Lara Sinclair leaves The Australian

Media and marketing journalist Lara Sinclair (pictured) has joined marketing technology start-up Simple. The company is based in Brisbane, with a presence in Sydney, Melbourne and San Fransisco. Simple has been growing quickly since launch and has attracted some big clients including CBA, Westpac, IAG and BT.

Xero global marketer Andy Lark is a chairman and an investor in Simple.

Sinclair was with The Australian as marketing writer and online editor for 12 years after moving from B&T where she was editor.

"It was a hard decision to leave The Australian, but it's clear the mainstream media model is under pressure, in all sectors," Sinclair told Mediaweek.

"At the same time, there were massive booms occurring in content marketing and in the marketing and advertising technology sector.

"In the past three years at The Australian I covered any start-ups I came across in marketing and ad tech. I really enjoyed the optimism and dynamism that comes with that start-up mentality."

Sinclair's new position sees her covering a range of roles from reporting, blogging and content marketing to search engine optimisation, social media, sub-editing and copywriting.