Business Is Boring

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Sarah Ramsay, CEO of United Machinists. Not that long ago in the scheme of things New Zealand did a lot of its own manufacturing. While some of the industries we used to have wouldn’t make much sense to restart now, there’s always room for specialists, no matter how small your home market. There’s a new generation of high-tech manufacturers thriving in New Zealand right now, and this week’s guest is one of the best examples. Sarah Ramsay’s company United Machinists recently expanded its Dunedin HQ, taking over another section of land and building a state-of-the-art temperature-controlled facility with millions of dollars of new machinery. It allowed them to make more high-tech components and assemblies for things as diverse as camera mounts and prosthetic hands.  Sarah has a backgrou

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Mitchell Pham from Augen Software Group. If the last century was the American century, so far this has been the Asian century. The last three decades have seen amazing growth in wealth and geopolitical influence for a range of Asian countries, in large part due to new trade linkages around the world. And in the digital present, those linkages should only increase. One New Zealander working to help make this happen in both his own business and at ain international level is Mitchell Pham.  Mitchell came to New Zealand from Vietnam, but a very different Vietnam to the one that exists now. He was 12 years old when he fled the country as a refugee – outrunning machine gun fire surviving exposure to the elements and running out of food before being picked up by an Indonesian oil rig crew.

Covid-19 has changed the world for a lot of businesses, and one of the hardest hit sectors has been tourist accommodation. New Zealand is a bit lucky that we have domestic tourism as a possibility, but it’s hard out there, and this week’s guest knows all about it. By age 28, Amelia Gain had owned, run and sold a boutique hotel before launching a successful property management software system serving customers all over the world, from bed and breakfasts in Queenstown to luxury lodges in Morocco. To talk about the state of the industry in a post-Covid world, how she built the business and the importance of incubators and the future, she joins host Simon Pound for a chat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand.  Earlier this year news came out that local company Soul Machines, makers of artificially intelligent, emotionally responsive avatars - what some call digital humans- had raised another $40m USD to continue to take their technology to the world. You might have seen their products - they work with AirNZ and ANZ here, and so many companies overseas, from the makers of Mercedes Benz to big banks in the UK.  This success isn’t the first rodeo for the Chief Business Officer there.  Greg Cross also was a co-founder and partner in the success of Power by Proxi, another commercialisation of research play that ended up with their wireless charging company sold to Apple for reportedly more than $100m. Before that Greg Cross was Chair at the Icehouse, and had a storied career in tech, doing things such as heading up

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Scottie Chapman from Spring Sheep Milk Co. New Zealand is famous all around the world for sheep, and for milk. But what it hasn’t been so well known for is sheep milk, but this week on the podcast we’re meeting a man out to change that. That’s right, sheep milk. It’s an alternative milk on the rise across SE Asia. It’s easier to digest than cow’s milk and has a way lower environmental impact than dairy. And although it might sound like it would take a lot of sheep to get volume up, with some selective breeding and some kiwi smarts Spring Sheep Milk Co have found a way to make this  primary product into high value exports. And it’s not the first time that company’s CEO has pulled that off. Scottie Chapman had his first big success with Old Mout cider, the brand he started that led hug

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Lovina McMurchy of Movac. Living in New Zealand we are a bit insulated from just how big some of the world;’s biggest companies are. Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks are bigger financial entities than many countries, and the things the leaders in those organisations do shape how people live. And there are some kiwis very high in those companies making those decisions. If you think about how central to life wifi in Starbucks became to so many people before mobile data was affordable, and if you’ve ever been a tourist popping in to take advantage of it for example, you have a kiwi to thank. And if you’ve ever used Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant to order a product chances are you have a kiwi to thank for that. Actually, the same kiwi for both.  Lovina McMurchy started her career here, b

Rob Teina from Supreme Plumbing in Auckland has worked out the formula to keep people interested in his business, growing an audience of over 4,000 on the Supreme Plumbing Instagram. Sharing everything from his tradition of giving the truck a wash ahead of the working week, taking "the bossman" – one of his young children – for a pastry and a cuppa mid-morning or exposing what good and bad workmanship looks like on site, Teina has grown a huge following from his staff of 10. He hit the headlines earlier this year with a series of cash giveaways to help businesses needing a hand over lockdown, a period that he spent on the road a lot as an essential worker. To chat about building his business and brand, learning a trade from apprenticeship up, and cultivating the mindset and conditions for growth, Rob Teina joined us on Business is Boring. Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about you

