Startup Theatre Podcast

Before the 100th episode of Startup Theatre with Rod Drury, we brought the community together in Queenstown for a live fireside series with founders, operators, investors, and ecosystem builders from across New Zealand.

In front of a live audience, we explored what really happens behind the scenes of building companies – from validating an idea and surviving early mistakes, to scaling teams, raising capital, hiring well, and knowing when to step aside as a founder.

You’ll hear from founders at different stages, SaaS and non-SaaS alike, alongside the people who quietly support the ecosystem every day – investors, advisors, operators, and community leaders.

This episode captures the honesty, humour, and reality of startup life, complete with live reactions, tough lessons, and practical insights for anyone building, backing, or thinking about starting a company.

Moderated by our own Adrienne Muir & Troy Hammond

Fireside chat panel (Founders):

• Rob Stirling – Scannable

• Melissa Jenner – ACTVO

• Heidi Farren – Tourism Innovation Group (TIG)

• Stuart McLean – EverCommerce

Ecosystem supporters panel:

• Peter Fullerton-Smith – Mountain Club

• Alison Meredith – Startup Queenstown Lakes

• Anand Reddy – PwC New Zealand

• Kimberley Gilmour – Sprinklr NZ

Proudly supported by PwC, long-standing champions of New Zealand’s tech and startup ecosystem.

Want a free discovery session with PwC?

Head to 👉🏻 https://www.pwc.co.nz/services/private-business/startup-theatre.html

Special thanks to our supporter sponsor in Startup Queenstown Lakes⁠

A New Zealand insuretech startup thought they’d cracked the US market, until a Fortune 500 incumbent sued them “out of the blue”.

In this episode of Startup Theatre, Serge Van Damme speaks with former Montoux co-CEOs Shelley Cox and Klaas Stijnen about what it’s like to be hit with major IP allegations in the US, how quickly litigation can choke a startup’s ability to sell or raise, and why their realistic options became: fight, sell, or liquidate.

They share the moment they discovered the filing, the impact on customers and staff, the decision to appoint a liquidator in New Zealand, and what’s happening now in the High Court, including the dispute over whether the liquidator can sell assets while proceedings continue.

You’ll also hear practical lessons for founders going into litigious markets: understanding incumbent behaviour, thinking about legal risk as a board-level issue, and why insurance and jurisdiction matter more than most startups assume.

You will hear:

• The moment Shelley found out through an email offering representation, nearly marked it as spam, then googled and saw “FIS versus Montoux” had been filed
• Why a US lawsuit is an incredibly effective way to stifle a startup, regardless of motivation, because defence costs and commercial impact hit at the same time
• What Montoux actually built for life insurers, why actuarial models matter, and what it felt like when they believed they had “cracked it” with major customer momentum
• The three brutal options they had: fight, sell, or liquidate, and why “fight” became financially non-viable fast
• How staff reacted to being implicitly accused of wrongdoing, and what it is like to have no playbook for something this serious
• What liquidation actually means, what a liquidator is required to do, and why the timeline moved so quickly
• The NZ High Court injunction hearing over whether the liquidator can sell assets while the case continues, and why it felt so cold and detached from the humans behind the business
• Hard lessons for founders entering litigious markets: treating legal risk as a board-level topic, reviewing insurance properly, and researching an incumbent’s litigation posture before you enter their space

Startups in the Spotlight: three Kiwi insuretechs going global, PolicyCheck, Simfuni, and Javln.

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Vanta. If you are starting or scaling your security programme, Vanta automates compliance for ISO 27001, SOC 2, and more.

Get USD $1,000 off at: ⁠vanta.com/startuptheater⁠

This episode discusses allegations and an ongoing legal dispute. We’re sharing the guest’s perspective and our commentary. Any claims mentioned are allegations only, not findings of fact. Nothing in this episode is legal advice, and we’ll avoid speculating on matters before the courts.

In our 100th episode of Startup Theatre, we went live in Queenstown for a milestone fireside chat with Rod Drury, founder of Xero.

