Writing

When you mix the right ingredients together, in the right order, with the right proportions in the right environment, magical things can happen.

In 2021, I was provided the opportunity to step into a product management role (PM) after years as a user experience (UX) designer. I said yes, and started learning on the job. ‍I wanted to supplement my experience with a more objective, structured environment to learn best practices. Startmate’s Product Management 101 Fellowship came at the perfect time. ‍

Mark is a serial entrepreneur with more than 15 years’ experience in the alcohol sector and two startups already under his belt. And while he didn’t necessarily set out to start a business this time, he realised that through tinkering in his Auckland garage, he’d stumbled across a global opportunity.

Agtech startup Flux is here to drive efficiency with precision farming and weed-busting robots.

It’s not uncommon to see founders solving problems they’ve faced themselves. Jessica Dove London is doing just that – and founding stories don’t get much more personal, emotional and passion-fuelled than hers.

University students Kai Van Lieshout and Linus Talacko are using AI to create a new kind of grad job: startup founder.‍The second and third-year university students are the creators of Lyrebird Health, Australia's first and most widely used AI assistant for allied healthcare practitioners. ‍Lyrebird took out the top prize in a two-week hackathon in the Startmate Student Fellowship, a national program challenging a generation of young people to look to startups as an alternative career path. ‍Following this mighty win, Kai and Linus got a one-way ticket to Launch Club, where they spent the next ten weeks validating their idea, talking to customers and preparing for launch.

The team from Ubiquetherm are creating a breakthrough product that could have dramatic and brilliant ramifications for virtually every human on earth.

One month before Demo Day, we ask our founders to tell us the Good, Bad and Ugly about their Accelerator experience thus far.

“Luck is like a lightning bolt ⚡. Unpredictable, powerful, and easily missed in the blink of an eye. For luck to strike, you need to increase your surface area.”

Health tech entrepreneur, Dana Allison has led a big, beautiful life.‍“I have had this amazing life, I won't lie,” she laughs. “And it's mostly because I'm the kind of person who says yes to opportunity, even if I have no idea how it's going to work out.”