Startup Theatre Podcast

In this episode of the WFLS podcast we chat with Mark Vivian . Mark is the General Partner with Movac who are New Zealand’s most experienced technology investor and is deeply integrated into the Kiwi tech sector. They've been actively investing since 1998 and are currently deploying Movac Fund 5 into Pre-A to Series C New Zealand technology companies. For the past 15 years Mark has been part o...

In this episode of WFLS we talk with Pene Barton . Pene is the CEO of Crimson Global Academy . A coach and experienced people leader, she is passionate about building high-growth, scalable, and successful organisations. Pene brings with her over ten years of experience working with some of the fastest-growing global startups in people, culture and performance roles whilst simultaneously running he...

On this episode of WFLS, we talk with Charlie Meaden about AI, investing and his company's ambition is to create a futuristic Berkshire Hathaway built on Automation, AI, and optimising productivity. Charlie is a technologist and investor who runs a systematic investment strategy and founder of Gembot.ai. Gembot is 'Your AI Investing Assistant & Modern Wealth Platform.' After successfully exiting h...

Welcome back. It is season ✌🏻 and we are going bigger and better. Our first episode of the season is with Brooke Roberts. Brooke is the co-founder, director and 3EO (co-CEO) of Sharesies and mother of two. Sharesies is an empowering money app with over half a million investors who’ve collectively invested over $2 billion. At Sharesies, their vision is to give someone with $5 and $5m the money inv...

This podcast has made us all very happy by doing something that brings us and others joy in the world. With season one wrapping, let's go back and look at our final question and the answers to: "What makes you happy?" Thank you to our major sponsor for season one in Talent Army Thank you to Jono, Dom and Troy for putting this together and Jen for her lovely voice over skills.

In the final episode of the WFLS podcast, we chat with Mike Riversdale  &  Raj Khushal  who were one of the reasons this podcast was created. Our host Troy Hammond was a big fan of the Access Granted podcast that Mike & Raj founded and ran for many years. It was a gritty podcast started in Wellington to celebrate the tech startup community. Mike and Raj usually recorded at Goldings Free di...

In this episode of the WFLS podcast, we chat with Matthew Hayter who is the CEO & Founder at Projectworks. We talk about Matt's journey from working in a consulting company to spinning off a startup from that company that invested in them. When the company got acquired, so did Projectworks and this was before they had even got the product off the ground. Matt and his team found themselves...

In this episode, we speak with Carlos Chambers . Troy and Carlos chat about his journey from being a lawyer, to a climate activist to now a successful founder of two saas companies. They discuss the highs and lows of this journey and a brief psychadelic-infused trip to Burning Man that help put Carlos on a better path. Carlos is on a mission to make a dent in the world. He is a climate fintech fou...

In this episode, Troy chats with John-Daniel Trask , or JD, who is the Co-founder & CEO of Raygun . He has been developing software for over 30 years, has produced 14 products, built 4 joint ventures, invests in start-ups, and spends his days leading Raygun and building Lego with his family. Troy and JD chat about his story from knowing he was going to be a successful entrepreneur at 9 years o...

Mary Haddock-Staniland is the SVP of Global DEIB & People APAC EMEA at EverCommerce a global software company. In this episode, Troy and Mary talk about Mary's journey, transitioning into one of the most remarkable and mana-enhancing wahine we have ever had the privilege of talking with. They cover Mary's personal story, what it is like being a trans woman in New Zealand and now sittin...

In this episode Troy Hammond talks with Mark Clare from Clare Capital . Please subscribe to help us continue bringing you great podcasts. There has been so many acquisitions over the last few years and we wanted to know when is the best time to bring an investment banker in. Mark gives us a great insight into the M&A process and how you can maximise your opportunities. They discuss a range of...

In this episode of We F*@KIN Love Startups, Troy Hammond chats with Kimberley Gilmour who is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sprinklr . We talk about the highs, lows, and comebacks Kimberley has had in tech, where she has had to take time off from heavy life situations. Kimberley is a breath of fresh air in the People Experience space for startups and she and the Sprinklr team, help startups grow. Previ...

