers – unbelievably, we’ve seen this happen in other organisations! Without our external customers, we don’t exist. Our internal customers rely on us to do our jobs well so that they can do theirs. We believe that commitment to a sense of service delivery across all aspects and all levels of the organisation, leads to a cohesive and unified organisation.
“When Doug and I first started NewLease, we weren’t just building a business, we wanted to create a workplace that people wanted to be a part of. An environment where people felt they were not only on the journey with us but integral to it. As Rhipe evolves and matures, it’s imperative that we retain those driving values.”
Dawn Edmonds
Founder