Business Is Boring The Spinoff

Ārepa has had a roller coaster year. The functional drinks company are on a mission to make brains work better, through their science and research-backed products. Last year, however, they went through a well-publicised process with the Ministry for Primary Industries about health claims on their labels, resulting in a media fire storm. How did that all come about? How did they move past it? And is the brain drink for real? To chat all this, founders Angus Brown and Zachary Robinson join the pod.
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Kernel recently surpassed $1B in funds under management - a massive achievement for the investment and finance platform. They started with a range of index funds and this milestone is just the beginning of how they aim to help with wealth management. What does it take to get started in fintech? How do you grow to a billion under management? What comes next? To chat all this Dean Anderson, founder and CEO joins the podcast.
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Vessev make hydrofoilng boats, marrying America’s cup foiling and boatbuilding prowess with software excellence to make smooth, sustainable travel possible. CEO Eric Laakmann is one for the water. He came to NZ as part of a sailing adventure that took him from his American home (where he’d worked at Apple as an instrumental part of the Apple Watch project) to NZ, where he decided to get involved with a great local company trying to change how boats are made and their impact on the water. They have come back from the very brink, but seeing the boat on the water - and the excitement building - it’s a great story of grit and talent and determination.
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Access to opportunity is not equal. A new report looking into pathways for Māori in entrepreneurship and capital has identified many barriers and opportunities. The Te Ara Takatū report is from the Tapuwae Roa trust, and their chief executive /Kaihautū, Te Pūoho Kātene joined us to chat his career journey (including study at Stanford University, serving his iwi Ngāti Toa and his time as an Obama Foundation Leader), as well as how we can uplift and celebrate Māori achievement in entrepreneurship.
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Rob Coneybeer co-founded Shasta Ventures in Silicon Valley in 2004. They invested in companies like Nest and Dollar Shave Club, have over $1B of funds under management and, unusually for US VC, have a deep and active interest in Aotearoa. We cover his journey into venture capital, how he got connected to NZ, how he’s creating more links between NZ and the US and what it takes to spot the next big thing.
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Taxi is a new venture helping Kiwi businesses turn their provisional tax payments into a new source of business funding, at about half the price of a typical big bank overdraft. It’s from the founders of Tax Traders, who manage the better part of three billion dollars of tax pooling here. To talk building better businesses, giving the economy a rev up and making Aotearoa more productive, co-founder and CEO Nicola Taylor joins the podcast.
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