Business Is Boring

Matt Dold and Mike Mandis, co-founders of Oxygen Advisors, are behind the financial success of numerous startups in Aotearoa. They dive into the critical role of virtual CFOs, discussing how structured financial accounts and key metrics like ARR and MRR drive business success. Emphasizing the balance between optimism and realism, they share insights on capital raising and the emotional challenges founders face. Their expertise not only empowers clients but also propels economic growth, making their advice invaluable for any aspiring entrepreneur.

In a world drowning in plastic waste, Jon Reed of Compostic is pioneering a revolutionary approach to everyday kitchen products. Through sheer determination and innovative thinking, Jon transformed a personal frustration with single-use plastics into a thriving business that now sits on the shelves of major US retailers like Whole Foods and Target. His home compostable cling film and kitchen bags represent more than just a product - they're a bold challenge to the traditional plastics industry. He has expanded Compostic from a small New Zealand startup to a brand distributed across thousands of stores. 2025 has thrown a few tariff-shaped curveballs at founders like Jon - and the going has been tough - but he’s still dead-set on his goal of banishing single-use plastic. How is he navigating the chaos of today's international trade landscape? Listen now to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Finance, investment and better money habits have traditionally been areas mainly staffed by, led by and advocated by men. Boring men. Two friends, Sophie Hallwright and Victoria Harris, saw a need for interesting and relevant information, advice and community for women. They launched The Curve, a platform boasting an internationally popular podcast, investing club, courses and community. The Curve is now a fantastic example of how building community and providing value can be turned into a business that creates positive impact and profit. During a brief visit home to Aotearoa, co-founder Sophie Hallwright sat down with Simon Pound to discuss blazing a pathway for women in investment, before she headed back to London to continue the good work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Barnaby Marshall, a partner at Icehouse Ventures and former owner of I Love Ugly, shares insights on venture capital's impact on startup growth. He discusses how his entrepreneurial experience helps him identify promising businesses and founders. The conversation explores when venture capital is beneficial and when it may not be the right fit. Barnaby emphasizes the importance of empathy and market understanding in investing, while also touching on the evolving landscape of venture capital in New Zealand.

Being good with money is not easy. The whole credit, consumer, and hedonistic world are built to try to get people to spend too much on things they don’t need, for short term gain. The actual tips for how to be better with money are quite simple. Spend less than you earn, save a good percentage even when you don’t earn a lot, stay away from expensive debt, invest in upskilling and invest for the long-term as compounding benefits are your friend. However simple these ideas might seem actually connecting with people and getting them to believe they can make the change can be the hardest thing. Luke Kemeys is one of the new breed of financial influencers who is able to make these messages connect by sharing his story, by making the content relevant and by turning up time and time again to land the messages and habits. His media brand Keep the Change educates, informs and entertains through podcasts, courses, events and his regular newsletter. His approach sees the free content deliver heaps of value, and this creates a pipeline of business for his accountancy practice. His work has helped countless people get out of debt and into good positions, and he joins the podcast to chat his approach to money, how he learnt to practice good habits and how sharing great content can lead to business success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In theory every business has the potential to bake doing good into how it makes money. But very few do. Brianne West has shown with first Ethique, and now Incrediballs, that with intentional action you can make a brand, business, product and movement for change, where everything you sell means you create a net positive for the world. Brianne joins us to share how she does this, and how the opportunity is there for everyone else to too! Incrediballs is her new venture, nearing launch for the effervescent tablets that you drop in water for the soft drink experience and taste, without the plastic bottles, transported water or massive sugar load. We can’t wait to see the impact these can have on the world’s biggest plastic pollution market. If you are interested in learning more about how to design your business to create positive impact with everything you do check out Brianne’s free courses and materials at Business, but Better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pene Barton, CEO at Crimson Global Academy, and Olivia Dyet, founder and CEO at recruitment startup Empathix, delve into why people leaders are the unsung heroes of business. They discuss the essential blend of culture and strategy that defines effective leadership. The conversation highlights the potential for more diverse CEOs emerging from people operations, emphasizes the transformative impact of AI in leadership roles, and advocates for tools that enhance productivity in today's interconnected work environment.

Chanel Clark, a marketing leader and founder of The Marketing Club, shares her journey of building a vibrant community of 10,000 marketers across Australia and New Zealand. She emphasizes the importance of fostering genuine connections rather than just selling to a community. Chanel delves into the creative marketing strategies behind promoting a 'brain drink' and discusses the challenges of defining new market categories. Throughout, she highlights how active listening and shared experiences can enhance community building and ensure its sustainable growth.

On this season of Business is Boring we’re talking to leaders who are great examples of the best of business - and today we are looking at the opportunities and challenges of creating your own category. Creating a category allows you to be the leader and get away from the competition.But it is one of the hardest things to do - as you need to create awareness, trust, new habits and understanding in the market. It takes energy, positivity, confidence, optimism, perseverance as well as a great product and business discipline. These are things that Steven Zinsli has in spades - and that host Simon Pound has seen up close by working on their brand and being an investor.If you’re on LinkedIn you will have seen the way Steve is building in public, sharing the wins, the work and the journey to create a new category of payments for business. Today there is no standard way for any non-wage payments to be distributed to workers. There are a bunch of very ordinary options -gift cards, reimbursements or tax attracting extra payments in payroll. Their platform is built to give every employee a card and account, and help the finance function track, manage and report on all dollars allocated and spent. The amount wasted on gift card admin and unspent dollars, on admin time for reimbursement and on inefficient reporting is massive, but today people don’t think of these as all having one solution. What does it take to establish a new idea? What can others learn about communication and turning up? And how might other business people think about choosing their own lane? Hear from Steve Zinsli, founder and CEO at Extraordinary in this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This season on Business is Boring we’re talking to people who are examples of better ways to do business. This week we meet Jovan Pavlicevic, co-founder of SquareOne, a financial empowerment and spending card for kids, and now, Emerge, the challenger for small business banking.In many ways Emerge is the classic disruptor, coming in and taking share from the big bank incumbents by being faster, nicer, smarter and more customer-centric than the big players. We learn what it takes to be a positive disruptor, as one thing about Emerge is that they’ve got where they are by being better to deal with, not by disrupting in destructive ways.We’ve loved seeing Emerge so far, and keep an eye out for where they go next as they continue to advocate for more modern banking regulations and services in Aotearoa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices