TechMates

TechMates
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to TechMates, the podcast where we spotlight the trailblazing founders and game-changing startups transforming Australasia. Hosted by Mark Pavlyukovskyy, a Silicon Valley success story, and Hendrik Remigereau, a former leader in Europe’s largest AI ecosystem turned venture capitalist, TechMates dives deep into the counterintuitive mindsets and bold strategies that drive extraordinary achievements. Powered by NZVC, the venture firm backing the next generation of iconic companies from New Zealand and beyond, TechMates offers fresh perspectives on the people and ideas shaping the future

  1. 9h ago

    Is the West Is Losing the Education War?

    Jamie Beaton couldn't legally sit on his own board at 17, but built Crimson into a global education empire — and is now taking on Big Law with an AI visa startup, teaching a unicorn-building course at Auckland University, and quietly betting on the next generation of founders. In this episode of TechMates, Hendrik and Mark sit down with Jamie Beaton, founder and CEO of Crimson Education, for a second time — and this time the conversation goes deeper. Since they last spoke, Jamie launched an AI-native immigration law startup called Concord Visa, opened New Zealand's largest charter school, and is now teaching a unicorn-building course at the University of Auckland with Peter Beck as a guest lecturer. 🎓 The West Is Losing the Education War: Why India and China's obsession with academic intensity is quietly winning the global talent race — and what New Zealand should do about it. ⚖️ Concord Visa: How Jamie built an AI-native immigration law platform that's already serving Halter, Partly, A16Z and Blackbird — and why Trump accidentally made it take off. 🏫 Fixing NZ Education: Jamie's three-step policy blueprint — replace the national curriculum with A levels, get University of Auckland into the top 25, and give students loans to study abroad if they come back. 💼 The Founder Skill Set: Why a generalist founder mentality beats a single degree — and what the top 20 people on Meta's AI team have in common. 🗳️ 2028 Hot Take: Why Jamie thinks AOC might be the next Democratic presidential candidate — and what AI angst has to do with it. YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gQnb_WbB Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4is21QI Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/42KZ2x1 Jamie Beaton LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-beaton/ 🔗 Learn more about NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy — https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau — https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ 00:01 — Welcome back: married life, India tour & what's changed since last time 01:16 — Julian Robertson, Tiger Management & the mentor who shaped Crimson's ambition 04:14 — Why Jamie's mum had to sit on his board at 17 04:44 — The first board meeting and the moment he knew the race had started 06:27 — Investor relations: why long-term capital is Crimson's secret weapon 08:09 — The India tour: 5 cities, 3 days, 4 Subways and hundreds of families 10:44 — Is the West losing the global education war to China and India? 14:57 — "For every weed-smoking Steve Jobs, there's a million Call of Duty players" 15:29 — The founder skill set: why generalists beat specialists in the AI era 17:20 — Why Jamie seriously considered running for National — and what stopped him 19:21 — Policy blueprint: A levels, University of Auckland top 25, and student loans abroad 23:54 — Concord Visa: building an AI-native immigration law platform 26:57 — Did Trump make Concord Visa's business explode? 28:25 — Where else AI will demolish traditional law firms 30:29 — The bigger Crimson vision: from age 5 to first startup investment 33:57 — How Crimson is different from Andela — and why education is still the core 35:01 — The Forbes column on AI and intersectional thinking vs. deep expertise 38:21 — What should parents actually teach their kids in the age of AI? 41:51 — Why human tutors still beat AI for young learners 47:46 — Why writing still matters — and what we lose if kids stop doing it 49:00 — Are we heading toward an AI-controlled dystopia? 51:20 — AOC vs. JD Vance 2028: Jamie's hot political take 53:20 — How to restore faith in technology and entrepreneurship 54:45 — Will anti-AI politics kill New Zealand's startup ecosystem? #TechMates, #JamieBeaton, #CrimsonEducation, #ConcordVisa, #NewZealand, #EdTech, #AIEducation, #Startups, #NZTech, #NZVC, #Entrepreneurship, #FutureOfEducation, #AITutor, #ImmigrationLaw, #FounderMindset, #Stanford, #HarvardAdmissions, #NZStartups, #AILaw, #GlobalTalent, #Education

    Is the West Is Losing the Education War?

  2. 5d ago

    Can a Rebrand Really Double Your Sales?

