TechMates

Harry Gestetner’s great-great-grandfather invented the photocopier and nail clippers—now Harry is reinventing how the world sleeps after selling his first startup for eight figures at 21.
In this episode of TechMates, we sit down with Harry Gestetner, a serial entrepreneur who sold his creator economy startup, Fanfix, for tens of millions while still in college. Harry shares the incredible story of his family's deep legacy in hardware innovation (dating back to the 1880s) and how he turned a simple charity project during COVID into a business that scaled to $120M in revenue post-acquisition.
We dive deep into his new venture, Orion, a smart mattress topper designed to democratize sleep optimization and compete with the "Ferrari of sleep," Eight Sleep. Harry breaks down the brutal reality of hardware startups ("a month of software is easier than an hour of hardware" ), his controversial take on why founders are born and not made , and the "80/20 rule" for longevity that actually works. If you're interested in health tech, high-stakes exits, or the future of longevity, this conversation is packed with actionable insights.
👴 A 150-year family legacy of invention (photocopiers & ballpoint pens)
💰 Selling a startup for 8 figures at 21 years old
📉 The reality of founder burnout & performance
🛌 Building Orion: The "Tesla of Sleep" vs. Eight Sleep
🧬 The 80/20 rule for longevity (and why you don't need to be Bryan Johnson)
🛠️ Why hardware & brand are the only moats left in an AI world
Connect with Harry Gestetner:Orion: https://www.orionsleep.comHarry’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-gestetner-802041a1/Connect with NZVC & Hosts:
🔗 Learn more about NZVC:
https://www.nzvc.co.nz
Mark Pavlyukovskyy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/
Hendrik Remigereau - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:56 - The family legacy: Inventing the photocopier & nail clippers
09:41 - Are founders born or made?
15:13 - Launching Fanfix from a dorm room
18:58 - Selling for 8 figures at 21 years old
20:32 - Does he regret selling early?
28:32 - Founder burnout & discovering longevity
32:14 - Taking on Eight Sleep with Orion
36:06 - Why hardware is infinitely harder than software
42:30 - The 80/20 rule for longevity
44:39 - Co-founding with his dad
46:52 - Why hardware & brand are the only moats left
If you enjoyed this deep dive into startups, sleep science, and longevity, please hit the Like button, Comment with your thoughts on sleep tech, and Subscribe for more insights from world-class founders!
#startups, #business, #HarryGestetner, #Fanfix, #Orion, #sleeptech, #longevity, #healthtech, #entrepreneurship, #hardware, #founders, #venturecapital, #success, #motivation, #TechMates, #NZVC, #EightSleep, #biohacking

From challenging big banks with a $120M fintech to generating $2.2B in digital collectibles sales—this is how New Zealand founders are conquering the global stage.
In this power-packed panel from NZVC Portfolio Day, we sit down with three of New Zealand’s most successful modern founders: Leighton Roberts (Co-founder of Sharesies), David Yu (Co-founder of VeVe), and Penelope Barton (CEO of Crimson Global Academy).
They pull back the curtain on what it really takes to scale from "the edge of the world" to global dominance. David Yu reveals how VeVe secured partnerships with Disney and Marvel without a physical headquarters, while Leighton Roberts shares the bold branding strategy of "wearing pink and giving the middle finger" to the big blue banks. Penelope Barton discusses how Crimson turned the COVID-19 crisis into a massive tailwind for online education. From fundraising horror stories (like getting sued by your only investor) to the unique advantage of Kiwi "generalist" talent, this is a masterclass in global scaling.
🦄 Hyper-Growth: Scaling to 900k users and $2.2B in sales.
🏦 Fintech Disruption: How Sharesies democratized investing.🦸‍♂️ IP & NFTs: VeVe’s journey with Marvel, Disney, and DC.🦠 Crisis Management: Using the pandemic as a catalyst for growth.
💸 Fundraising Realities: The difference between NZ, US, and Asian capital.
🌏 Remote Culture: Building billion-dollar companies with decentralized teams.
Connect with the Guests:
Sharesies: https://www.sharesies.nz/
VeVe: https://www.veve.me/
Crimson Global Academy: https://www.cga.school/
Connect with NZVC & Hosts:
🔗 Learn more about NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz
Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/
Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/
Timestamps:
00:37 - Introduction: Leighton Roberts & Sharesies
02:55 - David Yu: Building a $2.2B Business (VeVe)
04:19 - Penelope Barton: Scaling Crimson Global Academy
05:18 - The Biggest Challenges of Scaling from NZ
09:50 - Building a Fully Decentralized Company (No HQ)
13:49 - Turning the COVID Crisis into a Business Tailwind
17:11 - Founder Realities: Early Stage vs. Scale-Up
22:24 - Fundraising: From Getting Sued to Raising $120M
29:21 - Why US Investors View NZ Fintech Differently
36:44 - What’s Next: Launching NZ's First Online Charter School
40:52 - The Power of Community & Becoming an Industry Authority
43:20 - AI in Education: Replacing or Assisting Teachers?
45:23 - How to Build the Next Generation of Founders
47:39 - Sharesies' "Pink Middle Finger" Brand Strategy
If you enjoyed these insights on building global companies, please hit the Like button, Comment with your biggest takeaway, and Subscribe for more content from world-class founders!
#startups, #business, #NewZealand, #fintech, #edtech, #NFTs, #VeVe, #Sharesies, #CrimsonEducation, #entrepreneurship, #scaling, #venturecapital, #growthhacking, #investing, #founderstories, #tech, #innovation, #globalbusiness, #NZVC, #TechMates

