TechMates

TechMates
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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. Why Big Tech Failed at This Simple Farming Task

    OCT 9

    Why Big Tech Failed at This Simple Farming Task

    🐄 Engineer Liam Kampshof turned an early milking-shed prototype into a simple, low-cost sensor now used on 145+ New Zealand farms, catching mastitis early to protect milk quality and payouts! Liam is a New Zealand tech entrepreneur and founder of Bovonic, makers of QuadSense—a snap-in, battery-powered sensor that measures each teat’s conductivity in real time, compares quarters, and throws a red light in ~30 seconds if mastitis is likely. It retrofits into the short milk tube, has no moving parts, a ~3-year battery life, and costs ~5× less than legacy lab systems—so farmers actually install it. 🐄 Mastitis 101: why manual “stripping” fails at scale and how quarter-level conductivity catches it earlier. 📈 Adoption: ~145 farms (≈2% NZ) in year one; near 5% in early regions; hardware + profitability. 🧭 NZ edge: no subsidies → ruthless ROI; “number-8 wire” practicality meets biomedical chops. 🥛 Macro: NZ = #1 dairy exporter (not producer); EU cell-count standards and antibiotic rules shaping demand. Connect with the Guest: Liam Kampshof — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-kampshof Company (Bovonic / QuadSense): https://bovonic.com Learn more about NZVC & Hosts NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ 00:00 — Intro & NZ dairy roots 01:11 — Farm childhood in Waikato & Bay of Plenty 07:16 — Choosing Biomedical Engineering at Auckland 10:16 — London deep-tech: DNA Electronics sepsis project 21:10 — Back to NZ during COVID; MIQ and reset 23:41 — The mastitis problem & why manual checks fail 31:17 — Why quarter-level conductivity is the unlock 37:47 — First prototypes; cowshed raincoat + laptop tests 41:07 — Fieldays validation: 110–120 signups; pre-orders 45:56 — QuadSense demo: sensor in the short milk tube 48:38 — Red-light alerts in ~30s; 3-year batteries; self-install 54:22 — 145 farms live; ~2% market; ~5% in early regions 01:01:27 — NZ collar adoption shows ROI-driven uptake 01:03:41 — Global fit: UK/Ireland → EU → US plan 01:10:52 — Founder moving to UK to open markets 01:19:02 — NZ: top dairy exporter; 95–96% exported If this sharpened your startup/business brain, hit 👍, drop your questions for Liam below, and subscribe for more New Zealand founder deep-dives. #startups, #NewZealand, #business, #AgTech, #dairy, #dairyfarming, #animalhealth, #mastitis, #sensors, #hardware, #biomedicalengineering, #precisionagriculture, #farmtech, #veterinary, #robotics, #AI, #Fieldays, #NZTech, #founderstory, #TechMates