    How the right brand decision can double your revenue overnight, and how skipping it can quietly kill a good product.In this special compilation episode of TechMates, Hendrik and Mark bring together three conversations with one common thread: brand as a real growth lever, not a nice-to-have. No fluffy logo talk — just the mechanics of how brand decisions drive revenue, unlock new markets, and build the kind of cult following that clears shelves overnight. First up is Simon Pound, one of New Zealand's most respected brand strategists, who walks through the Appetize rebrand in detail — how a $4/week menu app called Menu Aid transformed into a B2B food data platform, and why a single strategic name change led to a 20% overnight user bump and quadrupled revenue over the following years. Then Toby, co-founder of Appetize, shares what that rebrand actually did for the business from the inside — and makes the case for why the food brands winning right now aren't the ones with 400 SKUs, but the ones building deeply loyal, hyper-targeted communities like Moody and Poppy. Finally, Anna Henwood, co-founder of StickyBeak, closes it out with the practical counterpart to all of it: how do you actually know if your brand decisions will land before you spend the budget? From testing brand names to logos to ad creative with real audiences in 48 hours, Anna's framework — test the ingredients, not the cake — is the clearest branding advice in the episode. 🎨 Brand as a Growth Platform: How the Appetize rebrand unlocked a new business model, a 20% overnight user uplift, and 4x revenue growth — all from one strategic name change. 🍔 The Food Brand of the Future: Why cult-following brands like Moody and Poppy are beating legacy players with 400 products — and what founders can learn from their playbook. 📊 Test Before You Commit: Anna Henwood's "test the ingredients, not the cake" framework for de-risking every brand decision before you spend the media budget. 🧪 How StickyBeak Works: From brand name testing to ad creative to product formats — get real customer feedback from any market in the world within 48 hours. 💡 Why Most Startups Skip Branding Too Long: Simon Pound on the hidden cost of founders who build great products but leave their brand untouched for years. 🔗 Learn more about NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy — https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau — https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ Timestamps: 00:37 — Intro: brand as a growth lever, not a logo exercise 01:02 — Simon Pound: how the Appetize rebrand actually happened 01:16 — Menu Aid to Appetize: the strategy behind the name change 04:24 — 20% overnight user bump and 4x revenue — the results 05:14 — Why being an investor made Simon's advice land differently 05:58 — Intro to Toby: the rebrand from the inside 06:21 — How smart brand positioning doubled sales in a month 08:15 — The food brand of the future: cult following over product range 09:19 — Moody & Poppy: the brands everyone is watching right now 11:19 — Intro to Anna Henwood: test before you commit 11:42 — "Test the ingredients, not the cake" — Anna's core framework 13:00 — How bad creative quietly kills your ad account algorithm 14:00 — Testing brand names, logos, and messaging before launch 15:30 — How StickyBeak works: results from any market in 48 hours If this episode changed how you think about brand decisions, hit Like and Subscribe for more founder-focused conversations. Drop a comment — has a rebrand ever changed the trajectory of a business you've been part of? #TechMates, #Branding, #StartupGrowth, #Appetize, #StickyBeak, #SimonPound, #AnnaHenwood, #NZTech, #NZVC, #BrandStrategy, #StartupMarketing, #FoodBrands, #CultBrand, #Rebranding, #GrowthMarketing, #NewZealand, #Entrepreneurship, #MarketResearch, #ProductMarketFit, #NZStartups, #ConsumerBrands, #Founders, #MarketingStrategy, #Moody, #Poppy

    Can a Rebrand Really Double Your Sales?

  3. Aug 17

    Auckland's Mayor to Founders: "Skip the Valley, Come Here"