Simon Cooke and Ryan Carville are the founders of brewers yeast company Froth Technologies. Until very recently, even in the booming local craft brewing scene, almost all yeast used was imported from a very small group of commercialised strains. The yeast being used didn't even scrape the surface of the astounding variety of yeasts available, and their potential use in creating new, interesting beers. Last year the two Wellington craft beer professionals set out to change the scope of yeasts available for New Zealand brewers. Their company, Froth Technologies is, after a successful crowdfund last year, working with leading-edge tech and science, and bringing local yeast to the people. Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emma Lewisham is the founder of a skincare brand selling products to address the effects of sun on skin pigment. She's also launching a new initiative to take back the brand's packaging, along with any other beauty packaging, in return for a voucher for their products. Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jacob Kohn and Dr Gaetano Dedual are the co-founders of Futurity, who are in the process of bringing a bio-refinery to Tairāwhiti Gisborne, that would use new techniques to break pine down into its building block chemicals, that then become the platform chemicals that can be used for plastics, resins and all sorts of applications today provided by oil-derivatives. It’s an awesomely ambitious project that’s aiming to create jobs, increase the value we get for timber grown here, and help keep carbon in the ground. Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rachel Taulelei is the CEO of Kono, a whānau-owned Māori food and beverage business selling food, wine and produce brands all around the globe. Before this role, Taulelei founded Yellow Brick Road, a company selling the best seafood to top hospitality operators, and was NZ Trade Commissioner in Los Angeles. Today she is on the prime minister’s Business Advisory Council, and you might have seen her on one of the Conversations on Covid-19 that the PM was running. To talk about what being whānau owned means and her hopes for the rebuild post-Covid-19, Rachel Taulelei joined us on the podcast. Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Bell is an investor and business advisor. As a professor at US university Wharton, he taught many successful business founders and innovators. He's been an investor in pioneering companies like Diapers.com, Bonobos and Harry’s, and worked with Warby Parker, a US glasses company that's changing the world of how glasses are made, sold and priced.Its innovative direct-to-consumer model allows people to get pairs sent to their houses to try and then send back. It battles against monster incumbents that own the whole distribution chain, charge what they like - and still manage to make cool glasses affordable. It’s now a retail phenomenon, and Bell was one of the first investors and advisors to the company. Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily Miller-Sharma is the general manager at Ruby. She's one of the driving forces behind Mindful NZ, an industry body bringing together local producers to advocate for better standards of traceability and to create locally appropriate codes of conduct to find out what the industry is facing. Emily talks about initiatives like apprentices, moving toward more sustainable choices throughout the business and the story of Ruby. Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Asantha Wijeyeratne is the CEO of PaySauce. Since coming to New Zealand in 1988 as a young accountant, he has built multiple million-dollar businesses in the payroll space. Seeing that the payroll system could be done better he launched an early technology solution in 1995 called SmartBooks. Later know as SmartPayroll it grew to process a good portion of New Zealand business payrolls before eventually being sold to local tech giant Datacom in 2013. But there was still an itch to innovate in the space again with a mobile-first offering that took advantage of emerging tech. So in 2014, PaySauce was born. PaySauce has been in the news lately with its offer of a free "essentials" payroll solution, PaySimple, for New Zealand businesses affected by Covid-19. Its successful right issue brought on board its first institutional investor. To talk about the journey, what this disrupted world means for business, and how his work in the community helped lead to a Queen’s Service Medal, Wijeyeratne joined us by Zoom from S

Alice Lines and Nicholas Burrowes publish Homestyle magazine, and Nicholas is also chairman of the Magazine Publishers Association. On this episode we talk about what it takes to run magazines locally, what is involved in creating something people love to spend time with and what does the new business reality of Covi-19 mean for the sustainability of the titles we love? Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mel Lewis is the founder of Ultrella. Natural deodorant hasn’t always had the best image. Everyone probably knows someone they can smell at five paces who told them they run a crystal under their arm occasionally to help with odour. Some 'natural' mixtures have so much rosemary and coconut oil that you end up smelling like a body odour lamb roast. Mel was tackling an endurance 100km challenge, and needed something that worked but that wasn’t full of nasties. She figured there had to be a better option to what she could find, so applied for a research grant through Callaghan Innovation, got it, and partnered with a product developer expert to create a range of natural products that act like a natural botox, suppressing perspiration without the need for aluminium. Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Chapman is the founder of HR search company ChapmanCG. He has grown his business to the point that it’s attracted significant investment from a listed Japanese company, and also helped build an eco-resort island in remote Indonesia as well as being part of a global team that founded one of the toughest ultra races in the world (the Snowman Race in Bhutan). To talk his journey, tips for remote work and why he chose and is optimistic for NZ, Matthew Chapman joined us by zoom from Auckland’s west coast. Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pat MacFie is one of the founders of local agency Indigo and one of the driving forces behind Manaaki.io, a platform that helps give support to local businesses trying to navigate Covid-19 by linking up experts to answer questions from the business community. It's a great service, with some of the biggest names in Aotearoa's business scene volunteering their time. His company turned Manaaki around as a concept and launched the website in just days, and now they're busy making content that's having an impact on Kiwi businesses. Many in the tech scene will know MacFie for his role growing the Xero brand across pivotal years, running global media for the company and setting the standard in the industry. To talk stepping out of our local big blue and into Indigo, what they do there, his amazing team and how you can access Manaaki, he joined us for a chat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Business owners around the country will have been watching to see what the government is doing to help with the massive disruption caused by Covid-19. One of the things that's been offered is extra funding to support business, through the Regional Business Partners Network. This funding allows for mentoring and support so businesses can make plans to get through this. But what is the RBPN? How can you access it? Is it for you? and what help is available? This week we are chatting to one of the Regional Business Partners in this network, Kirstin Mead, who has been working with the programme for the last three years, helping companies in the Bay of Plenty access advice, support, and matched funds to grow their businesses. Now there are special services covering current needs like continuity planning and HR – and you don't need to match funds to access up to $2000 of specialist by-the-hour advice. RBPN can also connect you to mentors and make introductions to people that could help you and your business grow. He

Michelle Dickinson is well known as Nanogirl, her science communicating, experiment making, science cookbook authoring alter-ego. With a PhD in engineering specialising in nanotechnology, and a love for sparking interest in science, Dickinson has worked to increase the quality of our national conversation through media appearances, a Herald column and live events, events that can’t happen for the foreseeable future. Faced with this drop in income and uncertainty for her team, this spirit of invention and experimentation kicked in. The team pivoted over the course of three days to create an online learning platform that can help kids stuck at home experiment with items found around the house and learn through doing. With a lesson every weekday, for only a dollar a day, and a buy one give one model, it’s already finding a great audience. You can find her new venture at nanogirlslab.com Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva