Video & Podcasts
Success Interviews
Ep.35 – Why Local Competition Is For Losers
After 25 years in the corporate world, Gavin Oliver arrived in New Zealand in 2008 with a young family and a visa that gave him 24-months to establish a business or get unceremoniously sent home. With no experience of tourism and little knowledge of New Zealand, plus a vow to never wear a suit and […]
Ep.15 – What Losing $600,000 Taught Me
After studying Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering at Massey University, Jasnish worked in the gas, petroleum, pipelines and project estimation industries and even had a stint at a goldmine in Papua New Guinea. But the property bug kept getting bigger and bigger for Jasnish and so after years of buying andf holding property he leaped […]
Ep.25 – How We Rebuild
Over the last 20 years Ajit Balasingham has helped numerous businesses turn around failing business units, supported shareholders to exit their businesses, as well as overseeing management buy outs. He is the current Chair of Northland Rugby Union and observer on the Board for the Auckland Blues franchise (having recently also held the role of […]
Technology Interviews
Ep.51 – Bootstrapping Scalable Global Businesses
For many New Zealand Startups, or even established businesses developing their digital resiliency as many have recently been forced to do over the last couple of months, the investment need for technology development can be a major hurdle. Virtual Capital has set out to disrupt this part of the process for other budding disrupters in […]
Ep.110 – How Humans And Robots Can Work Together In The Future
[podcastfooter] As AI development advances further year by year, the question of what separates us from our creations becomes more pressing. Talking the M2 Summit audience on Thursday 20 May through this fascinating, complicated and a little bit scary territory was behavioral scientist Dr. Sydney Savion. Sitting down with our editor, Andre Rowell, the […]
Ep.44 – Re-imagining Our Digital Future
Many discoveries about ourselves, our economy and the way we work have come out of our Covid-19 experience. Some good and bad, but maybe one of the most important for our future was how many of us in business still have a long way to go in terms of our digital resiliency. This is obviously […]
Entrepreneur Interviews
Ep.81 – How To Create A Local Movement Of Thousands
Like many New Zealanders, Sarah Colcord’s work as a freelance event and project manager stalled during the lockdown. Rather than complaining though, she set to work to create opportunities for New Zealand businesses like hers in the form of a community. Within a few months that community turned into a Facebook group of over 540,000 […]
Ep.112 – How To Build & Sell A $500M Company. And What Do You Do Next?
[podcastfooter] What exactly does one do after they sell their business for $500m? Vaughan Fergusson, founder of Vend, dropped in for a fireside chat with editor Andre Rowell at the M2 Summit to give us the insight and impart with some wisdom on just how he grew his business to that astonishing value. Fergusson […]
Ep.53 – How To Grow A Startup
In 2013, Aidan co-founded entertainment website EMGN.com. Within its first year, it was a global, multi-million dollar business. Following the successful exit in 2017, Aidan started mentoring local founders voluntarily as a way to occupy his time. What started as a desire to give back and to challenge opinions in the start-up world, has now evolved […]
Leadership Interviews
Ep.46 – How To Lead Like A Human
The last couple of months have been a testing time for almost everybody in every industry and in every sector, but there has been a particular spotlight on leaders through this time. At a time when there is so much uncertainty around health and economic concerns, our leaders have had to carry an extraordinary weight […]
Ep.102 – Legal Leader
Trusts and asset structuring might not be everyone’s idea of exciting dinner party conversation, but they can have a profound impact in terms of what happens to your wealth and your quality of life for you and your family and even for future generations. Davenports Law Managing Director, Tammy McLeod is one of New Zealand’s […]
Ep.92 – From Small Town New Zealand To Global Tech Influence – Andrew Flavell
Andrew Flavell joined Plexure from Nike where he held roles including Privacy Distinguished Engineer, VP of Architecture and VP of Nike+ and Brand. In these roles he was responsible for defining and driving global solutions for privacy, overall architecture and direction of modern APIs and micro-services and delivery of mobile applications and services for Nike’s […]
Wellness Interviews
Ep.19 – The Future Of Healthcare And What The Current Crisis Means For NZ
Jay Harrison is the founder and CEO of Edison, a company committed to the extension of human health-span and life-span using precision health and technology. The company’s namesake, Thomas A. Edison, in fact inspired the vision back in 1903. “The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the […]
Ep.59 – How To Shape The Life You Want, Not Have It Shape You
It’s hard to imagine it now but one of New Zealand’s most respected health and wellness experts, Rachel Grunwell, was an unhealthy and stressed out investigative journalist, covering crime and politics. It was when the opportunity came up to write about wellness/health and fitness that Rachel threw her journalistic curiosity into interviewing some of the […]
Ep.103 – No Temporary Fixes for Mental Health
New Zealand’s workforce of temps and contractors are a vital part of the economy yet are not able to access the same level of support and training as permanent employees. Contracting and temporary workforce company, Emergent has set out to change this in in terms of mental health support for its temporary workers with its […]
Women in Leadership Interviews
Ep.42 – Hemp Innovation And How The Future Could Be In Old Knowledge
Kirsty Harkness is the first licensed industrial hemp grower in NZ vineyards, Co-founder and Managing Director of Mount Base Vineyards, Owner of Tigertiger photography agency, and Ice Angel. While very seemingly different businesses, Kirsty leverages the connections and creates new value along the way. While only it’s early days, Kirsty’s trials in growing hemp alongside […]
Ep.54 – What’s Holding NZ Business Back?
