PODCAST · business
Startup Theatre Podcast
by Talent Army Media
Exploring the wins, challenges, & lessons from startups. Honest conversations, real insights, and everything in between.Troy Hammond & Serge van Dam, with deep roots in the startup ecosystem in New Zealand and beyond, explore the world of startups, tech, markets, and media. They break down industry trends, uncover the realities of scaling companies, and share expert insights through candid conversations. Each episode features top founders, operators, investors, and innovators, offering lessons, perspectives, and stories from the frontlines of business and technology.
Episodes
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Why a Minister and Mayor became a startup fan
Why is government so bad at adopting new technology? And what would it take for New Zealand to build an economy where tech and startups sit alongside our traditional industries? This week, Serge Van Dam sits down with Wellington Mayor and former Cabinet Minister Andrew Little for a wide-ranging...
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She Built & Sold an AI Startup in Under 2 Years for $34M
How do you build and sell an AI startup in under two years? In this episode of Startup Theatre, Troy Hammond, Serge Van Dam and Adrian Muir sit down with Jessica Venning-Bryan, CEO and Co-founder of Factor, fresh off the company's acquisition by NZX-listed Gentrack. Jessica shares the incredible...
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The NZ Startup Trying to Save Music
Sacha Judd, Co-founder and COO of Lume Music, joins Startup Theatre to discuss the future of music, creator monetisation, and building a startup in one of the world’s toughest industries. We explore why the traditional music industry model is failing independent artists, how streaming platforms...
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Why New Zealand is Falling Behind
Jamie Beaton, founder of Crimson Education, joins Startup Theatre for a wide-ranging conversation on ambition, AI, education, startups, and the future of New Zealand. Jamie shares his journey from New Zealand student to Harvard and Yale, building Crimson Education into a global company, and why...
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$2.8B in Insurance claims were denied last year: My AI is fixing it.
In this episode of Startup Theatre, Troy Hammond and Serge Van Dam sit down with Simon Archer, founder of PolicyCheck, to unpack one of the biggest untapped problems in global fintech: understanding insurance. Simon shares the story behind leaving a successful corporate career to build in the AI...
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Software Engineering is DEAD: This is what replaces you.
Is software engineering already dead? In this episode of Startup Theatre, Troy & Serge sit down with Nik Wakelin the co-founder of Sterling. They unpack what AI is actually doing to engineering, startups, and how work gets done. This isn’t the usual “AI will replace everyone” narrative. Nik…
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I Almost Lost Everything Building This Startup
Building a startup isn’t what most people think. In this episode of Startup Theatre, Adrienne & Serge sit down with Martyn Bain to talk about the reality of building a global company from New Zealand — and the moments that nearly break you. From leaving corporate after a defining moment at home…
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How I’m Building a $1B AI Startup: Solo
AI is changing how startups are built. In this episode of Startup Theatre, Troy Hammond sits down with Toby Cox, founder of Geodde and former Partner & CTO of Paloma (Dovetail), to talk about why he walked away from leading large engineering teams to build an AI startup completely solo. After…
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How I went from sewing machines to building a global SaaS company
John Mitchell didn’t start in tech. He started with a sewing machine in his parents’ basement. In this episode of Startup Theatre, the Arlo founder shares the full journey from bootstrapped beginnings in Wellington to building a global SaaS platform operating in 70 countries and processing over...
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Strategy Isn’t a Slide Deck: Systems Thinking in Startups
Alexander Fala is the kind of leader who has seen the best and worst of startup life up close, and learned how to keep moving anyway. In this episode of Startup Theatre, Troy Hammond sits down with Alex, former Vend CEO, Rhodes Scholar, ex McKinsey, and a trusted coach to CEOs across Aotearoa.…
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Fireside Chats from Queenstown – Founders, Operators, and the Ecosystem Behind Episode 100
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…
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The UNTOLD Montoux story: THEY SUED US DEAD
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...
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Rod Drury: From Xero to $2.1 Billion
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…
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Bikes, Rats and Natural Perfume: The Wild Career of a kiwi globally
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...
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The Kiwi Who Cracked Silicon Valley: Now a partner at Andreessen Horowitz a16z
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...
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My software will power every health transaction worldwide within two years
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:...
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The All-In Founder: How One Bet Sparked a New Superhuman AI
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…
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Forget Silver Bullets: The Engineering Secret No One Told You About
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…
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Why I had everything to lose on this startup.
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...
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This AI startup knows everything about you
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...
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This is why founders SUCCEED OR FAIL
In this episode, we chat with "Global growth exec" Chris Teeling. For two decades, he has held global leadership roles in high-growth technology companies, where he has built and led world-class teams, shaped strategy, scaled internationally, and delivered lasting results. 🚀 At Xero, he had the...
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Revolutionising Food: The Future of Alternative Proteins
In this episode of Startup Theater, host Serge Van Dam engages in a dynamic conversation with female founders Irina Miller from Daisy Lab and Mrinali Kumar from Eat Kinda. These amazing founders are pioneering the alternative protein sector in New Zealand. On this episode, you will hear them...