    1h 10m
  2. He Rowed the Tasman—Then Built and Sold a Fintech

    SEP 29

    He Rowed the Tasman—Then Built and Sold a Fintech

    He rowed solo across the Tasman, later sold his BNPL startup—now he’s rebuilding life insurance with AI from New Zealand. Our guest, Shaun Quincey, is a New Zealand tech entrepreneur who went from a 54-day solo ocean row to exiting a services-focused BNPL company—and now leads Simfuni, an AI-first operating platform for life insurers. He breaks down how a payments “wedge” became a full policy-admin + automation stack, and why eight insurers are already on the platform. We go deep on enterprise sales inside legacy insurers, using AI agents for real self-service (move payment dates, policy changes, docs), and the ethics of data, wearables, and genetics in underwriting. Plus: the early NZ accelerator days, a 7-figure exit with an earn-out, and what it really takes to survive 300 metaphorical “uppercuts” in startups. 🧭 From Singapore birth & military family → New Zealand childhood → resilience through constant change. 🚣 Rowing Australia→NZ solo at 23; 54 days, capsizes, a bestselling book—and startup lessons. 💳 BNPL in services (5k merchants) → strategic sale to Latitude; why timing beat ego. 🧠 Simfuni: payments wedge → policy admin OS → AI agents for customer ops. 🏢 “Enterprise infiltration”: who decides, budget cycles, and asking for money early. 🤖 What AI does today: automate common requests, cut FTEs, boost compliance. 📈 Eight life insurers live; AU/NZ focus with South Africa interest next. 🧬 Wearables & genetics: pricing fairness vs. privacy—where regulation lands. 🧱 Founder mindset: pivots, patience, and building for 5–10 years. Connect with the Guest Shaun Quincey — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-quincey-53548132 Company (Simfuni): simfuni.com Learn more about NZVC & Hosts 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 & welcome 01:20 – Shaun’s childhood in Singapore and New Zealand 03:30 – Growing up with constant change and resilience 06:00 – Family background and his father’s solo Tasman row 08:40 – Shaun’s own Tasman Sea adventure (rowing from Australia to NZ) 12:00 – Storms, setbacks, and pushing through challenges 15:00 – Writing a book and lessons learned from the row 19:00 – Transition into career and first job at Debit Success 28:30 – Exposure to startups and move to San Francisco 31:30 – Founding his first fintech startup (buy now, pay later) 35:30 – Growth, competition, and acquisition 41:00 – Reflections on exiting and lessons from competition 43:20 – Coming up with new startup ideas during earn-out 46:00 – Entering the insurance industry 50:30 – Cracking enterprise sales with insurers 53:00 – Building Simfuni: modernizing life insurance systems56:00 – How AI transforms insurance operations 59:00 – Understanding life insurance and underwriting 1:03:00 – Risk, reinsurance, and margins 1:05:30 – The future of AI in insurance 1:08:00 – Vision for Simfuni and closing thoughts If this sharpened your startup/business brain, hit 👍, drop your questions for Shaun below, and subscribe for more New Zealand founder deep-dives. #startups, #NewZealand, #business, #AI, #insurtech, #lifeinsurance, #enterprise, #SaaS, #automation, #fintech, #BNPL, #payments, #dataprivacy, #actuarial, #regtech, #customerexperience, #founderstory, #productmarketfit, #NZTech, #TechMates

    1h 25m
  3. Building the Tesla of Surgical Robots 🏥 #healthtech

    SEP 22

    Building the Tesla of Surgical Robots 🏥 #healthtech

    He’s turning an iPad into a surgical cockpit—and launching semi-autonomous surgery from New Zealand to the world. Nick Damiano is a Bay Area deep-tech founder with strong New Zealand ties: after building medtech across pacemakers, tele-presence OR support, and implantables (YC alum twice), he co-founded Andromeda to bring autonomous surgical robotics to market—faster and cheaper than the traditional medtech playbook. The bet: software-first robots that learn like self-driving cars, starting with urology and HOLEP (pioneered in Tauranga), guided on an iPad with “Google Maps for the prostate.” This episode gets real about why most medtech financing is broken, how to avoid co-founder minefields, what the FDA actually cares about, and why New Zealand is a killer launchpad for clinical studies and first-in-market deployments. It’s a masterclass in building deep tech with startup speed—plus bold takes on Intuitive (Da Vinci), disposables-free business models, and taking world-class surgery global. 🧠 From surgeon family → Stanford → engineering → startups. 🫀 Leadless pacing & ultrasound targeting algorithms at EBR. 🛰️ Avail/NewRep: remote OR support and the COVID tailwind. 🧩 Co-founder fit, intensity alignment, and conflict habits. 🧪 Zenflow (BPH): YC medtech, trials, and NZ clinical beachhead. 🤖 Andromeda: software-first surgical robots with iPad control. 🗺️ HOLEP + “Google Maps for the prostate” to de-risk learning. 🏥 FDA pragmatism, NZ fast-track launches, and global access. 💼 Business model: no disposables, subscription + partnerships. 🥊 Startups vs incumbents: where Da Vinci stops and autonomy starts. Connect with the Guest LinkedIn (Nick): www.linkedin.com/in/nickdamiano Company (Andromeda): https://www.andromedasurgical.com Learn more about NZVC & Hosts 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 – Intro 01:07 – Nick’s medical family roots 02:53 – Stanford & switch from medicine to startups 07:38 – Early jobs & pacemaker innovation 11:47 – Founding Avail (NewRep) 17:39 – Medical device reps explained 20:33 – Lessons on co-founders & teams 27:29 – Company #2: ZenFlow29:19 – Getting into Y Combinator 34:34 – Why MedTech is so hard 40:25 – ZenFlow outcome & NZ connection 45:15 – Founding Andromeda: autonomous surgery 48:19 – What the Da Vinci robot does 52:34 – Andromeda’s unique approach 57:32 – Starting with prostate surgery (HoLEP) 1:00:26 – Navigating FDA approval 1:05:45 – Future of autonomous surgery If this sharpened your startup/business brain, hit 👍, drop your questions for Nick below, and subscribe for more New Zealand-powered deep-tech stories. #startups, #NewZealand, #business, #robotics, #AI, #medtech, #surgery, #urology, #HOLEP, #FDA, #YC, #YCombinator, #DaVinci, #autonomoussystems, #healthtech, #deeptech, #venturecapital, #founderstory, #Andromeda, #TechMates #healthtech