"Ka mua, ka muri" is a whakatauki that many will know means "walking backwards into the future" - the idea we should look to the past to inform the future. We felt that this podcast with Lee really embodies "walking backwards into the future" as Lee helps the next generation of young Māori and Pasifika understand that the things, they need to be innovators are all tol...

In this episode, Troy Hammond chats with Rachael Fitzjohn. You will hear them talk about leadership, trust, fuckups, vulnerability, and becoming one of NZ's best tech leaders of people. Her name is Rachael Fitzjohn. Although over the last few years, further to a joke from a workmate and then multiple Rachel's/Rachael's in the team, Rachael became Fitzy! Fitzy works at a company called Cogo. Cogo i...

In this episode, Troy Hammond chats with his old boss and good friend Vaughan Fergusson. Vaughan goes deep on the startup journey of a man who founded a company and did not know what he was doing and then sold it for $484m NZD. He is open, honest, vulnerable and talks about his passion for not just Vend, but his charity and how to grow an ecosystem. We touch on how Innovation is the fastest was to...

In this episode, Troy Hammond talks with Andréa van der Meel. We chat about tech, greenwashing, and how we can make considerate decisions on fashion and be better for the environment and the people producing these products. We chat about Andrea's career founding a tech startup on her own in her 20s. We also chat about how the second time around founding a startup, she joined forces with John Holt...

In this episode, Troy Hammond speaks with Danny Smith on the fall of Silicon Valley bank due to the bank run. They go deep into what has happened, why it happened, and what could happen in the future. Danny breaks down the information in an eloquent non-financial talk conversation so that everyone can understand the reasoning behind the 18th largest bank in the US falling down.   Danny is a s...

In this episode, Troy Hammond speaks with Joel Lieser.  Joel Lieser is the CTO of Trove Money, a child company of Forsyth Barr.   His career has spanned seven states and three countries, where he has held positions from global banks to Silicon Valley technology juggernauts like Netflix, and companies like Nike along with multiple startups along the way.   His passions lie in technology innovation...

In this episode, we chat with Dale Clareburt from Weirdly Dale has been the CEO/Co-Founder of Weirdly since the beginning of 2014. She has 20+ years in the recruitment industry before going into tech.  Starting out in the agency land where the focus is on delivering a 1:1 service, Dale and three other founders banded together to create a product to improve the experience for candidates in the...

In this episode, we chat with James Fuller from Hnry .  James began his career as an application developer, before moving into technology strategy and consultancy.  After senior roles at Thomson Reuters and Deloitte, he decided to strike out on his own as a growth consultant for startups, corporate, and government clients.   It was rewarding work, but James found himself struggling...

In this episode, we chat with Jessica Halley . Jessica is a Wellington-born social anthropologist. Her PhD research focuses on the intersection between precarious labour, entrepreneurialism, and identity across Wellington’s digital workforce. As an anthropologist, Jessica collects human stories. She tells us that ethnographic research allows us to mine everyday stories. Bringing these stories into...

In this episode, we chat with Miki Szikszai.  Miki has served as CEO of Snapper Services since 2009. You'll know Snapper as the ticketing provider for Wellington - it also serves off-shore customers by white-labeling its apps and is launching a transport network performance analytics service in the next few weeks. He's been an active director on the Board of NZ-based SaaS companies including the o...

In this episode, we chat with Adrienne Muir .  Adrienne is the Chief Operating Officer of Voxsmart which is headquartered in London and based in Queenstown. Born and Bred in Wellington,  Adrienne Muir has spent decades working overseas in the global capital markets and financial technology sectors.  When she started at VoxSmart in London in 2017, the business communications surveill...

In this episode, we chat with Jonty Hodge   Jonty is a Wellington-based entrepreneur, co-founder, and CEO of Kepla , an emerging SaaS that makes it incredibly easy for any business to run incredibly effective digital advertising campaigns.  Dubbed 'a digital advertising agency in your pocket'.    Previously co-founded Aro Digital , a digital marketing agency based in Oriental B...

In this episode, we chat with Owen Evans . Owen is the Senior Vice President Of Technology (CTO) of Timely . He talks about his many attempts in startups and his growth as a leader of engineering teams. Owen has been a software developer and technologist since being introduced to the early stages of the internet in the early 90s.  Since then he's gone on to help found a number of startups, in...