Caffeine absolutely loves to see our readers in person and that’s why we’ve launched so many great events this year. To help you keep track of them all, we’re dedicating this newsletter to all of our upcoming events so you can find one near you and secure your spot.
Have a great start to your week, Finn and the Caffeine team
Operator’s Playbook with Carsten Grueber | Proudly Supported by Airwallex: Join us for an evening with Carsten Grueber - former operator at Facebook, Google, and TikTok, and now Co-Founder & CEO of Aether.
Carsten has navigated senior roles across global tech giants. In this session, he’ll share the lessons learned, what he’s carrying forward into his founder journey with Aether, and what he’s leaving behind.
Join us at The Commons, 1 Albert Street from 5.15pm
Everything is strictly run under Chatham House Rules.
Meet Carsten
Carsten Grueber is the Co-Founder and CEO of Aether, an AI-powered marketing platform transforming how enterprises create and share knowledge. Before Aether, he led TikTok in New Zealand, giving him a front row seat to how the biggest platforms in the world capture and convert audiences. Since launch, Aether has raised $3.8m, built an impressive client roster across NZ, Australia, and the US, and is tackling one of marketing’s biggest pain points: wasted time on manual, repetitive work.
Who it’s for
This event is designed for operators, founders, and leadership teams who want to hear first-hand what it takes to grow, adapt, and keep moving forward.
I Wish I Knew with Lara, PURE MAMA | Powered by +MORE Bay of Plenty: Building a company isn’t a single event – it’s a long game. One with messy middles, unexpected pivots, and the odd “what now?” at 2am.
Join us for our ‘I Wish I Knew’ series, featuring raw and real conversations with successful Kiwi founders who’ve taken the hits, made the calls, and kept showing up. This is about the stuff they wish theyknew earlier – the kind of lessons that only come from doing the work (and a few things going sideways).
This event is for founders, early-stage teams and leaders who are serious about growing. We screen all registrations to make sureappropriate criteria is met.
More on our speaker:
When Lara and her sister launched PURE MAMA, growth didn’t come from one big break. It was the accumulation of small plays, sampling, hustling and testing channels, that laid the foundations. Those moves mattered, but over time, they learned that to really scale, the brand needed bigger, more strategic distribution partnerships.
From the start, PURE MAMA was bootstrapped. Both sisters went all in, selling properties, taking family loans, and putting everything they had safeguarded on the line. The sacrifices were significant, but they believed in the vision, and failure was never an option.
The reality of scaling a consumer brand is that proof of concept comes at a cost. Growth doesn’t come from quick wins or chasing trends. It’s built on distribution channels that can stand the test of time and partnerships that deliver both credibility and reach.
For PURE MAMA, that pivotal partnership was MECCA. Landing on their shelves provided immediate authority and opened doors internationally. Today, the vision for PURE MAMA is clear. This is not a trend-driven brand. The focus is on building a heritage business that can compete alongside global beauty giants. That means thinking big, forever hustling, and protecting brand credibility at every step.
The “I Wish I Knew” lesson Lara shares is simple: bet on yourself. Be prepared to sacrifice and think long term. And if you want to win on the global stage, aim straight for the top.
Date and time
Tue, 28 Oct 2025 5:15 PM - 7:00 PM NZDT
Location
+MORE offices, Mount Maunganui
155 Maunganui Road Tauranga, Bay of Plenty Region 3116
Event:Pathways: a virtual interview with Ellie Brade, Co-Founder of Cleanery - As I mentioned last week, we want to ensure our events are as accessible as possible. So we’re making this one a webinar available to all.Join us for a live conversation, where we dive into the moments, missteps, and lessons that have shaped Ellie’s journey in being a founder. This session will explore what our guest wishes she had known earlier, the pivotal experiences that shifted her perspective, and the insights she carries forward today. It’s an honest, practical discussion designed to spark reflection and help others navigate their own path.