    Wayne Brown: blunt engineer, Auckland mayor, and the man on a mission to make NZ the South Pacific's startup capital. In this episode of TechMates, Hendrik and Mark sit down with Wayne Brown, Mayor of Auckland — and he's not your typical politician. A trained engineer who put half a million of his own money into a mayoral campaign, won by a landslide, and then won again even bigger, Brown has spent four years doing something almost unheard of in politics: actually fixing things. From stepping in to restore Auckland's power after a catastrophic grid failure in 1998, to overhauling the city's flood preparedness after a storm that caught everyone off guard, his approach is the same every time — go back to first principles, find the engineers, ignore the lawyers. But this conversation is really about what's coming next. Brown is halfway through an audacious campaign — 100 days, 100 startup T-shirts, 100 short videos — designed to put Auckland's startup ecosystem on the global map ahead of Auckland Startup Week. He's seen the full bell curve up close: the dogs, the future billionaires, and everything in between. His view is simple: Auckland already has the next 25 Halters and Rocket Labs hiding in plain sight. The world just hasn't noticed yet — mostly because New Zealand keeps ending up cut off the bottom of flat world maps.His pitch to founders is as unfiltered as everything else he says: Auckland is safe, cheap, well-connected to Asia, and rich enough to enjoy once you've made it. Silicon Valley is a s******e. Wellington is the worst thing about Auckland. And plastic in the ocean is a bigger threat to humanity than climate change. Whether you agree with him or not, you won't forget what he said. 🏙️ Auckland as a Startup Hub: Why Brown believes Auckland is quietly home to the next generation of global breakout companies — and what it's missing to make that undeniable. 👕 100 Days of Startups: The story behind the T-shirt campaign — what he's seen, what surprised him, and which ones he'd actually put his own money into. 🌏 Auckland's Geographic Edge: Why the shortest route between Asia and South America runs through Auckland — and why the world is only just waking up to it. 🔗 Learn more about NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy — https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau — https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ Timestamps: 00:00 — The 100 T-Shirt Startup Campaign 02:18 — Fixing Auckland's Power Grid in 14 Days 03:20 — Why Lawyers on Boards Kill Cities 06:25 — The Night of the Flood 07:57 — Media Attacks & Taking the Long View 11:00 — Engineers vs. Politicians 11:17 — Why Brown Ran for Mayor 13:18 — The 100 Days of Startups Explained 14:12 — Auckland's Innovation Gap 17:12 — Who Picks the T-Shirt Each Morning? 19:37 — Plastic Is More Dangerous Than Climate Change 22:27 — The China Trade Mission 23:50 — Auckland as the South Pacific Startup Capital 25:26 — The Value Prop for Early-Stage Founders 26:52 — Wellington Is Auckland's Biggest Problem 29:32 — Auckland's Hidden Geographic Superpower 30:11 — What Auckland Can Be World-Class At 32:02 — China, America & NZ's Foreign Policy 34:43 — The Bell Curve of 100 Startups 36:47 — AI: China Builds Things, America Makes Trivia 38:43 — Advice for a 24-Year-Old Founder 40:39 — The Pitch for Auckland Startup Week #TechMates, #WayneBrown, #Auckland, #AucklandStartupWeek, #NewZealand, #StartupHub, #NZTech, #Entrepreneurship, #NZVC, #Founders, #StartupEcosystem, #DeepTech, #RocketLab, #Halter, #NZStartups, #Innovation, #Mayor, #SiliconValley, #AsiaPacific, #SeaCleaners, #NZBusiness, #TechWeek, #StartupAdvice, #CityOfSails, #GlobalStartups

    Auckland's Mayor to Founders: "Skip the Valley, Come Here"

