TechMates

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 Pym is an Australia-based, New Zealand-minded tech entrepreneur, builder, and investor behind products used by millions—from Up (the mobile bank he co-created and later sold to Bendigo & Adelaide Bank) to Buildkite (CI/CD rails powering top tech companies). In this episode, Dom unpacks his path from early internet projects at SAP and Toyota kiosks to bootstrapping fintech, scaling a digital bank, and designing hardware + OS for expert builders.We also get Dom’s ecosystem thesis for New Zealand + Australia: keep IP local, go global (“go big, grow home”), and create multi-generational startup “turns” by seeding founder mafias after meaningful exits—exactly what he’s now doing with Euphemia and the Triple Bubble fund.

🧒 SAP at 19 → ABAP → SAP Markets “speedboat” for the web.

🧰 Early web builds: kiosks at Toyota, MySAP.com → NetWeaver.

🎧 Record-label detour → iTunes aggregator → first iPhone apps (WordPress, Lonely Planet).

🏦 Up: frustration with banks → infinite activity feed, merchant logos, instant wallets; kept independent post-acquisition.

📈 1.5M+ customers, billions in deposits & home loans; why he sold and how staff shared the win.

🧱 Buildkite originated inside Pin Payments → now powers teams at companies like Airbnb, Shopify, Slack, Lyft.

🌏 NZ as launchpad: meeting Emerge, Dosh; the case for regional fintech and keeping IP at home.

🧠 Euphemia & Triple Bubble: backing regulated fintech + secondaries/publics across AU/NZ/Pacific.

🖥️ Caligra: new expert OS + hardware (retro-inspired, distraction-free) for engineers & researchers.

Connect with the Guest

Dom Pym — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dompym

Euphemia: https://www.euphemia.comTriple Bubble: https://triplebubble.com

Up: https://up.com.au

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 & why Dom’s story matters now

01:23 — Early years, curiosity, Apple IIe → DOS → QBasic

08:43 — Building PCs after school; first OEM Windows installs

09:59 — Meeting Steve Wozniak; a spark for starting up

12:12 — SAP: first undergrad hire; youngest at 19

16:05 — “Titanic & speedboat”: SAP Markets and the browser era

19:36 — Toyota kiosk & early e-commerce UX

24:03 — Side projects → CMS → Band Manager

31:02 — iTunes aggregator; first iPhone apps (WordPress, LP)

37:16 — Clear Interactive → Clear Grain Exchange

38:42 — 22 companies built; hits and misses

41:11 — Pin Payments → the Buildkite spin-out origin

49:51 — Why Up had to exist; building for love & engagement

55:20 — Infinite feed, merchant logos, instant wallets

58:05 — Up x Bendigo: first cloud-hosted bank in AU

59:32 — Selling Ferocia; keeping Up independent

01:01:40 — NZ visit: Emerge, Dosh, and the fintech wave

01:07:37 — Three COVID-era exits; why timing matters

01:12:15 — Euphemia & Triple Bubble: thesis and structure

01:17:47 — Caligra: expert OS + retro-inspired hardware

Enjoyed Dom’s playbook for startups and business in and beyond New Zealand? Smash 👍, drop your questions, and subscribe for more founder deep-dives.

#startups, #NewZealand, #business, #fintech, #banking, #payments, #Buildkite, #software, #venturecapital, #entrepreneurship, #cloud, #design, #UX, #AI, #Australia, #NZTech, #SaaS, #founderstory, #TechMates, #podcast

How founders, investors, and institutions are shaping the next decade of ANZ innovation.

Live on stage with TechMates (hosts Mark Pavlyukovskyy & Hendrik Remigereau), three heavyweight voices dive into the state of the NZ startup ecosystem: Shaun Quincey (rowed the Tasman; now building Simfuni for insurers), Janine Grainger (co-founded Easy Crypto; exited earlier this year), and Jacques Richter (Investment Director at NZ Growth Capital Partners, managing the Aspire seed fund). They get specific on what’s great here—access, trust, regulators who take meetings—and what’s hard: under-capitalization, distance, and the cultural “tall poppy” tax on big ambition.

This panel strips out the fluff: how to use New Zealand as a sandbox then go global, why “enterprise infiltration” is a real skill, what investors actually fund at seed, and why exits, mafias, and more diverse founders are the next unlock. You’ll also hear hard numbers on ecosystem growth (6× since 2019) and a challenge to scale from ~1,000 to 5,000 startups in the pipeline.

🌏 NZ as incubator → world as market: high-trust access, global translation is the test.

🏛️ Regulation: open-door chats vs “regulation by enforcement” overseas.🧭 Enterprise infiltration: find the real buyer, ask for money early.

💸 Capital & culture: the comfy $10M plateau, under-capitalization, and fund size reality.

