Episodes

  • Live from Spark Accelerate: Balancing innovation and efficiency for organisational success

    Live from Spark Accelerate: Balancing innovation and efficiency for organisational success
    Nov 18 2024
    How can organisations proactively disrupt themselves to stay ahead in rapidly changing markets while optimising costs? Nadine Higgins hosts a panel of international business and technology leaders for an engaging discussion on creating a culture of innovation that encourages risk-taking and experimentation, balanced with smart resource allocation and efficiency improvements. Expect transformative ideas from frontline disruptors, as they explore the importance of continuous reinvention to maintain competitive advantage and organisational resilience in the face of uncertainty. Featuring: Edmundo Ortego (partner, Machine & Partners), Brian Northern (group CIO, Fulton Hogan), Dave Scullin (chief digital officer, Zespri), Sarah Carney (Australia / NZ CTO, Microsoft) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    56 mins
  • How Karma Drinks earns its name in Sierra Leone

    How Karma Drinks earns its name in Sierra Leone
    Nov 11 2024
    Karma Drinks and All Good Organics are among the best examples of businesses putting purpose and social impact at the heart of what they do. While providing great products, they also provide fairer wages to the growers and entrepreneurs involved in the production of goods, and part of all proceeds go to the Karma Foundation, which works to provide opportunities to people in Sierra Leone. The chair of that foundation is Albert Tucker, who has been a pioneer and advocate for Sierra Leone and fair-trade practices globally. Albert was in New Zealand to share more about the foundation’s work, and he joined us with Simon Coley, co-founder of Karma Drinks and All Good Organics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • NZ tech’s favourite recruiter

    NZ tech’s favourite recruiter
    Nov 4 2024
    Recruitment can be a great business if you do it well. You get roughly 15% of the salary of the people you place as a success fee, and if you have a good relationships with companies and talent you can repeat the process over and over. But it’s not a simple gig! Great recruiters need to understand the people and the businesses they work with - and every job you place directly affects your reputation. Troy Hammond is a recruiter who specialises in the high growth space who has become a sounding board, support person and champion for so many people in the start-up scene. Through his company Talent Army and the work he does with his podcast We F#$king Love Startups, he generates amazing impact. To talk the journey, big goals, and what’s next, Troy joins the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    56 mins
  • 25 years of Nature Baby

    25 years of Nature Baby
    Oct 28 2024
    Nature Baby is the organic baby wear company creating natural, long-lasting and well-made clothing, with a retail model that’s big on community. Co-founders Jacob and Georgia Faull have built to four stores, 55 staff and stockists around the world, and have ridden many waves of business, fashion and commerce to get there. To talk the journey, what’s next and their new circularity initiative Worn Again, co-founder Jacob Faull joins the pod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    48 mins
  • The old idea that could be the future for trades payments

    The old idea that could be the future for trades payments
    Oct 21 2024
    When a client didn’t pay Max Semmons-Russell’s plumbing business for a completed $30k job it nearly knocked his company over. When it happened again he decided there had to be a better way. Asking around he saw the problem was huge, and there might be a solution that had fallen out of use. Escrow is a concept where people put a payment with a trusted third party until the product or service has been delivered. Max built Green Light Escrow to make it easy for trades businesses to use escrow to have certainty of payment, and customers to know they only pay when the job is delivered. To talk solving the big problem, starting a tech business on top of a successful plumbing business and what’s next, Max Semmons-Russell joins Simon Pound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    45 mins
  • The biggest opportunity for startups? People!

    The biggest opportunity for startups? People!
    Oct 14 2024
    Although the biggest spending line for most startups is people, most startups don’t get serious about people until they get pretty big. Doing so earlier might just be the biggest lever startups can pull to increase their chances of making it in the long run, and making the journey along the way as smooth as possible. Kimberley Gilmour is one of New Zealand’s most experienced people leaders, having been instrumental in the scaling and operations of Icebreaker, Groov and Vend. Now the founder and CEO of Sprinklr, a new “people operations” company that is partnering with early-stage companies to help them grow, Kimberley joins the podcast to discuss her story, the origins of Sprinklr, and the two main pillars of great people management that she swears by. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    51 mins
  • The Kiwi company making concrete change

    The Kiwi company making concrete change
    Oct 7 2024
    Concrete is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, with around 8% of global carbon emissions linked to its manufacture and use - but it wasn’t always like this. Local sustainable startup Neocrete has taken inspiration from 2000-year-old Roman methods to make concrete with half the carbon emissions today and a path to being entirely carbon neutral in a few years. This world leading innovation has attracted top international VC support, and the co-founders Matt Kennedy-Good and Zarina Bazoeva are now poised to make huge impact on the biggest of industries. Kennedy-Good joins the pod to discuss making change in an established practice, the path to innovation and what’s next for the concrete industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    42 mins
  • A new agency for a new world

    A new agency for a new world
    Sep 30 2024
    Daylight is an advertising and communications agency that was born out of The Spinoff newsroom, from the amazing work Toby Morris and Siouxsie Wiles did with Covid explainer gifs which grabbed the eye of the World Health Organisation. Daylight CEO Lee Lowndes has built the agency to add web and digital capability, leading to local and international growth in the hardest of markets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    45 mins