Scaling Success: Bill’s Journey with Athyna

Hi, I’m Bill! I grew up in a small spot called The Mornington Peninsula, a beautiful part of the world where I spent my time surfing, riding bikes, and being super active. After buying my first house at 19 and experiencing a health scare at 23, I decided life was short and embarked on world travels.

Today, I run Athyna, a company that helps businesses build incredible global teams. We focus on helping job seekers in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia find awesome jobs in startups and tech in the US, ensuring all our team members, from executive to intern, get paid much more than locally and receive RSUs (stock).

I also write a newsletter, Open Source CEO.

My entry into global hiring and building remote teams began with my first startup, AdventureFit. While I was building it, I got introduced to a guy named Drew Slater. He was a business consultant who was really focussed on sales & marketing. He started helping me with some of AdventureFit and after too long I was helping him with his business. Because we’d never really made any money, I had to be smart about how I built out my team, so I hired a small team in South America and a small team in Asia. Drew saw this and saw it as an incredible advantage. I was really good at remote and maybe even async work, and global hiring before it was cool.

So Drew asked if I could help him and his clients build global teams. Recognising the poor market options, I suggested to Drew, hey, this is the world the world is turning, and the options on the market are all trash, I think we do this, and I think we should aim to be the best in the world at it, leading to the birth of Athyna basically.

Yes, running Athyna is my full-time gig now. The transition from my previous adventures to fully diving into Athyna wasn't overnight—it was a thoughtful evolution driven by real-world needs and my own entrepreneurial spirit. After wrapping up with AdventureFit, which was a great idea but a not-so-great business, I knew I wanted to get into global hiring. The transition from a concept to a full-time commitment for Athyna took a few years. This scaling period involved refining our operational strategies and adapting to the global market's needs.

We focused on building a robust model and then gradually scaling up from initial insights to a full-scale operation that stood out for its ability to connect global talent with global opportunities efficiently and effectively. From then on yeah, it became my main focus.

For me, success in business encompasses both making a positive impact on the world and achieving meaningful goals. I often say that companies exist for two reasons: to add value to the world by creating something new or improving something that already exists, and to add value to the shareholders. At Athyna, we embody this philosophy by connecting global talent with great companies and ensuring that every team member, from intern to executive, owns stock in the company. So if the business succeeds, essentially you do too.

Aside from that, when I was 23 I had a health scare, realised life was short, and this sort of drastically changed my priorities from material success to valuing life's experiences. 

These days, success for me is about having a fulfilling life with my family, which at the moment is just my girlfriend and my dog, staying healthy, continuously learning and helping others. That’s how I roll.

For those starting in a similar field, my advice is to focus on the little things that make a big difference. Remember, I’d also emphasise the importance of building a strong network and seeking out mentors early on. These relationships can be a great support throughout the journey.

You can find me on LinkedIn for updates and business, and you can check out my newsletter, Open Source CEO, if you're a leader wanting to develop some new skills and have a bit of fun while learning about the tech and startup landscape.