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The Intersection of Science and Entrepreneurship
In this episode, host Serge van Dam engages in a deep conversation with Axton Pitt from LitMaps and David Moide from Foundry Lab. They explore the intersection of science and entrepreneurship, discussing how science-based startups can drive innovation and have a positive impact. Axton shares how...
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Electrify Aotearoa Special ⚡️
With the amazing Electrify Aotearoa conference behind us, we wanted to share some of the amazing people who presented and attended. In this special episode of the Startup Theatre podcast, we shine a spotlight on the remarkable women who are leading the charge in entrepreneurship. Recorded live at...
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I wanted to build something with passion and purpose.
Angie Judge is a prominent figure in New Zealand’s technology industry, and she currently serves as the CEO of Dexibit, a cutting-edge analytics platform for visitor attractions. Judge’s entrepreneurial journey has been characterised by innovation, leadership, and a profound understanding of...
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SaaS is Dead. Long Live New SaaS.
Nick Lissette is the founder and CEO of Black Pearl Group, a New Zealand-born SaaS company generating over $12.5M in ARR from the US market and he’s just getting started. With a relentless drive and a famously no-BS approach to business, Nick has been scaling startups since he was 24, when he...
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How I scaled an engineering team to a 400m exit and why I am using AI to do it again.
Ben Gracewood is one of those rare tech leaders who’s done the whole arc—starting in low-level code, scaling product and engineering teams at Vend through to a $400 million exit, and now leading in a world where AI is rewriting the playbook. With a deep background in software development and...
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How to build an AI Go-To-Market strategy.
For nearly two decades, Heather has worked across strategy, operations, product marketing, revenue, and executive go-to-market roles in 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 startups and multinational companies. On this episode, we discuss the impact of AI on business and the importance of...
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Hamish Edwards: How I founded a $20 Billion dollar company
Hamish Edwards hasn't told his story in detail before. and so you get to hear it for the first time. Renowned for co-founding Xero with Rod Drury in 2006 in his accounting companies' boardroom, before they ever moved to said apartment. As a practicing accountant at the time and working with Rod,...
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Lowry Gladwell: The secrets of SaaS revenue growth
Lowry Gladwell has been at the forefront of some of New Zealand’s most iconic companies, from law to payments, tech partnerships to sales. Playing a key role in Vend’s journey through to their successful exit in 2021 and leading Xero’s embedded finance strategy and execution, Lowry knows his…
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Rowan Simpson: The Man Behind NZ’s Most Successful Startups
Rowan Simpson has been at the heart of New Zealand's most successful technology companies. As a founding team member at Trade Me and Xero, he witnessed firsthand how great companies are built through consistent execution. His subsequent investments and hands-on work with ventures like Vend and...
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PAM, My AI product takes care of your mental load 🤖🫶🏻
Nicole Retter is the sole Founder and CEO of PAM. 🤖 PAM stands for "Personal Admin Manager" and is your Family's own Digital PA 👩🏽💻 Nicole has been a marketer for 20 years, working in big ad agencies, and digital agencies delivering festivals, and guiding sole traders. 🚀 Her specialty...
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How Beastie Boys lead me to co-founding Xero and now Upstock 🚀
Philip Fierlinger co-founded Xero, playing a major role as Head of Design, leading Xero to become a disruptive platform and an iconic global brand. Now he is the co-founder of Upstock, a B2B e-commerce & logistics platform transforming the food & beverage industry. His early career highlights...
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My tech will get you into your first home faster 🏠
In this episode, we chat with Derek Handley Derek is an entrepreneur known for co-founding alongside Sir Richard Branson The B Team - a global collective advocating economic systems change to protect our natural environment and secure a safe, sustainable, and equitable future for all Before The B...
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Global tech success and I have some unfinished business
Will Palmer is a seasoned entrepreneur with a successful track record in tech, co-founding Movio, Cupla, and DevRamp. As Movio's CEO, he led its growth to dual listings on the NZ and Australian stock exchanges before exiting to build two entirely different businesses. Consumer app start up Cupla...
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90% of startups FAIL. Only 3% of our portfolio have failed 🤯
For 8 years, Oxygen Advisors has stood behind over 100 New Zealand startups. Amazingly, only 3% of their startup portfolio have not survived and we wanted to know why. In this episode we chat with Matt Dold the founder and Mike Mandis the Co-CEO. As the founder and Director at Oxygen Advisors…
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Business is not boring with Simon Pound
Simon Pound is Managing Partner - Ventures for Previously Unavailable. Simon leads up Venture Studio and Brand Fund activity for Previously, and is host of the entrepreneur-focussed Business is Boring podcast for The Spinoff. Prior to PU, Simon led global brand, creative and communications for...
