TechMates
Episodes
Why Brand Is the Only Moat Left in SaaS
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a world where software features can be "vibe coded" by AI in 30 minutes, brand expert Simon Pound explains why community and customer obs...
The Secret Space Revolution in Australia & New Zealand
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From hypersonics and space-based hyperspectral imaging to "Starlink for energy" - three deep tech founders are defying the laws of physics t...
From Advising HBO’s Silicon Valley to Selling Startups to Big Tech
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He advised HBO’s Silicon Valley for five seasons, sold a database company to Apple, and helped run an "eBay for seized police goods"—now tech vete...
How to Deploy $5 Billion in New Zealand's New Wave of Tech Startups
27 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The former London financier who funded Harry Potter now controls the single biggest lever in New Zealand’s startup ecosystem—and he’s on a missi...
Anatomy of a 2,000x Return: Lightspeed Founder Barry Eggers on Spotting Outliers
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From his daughter’s kitchen table tip about a new app called Snapchat to building a $300 billion venture empire—legendary VC Barry Eggers reveals ...
A Dynasty of Inventors: From the Photocopier to Orion
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Harry Gestetner’s great-great-grandfather invented the photocopier and nail clippers—now Harry is reinventing how the world sleeps after selling h...
Scaling from the Edge: NZ’s Global Champions | NZVC Portfolio Day
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From challenging big banks with a $120M fintech to generating $2.2B in digital collectibles sales—this is how New Zealand founders are conquering th...
Born Global: Founding from New Zealand to the World
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From early days at Rocket Lab to running global marketing for Les Mills, these founders reveal exactly how to build world-class startups from the edge...
Why We Lose 30% of All Drinking Water
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Harrison Crowe-Maxwell turned a flooded street on his way to work into a robotics startup that just raised seed funding from Sequoia’s Peak XV.In th...
The Agentic AI Future | NZVC Portfolio Day
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you put a crypto veteran, a Xero co-founder, and a high-stakes lawyer on stage with a robot dog to debate the future of AI? In this ...
We Tried to Control the Weather (And Made It Worse)
25 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Blythe skipped university to launch a quad-bike accessory business, spent years trying to clear airport fog with drones, and eventually pivoted ...
I Hired My College Roommates to Build a $300M Empire
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jamie Beaton managed a hedge fund portfolio at Tiger Management while simultaneously taking maximum course loads at Harvard and building a startup tha...
Fintech Frontiers: Reinventing Money from the Edge of the World | NZVC Portfolio Day
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this live NZVC Portfolio Day panel, Jovan Pavlicevic (Emerge & SquareOne), Dermot Butterfield (Wych), and Steven Zinsli (Extraordinary) join ho...
Grassroots to Global: Innovation the Kiwi Way
23 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Four founders tackling milk without cows, carbon-free composites, AI farming, and plant-grown proteins—only in New Zealand could this panel exist.Th...
He’s Creating Australasia‘s PayPal Mafia
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SAP’s youngest hire at 19, Dominic Pym went on to build Up—Australia’s first cloud-hosted bank—and sold three companies during COVID.Dominic P...
From Edge to Epicenter: Building the NZ Innovation Ecosystem | NZVC Portfolio Day
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How founders, investors, and institutions are shaping the next decade of ANZ innovation.Live on stage with TechMates (hosts Mark Pavlyukovskyy & H...
Beyond Startup Hype: 5 Founders on Real Difficulties
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Five New Zealand–linked founders drop hard-won truths!This highlight episode brings together five New Zealand tech entrepreneurs at very different s...
Why Big Tech Failed at This Simple Farming Task
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
🐄 Engineer Liam Kampshof turned an early milking-shed prototype into a simple, low-cost sensor now used on 145+ New Zealand farms, catching mastiti...
He Rowed the Tasman—Then Built and Sold a Fintech
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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,...
Building the Tesla of Surgical Robots 🏥 #healthtech
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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-t...
Exit at 27: Chasing Bigger Horizons 💳 #fintech
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From 15 clinics and 105,000 patients to a fintech rebrand and a tax ruling with IRD—this New Zealand founder turned “HealthNow” into Extraordina...
Healthcare is a $4.5 Trillion Broken System 💊
31 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 starte...
Startups vs Hype: VeVe’s Real Web3 Business 👾🎮
24 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 c...
Ads Are Broken. Feedback Fixes Them 📲
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
🎙️ Rural Kiwi roots, global marketing leadership, and now startup innovation — Anna Henwood helps brands get real consumer truth in just 48 hou...
Australia's Most Ambitious Defense Tech Startup
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From building websites in high school to revolutionizing Australia's defense capabilities—Vu Tran is redefining what tech entrepreneurship means...
Energy’s Internet: Beaming Power Globally 🛰️🌏
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He’s building a startup to beam power through lasers — transforming how we access energy!Join us for an eye-opening conversation with Billy Jeremi...
This Startup Knows What You’ll Eat Next 🥑
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He turned a side hustle fixing walls into a quarter-million-dollar student business—and he's now reshaping the food insights industry.Join us as...
