Startup Theatre Podcast

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, Kevin Durant, and Richie McCaw's feature films. Michelle is also the co-founder of the successful Augusto, a hybrid creative and production agency. In 2018, Michelle wanted to create more impact in the community and co-founded CoachMate, a platform dedicated to empowering grassroots sports parents and volunteers with world-class tools to help keep kids in sports. In this episode, Troy and Michelle discuss her background in documentary making, her career in film directing, and how Michelle was compelled to solve the issue of helping volunteers in grassroots sports with technology. Follow Michelle on LinkedIn Follow Coachmate on LinkedIn Thank you to our sponsor: Talent Army

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 Partnerships at TikTok in New Zealand. In this role, Carsten has been pivotal in establishing and leading TikTok's commercial business, building strong relationships with key advertisers, and showcasing the platform's value for impactful campaigns. We discuss Carsten’s career after working with Google, Facebook and now TikTok Follow Carsten - http://linkedin.com/in/carsten-grueber-8a9b89 Follow TikTok - https://www.linkedin.com/company/tiktok/ Thank you to our sponsor: https://www.talent.army/

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 companies. In this episode, we discuss the importance of making good decisions in business and how Lance helps CEOs and founders make better decisions. We talk about the Government and whether they should invest in our ecosystem and many more topics including Lance’s Aphantasia. Follow Lance: Follow Punakaiki Fund: Thanks to our sponsor - Talent Army

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 secure, simple and easy-to-understand way for everyone to get involved in the cryptocurrency market, and has since helped hundreds of thousands of people get started with crypto. Janine is on the Executive Council for FinTechNZ and sits on a number of government advisory and working groups, both in NZ and internationally. Follow Janine - http://linkedin.com/in/janine-grainger Follow Easy Crypto - https://linkedin.com/company/easy-crypto/ Thank you to our sponsor: https://www.talent.army/

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 this and why he decided to move to Wellington NZ, and help our ecosystem to grow further. Follow Ralph - linkedin.com/in/ralph-highnam-a9352314 Follow RPH Ventures -https://www.rphventures.co.nz/ Thank you to our sponsor: https://www.talent.army/

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 today by tens of thousands of companies. Now Tim has turned his passion to resource management software for the modern workforce and Runn is growing very fast globally. ⁠ Follow Tim - https://www.linkedin.com/in/timcopeland/ Follow runn -https://www.linkedin.com/company/runwithrunn Thank you to our sponsor: https://www.talent.army/

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 partly from Leighton’s school friends investment club. Follow Leighton - http://linkedin.com/in/leightonroberts Follow Sharesies - https://www.linkedin.com/company/sharesies Thank you to our sponsor: https://www.talent.army/

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 talk about the highs and lows of service businesses and teaches us how to navigate the highs and lows of business. Follow Bron: linkedin.com/in/bron-thomson Follow Springload: https://www.linkedin.com/company/springload-te-pipitanga/ Thank you to our sponsor: https://www.talent.army/

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 world. In 2013 he was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for his duty to NZ business and community. We talked with Asantha to learn how he has decided he could not retire and is now building a product that is bigger than ever. Follow Asantha - linkedin.com/in/asanthawijeyeratne Follow Paysauce - ⁠https://www.paysauce.com/ Thank you to our sponsor: Talent Army - ⁠⁠https://www.talent.army/

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 his sage advice from being so early at Canva and now sharing this with his home in NZ. Follow Mahesh - linkedin.com/in/maheshmuralidhar Follow PhaseOne - https://www.phaseone.ventures/ Thank you to our sponsor: Talent Army - ⁠https://www.talent.army/