🌿 Tall poppy & ambition: cheer louder, tell a bigger story, survive the pivots.

👩‍💻 Diversity matters: “stop funding the same founder mold”; women still under-funded.🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Talent & bravery: remote-first teams, culture as hiring edge, lower the barrier for movers.

📊 Ecosystem math: 6× EV since 2019; aim for ~5,000 startups, not ~1,000.

Connect with the Guests

Shaun Quincey — https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-quincey-53548132

Janine Grainger — https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-grainger

Jacques Richter — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacques-richter-a216b324

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/

If this sharpened your startup/business brain, hit 👍 and subscribe for more New Zealand founder deep-dives.

00:00 – Intro

02:59 – Would you build again in New Zealand?

04:21 – Working with regulators in New Zealand vs. abroad

05:18 – Investor perspective on scaling beyond NZ

06:28 – Comparison with building companies in Germany

06:50 – Pros and cons of building from NZ (Sean on access and ambition)

08:17 – The $10M lifestyle business trap in NZ

08:40 – Under-capitalization and growth of local VC ecosystem

10:12 – The importance of startup “mafias” in NZ

11:01 – Janine on exiting and mentoring new founders

12:28 – Investor view: learning from exits and spinouts

12:52 – Mark and Janine on founder culture in Silicon Valley

14:25 – Developing startup culture and access for new founders

15:29 – Underselling ambition: the Kiwi mindset

16:41 – Sean on Tall Poppy syndrome

17:57 – Janine on selling to an Australian company and founder ambitions

19:53 – Jacques on VC fund maturity and exit sizes

20:46 – How investors decide which founders to back

22:19 – What investors look for: meaningful problems and narratives

23:18 – What needs to change in the NZ startup ecosystem?

23:47 – Sean’s vision: capital, education, and share options reform

26:00 – Janine: Stop investing only in “Mark Zuckerberg types”

26:53 – Jacques: NZ’s VC growth and what’s next

28:22 – Audience question: Where do the best startup ideas come from?

30:15 – The role of passion in solving problems

31:03 – Human capital and building great workplaces

32:00 – Sean on attracting global talent to NZ

33:10 – Discussion: Is NZ talent density enough?

#startups, #NewZealand, #business, #venturecapital, #founders, #regulation, #talent, #ESOP, #globalexpansion, #womenintech, #innovation, #fintech, #crypto, #AI, #robotics, #ecosystem, #SaaS, #NZTech, #TechMates, #podcast

Five New Zealand–linked founders drop hard-won truths!

This highlight episode brings together five New Zealand tech entrepreneurs at very different stages—Shaun Quincey, Liam Kampshof, Nick Damiano, Steven Zinsli, and Anna Henwood. It’s a punchy reel of what actually moves the needle in startups: selling into enterprise, building brutally simple products, and staying alive long enough for the compounding to kick in.

You’ll hear why enterprise sales is a “dark art” that starts by finding the real buyer, the founder mindset of “stop what’s not working and don’t die,” the moment a recap turns an engineer into a founder, and why loving uncertainty can keep you in the game for 15 years.

🕸️ Enterprise infiltration: map budget cycles, find the true decision-maker, ask for money early.

🧰 Prototype grit: shower tests, mastitis milk samples, and a raincoat-and-laptop cowshed setup.

🔁 Pivot discipline: “stop doing the wrong thing,” survive, and let time create trust.

🧠 Founder trigger: when a recap pushes a product-first engineer to build their own company.

🎢 Roller-coaster reality: loving uncertainty, community, and autonomy in startups.

🤖 AI & robotics: software-first medtech, simple sensors over dashboards, and pragmatic adoption.

💼 Go-to-market: from field demos to enterprise programs that actually close.

Connect with the Guests:

Shaun Quincey — https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-quincey-53548132

Nick Damiano — https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickdamiano

Liam Kampshof — https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-kampshof

Steven Zinsli — https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-zinsli-💳-aa813184

Anna Henwood — https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-henwoodLearn 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/

Timestamps:

00:00 — Intro00:30 — Shaun on “enterprise infiltration” and finding the buyer

03:31 — Liam’s prototypes and cowshed data

04:32 — Steven: stop what’s wrong, don’t die, play the long game

06:26 — Nick: a recap, a product plan, and the founder decision

08:00 — Anna: the roller coaster, autonomy, and loving uncertaintyIf this sharpened your startup/business brain, hit 👍, drop your questions for the founders below, and subscribe for more New Zealand founder deep-dives.

#startups, #business, #NewZealand, #AI, #robotics, #agtech, #fintech, #insurtech, #SaaS, #venturecapital, #productmarketfit, #founderstory, #enterprise, #B2B, #medtech, #marketresearch, #dairy, #compliance, #innovation, #podcast

🐄 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

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

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

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

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

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

🎙️ 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