1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:05,279 Speaker 1: Five Double A Knights with Matthew Pantalis. I was impressed 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: to read today about a couple of UNI students. In fact, 3 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:12,240 Speaker 1: there's an annual thing that goes on at the Uni 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: of Adelaide, the Entrepreneur Challenge, where they have to come 5 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 1: up with something, you know, positive, something that helps society, 6 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: a business kind of idea that can really take off. 7 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: The winners this year a couple of students, Lorna Laura 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 1: Bergerman and Harrison Cross who have decided that trying to 9 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:38,319 Speaker 1: compare bills, you know, compare the market and all of that, 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: but you get your electricity bill and you think energy 11 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: made easy too hard. I can't be bothered with this, 12 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: So you just keep on paying the bill and you're 13 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: staying with your current retailer. Maybe you ring them every 14 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: now and then instant to see if they've got a 15 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: better deal and they put you on one, but you're 16 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: still there. How many people, the majority of South Australians 17 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: would still be with AGL which took over ETZA, and 18 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: a few've probably moved around to Origin. And what's the 19 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: one that always uses the tesla and the mortar advertised 20 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: doesn't matter anyway. There's so many of them, But chances 21 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: are most people with AGL it's just too hard. You 22 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: can't be bothered. We're all too busy. Well, Lauren and 23 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: Harrison have created a platform that compares more than eighteen 24 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: thousand plans from eighty six retailers to find the best 25 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: deals for individuals and it's not just for electricity. Harrison 26 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:37,320 Speaker 1: is on the line, Harry, good evening, Thanks for your time. 27 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 2: Hey, hey Matthew, thanks for having me. 28 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: No, no worry. So tell me about your thinking behind this. 29 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: What made you look into this, the pair of you. 30 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it just came from understanding the problem 31 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 2: that exist in my family's life. I'm not sure if 32 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 2: you're aware, but on the front page of your electricity 33 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 2: bill it actually says how much money you would save 34 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 2: you on a better plan with your current retailer. Yeah, 35 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 2: and for my dad that number was close to five 36 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 2: hundred dollars, which is quite a lot. So it really 37 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 2: sort of helped me understand the pain point that it 38 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 2: is this for people then they're not actively looking at 39 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:10,799 Speaker 2: their plan, how much money they're living on the table. 40 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: Okay, so what's the program? And I've got the name 41 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 1: for it here, but you can tell me because I 42 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: just can't see. Oh, switchboard, switchboard. What does switchboard do? 43 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, So Switchboard is a startup out of the pink 44 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 2: lad program Adelaide University each challenge. Essentially, what we do 45 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 2: is we have a consumer Data Rights license which allows 46 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 2: consumers households to share their account information with us, so 47 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 2: we can view the way that they use power. So 48 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 2: we understand the way that houses use power, and then 49 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 2: we take that usage and compare it to eighteen thousand 50 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 2: plans from eighty six different retailers, and we automatically switch 51 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 2: into the best one based on your usage. 52 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,920 Speaker 1: Okay, is this not like energy Made Besy or of 53 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: any of those other sites. 54 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 2: It is similar, but I think our point of difference 55 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 2: is that we're really looking at it from the usage perspective, 56 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 2: so we want to understand the way household actually uses power, 57 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 2: and then we're totally unbiased in the way that we 58 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 2: make that comparison, so we don't take any commission from retailers. 59 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 2: What we do is we just try and understand what 60 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 2: the best plan is. Then we move into that. And 61 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 2: our big point of difference is that we partner with 62 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:16,839 Speaker 2: the customers, so we don't switch you to one plan 63 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 2: and leave you alone. We actually monitor that connection going 64 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:20,640 Speaker 2: forward so that you know to overpay again. 65 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: Okay, how are the two of you doing that? AI 66 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: takes over at this point. 67 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 2: I imagine we're not actually using A at the moment. 68 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 2: But yeah, essentially, we just have a very very long 69 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 2: code base. So we've got sixty thousand lines with code 70 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 2: which eventually looks at all of the plans in the market. 71 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 2: We take them live, then we break down people's data 72 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 2: from those eighty six different retailers, understand it, and then 73 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 2: make that comparison. 74 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: Is this like a mind bending thing to try and 75 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: do and come up with? It sounds for you guys, 76 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: not so much for the person using it, but for 77 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: you guys to plan around doing that, it sounds pretty intensive. 78 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 2: It has been quite the learning curve. I think the 79 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 2: system that we're using in open energy is quite new, 80 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 2: so there's so many issues that we're sort of working through. 81 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 2: But I think when we look at the amount of 82 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 2: stavings that we're creating for our users, it's worth it 83 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:17,160 Speaker 2: to work through those issues. 84 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:20,919 Speaker 1: Okay, so this isn't monetized. This is just through a 85 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:23,839 Speaker 1: couple of students working out of Adelaide UNI that have 86 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: come up with this and that's about it. 87 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we actually are a company, so we're looking 88 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 2: to sort of sell our services soon or actually only 89 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 2: two months old. So the progress we've made so far 90 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 2: we're really proud of. But we don't want to just 91 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 2: operate only an energy We sort of want to look 92 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 2: at all the commoditized services that Australians are paying for. 93 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 2: So your mortgage, your insurance, superannuation fees. Why pay more 94 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 2: for the same thing when there's commoditized services that are cheaper. 95 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 2: So we want to go across all of them and 96 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 2: sort of automate that process and say people as much 97 00:04:58,000 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 2: money as possible. 98 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: Wow. Good So this is a Koreer now for you 99 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: all of a sudden right potentially. 