Claudia Batten, Founder and Entrepreneur

In this episode, I sit down with one of New Zealand’s favourite entrepreneurs, Claudia Batten - trailblazer, startup builder, and global champion for Kiwi businesses. With multiple successful US ventures behind her, she now works across a number of boards and brings her signature candour, humour, and hard-won wisdom to the conversation. A longtime friend (and one-time fellow law school tutee!), Claudia dives into the truth of entrepreneurial life: the challenge is the point. She reveals why “execution by fire” forges real problem solving muscle and why great founders trust their ability to figure anything out. We explore her view of business as one giant, messy puzzle, constantly shifting, sometimes breaking, and always requiring you to simply find a place to start. From transformation in the boardroom (“everything is breaking because everything needs to be fixed”) to her wonderfully squiggly career from startup founder to NZTE leader, Claudia offers an inspiring, practical take on what it really takes to make bold decisions and build bold companies.