Lani Fogelberg left her role at one of New Zealand’s pre-eminent commercial finance brokerage firms to take a step back from the corporate world and seek greater balance in life. Using her expertise in complex problem-solving, strategy and growth initiatives she launched her own consulting firm. In the current New Zealand business environment, Lani helps […]
Ep.73 – The Future Of Property Prices And Leadership
Real estate might well be up there with politics and religion when it comes to divisive dinner party conversations, but of course it’s something most of us have a relationship with, whether you be a tenant, landlord or homeowner or all of the above. Few people have had as much experience in the industry as […]
Sports Interviews
Ep.70 – Bank Shot
At just 32, Tom Abercrombie is like a seasoned veteran of the world of basketball. After his success at Westlake Boys High School saw him selected as the NZ Academy of Sport High Performance Player two years running, he moved to the USA to Washington State University in 2006. Tom then moved back to New […]
Ep.69 – MMA Champ Fighting For Mental Health
Mixed Martial Arts and the world of UFC has become a big deal over the years and there must be something in the water at City Kickboxing in Auckland because it helping to produce New Zealand fighters that are kicking arse and taking names, figuratively and literally, on the global stage. One fighter on the […]
Ep.115 – Brook Macdonald – Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
A little over a year ago, champion New Zealand downhill mountain biker, Brook MacDonald lay in agony, semi-paralysed and unable to feel his legs on a Quebec mountain for five hours, waiting for a helicopter to arrive. Brook had sustained a serious spinal injury when he crashed during his first practice run at the World […]
M2 Summit Podcast
Ep.112 – How To Build & Sell A $500M Company. And What Do You Do Next?
[podcastfooter] What exactly does one do after they sell their business for $500m? Vaughan Fergusson, founder of Vend, dropped in for a fireside chat with editor Andre Rowell at the M2 Summit to give us the insight and impart with some wisdom on just how he grew his business to that astonishing value. Fergusson […]
Ep.110 – How Humans And Robots Can Work Together In The Future
[podcastfooter] As AI development advances further year by year, the question of what separates us from our creations becomes more pressing. Talking the M2 Summit audience on Thursday 20 May through this fascinating, complicated and a little bit scary territory was behavioral scientist Dr. Sydney Savion. Sitting down with our editor, Andre Rowell, the […]
Ep.108 – How to Build A Powerful Community of Thousands
[podcastfooter] For so many of us, the first COVID lockdown was a real stifler of our productivity and motivation, and a really scary time for small business owners who faced the threat of losing their livelihoods. However, some of us were able to find ways to create, innovate and make a big difference in helping […]
Sustainability Interviews
Ep.97 – Connecting Worlds
Filmmaker and explorer, Celine Cousteau, carries on an incredible family legacy set by her grandfather Jacques Cousteau, her father Jean-Michel Cousteau and her mother Anne-Marie Cousteau, an expeditionary photographer. With her creation of CauseCentric Productions, Celine has connected the dots between film, art, technology and education to create a platform of immense change in her […]
Ep.42 – Hemp Innovation And How The Future Could Be In Old Knowledge
Kirsty Harkness is the first licensed industrial hemp grower in NZ vineyards, Co-founder and Managing Director of Mount Base Vineyards, Owner of Tigertiger photography agency, and Ice Angel. While very seemingly different businesses, Kirsty leverages the connections and creates new value along the way. While only it’s early days, Kirsty’s trials in growing hemp alongside […]
Ep.30 – Finding New Business Opportunities In Solving Environmental Problems
While there has been a big jump into eCommerce for many brands lately, there is also a less progressive danger with environmental impact. And after working with couriers and eCommerce for years, Kate Bezar and Rebecca Percasky became horrified at the amount of plastic waste the industry was generating and so set out to do […]