100 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, potentially. The Think the Think Lab program that each 101 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 2: challenge has been such an incredible journey for us, and 102 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 2: we've actually walked away with forty four thousand dollars worth 103 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 2: of prizes. Well sort of sets us up really well 104 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 2: to tackle this venture properly and really take it as 105 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 2: far as we can. 106 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 1: Okay, goodness. So we're talking guess bills, as you said, mortgages, 107 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: superannuation fees, what else How else could this be used? 108 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, So in the banking sector, that's we're starting an 109 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:38,919 Speaker 2: energy and gas that's us sort of first wedge that 110 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,040 Speaker 2: we're looking to explore as best we can, and then 111 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 2: we want to go into banking next. So we want 112 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 2: to look at consolidating debts of people. We want to 113 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 2: look at looking at people's mortgages to make sure they're 114 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 2: on the optimal rate, look at interest rates that their 115 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 2: bank accounts are in. Essentially, we want to make sure 116 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:54,479 Speaker 2: that people are getting the most out of their money 117 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 2: and they're not being overcharged for something that they could 118 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 2: get cheaper elsewhere. 119 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: Okay, all right, this is almost unlimited potential in terms 120 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 1: of helping people out. Yeah. 121 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,679 Speaker 2: I mean Australians are leaving thousands on the table every 122 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 2: single year when it comes to their sort of boring bills, 123 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 2: and people are just so busy they don't have the 124 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 2: time to think about it properly. You know, life gets 125 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 2: in the way, and we want to do something about 126 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 2: that because you know, you don't deserve to be punished 127 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 2: for not actively. 128 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: Managing you exactly, And you know the very first thing 129 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,039 Speaker 1: you said, it just sticks in my crawl every time 130 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: I hear it, and I'm being banging on about this 131 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: on the radio forever. They tell us how much we 132 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: could save if we were on the cheaper plan. Why 133 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: don't they just put us on the damn cheaper plan. 134 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, if only it was that easier, right. 135 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:39,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, it is that easy. 136 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, it should be. But if that wasn't the case 137 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,280 Speaker 2: in Switch, we would be able to exist. So it's 138 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 2: sort of another wage sword for us. But yeah, I think, yeah, 139 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 2: we just want to see the best for consumers. You know, 140 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 2: they should be on the best plan. 141 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, good luck with this moving forward, Harry, I think, 142 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: what a tremendous thing. So the UNI what encourages I imagine 143 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: you're in engineering and encourages you to come up with 144 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,039 Speaker 1: great ideas, all of you in going through the course. 145 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 2: Yeah. So the E Challenge program is actually an elective 146 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 2: and they open it up to students from any faculty. 147 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 2: So I have myself from project management. So I've come 148 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 2: in and essentially just gone through so many different iterations 149 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 2: of ideas. There's a plethora of startups that have come 150 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 2: through this year. There was ninety seven teams competing. Wow, 151 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 2: we had teams working in the mining space. One really great. 152 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 2: One was doing radio AI, so like they wanted to 153 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 2: embed AI radio networks for mining sites, which is incredible. 154 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 2: Other people went totally different directions. One team was looking 155 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 2: at goats and how they can use goats to prevent 156 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 2: fire risks. So there's a huge plethora of teams that 157 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 2: compete and yeah, it's incredible to see how far we 158 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 2: will come. 159 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: Amazing. So ninety seven of you competing now it sounds 160 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: like the future. With minds like yours and your colleagues 161 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: at UNI, it's we're we're in good hands, hopefully moving forward. 162 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 1: What did you want to do when you started project management? 163 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: But what was the thought at the start of your union? 164 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: I presume you're done now, are you with this? This 165 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: is the last year? What did you want to do? Initially? 166 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:17,239 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, this is my final year at the moment. 167 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 2: The first career move that I wanted to do was 168 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 2: to become a police officer. But as part of my studies, 169 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,920 Speaker 2: I went on an international startup accelerator in Singapore and 170 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 2: that was with Hex and it really opened up my 171 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 2: mind to just how awesome the world of business is. 172 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:34,960 Speaker 2: And that sort of has changed my approach for everything. 173 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 2: And now i'd been so interested in business and it's 174 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 2: what I want to do with my life. 175 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: Wow, could be a future elon mask who knows. 176 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 2: I we'll see. 177 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: Good on you, Harry, look, thank you for your time, 178 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: Good luck with whatever the future holds, and certainly with 179 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: the Switchboard. And I imagine there'll be companies that will 180 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: want to buy this from you potentially. 181 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that'll that'll be part of our journey 182 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 2: at some point. I think we have to make that 183 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 2: decision of you know, we want to stay a line 184 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 2: to the consumer or do we want to sell? And 185 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 2: I think right now we're team consumer. We want to 186 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 2: in this for the long haul and help people as 187 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:11,679 Speaker 2: best we can for as long as we can. 188 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, if you sell, make sure you ask for millions, 189 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:18,320 Speaker 1: don't take their low ball offer. All right, good on you, 190 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: well done and I hope it goes through leaps and 191 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: bounds for you both. Terrific work. Thank you, Good on you. 192 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: Harrison Cross, student at UNI Adelaide in his final year. 193 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: How about that, wanted to be a copper and has 194 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: come up with a colleague school A fellow student, Lauren Bergerman, 195 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: come up with the Switchboard, the platform built to optimize 196 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:50,200 Speaker 1: every major bill, superannuation fees, mortgages, gas, you name it, 197 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: insurance and save you money. How good's that? And no 198 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: commission from you know. You go on some and they say, 199 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: well this one, and you end up with X y 200 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,439 Speaker 1: Z company for whatever it is. And part of the 201 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: deal is commissions are paid. You know nothing about it, 202 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 1: but commissions are paid based on your choice. Well, this 203 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: won't do that, so that's got to be a saving 204 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: too down the line. It's brilliant