Mike Hartz

COMMERCIAL PRODUCT LEADER · FOUNDER · SAAS EXECUTIVE

I help organisations find the real problem, shape a better response and make it work.

I help organisations find the real problem, shape a better response and make it work.

I help organisations find the real problem, shape a better response and make it work.

I’m Mike Hartz. I co-founded ShiftMatch, helped grow it from a bootstrapped start-up into a profitable SaaS business, and led it as CEO through its acquisition in 2026. I connect customer needs, product opportunities and commercial outcomes, then work with the team to make it happen.

I’m Mike Hartz. I co-founded ShiftMatch, helped grow it from a bootstrapped start-up into a profitable SaaS business, and led it as CEO through its acquisition in 2026. I connect customer needs, product opportunities and commercial outcomes, then work with the team to make it happen.

I’m Mike Hartz. I co-founded ShiftMatch, helped grow it from a bootstrapped start-up into a profitable SaaS business, and led it as CEO through its acquisition in 2026. I connect customer needs, product opportunities and commercial outcomes, then work with the team to make it happen.

What I’m looking for now

I’m exploring executive and senior leadership roles in product, strategy and transformation, alongside selected interim, contract and advisory work.

Co-founder to CEO

Co-founder to CEO

Co-founder to CEO

General Manager 2015–2022, CEO 2023–2026

Bootstrapped

Bootstrapped

Bootstrapped

Five consecutive profitable years before acquisition

~120,000

~120,000

~120,000

Active platform users

MBA (Technology)

MBA (Technology)

MBA (Technology)

AGSM at UNSW Business School

Selected work · ShiftMatch

Turning a hard-to-see workforce problem into an established SaaS platform.

Turning a hard-to-see workforce problem into an established SaaS platform.

Turning a hard-to-see workforce problem into an established SaaS platform.

ShiftMatch connects availability, skills, compliance, open shifts and roster updates in one visible workflow. I co-founded the business, led its product team from 2015 and, as CEO, led it through to its acquisition in 2026. It was built by a small, highly skilled team.

22M+

shifts processed

115M+

hours of contingent work

18

people in the team

View the ShiftMatch case study

From open shift to confirmed roster

System view

System flow showing availability, skills, compliance and communication connecting an open shift to a confirmed roster

A complex chain of availability, skills, compliance and communication made visible as one workflow.

WHERE I ADD VALUE

I’m most useful when the answer is not obvious and the parts need to work together.

I’m most useful when the answer is not obvious and the parts need to work together.

I’m most useful when the answer is not obvious and the parts need to work together.

01

Reframe the problem

Look beyond the obvious brief to find the underlying need and decide which opportunity is worth pursuing.

02

Make complexity clear

Turn complex systems and services into something people can understand, use and act on.

03

Make it commercially real

Connect product direction with what customers value, what the team can deliver and what the business can sustain.

How I work

Curious at the start. Clear about choices. Practical through delivery.

Curious at the start. Clear about choices. Practical through delivery.

Curious at the start. Clear about choices. Practical through delivery.

Curious at the start. Clear about choices. Practical through delivery.

The process is rarely linear, but these three modes keep the work grounded.

01

Explore

Understand what is happening, what customers need and what is changing around them.

02

Shape

Decide which opportunity matters and what the product, service or organisation should do differently.

03

Deliver

Work through how it functions in practice, who is involved and what will make the change sustainable.

Portrait of Mike Hartz

About

Design was where I started. Business and technology expanded the canvas.

Design was where I started. Business and technology expanded the canvas.

Design was where I started. Business and technology expanded the canvas.

Design was where I started. Business and technology expanded the canvas.

My career began in graphic design and art direction during the early days of Sydney’s commercial internet. That foundation led to digital ventures, then to co-founding ShiftMatch, where my role grew from product and experience design into sales, general management and ultimately CEO.

Along the way I learned how closely customers, product, technology and commercial performance are connected. The thread through it all has stayed the same: recognising opportunities, making complex things clearer and working with the team to turn them into something that works. Next, I’d like to bring that to an ambitious, energetic organisation where people enjoy building worthwhile things together.

Career progression

1996–2009

Design, creative direction and digital ventures

2000–2014

Co-founder, ShiftMatch (originally Cascom)

2015–2022

General Manager, ShiftMatch

2023–2026

Chief Executive Officer, ShiftMatch

Now

Product, strategy and transformation leadership, plus selected interim, contract and advisory work

Contact

Let’s make something complex more workable.

Let’s make something complex more workable.

Let’s make something complex more workable.

Let’s make something complex more workable.

If you’re shaping a product, rethinking a proposition or helping a business change how it works, I’d be happy to talk.

© 2026 Mike Hartz

Central Coast, NSW · Sydney · Remote

Central Coast, NSW · Sydney · Remote