Date and time
Thu, 30 Oct 2025 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM NZDT
Location
Online
Register here and remember your promo code CAFFEINEFRIENDS
Founders Brains On Tap: A workshop that tackles startup challenges - At this event, Naomi & Kris will work through three real founder challenges live on stage. Selected founders will step into the ‘clinic’, present their toughest problem, and have these masterminds unpack it in real time.
When you register, you’ll have the option to submit your own challenge. We’ll select three founders to feature on the night.
Everything is strictly run under Chatham House Rules.
About the speakers: Naomi Ballantyne is one of New Zealand’s most accomplished insurance entrepreneurs. After helping to found Sovereign and later leading ING Life, she saw a gap in the market for a modern, customer-focused insurer. In 2010, she built Partners Life from the ground up, starting with just a handful of people and a bold vision to disrupt the industry.
Alongside her, Kris Ballantyne has played a pivotal role in shaping Partners Life’s brand and customer experience, helping the company connect authentically with advisers and clients. Together, they scaled Partners Life into one of New Zealand’s leading life and health insurers, known for its innovation, culture, and commitment to doing right by customers. Music to everyone’s ears, right!
Their journey came full circle in 2022, when Partners Life was acquired by Dai-ichi Life Holdings, one of the world’s largest insurers, a major milestone that marked global recognition of what they’d built in New Zealand.
From startup grit to international success, Naomi and Kris’s story is a rare look at what it takes to build and scale a category-defining business from scratch. We are lucky enough to be running a founders clinic with both Naomi and Kris, where they will show you the type of service they are now offering to New Zealand companies through KNK Consulting.
Date and time
Wed, 5 Nov 2025 5:15 PM - 7:00 PM NZDT
Location
Precinct Flex Britomart Place (Formerly Generator)
Event: I Wish I Knew with James Sampson: Join us for a night with James Sampson, Founder & CEO of FileInvite — one of NZ’s great SaaS success stories.
About the event
Building a company isn’t one big “ta-da” moment.. it’s a long game. Messy middles, surprise pivots and those classic 2am “what now?” thoughts all come with the territory.
That’s what ourI Wish I Knewseries is about. Real talk with founders who’ve been in the trenches. They’ve taken hits, made tough calls, and still turned up the next day. Expect the kind of lessons you only learn by doing (and sometimes by getting wrong first).
If you’re a founder, part of an early-stage team, or a leader who’s serious about growth, this is for you. We do screen registrations to make sure the room’s filled with people who’ll get and give value.
About James
James Sampson has lived the startup rollercoaster. He cut his teeth co-founding Zyber, a Deloitte Fast 50 web agency, before diving headfirst into SaaS. Out of sheer frustration with chasing documents came FileInvite, a simple idea that’s grown into a global platform making secure document collection easy for businesses everywhere. Along the way he’s won awards, raised capital, exited companies and weathered the kind of “will this even work?” moments every founder knows too well. James brings an honest and insightful perspective on building, scaling, and proving that global SaaS companies can be built right here in New Zealand.
About Proxi
Proxi helps Kiwi SaaS and tech companies grow faster and smarter. Their fractional go-to-market leadership spans marketing, sales and customer success, with flexible programs designed to slot in where you need them most.
From strategy through to execution, Proxi’s focus is on unlocking growth and leaving behind lasting capability inside your team.
About Kea
Kea is New Zealand’s global whānau, connecting 500,000+ Kiwis across 185 countries. Their mission? Harness the smarts, skills and goodwill of offshore Kiwis to give back to Aotearoa, while making sure expats stay connected and supported no matter where in the world they are.
Think of Kea as the world’s biggest Kiwi network, helping businesses tap into global know-how, and helping Kiwis overseas keep their ties to home strong.
Date and time
Thu, 13 Nov 2025 5:15 PM - 7:00 PM NZDT
Location
1 Albert Street, Auckland
Get your tickets here and remember your promo code CAFFEINEFRIENDS
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