Business Is Boring

How free meal planning is changing food research

What started as a way to escape meal planning admin has turned into a powerful tool shaping the future of food. Appetise is a free, recipe-rich meal planning and smart shopping platform loved by tens of thousands across New Zealand and Australia. Co-founders Toby and Elise Hilliam transformed an admin-killer into a two-sided business: empowering home cooks and providing FMCG brands with authentic, behavioural insights. In this episode, we explore how Appetise launched for free, rebranded from MenuAid, and leveraged its growing user base—now over 90,000 households—to deliver billions of genuine data points a month to brands. We dig into the funding, the rebrand, the shift to Australia, building culture, and how their stock tracker and insights platform are changing how food companies understand and engage their shoppers. This is a story about mission-driven growth, innovation in food tech, and creating tools that serve both people and brands better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The billion-dollar company that's just getting started

From starting Crimson Education as a teenager to leading a company operating at a $300 million revenue run rate, Jamie Beaton has been on an extraordinary journey. In this episode, Simon Pound talks with the Crimson founder about his path from acceptance into 25 of the world’s top universities to scaling a billion-dollar global education business. They cover the creation of Crimson Global Academy, the role of AI in shaping education, and Jamie’s new teaching role at the University of Auckland’s Business Navigators program. Along the way, they explore lessons in resilience, leadership, and building ambitious ventures from Aotearoa to the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

From Aotearoa to the world: how Wai Mānuka is going global

What started as a conversation between three friends in Whakatāne became a new category in drinks - a premium sparkling Mānuka honey beverage rooted in kaupapa Māori. In this episode, Joseph Harawira shares the Wai Mānuka journey - from army discipline and sports high performance to launching at the America’s Cup and landing the brand in New York. We talk about staying true to cultural values, sharing the story of Aotearoa, and building a business that’s as ambitious as it is grounded. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The AI tool that turns conversations into action

What if your meetings, interviews, or coaching sessions could turn themselves into structured insights, ready-to-go content, or instant action points? That’s what Contented AI - a Christchurch-based startup led by Lucy Pink and Hannah Hardy-Jones - is building. In this episode, we talk about the journey from early idea to functioning product, bootstrapping vs raising, building with intention from Aotearoa, and how the Contented team has carved out a distinctive wedge in the AI space. We also dig into what it means to build a tool that listens and suggests - not just takes notes - and how their users are shaping what comes next. Join us for a conversation about product-market fit, AI possibility, founder grit, and building global software that still feels human. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Rowan Simpson on the right way to be wrong

Rowan Simpson has helped shape some of Aotearoa’s most iconic startups - from Trade Me and Xero to Vend and Timely - usually from behind the scenes. But with the release of his new book How to Be Wrong, he’s stepped into the spotlight to share some hard-earned lessons about success, leadership, and the quiet people who build great companies. In this episode, we talk about what startup culture still gets wrong, how stories are told and who gets left out, and why the real impact of startups should be measured far beyond headlines and valuations. Rowan opens up about the mistakes he’s made, the decisions that still stay with him, and the power of doing the right thing even when it’s hard. We dig into ideas he hasn’t been asked about elsewhere - from capital gains tax and the role of government, to the inside story of one of the stories he shares in the book that host Simon Pound was working on with him, the restructure of Vend after a funding round failed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]