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Making a documentary about Richie McCaw led me to a tech start-up
Coachmate is a purpose-led tech startup on a mission to help kids stay in sports. Research has shown that kids who remain in sports have better mental and physical outcomes throughout their lives. Enter Michelle Walshe is no stranger to sports after directing sports legends like Venus Williams,...
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Over half of NZ’s internet users are using TikTok 🤯
TikTok has arrived and set up an office in New Zealand and we wanted to hear about it. In this episode we chat with TikTok’s NZ country manager. Carsten Grueber is a seasoned leader in the digital marketing and advertising industry, currently serving as the Country Manager for Advertising...
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I have Aphantasia. The inability to visualise & I’m a VC!
Lance Wiggs has over 10 years of experience as a venture capitalist and considerable experience helping to start, grow, turn around, and exit companies as a consultant, investor, co-founder, and director. He is a principal with Punakaiki Fund and Climate VC Fund, and has invested in well over 40...
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The future of digital currency is inevitable 💲
Janine Grainger is one of the most requested shows we’ve had to date. Janine is a kiwi-born entrepreneur and a highly respected leader in tech. She's the co-founder and CEO of Easy Crypto, New Zealand's leading cryptocurrency trading platform. Easy Crypto was established in 2017 to offer a…
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Failure is not an option is stopping breast cancer.
In this episode, we chat with Ralph Highnmam only days after his company Volpara was acquired for $300m by Lunit. Ralph is no stranger to success as he founded and built a medical imaging AI company in Oxford, UK that was also acquired. In this conversation, we go deep into how he has achieved…
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A world where neither time nor talent is wasted
If you have not heard of a highly successful startup runn in New Zealand then you must be living under a rock. Tim Copeland was one of the founders of SilverStripe, one of New Zealand's leading digital transformation companies, equally famous for our open-source content management system used…
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Our commercial model is to make you wealthy
In this episode we chat with Leighton Roberts the Co-CEO & Co-Founder of Sharesies. It’s the second WFLS episode on Sharesies and we explore the growth story of how Sharesies has become the success story it is today. This podcast explores the highs and lows of the Sharesies story coming about...
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It's not "Survive to '25, it's Drive to '25"
Bron Thomson founded Springload in 2002 and grew it to one of Aotearoa's most successful and longest-standing independently-owned digital agencies. Springload is a bi-cultural lead, purpose lead digital agency and Bron is one of the nicest and most admired founders in Wellington. Troy and Bron…
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"How I built New Zealand's most successful payroll company!"
Asantha Wijeyeratne QSM provides us with our most emotional and uplifting episode to date. From founding Smart Payroll, the most successful SMB payroll company in NZ above a bakery in Lower Hutt. To then selling it to Datacom and now re-upping and founding Paysauce to now be the best in the…
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New Zealand. You too can change the WORLD! 🌏
Mahesh Muralidhar has done it all. From helping to take Canva globally as employee number 25, to launching PhaseOne Ventures in New Zealand and even running for Auckland Central in politics. We talk with Mahesh to learn how he has been helping founders to take on the world from NZ and listen to…
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It takes a village to create 417 startups worth $1.3 B
Creative HQ recently released their 20 years of Impact report where they provide insights on the 1029 founders they’ve worked with. We wanted to share the learnings of this highly impactful organisation who has helped create $1.3B in total valuation for the startup industry. Catherine Jones is…
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Let me teach you the Dark Arts of building a SaaS business globally.
Too many Kiwi startups spend so much time getting things right in the New Zealand market before heading overseas. We need to go global from day one! Hear how Tim Boyle took Whip Around to the US immediately and found product market fit in the United States before they had even picked up a kit...
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Artificial Intelligence is here to solve healthcare: It’s VITAL
Healthcare is broken. We all know it, though too many were scared to take on the behemoths who have owned this space forever. Enter Vital.io the product built by kiwi Te Riu Warren as their founding CTO. Hear how Te and Founder & CEO Aaron Patzer formally of Mint.com got together and Decided to...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Exploring the wins, challenges, & lessons from startups. Honest conversations, real insights, and everything in between.Troy Hammond & Serge van Dam, with deep roots in the startup ecosystem in New Zealand and beyond, explore the world of startups, tech, markets, and media. They break down industry trends, uncover the realities of scaling companies, and share expert insights through candid conversations. Each episode features top founders, operators, investors, and innovators, offering lessons, perspectives, and stories from the frontlines of business and technology.
HOSTED BY
Talent Army Media
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Startup Theatre Podcast have?
Startup Theatre Podcast currently has 81 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Startup Theatre Podcast about?
Exploring the wins, challenges, & lessons from startups. Honest conversations, real insights, and everything in between.Troy Hammond & Serge van Dam, with deep roots in the startup ecosystem in New Zealand and beyond, explore the world of startups, tech, markets, and media. They break down industry...
How often does Startup Theatre Podcast release new episodes?
Startup Theatre Podcast has 81 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Startup Theatre Podcast?
You can listen to Startup Theatre Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Startup Theatre Podcast?
Startup Theatre Podcast is created and hosted by Talent Army Media.
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