An entrepreneurial and innovative mindset acquired during her years at MET Group helped Dóra Szebeni to build a thriving career on the other side of the world, in Australia. The former Head of Legal M&A reflects on how stepping out of the comfort zone has allowed her to open unexpected doors.
M&A (mergers and acquisitions) has always been Dóra’s passion. She joined MET Group in 2016, as part of the Legal M&A team and later became Group Head of Legal M&A. Before MET, she spent almost 10 years at the international law firm White & Case as an M&A lawyer.
While the law firm environment taught her the technical foundations, MET exposed her to something far broader. “The entrepreneurial mindset, driven by Group CEO Benjamin Lakatos and embedded throughout the company, is incredibly strong. You don’t just tick boxes – you have to be genuinely innovative to succeed. That was one of the first key lessons I learned at MET”.
She looks back on those years fondly. “When I joined MET, the company was still in a scaling-up phase. I am really thankful to have witnessed its growth story firsthand.”
After five years at MET, in January 2021 Dóra moved on to become General Counsel at Vanguards Fashion Group. In 2024, she and her family relocated to Australia – her husband’s home country.
Starting a new career on a distant continent with a local law degree wasn’t straightforward. Dóra began by helping start‑ups and scale‑ups seeking investors or buyers. As word spread, she met with outstanding business minds and more work came in; she eventually launched her own consulting company, managing entire M&A processes end to end. Besides her consulting business, she is also involved in the very exciting legal tech space.
Supporting founders in building the companies of their dreams has become a true passion. And the ‘MET way of thinking’ plays a big role. “MET Group has never been afraid of unfamiliar paths or non-traditional solutions. At the time, I didn’t fully realise how important that mindset was – but when I came to Australia and had to step out of my own comfort zone in every way, it proved invaluable”.
When asked to describe MET Group in three words, Dóra chooses Entrepreneurial, Ambitious and Teamwork. “Every project I worked on was delivered through genuine collaboration – brainstorming, sharing ideas and drawing on everyone’s strengths. I always appreciated that approach”.
Outside of work, Dóra finds most joy in spending time with her friends and family. With the ocean just two minutes away and a tropical national park just around the corner, nature is always within reach. It’s also the perfect environment for her long‑time passion, horse riding, plus a new local obsession – surfing. Australia has now become her new comfort zone.
