Being an actor, an artist, means to surrender oneself to another world. For Puerto Rican actor Ismael Cruz Córdova, that world is the ancient forests, impossible beauty and imagination of Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Having grown up in the mountainous region of Aguas Buenas, I’m pretty certain that he wouldn’t have dreamt that one day he would […]
For years, Seeby Woodhouse has had the luxury that many founders spend their whole lives vision-boarding. A clean exit. He had money and success. He could step back. He could operate as an owner, shareholder, or director. He could, as he puts it, “go away to Europe for three months and leave the CEO in […]
Dr. Kerry Spackman has built a career on extreme performance. Over the years, his work has taken him into the orbit of four Formula One teams, the All Blacks, Olympians and billionaire business figures, placing him inside worlds that, at first glance, seem to share little in common in terms of the skills, environments and […]
Matt Bishop is not especially interested in preserving the old shape of his industry. Brevity, Bishop’s Auckland-based business still does the practical work of construction engineering, particularly across interiors, racking, events and compliance, but it is also building software, training tools and automation systems for where that work is heading next. Bishop thinks that matters […]
In any industry, being good at the work does not mean you are good at the business. Going to market, pricing properly, building systems, maintaining standards, hiring and developing people, and keeping enough work in front of them without sacrificing quality, these are just some of the plates that need to BE kept spinning. That […]
For all the noise around AI, a lot of businesses still operate with the same old friction. Invoices arrive in different formats. Referral forms turn up incomplete. Orders sit in inboxes. Staff spend hours moving data between systems, checking fields, fixing errors, and doing work that has to be done but adds nothing to growth. […]
Property investing is getting a bit of a beat-up at the moment. Interest rates have reset expectations. Lending is tighter. And some economic experts seem to be having hernias about the future of property. But cycles have a way of distorting perspective. When markets soften, it’s easy to forget what made them powerful in the […]
Tom Slingsby Is a hard man to get hold of. But we managed! Captain of the Australian SailGP Catamaran, competitor in America’s Cup, International man of mystery, all round bloody nice guy. We asked him a number of questions to give us an understanding of the psyche of the man who is undoubtedly the most […]
25 years ago, John Bishop stumbled into the brown-bricked Frog & Bucket Comedy Club on Oldham Street in Manchester on a Monday night, slightly depressed after divorcing his then-wife and looking for something to do. There were only a few others in the place. He put his name down on the open mic list and […]
Formula 1 is an octane and ego fuelled sport, so that makes New Zealand driver Liam Lawson a breath of pretence-free, humble air. In the days before the Visa Cash App RB driver prepared for the unique Baku street circuit, I had a Zoom call with him to understand what powers his journey at the […]
I’m sorry to say that early retirement will cause you to have feelings. A lot of them. Many of the feelings are good—freedom, joy, contentment, gratitude, excitement—but you don’t need help navigating those. Let’s talk about the tougher things you can expect to encounter. Expect the Transition to Take Time “Midway upon the journey of […]
We’re often told to “find balance,” as if it’s a single moment of alignment we can reach and hold forever. But balance is far less about perfection and far more about adaptability. True balance isn’t a goal to achieve. It’s a rhythm to cultivate. As business leaders, entrepreneurs, and high performers, we live with multiple […]
Around here at M2 we’re pretty pro AI, we have a whole event centering around helping businesses how to prepare for it and integrate it with their business. Of course with any tool, proper application is key. When you have an AI hammer that seemingly promises to fix everything, the entire planet starts to look […]
Formula 1 is an octane and ego fuelled sport, so that makes New Zealand driver Liam Lawson a breath of pretense free humble air. In the days before the Visa Cash App RB driver prepared for the unique Baku street circuit, I had a Zoom call with him to understand what powers his journey at […]
James Laughlin has spent his career in the company of champions and not just in the pipe band world, where he’s a seven-time world champion drummer or his award-winning podcast. As a high-performance coach, he’s worked with elite athletes, CEOs, founders, world-class musicians, and leaders at the very top of their game. These are people […]
The question came from my friend Sam, who’s just quit his job. Together, Sam and I co-founded two businesses. The first, a user research consultancy, was sold to PwC in 2014. The second, a SaaS business supporting user researchers, was sold to a private equity firm in 2021 (although we both remain minority shareholders). Thanks […]
