Diaspora NZ with David Booth
Episodes
S3 | E8 – Adrian Macneil (Co-Founder & CEO at Foxglove) on Developer Tools for Robotics, and Why Ambitious Kiwis Need to Go — and Come Back Smarter
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode SummaryAdrian Macneil grew up packing kiwifruit in rural New Zealand, now he’s building the core infrastructure powering the future of robot...
S3 | E7 - Xavier Collins (CEO at Wonder) on AI’s creative revolution, building thriving marketplaces, and reshaping the film industry
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode SummaryXavier Collins, London-born and New Zealand-raised, is no stranger to building marketplaces that scale. After early days at Uber, Xavie...
S3 | E6 - Anton Jackson Smith (b.next) on building synthetic cells, programmable biology, and the future of biotech
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode SummaryAnton Jackson Smith is a synthetic biologist, Stanford PhD, and founder of b.next—a startup building synthetic cells from scratch to ...
S3 | E5 - From Law School to Leading the Future of Creator Platforms: How Georgia Rippin (Kold Open) Is Building the Next Wave of Mid-Form Video, and Sneaking Into Hollywood
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode SummaryGrowing up in Wellington, New Zealand, with parents in the police force and government, a career in film and TV wasn’t exactly on the...
S3 | E4 - Bowen Pan (Common Room) on launching Facebook Marketplace, spotting hidden opportunities, and mastering the art of product
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode SummaryBowen Pan’s career is a playbook on turning hidden opportunities into global products. Currently the VP of Product at Common Room (a ...
S3 | E3 - Joel Little (Grammy-winning producer) on making Royals with Lorde, creative collaboration, and why startups are like hit songs
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode SummaryJoel Little is one of the world's top music producers, quietly shaping global hits behind the scenes - from co-writing Lorde’s breakt...
S3 | E2 - Kathryn Zealand (Skip) on robotic exoskeletons, mobility for life, and spinning out of Google X
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode SummaryKathryn Zealand founded Skip to help people stay active and independent through aging and injury, inspired by her grandmother’s painf...
S3 | E1 - Jamie Beaton (Crimson Education) on scaling a global education empire, the future of universities, and AI’s role in learning
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode SummaryWhen Jamie Beaton co-founded Crimson Education, his goal was simple: help ambitious students get into the world’s best universities. ...
S2 | E13 — Rhys Darby and Rosie Carnahan-Darby on championing Kiwi humour around the world, Tall Poppy syndrome, losing creative jobs to AI, and "going direct" with your fans to survive social media.
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Listen/subscribe on * Apple podcasts* Spotify He’s been Murray Hewitt, Psycho Sam, Norman from Yes Man, Guy Mann, Hypno-Potamus, a stand-up comedi...
S2 | E12 — Zak Holdsworth (Founder & CEO at Hint Health) on minimising waste in US healthcare payments, considering private equity vs. VC as a founder, Stanford GSB as a gateway to Silicon
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Listen/Subscribe on:* Apple Podcasts* SpotifyHint Health co-founder and CEO Zak Holdsworth retains a strong Kiwi accent - after all, he grew up on a f...
S2 | E11 — Clint Van Marrewijk (Zelandez, SaferMe) ‘drills down’ on mining South American lithium to drive us into the future and how his safety software company pivoted to enjoy massive growth.
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Listen/subscribe on:* Apple Podcasts* SpotifyClint Van Marrewijk (pronounced Marra-vick) is director and co-founder of Zelandez, a leading lithium bri...
S2 | E10 - Dr. Zachary Tan (Optain Health, Aegis Ventures) on navigating the U.S. healthcare system as a founder investor, venture studios, and why the eye is the key to preventative medicine.
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Listen/subscribe on:* Apple Podcasts* SpotifyWhen Zachary Tan - actually, Doctor Zachary Tan - became president of Optain Health, the role combined th...
S2 | E9 — Cameron Priest (Tradegecko, AMP, Neu Ventures) on scaling global SaaS businesses, the journey to a $100M acquisition by Intuit, what's next for AI + vertical SaaS
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Cameron Priest is the co-founder and former CEO of TradeGecko, an inventory and order management platform for e-commerce businesses that was acquired ...
S2 | E8 — Ryan Everton (Founder and CEO at TURN) on solving single use plastics at the world's largest events + fast food chains; raising from Ashton Kutcher & Live Nation; building with purpose.
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Everton is the founder and CEO at TURN, a San Francisco headquartered company pioneering reusable cup solutions for major events and fast-food ch...
S2 | E7 — Min-Kyu Jung (Co-founder & CEO at Ivo) on creating AI-powered legal assistants; the journey from NZ corporate law to leading a hot Silicon Valley startup & why others should move there too.
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Min-Kyu Jung is the CEO and co-founder at Ivo, an AI contract law assistant for legal teams, which has raised $6.2 million in funding total from inves...
S2 | E6 — Rachel Carrell (Co-founder & CEO at Koru Kids) on building Europe's largest childcare platform, the joy of working on hard problems, having a baby during her Series A fundraise!
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Carrell is the founder & CEO of KoruKids, Europe’s largest childcare platform— training, matching, and providing ongoing support to over 10...
S2 | E5 — Campbell Brown (Co-founder & CEO at PredictHQ) on helping the world's biggest brands predict demand; launching, scaling, and raising in the U.S.
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Campbell Brown is Founder & CEO at PredictHQ, based in San Francisco. PredictHQ help customers understand the catalysts behind any form of consumer de...
S2 | E4 — Privahini Bradoo (Co-founder of Plank, BlueOak) on turning Kiwi ingenuity into deep tech success, engineering with AI, and identifying “force of nature” talent in NZ.
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Privahini Bradoo is the co-founder and CEO at Plank — helping companies build and scale AI-enabled engineering teams + training the next generation...
S2 | E3 — Paul Copplestone (Co-founder & CEO at Supabase) on why open source is an unfair advantage; raising $116M to build the tech stack for AI startups/indie developers; living in Southeast Asia.
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Copplestone is the co-founder and CEO at Supabase, the “open source Firebase alternative for building web and mobile apps.” If you were wonde...
S2 | E2 — Victoria Ransom (Co-founder of Prisma, Wildfire) on her journey to a $450M acquisition by Google, reinventing school at Prisma & what's next for education.
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Victoria Ransom is the Founder of Prisma — a cohort-based online school: “preparing 4-12th graders for a rapidly changing future, with an accredi...
S2 | E1 — Hamish McKenzie (Co-founder and Chief Writing Officer at Substack), on the Future of Media, Navigating the Culture Wars, and Empowering Creators.
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hamish McKenzie is the co-founder and Chief Writing Officer at Substack.Substack is building a “new economic engine for culture” — enabling wri...
S1 | E5 — Thomas Harding — Co-founder & CEO of Mish Guru on the future of Snapchat and Building a Remote Team
04 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today we catch up with Tom Harding, Founder and CEO of Mish Guru, the startup leading the charge in helping brands effectively develop, monitor and mo...