  4. Jul 21

    In 5 Years, Every Kid Will Have an AI Teacher

    Four founders, one uncomfortable question: what happens to learning — in school, university, and work — once AI can teach better than most humans? This episode of TechMates brings together four conversations around a single theme: technology is quietly rewriting what it means to learn, at every stage of life. It opens with Arash Tayebi of Kara Technologies, whose personal hearing loss led him to build AI avatars that translate content into sign language in real time — closing an accessibility gap that's existed for decades. From there, the episode widens out. Penelope Barton of Crimson Global Academy has already built her own son a personalized AI tutor at home, and predicts AI-driven teachers are only three to five years from the mainstream classroom. Jamie Beaton of Crimson Education takes the idea further up the ladder, imagining AI avatars standing in for Ivy League professors — and shares what OpenAI's chief economist told him personally about AI and the future of jobs. Finn Puklowski of Fluency Academy closes the loop by bringing it into the workplace: he built an internal AI curriculum for his entire company, warning that whole industries risk their own "rust belt moment" if they don't adapt. Together, these conversations sketch a picture of education not as a single institution, but as something that now follows you from childhood through your career — reshaped, at every step, by AI. 🧏 How AI avatars are giving deaf communities real-time access to education and content 🤖 Why one founder believes AI-driven teachers are only 3–5 years away 🎓 What it would mean for AI avatars to replace elite university professors 💼 Inside one company's internal AI curriculum — 165 projects, 40 shipped to production 📉 The "rust belt" warning for entire industries that ignore AI in the workplace 🔮 What OpenAI's chief economist said about AI and the future of jobs 👨‍👩‍👦 Building a personalized AI tutor for your own child — today, not someday 🎧 Listen On: YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gQnb_WbB Spotify: https://bit.ly/4earYWc Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/42KZ2x1 Connect with the Guests: Arash Tayebi (Kara Technologies) — Kara Technologies: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kara-technologies-ltd | Website: https://kara.tech Pene Barton (Crimson Global Academy) — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/penelopebarton/ | Website: https://www.crimsonglobalacademy.school Jamie Beaton (Crimson Education) — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiebeaton/ | Website: https://www.crimsoneducation.org Finn Puklowski (Fluency Academy) — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finn-puklowski/ | Website: https://www.fluencyacademy.io 🔗 Learn more about NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy — https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau — https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ Timestamps: 00:00 — Introduction 0:58 — Arash Tayebi (Kara Technologies): AI avatars for sign language accessibility 2:36 — Why this problem is invisible to most people 4:21 — Demo: narrating a children's book in sign language 6:05 — Pene Barton (Crimson Global Academy): the case for a personal AI tutor 7:25 — Does AI remove the need for school? 8:19 — Why AI-driven teachers are 3–5 years away 10:14 — Jamie Beaton (Crimson Education): could AI replace elite professors? 12:03 — Will AI wipe out white collar jobs? 13:24 — Finn Puklowski (Fluency Academy): building an AI curriculum at work 14:57 — 165 projects, 40 shipped to production 15:42 — The "Rust Belt" warning for companies ignoring AI #TechMates, #ArashTayebi, #PeneBarton, #JamieBeaton, #FinnPuklowski, #KaraTechnologies, #CrimsonEducation, #CrimsonGlobalAcademy, #FluencyAcademy, #EdTech, #FutureOfLearning, #AIinEducation, #AITeachers, #Accessibility, #SignLanguage, #NZVC, #KiwiFounders, #StartupPodcast, #AIandJobs, #FutureOfWork, #OnlineSchool, #Entrepreneurship, #DeepTech, #Innovation

    In 5 Years, Every Kid Will Have an AI Teacher

  5. Jul 1

    Data Centers in Space — 5 Years Away?

    Zenno's CEO just made history — first superconductor ever run in space. And he thinks a war in orbit is now "highly likely." 🧲🚀 Max Arshavsky is the Co-Founder and CEO of Zenno Astronautics, the company building the world's first superconducting technology platform for space. Since launching from New Zealand in 2018, Zenno has gone from a $100K university challenge win to landing government contracts with Germany's SPRINT program and Japan's Mitsubishi Electric, and just this year became the first company in history to successfully operate a superconducting product in orbit. Max joins Hendrik and Mark to catch up a year after their first conversation — and a lot has changed. This episode dives deep into the physics and geopolitics of the new space race: why energy is the resource that will define who dominates space, why Max believes a war in space is now "highly likely," and why rocketry — once the hardest problem in the industry — is now the easy part. Max breaks down the economics of intercepting missiles from orbit, why data centers might really be headed to space within years, and how his own company's magnets could one day replace rockets entirely with mass drivers on the Moon.Along the way, Max explains why he relocated Zenno's US presence to Los Angeles's "entrepreneur paradise" near SpaceX and Impulse Space, why he thinks self-replicating robots — not humans — will colonize Mars, and why he's convinced the Moon will belong to somebody sooner than most people think. It's a conversation about magnets, geopolitics, and what it actually takes to build hardware for a place with no room for failure. 🧲 The world's first superconductor in space — how Zenno's Z01 SuperTorquer works and why it could end satellites' dependence on fuel 🚀 Why Max believes rocketry is a solved problem and the real challenge now is what happens once you're in orbit ⚔️ The blunt economics of space warfare — why cheap, high-volume interceptors beat expensive one-shot systems 🌍 Why Max moved Zenno's US operations to Los Angeles, and what makes it the "epicenter" of the new space economy 🔋 The case for data centers and energy infrastructure in space — and how close we really are 🌕 Mass drivers, magnetic launch systems, and a future where the Moon replaces rockets for shipping cargo to Earth 🤖 Why Max thinks self-replicating machines, not humans, will be the ones to colonize Mars 🎧 Listen On: YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gQnb_WbB Spotify: https://bit.ly/4earYWc Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/42KZ2x1 Connect with the Guest: Max Arshavsky LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-arshavsky/ Zenno Astronautics Website: https://www.zenno.space 🔗 Learn more about NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy — https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau — https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ Timestamps: 00:00 — Calling from LA 01:09 — Why LA is deep tech's epicenter 02:05 — SpaceX's IPO03:33 — Space is only going up 04:41 — Data centers in space 07:13 — Zenno: space superconductors 08:35 — German & Japan contracts 10:56 — America's 10x orbit push 12:13 — Is Rocket Lab overvalued? 15:14 — Star Wars and lasers 17:44 — What starts a space war 20:21 — Cheap interceptors win 26:27 — Mass drivers explained 30:17 — How Zenno builds products 33:33 — AI speeds up the algorithms 36:08 — Self-replicating machines 38:57 — Why Max moved to LA 41:20 — National security drives space race 44:00 — Who owns the Moon? 48:13 — Books that inspired Max 49:44 — Rapid fire round #TechMates, #MaxArshavsky, #ZennoAstronautics, #SpaceTech, #Superconductors, #SpaceRace, #DeepTech, #Aerospace, #SatelliteTechnology, #SpaceX, #RocketLab, #NewZealandTech, #StartupFounder, #SpaceEconomy, #DefenseTech, #SpaceInnovation, #FutureOfSpace, #TechFounders, #VentureCapital, #NZVC, #SpaceIndustry, #Engineering, #Podcast, #TechPodcast, #SpaceExploration, #Innovation

