ACV09: The Greatest Superpower - Being Willing to Learn (Brennan Ong, Founder of LawAdvisor) Artwork

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Dr Paul Tern works as a doctor by day, but in his spare time he finds and interviews people who have chosen to pursue more unconventional careers, hobbies or side projects. Focusing on the Asian context where traditional professional careers still rule, he explores the stories of individuals who have bucked the trend and built an alternative CV. Join him for some far-reaching conversations as he listens to their journeys, explores varied and interesting fields, and ultimately unearths advice and wisdom that we can all learn from. Come and be inspired - new episodes every Thursday.

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ACV09: The Greatest Superpower - Being Willing to Learn (Brennan Ong, Founder of LawAdvisor)

October 31, 2019 • Dr Curious, Brennan Ong • Episode 9

Brennan Ong trained as a lawyer in Australia, but he has since gone on to start one of the hottest legaltech startups in the world. In this episode, we explore his entrepreneurial journey, and how he ended up leaving the legal profession to start a law tech startup.

Brennan is the founder and CEO of LawAdvisor. He is a qualified lawyer, developer and former PhD scholarship candidate researching the future of legal practice. Brennan was the winner of the Chief Justice’s innovation award, was a shortlisted finalist for the LexisNexis Centenary Book Awards, and through LawAdvisor, wants to use his understanding of modern day technologies and legal process to allow the profession to better meet its goal of providing access to justice.

LawAdvisor is a cloud-based platform that enables legal professionals, businesses, and everyday people work together on their legal matters. Through a strong foundation to make the law more accessible, LawAdvisor designs and develops legal technology to solve legal problems and redesign the legal services experience. LawAdvisor was founded in Melbourne, Australia and has since expanded to London to continue developing its enterprise solutions as well as expand access to legal remedy.

3 things I learned:

Parents - encourage your children and help them believe in their own ability. It’s amazing to see how far this positive mindset can take a child. Brennan’s parents made him feel that he could do anything, and he took that attitude into all his ventures. Where others might have wavered or not dared to take the first step, Brennan decided that he could master construction law. And write research papers. And publish a textbook. And start a law tech company.
‘Everything at the end of the day is learnable’. Notice how Brennan trusts himself to learn anything, given enough time. Notice also how he sees education (e.g. his law degree) as teaching him how to learn. If you believe in your ability to learn, you will be bolder in launching yourself into a new field you might know little about at first. And you’ll be eager to do so, because it represents a learning opportunity even if it doesn’t work out.
Brennan’s energy was a theme throughout the conversation. He is constantly trying new things and meeting new people, and I believe that energy has helped stir up more opportunities for him.