The team at sports-focused social media platform, 3eep, have announced the appointment of Simon Baker, former Managing Director of the REA Group/realestate.com.au Ltd, to its board of Directors.

3eep has big growth ambitions - the team are currently seeking expansion funds - and Simon Baker is a man who knows how to grow an online business. He’s widely recognised as the driving force behind REA’s success having joined as CEO in 2001 when the company had a market value of $4 million (and if reports are accurate, was on its deathbed) and leaving, after his shock sacking last month, a company with a market cap of around $680 Million.

Rob Antulov, CEO of 3eep, says Baker’s addition to the 3eep board is a coup.

“Simon’s experience managing rapid growth and international expansion of an online business is well known. He is exceptionally well regarded as an entrepreneur who has executed a vision to build one of Australia’s most successful online entities and he is renowned for his expertise in this field.”
“His insights into online business, web technologies, and the global business environment will be invaluable to the continued success of 3eep.”

While he has reviewed many new business concepts recently, Simon Baker says he is particularly impressed by 3eep.

“The team at 3eep has identified a globally-relevant business model which marries the needs of local sports participants who want to better manage their teams and connect with each other, with innovative new web technology, and, importantly, with advertisers’ desire to reach into these active local communities.  This is an exciting combination to bring together in one online space.”

It’s an interesting move for the 3eep team to bring on Baker.

REA has always been heralded as an Australian dot com success story. It was born in the days when startups grabbed millions of dollars in early stage funding and raced to create a business before they burned through their cash.

These days, its a different funding landscape, but 3eep kind of has that old school feel.

They’ve already secured 7-figure funding and Rob Antulov, 3eep’s CEO, is an ex-Booz Allen Hamilton management consultant. Actualy Simon Baker is ex-McKinsey Mafia, so it should make some interesting talk around the lunch table about which firm is better. Anyway, you get the idea, 7 figure early stage funding, run by an ex-management consultant, newest member of the board is also a management consultant…it has a real 2001 feel to it.

That’s not to say that 3eep is old school…quite the contrary,  this is a seriously web 2.0 play. Sure they’ve got more money early on than most tech startups, but the 3eep strategy is to work with large distribution partners. That means you can’t release a crap version and iterate. On top of that, their partners are all around the globe so the market potential justifies a higher investment.

That having been said, you’d think that rather than bring on another old-school guy they’d be better served finding someone from the web 2.0 generation, but if you look deeper there’s plenty of reasons to think that Baker is the right man.

While Baker may have been at REA for 7 years, he’s hasn’t been hiding in his office. He’s a serial early stage investor and a director at another great Aussie web 2.0 startup, RedBubble. This guy knows his stuff and will surely play a large part in helping 3eep achieve their target of growing from 4 major distribution partner to between 10-15 within the next 12 months.

I suspect that in a year’s time, the 3eep guys will be thanking their lucky stars that the REA board chopped Baker when they did. I suspect Baker might be, too.