    Data Centers in Space — 5 Years Away?

  6. Jun 16

    Could NZ Birth the Next SpaceX? Dawn Aerospace Closes Series B

    Stefan Powell scaled a New Zealand space company to eight-figure revenue — quietly dominating 82% of a satellite propulsion market, flying a space plane 64 times, and closing a $25M Series B — all before most of the world even knew Dawn Aerospace existed. In this episode of TechMates, Hendrik and Mark sit back down with Stefan Powell, CEO and co-founder of Dawn Aerospace — and this time, the conversation hits different. NZVC has officially joined Dawn's $25M Series B as investors, making this more than just a podcast catch-up: it's a front-row seat into a company they now have skin in the game on. Dawn builds both the propulsion systems powering hundreds of satellites in orbit and Aurora, a space plane already breaking aircraft performance records — and after a year of massive momentum, there's a lot to unpack. Dawn has grown to over 200 propulsion systems on 50 satellites, with 52 of 63 nitrous bipropellant systems in orbit belonging to Dawn. The next unlock: in-space refueling by 2028, with defense customers already lined up. Stefan explains why refuelable satellites are becoming a non-negotiable strategic capability — and how Dawn's bottom-up approach was the only credible path to getting there. Most striking is the business underneath the rockets. Dawn hit cash flow positive before its Series B — generating more real revenue than VC funding across its entire life. Too much capital keeps companies on bad ideas for too long, Stefan argues, pointing to Relativity Space as a cautionary tale. 🛰️ In-Space Refueling by 2028: How Dawn solved the chicken-and-egg problem every other refueling startup got wrong. ✈️ Aurora Space Plane: 64 flights in, already the highest-flying and fastest aircraft ever built off a runway — at $50K per flight.💰 More Revenue Than VC Ever Raised: How Dawn reached cash flow positive before its Series B and why Stefan wants to keep it that way. 🌍 Europe's $35B Space Awakening: Why NATO allies are urgently building sovereign space capabilities — and Dawn is already supplying them. 🚀 SpaceX IPO: What the largest IPO in history means for the rest of the space industry and how it affects Dawn's trajectory. Stefan Powell LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spowell111/ Dawn Aerospace Website: https://www.dawn.aero https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy — https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau — https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ Timestamps: 00:00 — Building Dawn while the world wasn't watching: the update from a year later 04:11 — Aurora finds product-market fit it never set out to find 04:46 — The $25M Series B: what it unlocks and why now 05:11 — 52 of 63 nitrous systems in orbit are Dawn's — market domination explained08:11 — In-space refueling: targeting 2028 and why defense is the first customer 10:19 — The satellite arms race: bodyguard satellites, adversary maneuvers & deterrence 11:04 — Solving the chicken-and-egg problem of refueling infrastructure 14:56 — Why other thruster companies never made it to propulsion systems 17:49 — Aurora's 64 flights and the upgrade to 100km altitude 21:45 — "Rocket performance, fleet economics" — why that changes everything 22:26 — How Aurora replaces a $10M missile test with a $50K flight 25:45 — DARTY mission: helping the New Zealand Navy train for missile warfare 28:45 — Aurora vs. hypersonic threats and the limits of missile defense 30:05 — The Oklahoma Spaceport deal and 100 flights a year from Infinity One 32:09 — SpaceX IPO: what the largest IPO in history means for the space industry 33:34 — What SpaceX gets wrong (and the XAI merger debate) 36:56 — Why Europe is spending $35B on space — and why Starlink dependency is a risk 40:18 — Will Dawn ever be bigger than SpaceX? Stefan's honest answer 41:30 — Elon, Peter Beck, and what great space CEOs have in common 42:45 — More customer revenue than VC raised: why Stefan wants to keep it that way

