Evan Thornley is co-founder and chief executive of LongView, an Australian residential property business that buys and manages homes for investors. Since 2014 he has also been executive chair of the private equity firm Same Business Different Outcome.
He co-founded LookSmart in 1995; it became the first Australian dot-com company listed on NASDAQ. He later co-founded the Goodstart consortium in early childhood education, and was a founder of the think tank Per Capita and the campaign group GetUp!. He served in the Victorian Legislative Council from 2006 to 2008, including as a parliamentary secretary, then led Better Place in Australia before a short term as its global CEO. He began his career at McKinsey & Company.
In Day One's History of the Australian Startup Ecosystem, he told the LookSmart story and the choices he faced after the dot-com bust.
5 episodes
Start hereEvan Thornley discusses the evolution of the startup ecosystemHis full interview on building LookSmart to a NASDAQ listing.
Documentary: The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem With Mark Pesce, Hayden Williams, Tim Fung, Trevor Folsom, Peter Davison, Pete Lead, Terry Hilsberg, Matt Bullock, Allan O'Connor, Rachael Neumann, Maxine Sherrin, Malcolm Turnbull, James Alexander, Alan Jones, Paul Bassat, Hamish Hawthorn, Alfred Lo, Phil Hayes-St Clair, Cameron Adams, Bruce Tulloch, Matt Barrie, Kate Cornick
Documentary: The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem Recorded as LookSmart co-founder
With Jodie Fox, Alfred Lo, Hamish Hawthorn, Cameron Adams, John Allsopp, Malcolm Turnbull, Ian Gardiner, Mick Liubinskas, Matt Barrie, Mark Pesce, Phil Hayes-St Clair, Simon Thomsen, Phil Morle, Silvia Pfeiffer, Dean McEvoy, Alan Noble, Niki Scevak, Alan Jones
Documentary: The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem With Michael Batko, Wayne Gerard, Petr Adámek, Peter Devine, Rohit Bhargava, Terry Hilsberg, Peter Bradd, Zrinka Tokic, Rachael Neumann, Zoe Piper, Susan Oliver, Silvia Pfeiffer, Murray Hurps, Rachel Yang, Yolanda Redrup, Peta Ellis, Sarah Pearson, Niki Scevak, Colin Kinner, Mark Pesce, Colette Grgic, Ian Gardiner, Lauren Capelin, Matt Barrie, Melissa Widner, Cameron Adams, Georgie Turner, Baden U'Ren, Alan Noble, Kate Jones, Kate Cornick, James Alexander, Dharmica Mistry, Emily Rich, Lars Rasmussen
Documentary: The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem With Leslie Delaforce, Darryl Lyons, Megan Sebben, Wayne Gerard, Nicole O'Brien, Alex Carpenter, Baden U'Ren, Tim Fung, Trevor Folsom, Peter Davison, Craig Swann, Moira Were, Colette Grgic, Allan O'Connor, Rachael Neumann, Chad Renando, Annie Parker, Brendan Hill, Aaron Birkby, Malcolm Turnbull, Jodie Fox, Susan Oliver, Silvia Pfeiffer, Yolanda Redrup, Andrew Nunn, Melissa Widner, Alfred Lo, Sarah Pearson, Phil Hayes-St Clair, Colin Kinner, Lauren Capelin, Matt Barrie, Kate Cornick, Cheryl Mack, Andrea Gardiner, Niki Scevak
The History of the Australian Startup Ecosystem - Interview Series Recorded as Serial entrepreneur, LookSmart
Key moments from Evan Thornley discusses the evolution of the startup ecosystem.
“If you're one year ahead of the competition in Silicon Valley, mate, you're a genius. If you're two years ahead of the market, the market might be trying to tell you something.”
Co-Founder & CEO · LongView
Executive Chair · Same Business Different Outcome
Global CEO · Better Place LLC
CEO · Better Place Australia
Co-founder · Goodstart Consortium
Founding Director · GetUp!
Founding Chair · Per Capita
Co-founder · LookSmart
Management Consultant · McKinsey & Company
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
LongView is an Australian property services and home equity company. It manages rental properties in Melbourne and Brisbane, offers buyer and vendor advocacy…
1 person · 5 episodes
Adam SpencerHost, Documentary: The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem 
Mark PesceFuturist & Host, The Next Billion Seconds 
Hayden WilliamsGroup Product Manager, MYOB 
Tim FungFounder & CEO, Airtasker 
Trevor FolsomCo-Founder and Chairman, Investible 
Peter DavisonCo-founder, Fishburners 
Pete LeadCoach, Scalable Leaders 
Terry HilsbergPartner, Fork Ventures Spot something wrong? Suggest a correctionUpdated 29 October 2026
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