From early days at Rocket Lab to running global marketing for Les Mills, these founders reveal exactly how to build world-class startups from the edge of the world.
In this "Born Global" panel from NZVC Portfolio Day, we explore what it takes to launch a company in New Zealand that is designed to dominate international markets from Day One.
We are joined by Jamie France (Founder of Newton Space & early Rocket Lab engineer), Anna Henwood (CEO of Stickybeak & former Les Mills CMO), and Steph Kennard (Co-founder of Bonnet).The conversation cuts through the noise of startup advice, offering real-world truths about fundraising across borders (and why US VCs "divide everything by two"), the scrappy advantage of Kiwi talent, and the surprising reality of balancing a high-growth startup with family life. Whether you are building deep tech, a consumer app, or B2B SaaS, this panel proves that geography is no longer a barrier to building a unicorn.
🌍 Global Day 1 Strategy: Why Stickybeak and Bonnet looked offshore immediately.
🚀 Deep Tech Fundraising: The reality of raising capital for space tech in NZ vs. the US.
💰 The "Divide by Two" Rule: How US investors view Kiwi startup projections.
🧠 The Talent Advantage: Why New Zealand’s "scrappy" generalist culture wins.
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Parenting & Startups: How having kids can actually make you more ambitious.
Connect with the Guests:
Anna Henwood (Stickybeak): https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-henwood/
Steph Kennard (Bonnet): https://www.linkedin.com/in/steph-kennard/
Jamie France (Newton Space): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiefrance/
Connect with NZVC & Hosts:
🔗 Learn more about NZVC:
Website: https://www.nzvc.co.nz
Mark Pavlyukovskyy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/
Hendrik Remigereau - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/
Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction
01:01 - Meet the Founders: Stickybeak, Bonnet, Newton
03:07 - Strategy: Going Global from Day One
04:26 - Navigating Global Regulations in Auto Tech
06:40 - Fundraising for Deep Tech: NZ vs. US
07:58 - The "Divide by Two" Rule for American VCs
10:51 - Silicon Valley's Perception of NZ Startups
13:40 - Hiring Talent: The "Roll Up Your Sleeves" Culture
15:16 - Culture Lessons from Rocket Lab & Les Mills
19:12 - Pros & Cons: Moving to the US vs. Building Remotely
20:35 - Balancing Kids, Family, and Ambition
25:29 - Advice to Early-Stage Founders
If you enjoyed these insights on building global companies, please hit the Like button, Comment with your biggest takeaway, and Subscribe for more content from world-class founders!
#startups, #NewZealand, #globalbusiness, #entrepreneurship, #deeptech, #SaaS, #marketing, #automotive, #spaceindustry, #venturecapital, #fundraising, #founderstories, #womenintech, #RocketLab, #LesMills, #Stickybeak, #Bonnet, #NewtonSpace, #NZVC, #innovation

