Cost of Living: The Tax Fix Kogan Says Australia Needs

Kogan.com founder Ruslan Kogan says Australia needs a circuit breaker. He warns David Jones won't be the last big name to fall, and says nobody in business is excited about the future right now. With families tightening their belts, his own business is doing well, and he says he feels bad about it. His fix: a tax system that rewards people who build and employ, two old rules gone for every new one, and politicians who act like they face an election every day. He also tells Karl how it all started. His parents arrived in Melbourne from the Soviet Union with $90 and worked three or four jobs while raising their kids. As a kid in a housing commission flat, he built his own computer and sold lost golf balls back to golfers. He quit a safe job at Accenture, made his mum cry, and started Kogan.com with two TVs and no money. Investors told him to bugger off. So he got customers to pay upfront, flew to China to test every TV himself, and paid a driver to follow the container to the shipping yard. He says Kogan.com now does more sales by quarter past midnight than it did in its entire first year. He picked a fight with Gerry Harvey on purpose, then nearly lost the business when COVID ended and the stock kept coming. What he built to survive is the business it is today. Karl sits down with the founder of Kogan.com to talk about: • David Jones, tax, red tape and why he says nobody in business is excited right now • Arriving from the Soviet Union with $90, and selling lost golf balls back to golfers • The TV order that started Kogan.com, and the investors who said no • Kogan vs Harvey Norman, and the Today Tonight story that started it • The COVID over-order that nearly put Kogan out of business CHAPTERS 0:00 AI and the end of brand loyalty 0:49 What sort of country are we building? 4:04 Arriving from the Soviet Union with $90 7:04 Teaching Mum about opportunity cost 9:58 Selling golf balls back to golfers 12:20 Quitting Accenture 14:46 Miami, and the TV that started Kogan.com 16:47 Customers paid upfront for the first container 19:19 What the TV store doesn't tell you 21:17 More sales by 12:15am than in year one 21:36 Kogan vs Harvey Norman 26:19 Is online retail good for Australia? 28:12 Sovereignty and supply chains 30:30 Winning COVID, then over-ordering 31:59 The edge of the cliff 33:43 What the crisis built 37:32 Back to profit, and going public 39:44 The daily share price 40:52 50 million products and Kogan First 45:09 What worries him about Australia 46:41 Tax, red tape and a trainer too scared to post 49:37 Why business people are never the heroes 51:18 Inflation and the blame game 52:47 Advice for small business 53:59 More David Joneses 54:30 An election every day This episode is brought to you by Tanda. Rostering, payroll and HR for Aussie businesses: tanda.com.au Watch and listen on YouTube and all podcast apps.