    1h 13m
  4. Exit at 27: Chasing Bigger Horizons 💳 #fintech

    SEP 7

    Exit at 27: Chasing Bigger Horizons 💳 #fintech

    From 15 clinics and 105,000 patients to a fintech rebrand and a tax ruling with IRD—this New Zealand founder turned “HealthNow” into Extraordinary, a benefits-payments platform winning banks, telcos, and airlines. Steve is a New Zealand tech entrepreneur who scaled an allied-health group to ~$12M revenue at 17–24% EBITDA before exiting at 27, then founded HealthNow—a healthcare BNPL/savings/employer-aid play that evolved into Extraordinary, a modular platform that lets companies control where benefits dollars get spent (travel, meals, gifting, health, more). This episode is a masterclass in ruthless iteration: kill the feature that doesn’t work, follow customer pull, then reprice and reframe until it clicks. What’s wild (and useful): how investor pushback killed the double-sided marketplace, why “breakage” beats “load fees,” and how a binding IRD ruling unlocked pre-tax public transport benefits—turning a compliance headache (FBT/PAYE) into a business moat. We also get candid about the emotional cost of a pivot, Darwinism for founders (“adapt or die”), and going enterprise (yes, sometimes… wear the suit). Key Topics 🩺 From clinics to fintech: scaling 15 sites, 120 staff, 105k patients—then exiting to build software. 💳 Why BNPL for healthcare didn’t pencil out—and the pivot to employer-funded benefits. 🧩 Modular platform & pricing psychology: per-employee + fixed “breakage,” not “card fees.” 🧾 Compliance moat: controlling spend categories, FBT vs PAYE, and audit-friendly rails. 🚌 IRD binding ruling: pre-tax public transport for employees (and why that matters). 🏢 Enterprise sales: telcos, banks, an airline—why credibility (and suits) count. 🔁 Founder mindset: grief of a pivot, “persist more than resist,” and 10-15 year time horizons. Connect with the Guest Steve — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-zinsli-💳-aa813184 Company (Extraordinary): https://www.extraordinarypay.com Learn more about NZVC & Hosts 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 – Intro 01:14 – Steve’s upbringing in Auckland 04:13 – Childhood experiences shaping healthcare passion 06:19 – Early lessons about healthcare costs 07:17 – School years and university path 10:26 – First steps in healthcare and scaling clinics 13:28 – Building a multi-clinic business 15:14 – Growing revenue and why Steve exited 17:14 – Shift from clinics to fintech in healthcare 26:45 – First concept of HealthNow 28:23 – Buy Now, Pay Later for healthcare 30:28 – Health savings accounts & employer aid 34:56 – Core problem: healthcare affordability 37:31 – Pivoting from healthcare to broader benefits 42:00 – Advice for founders facing pivots 45:39 – Startup persistence and survival 48:29 – Birth of Extraordinary from customer demand 50:01 – Modularizing the platform & pricing learnings 53:03 – Breakage and gift card economics 55:23 – Public transport benefit opportunity 58:41 – Outlook: next 1–5 years for Extraordinary 1:02:03 – Market size, competition, and growth potential 1:04:34 – Role models and inspiration 1:05:31 – Advice for founders in New Zealand 1:06:59 – Closing remarks If this sharpened your startup/business brain, hit 👍, drop your questions for Steve below, and subscribe for more New Zealand founder deep-dives. #startups, #business, #NewZealand, #fintech, #payments, #employeebenefits, #HRtech, #compliance, #FBT, #publictransport, #BNPL, #founderstory, #productmarketfit, #SaaS, #pricing, #B2B, #enterprise, #NZTech, #TechMates, #podcast

