Enterprise with purpose

From space engineer to entrepreneur, every stage of Old Boy James Chin Moody's '93 career has been about identifying problems and finding innovative solutions.

Describing himself as a “space nerd”, the founder and CEO of Sendle – a small business parcel delivery service –draws a space analogy to describe the company he started in 2014.

“We have now sent more than 11 light-hours of parcel delivery. That’s the equivalent of driving a one-tonne truck to Pluto and back. And it’s 100% carbon neutral,” Chin Moody said. “The problem we’re solving is how do we make parcel delivery simple, reliable and affordable for small business, who need it now more than ever. We’re probably enabling over a billion dollars worth of Australian e-commerce every year, which translates into wellbeing for so many small sellers out there.”

Echoing the truck driving analogy, Sendle is a software company that works in logistics. Utilising the spare capacity in delivery trucks provides cheaper rates for small business and benefits the environment.

Enterprise with purpose and an environmental focus have been themes throughout his career. “In 2002, I attended an Earth Summit in Johannesburg. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development made the point that it’s not that ‘business is bad’ or ‘profit is evil’, but there’s good business and bad business,” he said. “For me, a good business knows what its positive impact is going to be. We try to be a shipping company that takes responsibility for all its emissions. Our business is shipping that’s good for the world.”

Since graduating from BGS as Dux in 1993, Chin Moody has accumulated a long list of prizes and accolades – from the University Medal at QUT, to Young Engineer of the Year for his work on satellite technology, and selection on UN and World Economic Forum committees. He completed a PhD in Innovation Theory at ANU and studied Global Leadership and Public Policy at Harvard.

After seven years at the CSIRO, eventually as Executive Director of Development, Chin Moody spent time at home parenting his two boys while wife Geraldine served on the executive team at Virgin Australia. It was while at home surrounded by kid “stuff” that Chin Moody and a friend dreamed up the logistics company, TuShare, to remove the barrier to giving that stuff away. TuShare evolved into Sendle.

“Innovation is really the process of technological change. When I started as an engineer, everything was about making a widget, but making a clever widget is not enough. It’s all about getting that widget to market,” Chin Moody said. “It’s about creating it, finding the right channels to talk to people about it and then getting people to use it and buy it.”

This passion for combining engineering with entrepreneurship was evident during his stint as a judge on ABC TV’s The New Inventors from 2004 until 2011.

Chin Moody is a third-generation BGS Old Boy – father Professor Miles Moody ’61 and grandfather Frank ’27 were an engineer and surveyor respectively. He thinks the School’s new STEAM Precinct, which will facilitate cross-fertilisation between science and art, will be important to teaching 21st-century skills.

“As the world has accelerated, as boundaries have become foggier, I think it’s important that we start to educate kids on more than just the science and technology side,” he said. “It’s great to add the arts and humanities and appreciate them.”

“When I was at BGS, there were some amazing teachers who really made me love the process of learning. My favourite memories are working together with other people – whether it was being in choir and orchestra, or competing in debating or Tournament of Minds. It was actually about teamwork and solving problems with colleagues.”

Finding elegant solutions to “chunky” problems is still his focus. “I’m ultimately an optimist. I think every problem can be solved. What does it require? It needs goodwill and people being flexible – thinking outside the way we’ve normally done things.”