Speaker profile

30 years ago, my mum was “Patches The Clown” catering for kids parties. Her passion for parties led her to open a small party store with my grandfather.

In 2007 my brother and I took over the family business and its 2 employees.

Today we have over 40 employees, operate the market leader for party supplies online and also have 2 bricks and mortar store of which one is Australia’s largest.

In 1999 when I was in high school I launched Australia’s first online party store with what is now known today as “Click and Collect”.

In 2003 I did my university thesis on The Party People online and as a result became Google Australia’s first advertiser.

Under my leadership the business continued to pioneer online being Microsoft Bings first Australian advertiser and we were a pilot company for Facebooks accelerator program.

We were also the first party store to launch express and same day shipping as well as buy now pay later payment options.

The business appeared on Shark Tank Australia season 1 where we received a $400,000 offer from Janine Allis which I turned down and today are preparing to create a chain of party stores in Australia so that every Australian can create their dream party.

Today Dean is an Advisory Board member of the National Online Retail Association and the Online Retail Summit as well as a Judge for the Party Stylist of the Year awards.

Meet Dean Salakas at

9:15 am

-

9:35 am

Growing a Big Business without Big Investment

Join us for an insightful keynote from the CEO of The Party People, a successful family business that grew from humble beginnings to become a thriving retail empire. Learn how they pioneered in retail without a massive investment, became Google’s first advertiser, and leveraged business hacks to grow without spending a dime.

How The Party People scaled their business with zero budget

The lessons learned from becoming Google’s first advertiser

Business hacks most companies are not using to grow their business without it costing a cent

Practical tips for bootstrapping your business and achieving success