    Could NZ Birth the Next SpaceX? Dawn Aerospace Closes Series B

  7. Jun 1

    Why VC Funds Are Suddenly Pouring Billions Into Defense

    What do you do when a foreign missile cruiser does a "hot lap" around your country? You build the manufacturing tech and deploy the VC capital needed to turn your nation into an unattackable "porcupine." In this episode of TechMates, we dive deep into the sobering reality of national security and the tech revolution rushing to protect our future. We sit down with three heavyweights tackling defense from completely different angles: Vu Tran (Co-founder of Black Sky Industries), David Moodie (Founder of Foundry Lab), and James Pinner (Chief Investment Officer of NZGCP). This conversation peels back the curtain on why peaceful nations must urgently wake up. Vu Tran reveals the terrifying reality of a foreign missile cruiser circling Australia and why the "porcupine strategy" is the ultimate deterrent. David Moodie breaks down how America lost its manufacturing teeth and how his microwave-casting technology is bringing sovereign capability back home to deter global conflict. Finally, James Pinner addresses how massive government-backed VC funds are adapting their strict policies to support dual-use and defense technologies in a chaotic new world order. If you want to know where the future of global security and deep tech is heading, this is a must-listen. 🦔 The Porcupine Strategy: Why deterrence—not offense—is the key to surviving the next era of geopolitical tension. 🚢 A Wake-Up Call: Vu details the chilling moment a foreign missile cruiser carried more guided weapons off the coast than the entire local army possessed. 🏭 Rebuilding the War Machine: How David's tech is solving the critical skill shortage in Western manufacturing to ensure sovereign capability. 💥 Drones vs. Goliaths: James discusses how cheap, disruptive technology is wiping out multi-million dollar military assets. 💸 Shifting VC Mandates: Why government funds and institutional investors are rapidly rewriting their rules to back dual-use defense startups. 🔥Microwave Metal: The wild origin story of a founder building a massive defense-applicable tech company starting with a household microwave. Connect with the Guests: Vu Tran (Black Sky Industries): https://www.linkedin.com/in/vutranau/ David Moodie (Foundry Lab): https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-moodie-b7b92ab/ James Pinner (NZGCP): https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-pinner/ 🔗Learn more about NZVC: Website: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 00:43 - Vu Tran: The "Porcupine Strategy" and national defense 01:47 - The terrifying reality of the "hot lap" missile cruiser 05:11 - David Moodie: The decline of Western sovereign manufacturing 06:17 - How casting metal in a microwave is acting as a global deterrent 11:40 - James Pinner: How cheap tech is disrupting global warfare 12:22 - Why massive VC funds are shifting policies to support dual-use tech If you enjoyed this inside look at the future of national security and deep tech, hit the Like button, drop a Comment letting us know your thoughts on the new era of defense tech, and Subscribe to TechMates for more masterclasses with world-class founders! #defenseforce, #startups, #DeepTech, #NationalSecurity, #manufacturing, #NewZealand, #Australia, #entrepreneurship, #FoundryLab, #BlackSkyIndustries, #VC, #venturecapital, #geopolitics, #innovation, #SaaS, #techpodcast, #TechMates, #NZVC, #drones, #deterrence

    Why VC Funds Are Suddenly Pouring Billions Into Defense

  8. May 17

    What Happens When AI Listens to Sick Pigs for Six Days Straight?