    1h 7m
  5. Healthcare is a $4.5 Trillion Broken System 💊

    AUG 31

    Healthcare is a $4.5 Trillion Broken System 💊

    Ari Tulla built, pivoted, exited, and is now using AI to rewire preventative health. Ari Tulla is a Finnish-born, SF-based tech entrepreneur who started in gaming and Nokia’s early app ecosystem, founded doctor-finder startup BetterDoctor (later rolled into a 500-person PE platform), and now leads Elo Health, a nutrition company turning biometrics + AI into real-world outcomes. He shares the gritty founder path: consumer → API pivot, exit, then the hard jump from software to atoms (supply chains, tariffs, fulfillment). This conversation gets unusually candid about what actually scales in healthtech: why “prevention” needs business-model innovation, where AI beats human pattern-recognition, and why even die-hard remote founders end up craving one room for speed and trust. We also roam from wearables and privacy to CRISPR, cloning ethics, and what he teaches his kids about building in an AI world.🧊 Finland roots ➜ Nokia’s app era ➜ Silicon Valley leap.🎮 From MUDs to mobile: early internet, world-building, and dev culture.🏢 Nokia lessons: platform bets, Symbian/MeeGo, and timing risk.🔁 Startup pivots: BetterDoctor—consumer → API/SaaS → PE roll-up.🧪 Elo’s thesis: AI + biomarkers + nutrition as preventative medicine.🤖 AI vs. doctors: pattern recognition, triage, and the “QB” model.💤 Sleep, stress, movement: building real-time feedback loops with wearables.🧬 Bio/ethics: cloning, CRISPR, and data rights in health.🏗️ Why you shouldn’t “recreate Silicon Valley.”🧑‍🍳 Team dynamics: remote reality vs. “one room” excellence. Connect with the Guest Ari Tulla — LinkedIn: Company (Elo): Learn more about NZVC & Hosts NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ 00:00 Intro 01:50 Ari — Finland & early internet 07:00 Gaming (MUDs) & early dev connections 12:20 Nokia / Ovi Store & mobile apps 36:40 Entrepreneurship → BetterDoctor (growth & pivot) 44:10 Sale to PE & running bigger company 48:40 Elo.Health origin — nutrition & prevention52:00 Product experiments: blood tests, wearables, supplements 57:00 Sleep, stress & health-span discussion 01:17:00 Future plans & wrap-up. If this sharpened your startup/business brain, hit 👍, drop your questions for Ari below, and subscribe for more founder deep-dives. #startups, #business, #AI, #healthtech, #preventivemedicine, #nutrition, #wearables, #dataprivacy, #biotech, #NewZealand, #SiliconValley, #founderstory, #productmarketfit, #APIs, #PE, #longevity, #sleep, #stress, #wellness, #TechMates

