Bizzy CEO Corinna Stukan on 'unfinished' business' and her advice to tech founders
PLUS: Govt invests $71m in advanced technology research, online toolkit for founders launches and sneak peek of FSR looks into how AI could affect financial stability.
Good morning startup land,
Happy Tuesday!
You’re busy, I’m busy, let’s not waste too much time on my usual intro waffle today, shall we?
Today we’re kicking off with an exclusive sit down with a fascinating fintech founder and CEO, Cori Stukan, about her soon to launch new business, Bizzy.
Paid subs should also check back next week as well for a longer column with Cori about how we can actually measure the metrics that matter.
Elsewhere in your Daily Shot of news:
Govt invests $71m in advanced technology research
Rise of the Machines: How artificial intelligence could impact financial stability
What founders want: Fantastic online toolkit for founders available now
OpenAI reverses course, will leave nonprofit arm in control of the business
A legend announces retirement with some parting advice and a few warnings
Keep your stories, subs and updates coming. We love what you’re building.
Got a press release, startup story, resource or founder you’d love to connect with the Caffeine audience? Drop me a line to finn@caffeinedaily.co
Finn and the Caffeine team
Bizzy CEO and Insight Driven PM Founder Corinna Stukan is a digital product executive, founder and advisor with 15+ years of product leadership across FinTech, SaaS and marketplaces.
Her new fintech business, Bizzy, is building up to launch so I caught up with Cori recently to chat about what unmet need she sees Bizzy filling as well as a fascinating dive into her work at Insights Driven PM.
Check back next week for a column about the latter, for now, read on to hear more about the former.
Can you explain what led you to create this platform, what's the problem Bizzy is out to solve?
My work in the fintech sector highlighted a recurring issue: I was constantly seeing this gap in financial services where big financial organizations focused on large clients, overlooking SMEs and startups - despite often claiming to champion them! This discrepancy became really clear when talking to small business owners. They just weren't seeing any of that talk come to life on the ground in a way they could access.
One of my favourite projects I’ve led was a small business insights tool for cash flow. It connected with accounting tools and gave businesses insights on their financials. This venture was launched through a bank with great ambitions and initial momentum in NZ/AU, but we never reached the scale we set out to do. That left this “unfinished business” feeling for me. I saw a real need for small businesses, and now, with the right technology, I can finally address it. Bizzy aims to bridge that gap and provide better access to finance for small businesses and startups.
What's changed in the tech landscape that allows Bizzy to thrive now, where maybe it couldn't have a few years ago?
Technology readiness. It's impossible to talk about this without mentioning AI. Small businesses are a fragmented market; no two are the same. Previously, talking to them and assessing their needs involved a manual, time-intensive process. Now, with AI and large language models, we can use human language to understand their needs. A business owner might say, "I need to cover some bills," or "I need equipment for my cafe." AI can take that language and translate it, unpacking their needs through that technology filter in a much more efficient way.
It significantly brings down costs for lenders because they don't need as many people to have those initial conversations. We reduce customer acquisition costs and make things scalable. Technology does the initial "needs analysis," understanding what a business requires and then matching them with the right finance partner. So in sentence, Bizzy is essentially a platform that has data from small businesses and a database of providers and we will use AI to match them efficiently.
Paid subscribers can check out the full conversation below
Bizzy CEO Cori Stukan on 'unfinished' business' and her advice to tech founders
Bizzy CEO and Insight Driven PM Founder Corinna Stukan is a digital product executive, founder and advisor with 15+ years of product leadership across FinTech, SaaS and marketplaces.
Govt invests $71m in advanced technology research: Well, someone in Shane Reti’s office must have heard me banging on about too much restructuring of science funding and not enough money being injected into it. The Government is now investing $71 million over seven years into a new advanced technology science platform hosted by the Robinson Research Institute, who are based out of Victoria University of Wellington.
It’s the kind of investment which could help lay the foundations for the next generation of superstar startups. Robinson’s world-class superconductivity research directly enabled unique levitated dipole approach currently in use at OpenStar.
