How to spot gaps and prove there’s a need before you build
PLUS: Transformation of science and research sector underway and Rocket Lab stock surges as it notches up stellar wins.
Welcome to mid week!
We made it to hump day again, a round of applause for everyone. Absolutely stacked newsletter this morning with my favourite combination: startup successes to shout out, interesting news to parse and some exclusive content for our Caffeine subs. Also a deeply weird story to finish on, so truly something for everyone.
Kicking off with what’s on offer for our paid subscribers we have the latest from guest columnist Kathleen Webber answering that all important question: how do you know you’ve actually spotted a gap and are meeting a need BEFORE you build?
Here’s what’s in your Daily Shot of news you don’t want to miss
How to spot gaps and prove there’s a need before you build
Transformation of science and research sector underway as PROs replace Crown Institutes
$1.2m in ARR in 45 days - Black Pearl Group’s Bebop surges to success
Amazon deploys its millionth robot, releases new AI model ‘DeepFleet’
Watch Peter Thiel seriously consider whether or not he’s the, *checks notes*, antichrist?
Got a tip, press release or just a comment? Drop us a note: hello@caffeinedaily.co - we love to hear from you.
Finn & the Caffeine team
Taking your Startup to Asia: Panel Discussion
In May 2025, Vanta hosted an in-person panel discussion on how to expand your business into Asia, led by Dickie Currer and featuring respected voices from the tech community. The session explored a key question: Why Asia, and why now? With valuable insights and practical advice, the event equipped attendees with the knowledge and tools to take their startup to Asia.
We’re excited to partner with BNZ. As New Zealand's largest business bank, BNZ shares our mission to support the next wave of founders and operators. Over the coming months, we’ll be working together to share insights, tools, and stories that help you grow smarter and faster. Keep an eye out every Thursday for content powered by BNZ.
How to spot gaps and prove there’s a need before you build
By Kathleen Webber
I started my first business when I was ten, though I didn’t realise it was a business at the time. I got talking to a woman at the park where I was walking my new dog, and she asked if I ever walked other dogs. Truthfully I never had, but I said yes. She said she would pay me $20 a walk every day after school.
No plan, no flyer, no pitch deck. Just a yes, a handshake, and a time.
That one walk turned into a handful, then a dozen. I saved every dollar and eventually booked myself a trip to Sydney, and later to Europe. (Still not sure how I convinced my parents to let me go alone at 15, but that’s another story.) Looking back, that was my first lesson in entrepreneurship:
If someone’s willing to pay you before you’ve built anything, you’re probably onto something.
Since then, I’ve started a few more ventures:
● Spray tanning at uni (I used some leftover dog walking money to buy the gear)
● A Christmas tree delivery business (noticed a gap in the market in Epsom and so we partnered with a local retirement village to use their prime space in exchange for free trees and visits to the old people)
● ResolvePay (providing cost-effective, automated compliance support with Holidays Act compliance to any organisation, from small not-for-profits to large NZX listed companies)
● And most recently, LiveRem, a platform for real-time salary insights to give leaders confidence in any conversation about pay.
Every time, the pattern was the same: spot the pain, talk to people, test fast, and only build once people said, “I need this.”
Paid subscribers can check out the full column below
Transformation of science and research sector underway as PROs replace Crown Research Institutes: What science Minister Shane Reti calls ‘The biggest reset in the last 30 years’ is underway as Crown Research Institutes are replaced by three Public Research Organisations (PROs) focusing on bio-economy, earth sciences, and health and forensic sciences.
A fourth advanced technology PRO focusing on the likes of artificial intelligence, quantum and synthetic biology technologies will be spun up next year. As we’ve covered before, Callaghan Innovation is being disestablished, with its key functions moved to other parts of the system. The details yet to be worked out will be the focus of the newly formed Science and Technology Advisory Council which will meet in a few weeks' time. Check out more details in Shane Reti’s press release here.
$1.2m in ARR in 45 days - Black Pearl Group’s Bebop surges to success: We’ve covered the success of Black Pearl Group before but this a scorcher as it has just announced that Bebop, its latest AI-driven sales enablement product, has reached $1.2 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in just 45 days - making it the fastest-growing product in the company's history.
The company credits Bebop’s success to the fact that most SMEs have been locked out of high-quality sales intelligence with legacy platforms like ZoomInfo, Clearbit, and Apollo built for enterprise and priced accordingly. Bebop changes that. In just seconds, this AI sales agent scans millions of US-based companies to deliver a hyper-targeted list of verified decision-makers, complete with personalised strategic dossiers.
“Bebop is like ChatGPT, but specifically built for sales and revenue growth. This is one of the fastest go-to-market trajectories we’ve seen across the SaaS and AI landscape, and customers have rapidly validated our value proposition. We hit it out of the park with Pearl Diver, so it’s extremely exciting to see Bebop overtake its impressive early adoption. Bebop’s traction validates our core thesis: that speed, usability, and value drive adoption. And our platform was built to scale these advantages, fast” comments Nick Lissette, Chief Executive Officer
Faster and more intelligent for a fraction of the cost is a compelling proposition. Congrats to the team!
Rocket Lab stock surges as it notches up stellar wins: We absolutely love to see our homegrown startups literally shooting for the moon and Rocket Lab stock soared this week off the back of some impressive recent wins. The space-tech company's share price climbed 17.8% from the previous Friday's market close, after successfully launching its 67th Electron rocket, which carried four satellites into low-Earth orbit for HawkEye 360, and then followed that up within 48 hours with its 68th Electron launch - the fastest back to back launches in its history. Rocket Lab also inked a major deal with the European Space Agency (ESA) for two satellite launches. The first taking place as early as December, and the ESA said that it selected Rocket Lab for the missions specifically because rapid turnaround time was a priority, which Rocket Lab is certainly demonstrating.
Amazon deploys its millionth robot, releases new AI model ‘DeepFleet’: Checking in on the global scene now and while we’re often focused on the frothy frontier of generative AI and the Silicon Valley drama surrounding titans like OpenAI, there’s very important transformations occurring much closer to everyday consumers at more venerable behemoths like Amazon.
The company just announced it has deployed its millionth robot to work in its warehouses, alongside a new AI model to run that robot workforce with the slightly sinister title of ‘DeepFleet’. The WSJ also reports the company is closing in on symbolic milestone, the same number of robots working in its warehouses as humans. In a press release announcing all this Amazon stressed that 750,000 workers have now also been upskilled and trained to ‘prepare for the future’.
Personally, I feel like this is one of those headlines which could run across the opening credits of a documentary made in 15 years time parsing the tipping point after which our old world and economy stopped existing.
Check out the full press release here.
Watch Peter Thiel seriously consider whether or not he’s the, *checks notes*, antichrist?: Well, there’s a headline I never thought I would write. I’ve talked before on Caffeine how a lot of the most powerful builders in Silicon Valley, the true believers in the power of emerging technology - whether they believe it will usher in utopia or dystopia - have a truly religious zeal.
This is has never been on display more literally than in this deeply weird New York Times interview with Palantir and Pay Pal co-founder Peter Thiel, who has become a lot more biblical in his proclamations lately. He ends up outlining a spectacularly bleak world view (loosely) based on Christian theology, describing how technological progress and responding government overreach might create a kind of totalitarianism which he would describe as ‘the antichrist’, i.e the thing that ushers in the end times.
Credit to the interviewer, who asks the obvious follow-up that if the combination of totalitarianism and technology is his worry, couldn’t it be argued he’s helping build this exact scenario through his work?
Watching a billionaire truly consider whether or not he’s the antichrist under his own definition was not on my bingo card. Check out the full interview here.
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