    1h 25m
  6. Startups vs Hype: VeVe’s Real Web3 Business 👾🎮

    AUG 24

    Startups vs Hype: VeVe’s Real Web3 Business 👾🎮

    From $5 stamp packs on Queen Street to ~$1.5B in VeVe marketplace GMV—New Zealand entrepreneur David Yu built one of the world’s biggest digital collectibles businesses! David Yu—founder/CEO of VeVe—grew up in Taipei, moved to Auckland, and turned a teenage collecting habit into a retail chain, a global licensing career, and ultimately VeVe, the NFT platform behind 3D, AR-ready drops from top studios and car brands. He explains how years of community-building in hobby stores and a nose for IP deals translated to landing Marvel/DC/Disney, while making onboarding “frictionless” for mainstream collectors. We dig into real numbers and roadmap: ~600k funded/holding accounts, ~250k MAU, ~$1.45–1.5B+ secondary GMV, $300–400M primary sales, 4.5M+ digital comics, the launch of VVverse, and why the next wave is a creator economy built on fandom + AI. Plus: the first 3D Steamboat Willie, how to pitch licensors when the category “doesn’t exist,” and why Gen Z will value digital scarcity like previous generations prized paper comics. 🌏 From Taipei to New Zealand: retail → licensing → VV founder journey. 🧪 “Frictionless” onboarding and why Web3 UX has to feel Web2. 🤝 Pitching Disney/Marvel/DC when NFTs “sounded like a scam.” 📊 VV by the numbers: users, GMV, comics, brands, and AR features. 🏗️ VVverse and the rise of creator-built shops, galleries, and car dealers. 🚗 Licensing playbook: from Pokémon cards to Maserati/Lamborghini in AR. 🧠 AI’s role in content generation, NPCs, and smarter collecting. Connect with the Guest David Yu – LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davidyunzCompany (VeVe): https://www.veve.me Learn more about NZVC & Hosts NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/00:00:00 — Intro 00:02:26 — Origin: Taipei → Auckland; collecting → first businesses 00:09:39 — Pokémon boom & the power of community 00:19:04 — Expanding to Asia: China exports (WFOE) & licensing lessons 00:22:01 — Bentley stroller case — fighting grey-market/daigou 00:36:55 — From blockchain to CryptoKitties: the spark for VeVe 00:41:40 — Why digital collectibles win (space, logistics, Gen Z) 00:47:34 — App Store onboarding: no crypto hurdles 00:54:11 — Pitching Disney/Marvel with mockups & AR demos 00:58:24 — VeVe today: product verticals, key metrics, VV-Verse vision 01:12:43 — Beyond the 2021 hype: NFT recovery & outlook 01:18:55 — 5–15 years ahead: skills & asking AI better questions 01:21:31 — Favorite digital collectible (Steamboat Willie) & wrap-up If this sharpened your startup/business brain, smash 👍, drop your questions for David below, and subscribe for more New Zealand founder stories. #startups, #NewZealand, #business, #NFTs, #digitalcollectibles, #VeVe, #VVverse, #blockchain, #web3, #AI, #augmentedreality, #comics, #Marvel, #Disney, #licensing, #creatorEconomy, #gaming, #venturecapital, #TechMates, #podcast

    1h 25m
  7. Ads Are Broken. Feedback Fixes Them 📲

    AUG 14

    Ads Are Broken. Feedback Fixes Them 📲

    🎙️ Rural Kiwi roots, global marketing leadership, and now startup innovation — Anna Henwood helps brands get real consumer truth in just 48 hours with Stickybeak. Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4is21QIApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/42KZ2x1 Anna Henwood is a New Zealand tech entrepreneur and co-founder/CEO of Sticky Beak, a fast, affordable, global consumer-testing platform that recruits real people via social and panels to help marketers validate names, packs, claims, and ads—before they burn media dollars. She shares how leading Les Mills’ marketing through COVID’s chaos (and a rocket-ship D2C pivot) primed her for startups, why “test ingredients, not the cake,” and how tariffs and export shifts are reshaping where brands grow next. 📈 Sticky Beak just passed 100 customers and leans into hard-to-reach markets (Africa, Eastern Europe, SE Asia) while expanding in the UK and Australia. We dig into defensibility, platform-agnostic recruiting (Meta, TikTok, research panels), and smart ways founders can use AI as an “expert co-pilot,” not a synthetic audience replacement. 🤝 From corporate CMO to startups: lessons from the jump 📲 How Sticky Beak recruits real people globally (Meta/TikTok/panels) 🧪 “Test ingredients, not the cake” — pre-testing creative & packs 📈 COVID’s D2C surge at Les Mills and agile marketing pods 🧭 Tariffs, exports, and why UK/EU/Asia are hot for NZ/AU brands 🤖 Using AI for expert guidance vs. synthetic audiences 🛡️ What makes the model defensible beyond simple A/B ads Connect with Anna Henwood LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-henwood/ Sticky Beak: https://www.stickybeak.co/ Learn more about NZVC & HostsNZVC: 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 – Intro 00:47 – What Sticky Beak does (fast, global consumer testing) 01:00 – Rural NZ roots → marketing career 02:04 – Waikato Uni, marketing path (sports focus) 09:16 – First roles, overseas stints, London vs. ANZ work styles 11:32 – Les Mills: brand story & global scale 21:25 – COVID hits: daily taskforce & D2C app surge 24:48 – Tens of thousands → hundreds of thousands subs 25:25 – Equipment sold out; LTV and CAC math 33:52 – Why Anna joined Sticky Beak; what changed 36:37 – Re-platforming; hyper-global reach (incl. Africa/E.Europe) 42:54 – Pre-testing vs. ad A/B; “test ingredients, not the cake” 48:42 – Where AI helps (expert co-pilot) 51:10 – Competitors, agencies, legacy panels 53:48 – Defensibility & platform-agnostic recruiting 57:10 – How respondents are sourced; charity option with Oxfam 1:10:59 – Vision: 100 customers, UK/AU expansion over US 1:16:37 – Tariffs, exports, and consumer sentiment 1:19:29 – Founder life: what Anna loves about startups If this helped your startup or business brain, hit 👍, drop your questions in the comments, and subscribe for more New Zealand founder stories and global growth tactics. #startups, #NewZealand, #business, #FMCG, #CPG, #marketing, #marketresearch, #consumerinsights, #AI, #SaaS, #D2C, #LesMills, #StickyBeak, #export, #ecommerce, #branding, #advertising, #productmarketfit, #founder, #TechMates

