Mills, Simon: - Dr. Simon E. Mills is a New York-based polymath whose career spans nearly four decades across diverse fields, including music, entrepreneurship, advertising, technology, investment banking, business, and literature. Born in Perth, Western Australia, in 1967, Mills toured the country with his father, who-after being released from prison-apprenticed him as a piano tuner and restorer. Mills then studied music in New South Wales, toured with numerous Australian rock bands, and co-hosted a nationally syndicated radio program. In 1990, Mills co-founded London Music Group (LMG) with business partner Wazza Bray. Under their leadership, LMG became Australia's leading commercial music production house, earning multiple awards, including the World's Best Jingle at the International Broadcasting Awards in Hollywood in 2003. Relocating to New York City in 2005 with his wife and three children, Mills expanded LMG Digital Media USA, attracting high-profile clients such as Hyatt, AIG, BBDO, CBS, Starbucks, Pepsi, and The Economist. Beyond music, his entrepreneurial ventures encompass real estate development, software innovation, and publishing. In 2009 Mills started Locate Real Estate with CBS television-an embeddable realestate portal that aggregated every MLS in America into one consolidated platform and put CBS into the transactional realestate business. In 2018 Mills acquired and transformed software business Zentyal(TM)-a Linux based server operating system.In 2019, Mills formed Ignition Capital investment bank with an ex-Bloomberg CFO and helped raise up businesses beginning with Kevin Costner's HearHere(R)-now Autio(R)-geo triggered travel narration app and many other portfolio companies. From documentary film-producer to his role as storyteller in residence at McGraw Hill Education, musical and written communication is a core competency. A prolific writer, Mills has authored 70 books, ranging from children's literature, systems engineering, and business strategy to high-profile biographies, how-tos, and murder mystery novels. His diverse expertise and relentless curiosity continue to drive his innovative contributions across various industries, including strategy execution, but underneath it all, he is a writer.
