Ratu Mataira, OpenStar Technologies
The Morgo Podcast
OpenStar is nuclear fusion company. In this podcast Ratu talks about the pathway of building the business: the science, the people, the funding. The core technology is a levitated dipole containing a plasma at temperatures of millions of degrees, which OpenStar demonstrated recently. Now OpenStar plans larger machines and temperatures of millions of degrees to make medical isotopes and electricity. This requires a team of very smart and very driven people.
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Sigurd Magnusson, Silverstripe
The Morgo Podcast
Silverstripe partners with governments and enterprises to create the digital infrastructure that underpins everyday life in Aotearoa and beyond. Sigurd shares its journey from small startup to a mature company of 70 people whose open-source CMS powers over 200 NZ government websites. Their work is aiding digital transformation internationally too, as in South Africa where they delivered a single digital front door to government services in just 10 weeks.
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Quentin Griffiths, Lutra
The Morgo Podcast
Lutra’s purpose is to protect the environment and the people within in through excellence in management of water and wastewater. Its team are engineers, modelers, data management specialists, content producers, and project managers and its clients are in New Zealand, Australia and other countries. Quentin talks about coming into the CEO role – learning to shift quickly across different areas and the importance of purpose and focus.
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Hamish Findlay, Aspeq
The Morgo Podcast
Aspeq is in the business of providing secure exams and assessments for regulators. It started in the aviation sector: assessing pilots and aircraft engineers in New Zealand. Now it is in 25 countries with test centres, software to book & run exams and a secure browser that allows access only to agreed resources. Aspeq now has 50 people and many more contractors. Hamish talks about his role in expanding the business with clients in all time zones and a long sales cycle.
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Jo Haanstra, Atomic.io
The Morgo Podcast
Atomic.io delivers secure, in-app messaging that helps companies reach customers where engagement is highest, inside their web and mobile apps. By replacing fragmented channels like SMS, calls, and email, Atomic.io enables more trusted, timely, and seamless customer experiences. Jo is driven by scaling category-defining companies and leads Atomic.io in transforming how enterprises connect with customers in the moments that matter most.
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Kendra Ross, Sydekick
The Morgo Podcast
Sydekick provides cyber security for small business. Phishing emails and voice calls have become more sophisticated and everyone needs to be protected. Phil Howie, CTO, started the company. Kendra was an early investor. Then she and Phil agreed to build the company together with Kendra becoming CEO. They work through partnerships with service providers in New Zealand, Australia & the UK. Kendra talks about lessons learned in this business and in a...
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Lisa McDonald, Recollect
The Morgo Podcast
Lisa is the CEO of Recollect, a cloud-based platform for managing and accessing archives. With some large customers in New Zealand and Australia, Recollect is now focused on expansion in the US and Canada. Lisa says she’s been surprised by how much the customers appreciate the customer service Recollect offers. And she talks about the continuing need to focus to get the most out of the resources they have and the need to have a trusted circle of advisors.
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Bridgit Hawkins, Humble Bee Bio
The Morgo Podcast
The Humble Bee Bio journey began with rare bees, whose genomes it sequenced to uncover novel molecules, including one with a rare and potent property — elastin stimulation. This molecule will soon be available as a hero ingredient for formulation of anti-ageing products. Bridgit is not the founder, she joined to build the business. She says the skills of leading a company are transferable but you need to learn about a new sector and build a network for it.
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Will Hewitt, Heartlab
The Morgo Podcast
Heartlab provides a cloud-based cardiology imaging system that helps cardiologists review and report on scans of the heart. Will talks about how they started using AI to improve the reading of ECGs but discovered that the real issue wasn’t better diagnosis, it was access to the images at any time on any platform. Heartlab has customers in Australia, NZ, the US and Canada. Will enjoys learning what issues the customers have and building product to solve them.
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Oscar Ellison, Levno
The Morgo Podcast
Levno is an intelligent dairy farm monitoring business – remotely monitoring milk, water, fuel, feed silos and providing information to the farmers and suppliers. It is expanding from a strong base in New Zealand into the UK, Ireland and Australia. Oscar talks about how they’ve needed to adapt their offshore strategy to establish credibility in new markets and keeping the culture in the company as it grows. And the importance of learning from your peers.
info_outlineThe Humble Bee Bio journey began with rare bees, whose genomes it sequenced to uncover novel molecules, including one with a rare and potent property — elastin stimulation. This molecule will soon be available as a hero ingredient for formulation of anti-ageing products. Bridgit is not the founder, she joined to build the business. She says the skills of leading a company are transferable but you need to learn about a new sector and build a network for it.