Harrison Crowe-Maxwell turned a flooded street on his way to work into a robotics startup that just raised seed funding from Sequoia’s Peak XV.
In this episode of TechMates, we sit down with Harrison Crowe-Maxwell, co-founder of Puralink, a robotics company building "ferrets" to inspect and repair critical pipe infrastructure from the inside. Harrison takes us from his early days building soccer-playing robots in high school to identifying a massive global problem: 30% of the world's drinking water is lost to leaks.
He reveals the engineering secrets behind building robots that can crawl vertically up pipes, the "Apple ecosystem" vision for underground infrastructure, and how he went from bootstrapping with his co-founder to securing backing from top-tier VCs like Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India & SEA).
If you're into hard tech, robotics, or just want to know how to turn a real-world frustration into a venture-backed startup, this episode is a must-watch.
🤖 From LEGO Mindstorms to industrial robotics
💧 Solving the global water crisis with robots
🛠️ The "Best Part is No Part" engineering philosophy
🚀 Raising capital from Sequoia's Peak XV
🔮 The future of humanoid robots & AI in the physical world
🇦🇺 Building deep tech startups in Australia
Connect with Harrison Crowe-Maxwell
Puralink: https://www.puralink.com.au
Harrison’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrison-crowe-maxwell/
Connect with NZVC & Hosts:
🔗 Learn more about NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz
Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/
Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
02:00 - Early obsession with robotics & competitions
08:51 - Engineering philosophy: "The Best Part is No Part"
10:53 - Is there an "LLM moment" for robotics?
18:51 - Meeting co-founder Shion at AWS
20:52 - The "Flooded Street" moment that started PureLink
25:52 - Understanding the complex world of pipe infrastructure
36:57 - Engineering a robot that climbs vertical pipes
44:14 - From prototype to first commercial traction
46:33 - The StartMate experience & raising from Peak XV
52:13 - The "App Store" vision for underground robotics
59:09 - Robots that repair pipes autonomously
1:05:54 - The future of humanoid robots in daily life
If you enjoyed this deep dive into the future of robotics and infrastructure, please hit the Like button, Comment with your thoughts on autonomous repair robots, and Subscribe for more insights from world-class founders!
#robotics, #startups, #deeptech, #HarrisonCroweMaxwell, #Puralink, #infrastructure, #engineering, #AI, #venturecapital, #Sequoia, #PeakXV, #StartMate, #Australia, #tech, #watercrisis, #innovation, #hardware, #entrepreneurship, #futuretech, #TechMates

What happens when you put a crypto veteran, a Xero co-founder, and a high-stakes lawyer on stage with a robot dog to debate the future of AI?
In this special panel from NZVC Portfolio Day, we dive into the "Agentic Future" with three experts operating at very different layers of the AI stack. We are joined by Bradley So (Principal at QCL), who is disrupting the legal billable hour; Philip Fierlinger (Co-founder of Xero and Upstock), who is automating supply chains; and Lane Rettig (Core Dev at NEAR Foundation), who is building the decentralized infrastructure to power it all.
From the "Minder, Finder, Grinder" theory of legal work to the 30-year journey of "AI Agents" starting at General Magic in 1992, this conversation cuts through the hype. The panelists debate whether AI is a job-killer or a productivity multiplier, the critical need for community-governed data sovereignty, and why New Zealand’s "scrappy" generalist mindset might be its biggest superpower in the AI era.
🤖 Robot Dogs & Real Tech: Kicking off with live robotics on stage
⚖️ Legal Disruption: Moving from "time billing" to "value billing" with AI
🛒 Supply Chain Agents: Turning messy emails into structured orders in one click
⛓️ Crypto x AI: Why we need community-governed AI infrastructure
📉 Job Market Myths: Why radiologists (and lawyers) are earning more with AI
🥝 The Kiwi Advantage: Why New Zealand is perfectly positioned for the AI revolution
Connect with the Guests:
Philip Fierlinger (Upstock): https://www.linkedin.com/in/fierlinger/
Lane Rettig (NEAR Foundation): https://www.linkedin.com/in/lane-rettig-32904b227/
Bradley So (QCL): https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-so-11042424/
Connect with NZVC & Hosts:
🔗Website: https://www.nzvc.co.nz
Mark Pavlyukovskyy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/
Hendrik Remigereau - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:48 - Bradley So: AI Disrupting the Legal Industry
07:23 - Philip Fierlinger: From General Magic to Upstock
09:12 - Lane Rettig: NEAR Protocol & AI Infrastructure
14:13 - Is the Future Utopian or Dystopian?
18:14 - Will Lawyers Lose Their Jobs? (Minder, Finder, Grinder)
22:31 - How Upstock Uses AI for Supply Chain 2
7:27 - How Far Away Are True Autonomous Agents?
32:12 - Are Startups Hiring Less Because of AI?
If you enjoyed this deep dive into the future of AI and business, please hit the Like button, Comment with your thoughts on AI agents, and Subscribe for more insights from world-class founders!
#startups, #AI, #NewZealand, #artificialintelligence, #business, #tech, #legaltech, #crypto, #NEARProtocol, #Xero, #Upstock, #entrepreneurship, #futureofwork, #venturecapital, #NZVC, #innovation, #SaaS, #blockchain, #technology, #TechMates