photography by DaniloPhoto Ben Liebert never set out to build one of the most sophisticated cloud integration and data access platforms on the market. But then again, the SyncHub founder never quite followed the script either. “I’ve built about 15 different startups or software platforms over the years,” he says. “But this one just clicked. […]
Stepping into the tiny nook of High Street’s Unity Books Auckland in early October this year, I was greeted with one of my favourite smells in the world. Books. Stacks of them. Glorious, beautiful, stunning books. Floor-to-ceiling cream-coloured shelves displaying thousands of these divine morsels—new releases, top-sellers, fiction, non-fiction, poetry—waiting to be devoured and consumed […]
As Chair and Director at Virtual Blue, Dr. Peter Catt is not just talking about the future, he’s building it. With a doctorate in applied computing, a private pilot’s licence, and a curiosity that spans everything from machine learning to cosmology, he blends deep domain technical knowledge with big-picture vision. We talk to Peter about […]
While, these days we might be sidetracked with generating ChatGPT Studio Ghibli versions of ourselves, there is still no competition for pure human creativity that cuts through the zeitgeist of the moment and has the power to drive new ideas, create universal connection and build the foundation for the world’s most iconic companies. New Zealand, […]
When Igor Matich arrived in New Zealand as a 14-year-old immigrant from war-torn Croatia, he didn’t speak English, didn’t know anyone, and had no idea what the future held. But what he did have was perspective, an understanding of risk, resilience, and what really matters. It’s that same clarity that’s guided him from navigating a […]
Chris Matthews wears: Emil Navy Long Sleeve Knitted Polo $299 (KPMI004) Dougie Chocolate Chino $199 (PCW005) From Working Style AI mania has swept its way through every sector and has quickly become one of the defining technologies of the 21st century, already apparently reshaping industries and redefining how businesses operate globally. Amidst all the buzz, […]
Behind some of the most recognisable beverage labels on New Zealand shelves and increasingly offshore is a business that has grown quietly, strategically, and with remarkable resilience. Global Endeavours, led by founder Hamish Gordon, is a vertically integrated group that spans commodity trading, contract manufacturing, and brand development. With operations across New Zealand and Australia, […]
As Chief Technology & Information Officer at 2degrees, Stephen Kurzeja is helping shape the digital infrastructure that underpins how New Zealand connects. With AI rapidly moving from hype to implementation, Kurzeja sees more than just a technical shift, he sees an inflection point. One that has the potential to reshape not only how 2degrees operates, […]
Tim Boyne didn’t grow up dreaming of IPOs and founder exits. He wasn’t raised in a house where startup valuations were casual conversation. Instead, he grew up in Tauranga, raised by a solo mother who, he would later realise, was performing daily acts of heroism just to keep the family afloat. There were no lectures […]
As Chief Strategic Officer and Vice President of Mobility, Lexus and Motorsport at Toyota New Zealand, Andrew Davis has been a key figure in Lexus’s rise as one of the country’s fastest-growing premium automotive brands. Over nearly two decades with Toyota, his leadership has helped guide Lexus through a period of rapid transformation, marked by […]
Founded in 1969 in Houston, Texas, the Southern rock-blues-boogie band, ZZ Top, has reigned supreme as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. With 15 studio albums, a raft of awards and a fan-base that continuously stay devoted to the hard-rockers, ZZ Top are very, very hard to beat. Synonymous with long white […]
My British wife and I had no friends or family to support us when we first landed on New Zealand shores in 2009. Those first months were full of challenges. I had taken a punt on renting a property unseen through Trade Me, optimistic that things would work out. Without “Kiwi experience,” I struggled to […]
In an industry as dynamic and unforgiving as hospitality, complacency is the quickest path to failure. The landscape has been constantly shifting and isn’t expected to change in the coming year—we are still in an economic downturn, evolving customer expectations, supply chain disruptions, and technological advancements demand that businesses not only keep up but get […]
“What attracts the best talent is obviously the solving of the world’s hardest problems.” – Liang Wenfeng, the founder of DeepSeek, “There’s always a reason to say no, but if we keep saying no, we’ll keep going nowhere.” – Christopher Luxon “Yes, it is now or never. We are at a fork in the road […]
You may have recently seen the influx of social media users flashing their sparkly smile, crediting their pearlers to a recent at-home teeth whiten. The trend of at-home teeth whitening has grown significantly in the past few years, and while you’ll find plenty of overseas-based companies on the market, one Kiwi business is giving locals […]
Chef, restaurateur, entrepreneur, father and new Samsung ambassador, Josh Emett, has achieved a lot in his life already, but by the way that he maximises his time, we can be sure that there is more to come. What’s your morning routine? My morning routine is quite tough at the moment. The boys train four days […]