    1h 9m
  8. Australia's Most Ambitious Defense Tech Startup

    AUG 7

    Australia's Most Ambitious Defense Tech Startup

    From building websites in high school to revolutionizing Australia's defense capabilities—Vu Tran is redefining what tech entrepreneurship means. 🔥 Join us in this insightful conversation with Vu Tran, co-founder of Go1—one of Australia's most successful EdTech startups—and now Black Sky Industries, an ambitious Australian defense tech startup. Vu shares his incredible journey from growing up in an immigrant household, running entrepreneurial ventures from a young age, to scaling Go1 into a global platform and now pivoting into the defense industry to address critical national security challenges. ⚙️ Discover Vu's candid insights into the importance of grit, risk-taking, and resilience gained from years of entrepreneurial struggles and triumphs. We explore how Vu approaches deep tech startups, the critical thinking behind pivoting from education tech to defense, and his compelling vision to enhance Australia's defense capabilities to ensure peace through strength and innovation. 🚀 Key Topics: 🌍 Growing up as a second-generation immigrant in Australia 💡 Why Vu transitioned from EdTech to Defense 🔥 The importance of grit, pain tolerance, and resilience 🤖 How tech innovation impacts national security 🎖️ Defense as a force for peace and stability 📈 Maintaining core values amidst startup growth 🌐 Global threats and Australia's strategic role 🧩 The intersection of AI, autonomy, and defense 🤝 Connect with Vu Tran: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vutrango1 Black Sky Industries: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsaero 🔗 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 02:28 - Growing up in an Immigrant Family 05:34 - Balancing Medicine Studies & Entrepreneurship 09:32 - Pivoting to EdTech with Go1 13:02 - Importance of Risk and Resilience 17:12 - Challenges & Learnings from Scaling Go1 23:13 - Why Vu Pivoted from Go1 to Defense Tech 27:20 - Understanding Australia's Defense Needs 32:26 - Global Threats & Defense Preparedness 35:44 - Black Sky Industries: Defense Innovation 41:09 - Why Defense is Vital for Australia 47:47 - Future of Warfare and Drone Technology 53:11 - AI & the Future of Global Security 56:21 - Australia's Strategic Defense Role 01:02:00 - Final Reflections & Advice for Entrepreneurs 🙌 Enjoyed this episode? Hit like 👍, drop your thoughts 💬, and subscribe 📲 for more visionary startup insights! #️⃣ Hashtags: #startups, #business, #Australia, #EdTech, #DefenseTech, #innovation, #entrepreneurship, #BlackSkyIndustries, #nationalsecurity, #techpodcast, #resilience, #grit, #AI, #autonomy, #VuTran, #AustralianStartups, #globalsecurity, #futuretech, #Go1, #venturecapital

    1h 14m
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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 - 2025
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © TechMates
  • Show Website
    TechMates

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