Paul Copplestone is the co-founder and CEO at Supabase, the “open source Firebase alternative for building web and mobile apps.” If you were wondering what that means or why you should prioritise a listen— in Paul’s words: “if you’re going to build your next startup, you’d probably choose us … and we’ll provide all the tools you need to get started: a Postgres database, authentication system, file storage… the works.”Today, Supabase is prolific. One of the most commonly called out products by makers on Product Hunt; one of the most redeemed Y Combinator “perks” with nearly a third of the most recent YC batch using it; they've secured a place as back-end infrastructure of choice for many founders setting out to build AI-centric applications.Paul has come a long way from his family farm near Kaikoura. Before Supabase, he co-founded South East Asian-based home-services startups ServisHero and Nimbus For Work, and participated in Entrepreneur First, Singapore. Today, he & co-founder Ant have raised $116M and lead a globally distributed company with 80 employees over 30+ countries. With their ambition and vision, it’s clear they’re just getting started.In today’s episode, we discuss:* Paul’s journey from NZ to Malaysia and now Singapore.* Building and scaling Supabase as a globally distributed team.* The impact of AI on software development, and what to use if you’re getting started today.* Underrated benefits of open source for recruiting, growth, and how to think about product development.Links:Supabase:* Supabase website: https://supabase.com/* Supabase on Twitter/X (great follow) https://x.com/supabase* $80M Series B announcement: https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/10/supabase-raises-80m-series-b-for-its-open-source-firebase-alternative/Paul:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulcopplestone/* Twitter/X: https://x.com/kiwicopple* Blog: https://paul.copplest.one/blog/ (so much good stuff in here)* GitHub: https://github.com/kiwicoppleTimestamps:(00:00) Intro(01:18) Paul’s origin story(04:05) Founding ServisHero in Malaysia(06:23) Joining the Entrepreneur First program(08:58) Why founders should think about setting up their HQ in Singapore(09:57) Founding Supabase(11:36) The benefits of open source(13:43) Insight into Supabase customers and how AI is changing the game(15:33) How open source helps with recruiting(18:18) Taking a “product led growth” approach to enterprise customers.(21:12) When/how Supabase will “cross the chasm” as it matures into a enterprise customer base.(22:19) How AI is changing devtools(24:09) Paul’s angel investing thesis(26:33) Thinking about companies like countries(28:59) Paul’s favourite blog posts from his personal archive(31:06) How we can be helpful to Paul!Subscribe at diaspora.nz to receive new episodes every Friday! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diaspora.nz

Victoria Ransom is the Founder of Prisma — a cohort-based online school: “preparing 4-12th graders for a rapidly changing future, with an accredited, project-based virtual program where kids build real community.” Raised on an asparagus farm near Bulls — Victoria’s journey over the past few decades is a truly inspiring one... she founded and led Wildfire, a social media marketing platform which rose to prominence helping brands build their presence on Facebook, before being acquired by Google for $450M in 2012; was honoured by President Obama as a “Champion of Change” for her accomplishments as an immigrant entrepreneur and innovator, picked up an MBA from Harvard; was named #19 on Fortune Magazine's 40 under 40 list, and so much more.In today's episode, we discuss:* The early days building Wildfire - building a culture and company that customers love as much as the product* How the Google acquisition went down, integration and operating inside the belly of the beast afterwards * What’s wrong with the current education system, why Victoria chose to exit the system + build a new school for her family. * Strategies for developing resilience in children and what to expect in the future of education. Referenced:* Forbes 40 under 40 (2012): https://fortune.com/ranking/40-under-40/2012/victoria-ransom/* Google's $450M acquisition of Wildfire: https://techcrunch.com/2012/07/31/google-acquires-wildfire/* Obama White House - A Nation of Entrepreneurial Journeys: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/06/04/nation-entrepreneurial-journeys* Prisma: https://www.joinprisma.com/* Wildfire: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/wildfire-interactiveWhere to find Victoria online:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriaransom/* Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/victoria_ransomTimestamps:[00:00] Intro[01:37] Three traits of a great founder[03:31] Victoria’s origin story[05:59] Pivoting from investment banking into adventure travel[08:37] Building and scaling Wildfire[11:46] Bootstrapping before raising money[12:30] Wildfire's path to acquisition[17:16] Why life after acquisition was challenging[19:29] Prisma’s origin story[24:41] Inside Prisma's education model[30:19] The challenges of teaching kids resilience[32:28] Prisma’s potential to scale[37:34] Will college education become obsolete?[39:24] Victoria’s biggest role model[40:38] What it’s like founding a company with your partner[42:04] Advice for Kiwi entrepreneurs[43:49] What's next for Victoria and Prisma[44:58] How to help Victoria This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diaspora.nz

Hamish McKenzie, co-founder and Chief Writing Officer at Substack, discusses his journey from New Zealand to leading a transformative platform for writers and creators. He delves into Substack's role in reshaping media, tackling culture wars, and enhancing direct reader support. McKenzie shares insights on the challenges of content moderation and the influence of AI in content creation. He also reflects on his time at Tesla, revealing lessons learned while working with Elon Musk that inform his vision for empowering independent creators.

Today we catch up with Tom Harding, Founder and CEO of Mish Guru, the startup leading the charge in helping brands effectively develop, monitor and monetise content through Snapchat’s platform. Before empower brands to tell better stories through Snapchat, Tom was co-founder of Sitesorted and has been involved in the Lightning lab incubator back in New Zealand after a dual degree in engineering at Canterbury.In this episode David and Tom chat about what they’re watching in growing their business, a deep dive on building successful remote teams and doing business as a Kiwi in New York.Huge thank you to Sam Ragnarsson for the intro that made this episode possible, and we hope you get a lot out of this episode with this great Kiwi founder making waves in the US. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diaspora.nz

Mike Forester - on how charging customers more makes startup stronger, understanding big brand marketing, and angel investing at the bottom of the world by Diaspora.nz This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diaspora.nz

Steven Banerjee - Founder of Mekonos on enabling the next wave of genomic medicine, and jumping from accademia to startups by Diaspora.nz This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diaspora.nz

Campbell Brown - Founder of PredictHQ on the information economy and what it takes to crack the US market. by Diaspora.nz This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diaspora.nz

Alex Kendall - Co-founder of Wayve.ai on Machine Vision and the Future of Autonomous Driving by Diaspora.nz This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diaspora.nz