Building the School of the Future 🎓
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
She started her first business selling sherbet at age five—now she runs a revolutionary global online school.🎧 Listen On:👉 Spotify – https:/...
Inside the Australian Startup Launching Hyperspectral Satellites
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Winning hackathons at 16 and launching satellites by 26—meet the founder revolutionizing Australia's space tech.Join us as we chat with Shoaib Iqbal...
Why Sam Altman Backed This Kiwi Startup
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From programming on punch cards in rural New Zealand to leading a multi-million dollar EdTech success story. 💻🎧 In this inspiring episode, we sp...
How AI Is Revolutionizing Language Learning
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dropped out of high school after a handshake gone wrong—now he runs a $50M AI-driven language empire.Dive into the extraordinary journey of Finn Puk...
Dairy Without Cows: The Science Changing Food Forever
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Soviet-era Moscow and now revolutionizing dairy without cows—this entrepreneur is reshaping New Zealand’s future.In this insightful episod...
Why Fusion Energy is Closer Than Ever
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From failing physics grades to building New Zealand’s groundbreaking fusion reactor startup—meet the entrepreneur rewriting the rules of energy. J...
Inside Blue Origin's Latest Space Trip
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Meet the Kiwi entrepreneur who made history aboard Blue Origin!In this thrilling episode, we talk to Mark Rocket, a groundbreaking New Zealand tech en...
How I Built & Sold NZ's #1 Crypto Startup 🚀
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
She turned a $3,000 Bitcoin curiosity into one of New Zealand’s biggest crypto exits.Meet Janine, founder and CEO of Easy Crypto, who successfully n...
First Kiwi in Space
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He changed his name to Rocket, launched New Zealand's first private space vehicle, and is set to become the first Kiwi in space 🚀.Meet Mark Roc...
Can AI Really Fix Academic Research?
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He turned frustration with clunky academic tools into a million-dollar deep tech startup.👉 Youtube - https://bit.ly/3Rwqaur👉 Spotify – https:/...
From $50 to Millions: Investing Tips I Wish I Had at 17 💸
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He flipped a coin on a café table and accidentally rewired how New Zealand invests. 🎧 Listen on:👉 Spotify – https://spoti.fi/4is21QI👉 Appl...
How Bitcoin Mining Could Save the Planet
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Daniel Batten's life is anything but conventional. He grew up off-grid on the wild beaches of New Zealand, studied philosophy and drama, became an...
How This Young Founder Beat Elon Musk
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Stefan Powell transitioned from early rocketry experiments to co-founding Dawn Aerospace, a company pioneering rapid, reusable spaceflight. As CEO and...
How I Sold My Robotics Startup
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
David Inggs went from catching snakes in South Africa to building robots that Fortune 500 companies rely on. As co-founder of Rocos (acquired by Drone...
America’s Secret Weapon Against China? A New Zealand Startup
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From backyard experiments to securing defense contracts, David Moodie, founder of Foundry Lab, is revolutionizing how industries prototype and produce...
What It Takes to Build a Tech Unicorn from New Zealand
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Philip Fierlinger co-founded Xero, a global accounting powerhouse, but his journey didn’t stop there. Now, he's reshaping the B2B wholesale indu...
Why I Left Silicon Valley for New Zealand: A Tech Founder’s Journey
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Philip Fierlinger has always been ahead of his time. As a kid, he built his first CRM on a Radio Shack computer. By his 20s, he was designing mobile d...
He Flunked School, Now Runs a Multi-Million Business
02 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
🔥 The Story You Won’t Believe: At 7, Luke Campbell was mastering World of Warcraft while his peers barely had internet access. By 17, he was st...
How to Get Investors to Say YES
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From a $10K Debt to Building 20+ Startups – Sam Kim’s Unstoppable JourneyWhat does it take to go from crashing a Maserati to launching a global st...
How to Electrify Space
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From the frozen plains of Siberia to the cutting edge of space tech—Max Arshavsky, founder of Zenno Astronautics, is rewriting the rules of the cosm...
Kiwi Startup Builds a Bank
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
New Zealand’s banking system is one of the most profitable in the world—but also one of the most outdated. Jovan Pavlicevic, CEO of Emerge, is on ...
The Secret Hack for Happy Couples
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
🌟 Dive into the story of Erika Palmer — from her roots in a small New Zealand town to creating a revolutionary app for couples! 🌟Join hosts Ma...
How do They Turn Plants into Cars?
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
🌟 Dive into the inspiring journey of Ben, CEO of KiwiFibre! 🌟Join hosts Mark Pavlyukovskyy and Hendrik Remigereau—leveraging their expertise f...
Flying Boats: the Future of Moving on Water
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
🌟 Dive into the incredible journey of Eric, CEO of Vessev! 🌟Join hosts Mark Pavlyukovskyy and Hendrik Remigereau—leveraging their expertise fr...
Translating the World's Content into Sign Language with AI
13 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
🌟 Discover the inspiring journey of Arash Tayebi, Co-Founder of Kara Technologies! 🌟Join hosts Mark Pavlyukovskyy and Hendrik Remigereau—lever...