Rod unpacks the behind-the-scenes reality of building a global SaaS company from Wellington: why they IPO’d early, what raising capital actually takes, and how to build teams that can scale without losing pace.

We also get into founder PR, working on the business vs in it, what “A-players” really are, and why culture (and proximity) still matters.

Then Rod goes beyond Xero and talks about New Zealand’s next chapter: digital identity, open banking, “sovereign” infrastructure, and the practical risks of global platforms extracting value from tourism and payments. If you care about startups, high performance, or the future of NZ tech, this one is essential listening.

Topics include:

• Early-stage IPOs, capital strategy, and “raise when you don’t need it”

• Building founder-led urgency and accelerating decision-making

• Hiring A-players and the real cost of compromise

• Founder comms, media strategy, and long-term relationship building

• NZ innovation: digital identity, tourism platforms, and procurement

• AI’s impact on jobs and the “no new hires” mindset

Startup Theatre is produced by Empire Films, and this episode was proudly supported by PwC.

Goodnature CEO Dave Shoemack has had one of the more unusual startup careers you will hear about.

From big beer at Heineken HQ, to helping turn VanMoof into the “Tesla of e-bikes” in Amsterdam, to leading Wellington trap-maker Goodnature and living with a founder at home through natural perfume brand Abel.

In this episode of Startup Theatre, Troy and Serge sit down with Dave to talk about building global hardware companies from tiny teams, dealing with bankruptcy and rebirth, and why focus and courage matter more than almost anything else.

You will hear:

• The inside story of VanMoof’s rise, the brave anti-car ad that was banned in France, and what it felt like to watch the company go bankrupt after he left

• How Dave walked away from a cushy global role at Heineken, battled crippling imposter syndrome, and learned to love “lobster moments” where growth only comes from discomfort

• Why VanMoof eventually doubled down on one bike, one audience, and one moment, and how that extreme focus translated directly into brand power

• The move back to Wellington, joining Goodnature’s board then stepping up as CEO, and what it is really like to manufacture smart, humane traps 100 metres from the Basin Reserve and ship them to the world

• Dinner-table startup life with his wife Frances, founder of natural perfume house Abel, and the difference between pioneers who start things and settlers who grow them

• How Goodnature keeps “founder chaos” alive in a 20-year-old company, and why Kiwi companies should stop selling out too early

In a new “Behind the Curtain” explainer segment, Serge also breaks down ESOPs and share options:

• What ESOP and options actually are, and why most employees do not receive real shares up front

• How vesting, cliffs, good leaver and bad leaver provisions work in New Zealand

• What happens to your options if the company sells early, or you leave

• When tax hits, how net settlement usually works, and whether ESOP is really “worth it”

• Practical advice on negotiating salary first, then treating options as upside rather than your base pay

Finally, Troy and Serge answer audience questions, talk through the new Behind the Curtain segment, and explain how you can be in the draw for a $1,000 Prezi card as they work towards the 100th episode.

Sponsor:
This episode is brought to you by Vanta. If you are starting or scaling your security programme, Vanta automates compliance for ISO 27001, SOC 2, and more.

Get USD $1,000 off at: vanta.com/startuptheater

Links from this episode:
Goodnature: https://goodnature.co.nz
VanMoof: https://www.vanmoof.com
Abel fragrance: https://abelodor.com

From AngelList to OnDeck to Blackbird, David has spent a decade designing the connective tissue between people, products, and ideas.

NZ's own David Booth now joins a16z as Partner and Head of Ecosystem.

His mission: make a16z the F1 pit crew of venture, where network power compounds and every founder gets faster.

David helped build one of the world’s most impactful founder communities through On Deck, helping over 1,000 startups raise more than $2B. But his path wasn’t conventional. He built momentum quietly — through community, consistency, and backing other founders long before becoming a VC himself.

In this conversation, David shares how he went from building a dinner-table movement to being invited to join one of the most powerful VC firms in the world.

It’s a story about showing up, lifting others, and trusting that if you do the hard things well, people will notice.

