27-May-2021:  Swoop (ASX: SWP) was trading today - and closed at $1.25/share.  This is James Spenceley's new company (he is their founder and Chairman).  If that name sounds familiar, that would be because James Spenceley was previously the founder & CEO of Vocus Communications (ASX:VOC), one of Australia’s largest telcos, and he grew VOC from a start-up to become an ASX 100 Company.  James has raised more than $750m in equity across multiple businesses and participated in 15 acquisitions worth a total of $2.3B. He is also Chairman of Airtasker (ASX:ART), and a Non-Executive Director of Kogan (ASX:KGN) and Think Childcare (ASX:TNK). 

Here he is talking about Swoop today on Ausbiz:  https://www.ausbiz.com.au/media/spencely-swoops-on-the-telco-market-?videoId=10614

I'm a shareholder in UWL (Uniti Group Ltd, formerly Uniti Wireless Ltd), which is being run by Vaughan Bowen and Michael Simmons, also both ex-Vocus, and before that ex-M2 Telecommunications (MTU, or M2 Group, which was taken over by Vocus/VOC), and UWL are flying at the moment.  I wonder if UWL and SWP might merge at some point.

Have a look at who James has onboard already (on the board, and his management team) at Swoop (SWP):  https://swoop.com.au/board-and-management/

1. Tony Grist (Non-Executive Deputy Chairman) was the co-founder and Chairman of Amcom Telecommunications Ltd (AMM) leading its merger with Vocus (VOC).  Tony grew Amcom to be the largest shareholder of iiNet, Australia’s 2nd largest DSL internet service provider.  iiNet was aquired by TPG Telecom (TPG now, TPM then).  
2. Matthew Hollis (Executive Director and Head of Sales & Marketing) was Executive Director and Head of Sales and Marketing at Superloop (SLC) where he gained an in-depth insight into the telco landscape in Singapore and Hong Kong.  Matthew was also previously at PIPE Networks prior to its acquisition by TPG, and at Vocus (VOC) where he helped grow the sales team from 3 to 110 salespeople driving sales to support its $5B market cap.
3. Alex West (Group Chief Executive Officer/CEO) was recently Head of Integration then Group COO (Chief Operating Officer) at Superloop (SLC) delivering key infrastructure networks in Australia and internationally.  Alex was also previously at Vocus (VOC) leading and building their Infrastructure team organically and through acquisition, into one of the largest fibre infrastructure teams in Australia.  Alex also held the positions of Operations Manager and Major Projects Director at PIPE Networks before the acquisition by TPG. Alex has 20 years industry experience leading and integrating highly efficient teams.
4. John Phillips (Chief Financial Officer/CFO) was recently CFO and Company Secretary at OptiComm (OPC), a telecommunications fibre infrastructure provider, where he played a pivotal role in taking the company through an IPO and on to the ASX.  OPC was recently acquired by Uniti Group (UWL).  John has over 30 years experience in IT, services and telecommunications.
5. Richard Whiting (Chief Executive – NodeOne) has extensive experience in the Telecommunications industry in Australia, having been involved in the executive management of a number of publicly listed ASX companies.  He is currently Chief Executive Officer at NodeOne Internet, a West Australian operated internet service provider. Prior to NodeOne Richard held executive positions at Vocus Communications, Amcom Telecommunications, Amnet Limited and DXN Limited.
6. Tom Berryman (Chief Technology Officer/CTO) was the Founder and Chairman of Anycast Networks which was acquired by Swoop in 2020. Divisions of Anycast have integrated to become Swoop Wholesale and Swoop Business as key drivers of new business growth.  Tom has 15 years’ experience in IT&T building networks and operations in Australia and overseas and he currently sits on the Executive Council of Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and previously a Chairman and Non-Executive Board Member of the Internet Association of Australia.
7. Julian Breen (Chief Operating Officer/COO) has 20 years in the telecommunications industry that has gained him experience in Engineering, Service Delivery, Customer Support, Field Operations and Customer Experience roles, having held senior roles at organisations including Superloop, Vocus and COMindico/TPG. Julian oversees the national operations teams that build and support Swoop's expanding network footprint.

That's just a few names that I cherrypicked from their website.  You'll see there's quite a pattern there with:

• Five of them that are ex-Vocus;
• Three that are ex-Superloop;
• Three (or 4) that were ex-PIPE Networks/TPG;
• Two that are ex-Amcom; and
• One that is ex-OptiComm. 

With some cross-over.  And plenty of IT&T (Information Technology and Telecommunications) experience amongst them all.  

Swoop only just started trading today on the ASX - as Swoop Holdings - with the SWP ticker code - and not yet added to the Strawman.com company database as I type this.  One to watch I reckon!