About Us
Get exclusive money‑saving offers and guides
Straight to your inbox
By signing up, you agree to the Finder Privacy & Cookies Policy and Terms of Use, Disclaimer & Privacy Policy.
Fred Schebesta, Co-Founder of finder.com.au
Last updated:
To contact Fred:
@Schebesta
Fred's G+
Connect with Fred
Fred's Slideshare presentations
Call (Mobile): (+61) 402 094 430
Frank and I started finder.com.au because we lived frugally in our first business – we learned the hard way, through trial and error. The errors cost a lot.
Fred
As an author, blogger, award-winning digital marketer, media commentator, mentor and active member of the startup community, Fred Schebesta is one of the nation's most respected entrepreneurs.
Fred is the cofounder and director of finder.com.au – one of Australia's largest comparison websites – which receives more than 4 million visits each month. At just 26 years of age, Fred entered the comparison market, one of the most highly competitive online categories in Australia. Following its success in Australia, Fred and his business partner, Frank Restuccia, and their 70+ crew, launched finder.com in the U.S. in July 2015.
However, Fred’s entrepreneurial journey started well before finder.com. At just 22 years of age, while studying a Bachelor of Finance degree at Macquarie University in Sydney, he and Frank created Freestyle Media and grew the business into a successful digital agency that sold to a publicly-listed company in 2007.
At 22, Fred took out the ADMA Australian Young Direct Marketer of the Year. At 23, he was listed in Australian Anthill’s 30 under 30. In both 2011 and 2012, Fred was elected as a judge for the Startup Smart Awards. He also judged Money Magazine’s 2013 Best of the Best Awards for the mobile phone plan category.
Fred is a contributor to news.com.au, The Huffington Post and Fairfax Media. He also regularly appears on TV and radio sharing his experience as an entrepreneur. As a mentor at several organisations including the University of Technology Entrepreneur program and Project Pitch, Fred helps both undergraduate and postgraduate students develop business concepts. He is also a Startup Australia Ambassador and St. George Bank Ambassador.
Fred is inspired to facilitate financial literacy in Australia and to encourage people to have a frugal mindset and to make better financial decisions.
For media enquiries, please contact Michelle Hutchison at michelle@finder.com.
Related Posts
Ask an Expert
Hi Fred!
We haven’t met before – my name is Liz Kaelin and I am the founder of Caitre’d. We’re the catering platform that your staff uses to buy lunches for your team.
I just wanted to say thank you so much for your business! We really appreciate being able to serve Finder.
I know that you give talks here and there but we’ve not managed to cross paths. So thought I would reach out, intro myself and say thank you!
Thanks again and hope to run into you at an event soon!
Regards,
Liz
Hi Fred I just found out about you because your my entrepreneur in HASS p.s I’m in yr 7. What is 3 of Fred Schebesta’s problems that he faced in the growing of his business and how did he solve them.
Hi Abbey,
Thank you for asking your questions about the business and how it was built. Firstly, there are 120 great people at finder that have built it to what it is, I didn’t built it myself ;-) . I applaud your tenacity as a young entrepreneur to get out there and give it a go. I hope your HASS course is going well.
To answer your questions:
”
What is 3 of Fred Schebesta’s problems that he faced in the growing of his business and how did he solve them.
”
My 3 problems I faced in growing the business:
Finding great people to work at finder – To solve it I built a great machine that sorts and tests to find the best people.
Getting lots of people to see finder – To solve it we worked out some really great ways to get people’s attention and invite them to visit the finder website. “Internet Marketing”!
Getting lots of clients onto the website – We went out to their offices and we showed them with pictures and words why they should put their businesses on finder.
I too have a 7 year old daughter her name is Portia. Maybe you guys might be friends?
I admire your courage to ask your questions and encourage you to always keep asking questions to other people all your life. Most of the time, they will help you achieve what you are trying to do. I am inspired to see such a great little entrepreneur starting out and asking for help.
If you ever need any more questions answered, please send me more emails I would be delighted to help.
At your service,
Fred Schebesta
This is now my second inquiry – it is well over two weeks since I requested to cash out my cards. Now feeling a bit cross that my money hasn’t been credited to my bank account.
Hi Clare,
Thanks for your feedback.
Please note that you’ve come through to finder.com.au, an online comparison service. We are not a product issuer and we’re not directly affiliated with MasterCard.
It’s probably best for you to speak to MasterCard directly to enquire about the status of your funds.
Just passing on my previous response to your first inquiry in case you didn’t receive it, your request should be processed within 10 business days. Please note that your funds may take longer to be seen in your account due to delays in the banking system.
Cheers,
Shirley
How you going Fred? Your business is good and very successful and i admire you. Thanks
Thanks for your support Mitch!