• How On Deck grew from idea to $20M+ revenue and a $70M raise

• Lessons from his time as Entrepreneur in Residence at Blackbird

• How building a Kiwi founder network in SF led to a16z

• What great VCs actually look for in early-stage founders

• Why advising others made him a better founder — and now a better investor

  
  

🔑 Topics Covered:

• The crossroad moment where he almost walked away from the company he built

• Why fundraising is just as much about self-awareness as it is about metrics

• How scaling culture is the real moat, and why most startups miss it

• The psychological shift from operator to investor — and what founders still get wrong

• Why joining a16z isn’t the finish line—it’s the beginning of a new mission

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Startups under the Spotlight brought to you by Talent Army

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In this episode of Startup Theatre, host Troy Hammond sits down with serial founder and engineer Nimo Naamani—a man who’s lived through the chaos of founding blockchain companies, building developer tools, getting acqui-hired by Twitter, and now taking on one of the hardest industries of all: healthcare.

Nimo shares wild stories—from building Horizon State, to selling his startup to Twitter, to launching Propagator, a platform aiming to connect every health transaction in New Zealand. Along the way, we unpack the mindset of a “zero to one” founder, what makes a 10x engineer (or a 100x one), and why he thinks clarity is more important than speed.

Plus, you’ll hear about:

• Building tech under Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk

• Why he believes every system leaks and how Propagator builds around that

• The surprising cult-like spirit inside Twitter

• The infamous swamp origin story (yes, it involves a cowboy costume and actual sh*t)

If you’re a startup builder, healthtech nerd, or just love hearing from people who do the hard stuff, this is one for the queue.

🎧 Tune in now – and take notes. Nimo knows how to build a product and scale.

🔑 Topics Covered

• The swampy origin story that shaped Nimo’s love of chaos and hard problems

• What happens inside a Twitter acqui-hire — and why they paid top dollar for his team

• How Propagator is fixing healthcare by doing the hardest thing first and not storing your data

• Why most startups fail at integration — and what it actually takes to connect legacy systems

• The messy truth about co-founders, clarity, and leading when you're not a natural CEO

  
  

🔥 Soundbites

• Speed without clarity is just noise.
• I don’t want to store your data. I want to move it — fast and safely.
• I’ve been surrounded by bullsh!t since I was four. I’m used to chaos.
• I never wanted to be CEO. I just want to fix things.
• You don’t need a cult to build a great company. You need adults.
• A startup is not a family. I’ve got kids — I don’t need more at work.
• I’ll take the swamp every time. That’s where the real work is.
• Most people start with the easy. We started with the hard.
• The best founders aren’t the loudest. They’re the most convicted.
• Every system leaks. So prepare, don’t panic.

This podcast was brought to you by our amazing sponsor in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vanta⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🙌🏻

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What happens when a broke Kiwi founder and his team fly to San Francisco with only $15,000 left, sleep in a basement, and end up playing poker with the investor who changes everything?

In this episode of Startup Theatre, Troy Hammond sits down with Alistair McLeay, co-founder and co-CEO of Grw AI, one of New Zealand’s most ambitious artificial intelligence startups.

Alistair shares how a chance poker game in San Francisco helped him land funding and kickstart the creation of what he calls a “superhuman AI sales leader.”

Grw AI is a tool that coaches, trains, and lifts entire sales teams like the world’s best manager on steroids.

🔑 Topics Covered:

• ​The high-stakes gamble that almost ended his company before it began
• ​What it takes to raise capital when you have nothing left but conviction
• ​Why AI could make us more human, not less
• ​The personal cost of chasing something world-changing
• ​How the next five years of AI will transform how we think and work

From investing in San Frasnciso, to neural networks, this is a story about risk, belief, and the blurred line between human intuition, machine intelligence, and moral responsibility.If you care about startups, AI ethics, and the people shaping the future of artificial intelligence when everything is on the line, this one is for you.

