Valuation taught me the rigour of researching the market, testing assumptions and standing behind the numbers. It also taught me that a value is only one part of the picture, and that every number rests on assumptions that need to be tested in the market.

At PwC I took that discipline into corporate advisory, working on commercial and financial problems where property was usually one issue among several. I learnt to understand what clients needed and respond appropriately with focus on the decision that needed to be made. Every recommendation was backed by diligent work, analysis and modelling.

At Stockland and Assemble I moved from advising to being accountable for the result: acquisitions, capital, development and delivery across thousands of dwellings and significant capital investment. Being the principal changes how you read a feasibility. You stop asking whether the numbers work and start asking what happens if they do not, who carries the risk, where the biggest issues sit, where the upside is, and whether the organisation can deliver what the paper promises?

I've sat on a board, on the receiving end of the papers and recommendations. It taught me that context matters: an opportunity can be sound on its own terms and still be the wrong one for that business at the time. There are lots of questions I have asked: is this a good use of our capital, is the risk acceptable, what will it take to realise an initiative, and how does it fit with where we're heading?

I set up Osta Advisory to bring all of that together in one place. You work with me directly, and you get a clear recommendation that I am prepared to stand behind, not just a set of numbers.

Based in Melbourne, Australia.