    She left a comfortable corporate career to build a Sensory AI startup that listens to pigs—and just secured a major global distribution deal. In this episode of TechMates, we sit down with Saba Samiei, the visionary founder and CEO of MACSO. Named after MACS0647-JD, the furthest known galaxy, MACSO was built on a "how, not if" culture that forces the team to think outside the Milky Way. Saba shares her incredible personal journey: escaping the aftermath of war in Iran, immigrating to India as a teenager, and eventually arriving in New Zealand at 22 with the sheer determination to succeed. After climbing the corporate ladder at tech giants like IBM, Westpac, and Microsoft, she took the ultimate leap to build a deep tech startup from scratch. While the tech industry pours billions into Large Language Models (LLMs) to automate human productivity, Saba is taking a radically different approach. She argues that current AI only replicates the logical frontal lobe, completely ignoring the sensory systems that keep us alive in the physical world. Enter MACSO’s "Physical AI": an edge-AI platform that uses audio sensors to detect respiratory illnesses in swine up to six days earlier than a trained human. By catching outbreaks at "patient zero," MACSO is saving livestock, slashing costs for farmers, and drastically reducing the global consumption of antibiotics. Saba also drops bold truths on the dangers of AGI, why she believes the LLM bubble will burst, and the cognitive risks of outsourcing our brains to machines. 🌌 Thinking Beyond the Milky Way: Why naming her startup after the furthest known galaxy drives their ambitious engineering culture. 🇮🇷 From Iran to NZ: Escaping an unfair regime, finding her footing as an immigrant, and making New Zealand her home. 🧠 The Shrinking Hippocampus: A stark warning on why outsourcing mental tasks to AI could lead to the cognitive equivalent of the industrial revolution. 🐷 Sensory Edge AI: Using audio sensors to listen to pigs and detect respiratory illnesses before a farm-wide outbreak. 💊 Reducing Global Antibiotic Use: How MACSO’s tech catches "patient zero," allowing farmers to medicate smaller groups and lower antibiotic reliance. 💥 The LLM Bubble: Why the AI industry's hyper-focus on text and human productivity is ignoring the massive potential of physical, environmental AI. Connect with the Guest: MACSO Website: https://www.macso.ai Saba Samiei’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabasamiei/ Links to NZVC & Hosts: 🔗 Learn more about NZVC: Website: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ 00:00 - Naming a startup after the furthest galaxy in the universe. 02:03 - Immigrating from Iran to India, and arriving in NZ at 22. 10:32 - Stephen Hawking, astrophysics, and the core of her AI ethics thesis. 21:27 - Why humans went from fearing the Terminator to embracing ChatGPT. 29:51 - The cognitive danger of AI: Is Google Maps shrinking our brains? 32:41 - Leaving Microsoft to build a Deep Tech AI startup. 43:40 - Major News: MACSO's massive distribution deal with Virbac. 46:29 - Sensory AI: How listening to pigs saves livestock and reduces antibiotics. 57:29 - The mental toll of being a founder and learning to trust yourself. 01:07:57 - Her real thoughts on AGI, P-Doom, and the LLM bubble bursting. If you enjoyed this masterclass on deep tech, Sensory AI, and the ethical future of humanity, please hit the Like button, Comment with your thoughts on the LLM bubble, and Subscribe to TechMates for more high-impact conversations with world-class founders! #startups, #artificialintelligence, #deeptech, #NewZealand, #founderjourney, #SensoryAI, #AgTech, #EdgeAI, #MACSO, #AIethics, #machinelearning, #entrepreneurship, #womenintech, #techpodcast, #NZVC, #TechMates, #innovation, #SaaS, #AIsensors, #futureofAI

    What Happens When AI Listens to Sick Pigs for Six Days Straight?
See All (63)

About

Welcome to TechMates, the podcast where we spotlight the trailblazing founders and game-changing startups transforming Australasia. Hosted by Mark Pavlyukovskyy, a Silicon Valley success story, and Hendrik Remigereau, a former leader in Europe’s largest AI ecosystem turned venture capitalist, TechMates dives deep into the counterintuitive mindsets and bold strategies that drive extraordinary achievements. Powered by NZVC, the venture firm backing the next generation of iconic companies from New Zealand and beyond, TechMates offers fresh perspectives on the people and ideas shaping the future

Information

  • Creator
    TechMates
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    63
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © TechMates
  • Show Website
    TechMates