A Renaissance Man
David Werdiger embodies the true Renaissance man, aka, a gentleman proficient in a wide range of fields. Based in Australia, David is a globally sought after Family Enterprise Advisor, Tech Entrepreneur, Author, and Speaker. A Thought Leader through the decades, he ascribes his success to the power of creation.
“I love creating. In my tech entrepreneur period, that meant taking an idea from zero to a small business. Now it’s mostly around developing ideas and writing/speaking about them. I especially love taking an idea from one context and adapting it to something completely different, and challenging sacred cows. I’m always analysing business models I encounter, be it personally or professionally.”
Residing in Melbourne, David grew up as the youngest of 5 children in a business family. His first job was for a stockbroker as a software developer and then a quant analyst. Then he started a software business that turned into a telco and SaaS billing business.
Thereon, he started two other telco businesses and partnered in two others. He also joined some non-profit boards, and ended up doing a Masters of Entrepreneurship & Innovation. At some point, doing all this caught up with him health-wise, which had him thinking about what he wanted to do with his life.
That brought him to his third career. During his journey, David learnt a lot about what other wealthy families were doing – succession, governance, and wealth transition. His tech business was already mature and didn’t require a lot of his time. And so he decided to write a book – the bestselling ‘Transition’, and became a certified advisor to families – helping them on their intergenerational journey.
Today, David is an award-winning global leader in family enterprise. He advises UHNW families and family offices on intergenerational issues, succession planning, family governance, and conflict management. His wisdom, achieved through decades of hands-on experience, has helped him connect, innovate, and solve complex issues with ease.
Among his many engagements, David is a Managing Director at Nathanson Pearson Family Advisory; Chairman & Chief Evangelist at Billing Bureau; Executive Coach at Asian Leadership International Executive Coaching; and Leaders Council Member and part of the faculty for Family Dynamics domain at The UHNW Institute – a global think tank of practitioners servicing ultra-high-net-worth families.
A mentor to hundreds, he is also on the expert panel at Simple and Respada; Guest Lecturer at Harvard Business School; and has several roles at his prestigious alma mater, Swinburne University.
A professional Speaker and MC for over 2 decades, he speaks to high net wealth groups in Australia, Asia, and around the world. With over 400 articles to his name, he is currently working on his 2nd book, which is about the challenges of the modern, always-connected digital world.
For David however, his greatest achievement is his family – his wife and him have five children, three of whom are married, with five grandchildren. “I’m so proud of each one of them, and grateful to my wife for raising them so well while I was out there building businesses,” he shares with pride.
A humanitarian at heart, David is an active participant in community activities as well as non-profits. He is currently Vice-President of The Joint Australia (part of JDC) – the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian organisation, and President of JBD – Jews of Melbourne CBD. He was previously Director and Committee Member at Jewish Care for over twenty years; Founding Director of Australian Jewish Funders; and Director of Lamdeni School.
“I’m not really one for awards, but I’m very proud of the contributions I made to these organisations, and grateful for the opportunity and the learnings they gave me,” he says.
For a man who wears many hats, how does David face simultaneous challenges? He says he has no idea! “People say if you want something done, ask a busy person. I’m not really capable of doing just one thing: I’m always juggling multiple roles. They are businesses, non-profits, writing, and more. I have learned to look after myself – that is very important. I have a fairly high work rate when I get into the ‘zone’. I thus live by my calendar – everything needs to be in there otherwise it will slip through the cracks.”
David’s biggest strength is that he can rapidly switch between several different activities, and get much done. What about his passion, we ask him? Telling us how his passion centres around good governance, he answers, “I’ve seen it done well and done very badly in both non-profits and families, and seen the consequences of each. Spiderman’s uncle famously said: ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. Good governance comes down to the responsible use of power, and that applies in everything from families to businesses, non-profits, and countries.”
David places a high premium on human agency. Leaving us with some food for thought, he says, “Always be learning; never underestimate the power of people (especially yourself) to change. Value your time; maintain a healthy balance between work and personal life. No-one ever lay on their deathbed and said, ‘if only I’d worked a little harder…’.”