🔥 Soundbites:

• ​We had $15,000 left and nowhere to sleep, so we went all in.
• ​We’re not building AI to replace people. We’re building it to make them superhuman.
• ​The real danger isn’t that AI will take your job. It’s that it might take your purpose.
• ​We taught machines to think, but can we teach them to care?
• ​This isn’t just a startup story. It’s a glimpse into the next chapter of humanity.
• ​You don’t need comfort to build the future. You need obsession.

🎧 Tune in now – and take notes. Alistair doesn’t hold back.

This podcast was brought to you by our amazing sponsor in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vanta⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🙌🏻

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In this episode of Startup Theatre, Troy Hammond sits down with Michael "Koz" Koziarski, a veteran software engineer, startup founder, and open source contributor, to talk about the messy, real, and rewarding side of building software and leading teams.

From his early work in Ruby on Rails and open source to his leadership roles at Vend and Southgate Labs, Koz shares the honest truths about engineering in high-growth environments.

You’ll hear how great leadership isn’t about having all the answers, it’s about building trust, hiring well, and raising the performance bar.

This conversation delves into what it truly takes to lead technical teams, navigate outages, transition from consulting to product development, and why there are no silver bullets—just consistent, hard, and deliberate work.

Whether you're an engineer stepping into leadership or a founder trying to build a high-performing team, Koz’s lessons on product understanding, trust, AI expectations, and crisis management will resonate.

🔑 Topics Covered:

• ​The evolution of open source and Ruby on Rails
• ​Why understanding product is non-negotiable for engineering leaders
• ​The real differences between consulting and building product
• ​Transitioning from coder to leader—and doing it well
• ​Navigating business reality vs. startup fantasy
• ​Raising the performance bar and letting your team fail
• ​Leadership in the age of AI
• ​Outages, crisis comms, and how to keep calm under fire

🔥 Soundbites:

• ​“There are no silver bullets in business... hard work is key.”
• ​“You’ve got to be able to call bullsh!t.”
• ​“Engineers need to stop sitting in ball pits."

🎧 Tune in now – and take notes. Koz doesn’t hold back.

This podcast was brought to you by our amazing sponsor in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vanta⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🙌🏻

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In this episode of Startup Theatre, we sit down with Sam Kidd, co-founder and CEO of Lawvu, the pioneering legal operations platform that's transforming how in-house legal teams operate around the globe. Sam shares the journey of turning a bold idea from Tauranga, New Zealand in to a global SaaS company trusted by enterprise legal departments worldwide.

We dive into:

• The pain points in legal ops that inspired Lawvu

• Lessons learned scaling a startup in a niche (and often overlooked) industry

• The mental resilience needed to lead through hypergrowth and headwinds

• Why building company culture and customer trust go hand-in-hand

• The future of legal tech and where Lawvu is headed next

Whether you're an early-stage founder, a SaaS junkie, or just love hearing how great ideas become global businesses, this one’s packed with insights you don’t want to miss.

🎧 Tune in now – and take notes. Sam doesn’t hold back.

This podcast was brought to you by our amazing sponsor in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vanta⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🙌🏻

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Ever wondered what your colleagues really think about you?

In this episode, we sit down with Aaron Ward, co-founder and CEO of Huckleberry, the global startup turning workplace feedback on its head.

Aaron isn’t new to shaking up the world of work.

He previously co-founded AskNicely, a customer feedback SaaS that grew to Series B and raised over USD $50m, helping companies around the world rethink how they measure and act on customer experience.

With Huckleberry, he’s now bringing that same obsession with feedback and growth to the way we understand ourselves at work.

Huckleberry is the world’s first voice-based 360 feedback platform, designed to strip out the clunky surveys, save 90% of the time, and put your professional reputation in your pocket.

Think of it as the LinkedIn of feedback, a shareable profile that captures your strengths, work style, and how your team actually sees you.

In our conversation, Aaron shares how his team is reinventing one of the most broken parts of work: feedback. We explore the psychology of reputation, why most companies get it wrong, and how AI can transform the way we understand ourselves and grow our careers.

If you’ve ever wanted a no-BS view of your office reputation....

This episode is for you.