"Fusion was science fiction before significant innovation brought reality within reach. We have grown our company out of the same cryogenic and superconducting technology base. These innovations don’t just power OpenStar, they have positioned New Zealand as a global leader in fusion. I applaud the vision of the MBIE and government in recognising the support needed to ensure New Zealand captures a leadership position in the developing commercial markets," says Ratu Mataira, OpenStar Founder/CEO.
Full press release about the funding available here.
Rise of the Machines: How artificial intelligence could impact financial stability: It’s always comforting when your Reserve Bank literally uses the title of a terminator film to headline it’s analysis of where AI is heading.
This is just a tease of the broader FSR (Financial Stability Report) which will come out later today. This excerpt outlines the current use of AI within the financial sector and explores its potential benefits and challenges, and provides an overview of the evolving regulatory landscape.
The report, available here, says a lot of things which probably won’t surprise you but some of its analysis has been met with pushback from experts in the field. Chris Keall over at the Herald has a good wrap of both the report and a responses to it.
Key findings of the report
AI adoption is accelerating: Models and tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with widespread use across financial services.
AI can potentially benefit financial stability: AI can improve model accuracy, enhance risk assessment, strengthen cyber resilience, and help financial institutions better manage threats.
AI may pose risks to financial stability: These include AI-driven errors, data privacy concerns, market distortions, and increased exposure to cyber attacks—all of which could amplify existing systemic risks.
Market concentration poses risks: Heavy reliance on a few critical third-party providers could increase systemic vulnerabilities, particularly in a context of limited market competition.
A great resource for founders if you haven’t checked it out already: A big part of our mission here at Caffeine is connecting you to the resources which can help you reach the next stage in your startup journey. Lane Litz, Founder and Managing Partner at Founder VC, has made an excellent online toolkit under the very apt name ‘what founders want’ which we absolutely have to shout out.
Navigating the ocean of people trying to tell (or sell!) you things in this ecosystem can be tricky so it’s great to see a clearly laid out and accessible resource like this built off the core pillars of what will help startups get going.
Resources to help you do things like:
Save money - High value perks and ready-made templates reduce costs.
Make money- Set up your company, hire smarter, go to market efficiently.
Raise money- Grants, VCs, accelerators, and angel investors- all in one place.
Check it out here and props to the team.
OpenAI reverses course, will leave nonprofit arm in control of the business: I know it isn’t Thursday so isn’t our day to check in on the wider world but I think particularly with the AI report out from the Reserve Bank it’s worth keeping across what’s happening with the most important AI company on Earth. A post on the company’s blog has revealed a surprising turn around in its plan to transition to a primarily for profit company. Relevant excerpt from the blog below or check out the full post here.
One section which caught my eye was: “We made the decision for the nonprofit to retain control of OpenAI after hearing from civic leaders and engaging in constructive dialogue with the offices of the Attorney General of Delaware and the Attorney General of California.” I think the both the public and Government’s attention is squarely focused on OpenAI as the leader in the most important tech race on Earth and perhaps they realised the optics of becoming entirely market force led would not translate well to those audiences.
The OpenAI Board has an updated plan for evolving OpenAI’s structure.
OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, and is today overseen and controlled by that nonprofit. Going forward, it will continue to be overseen and controlled by that nonprofit.
Our for-profit LLC, which has been under the nonprofit since 2019, will transition to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC)–a purpose-driven company structure that has to consider the interests of both shareholders and the mission.
The nonprofit will control and also be a large shareholder of the PBC, giving the nonprofit better resources to support many benefits.
Our mission remains the same, and the PBC will have the same mission.
A legend announces retirement with some parting advice and a few warnings: Legendary investor Warren Buffett surprised everyone in announcing his retirement recently, as the 94 year old had previously said he had ‘no plans’ to retire.
He delivered his final address to an arena full of shareholders and spectators over the weekend at his final annual share holders meeting. There were a few great quips and advice (‘keep negotiating in the womb until your born in the US' was a funny one) and some warnings that ‘trade should not be used as a weapon’. The latter I expect will unfortunately fall on deaf ears at the White House.
Buffett has told Berkshire Hathaway’s board that Greg Abel should become CEO at the end of the year. Happy retirement Mr Buffett, if anyone has earned it, it’s you.
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Want to get in touch with a news tip, bit of feedback or just to chat? Email hello@caffeinedaily.co