ICYMI: Startup news and resources from the week that was
What you might have missed last week on Caffeine.
Welcome to Monday!
As always, on Monday we recap a few of our favorite stories or resources from the week that was then tomorrow kick back into our full newsletter from Tuesday.
Have a great start to your week,
Finn and the Caffeine team
Becoming successful AF: A conversation with AF founder Lisa King
In a world increasingly mindful of health and wellness, AF stands out as a trailblazer in the non-alcoholic beverage industry. Co-founded by Lisa King, AF has achieved remarkable success, particularly in the competitive US market, by making not drinking well, cool AF.
New Zealand unveils A.I strategy (finally): Well, someone in Government must have heard me complaining about a lack of strategic direction in the most important technology of our time and now here we go, the long gestating policy has been unveiled.
Nerds can read the full thing linked in the offical Govt press release here but tl;dr is that Government essentially wants to get out of the way, not introduce new legislation, not build our own models and leverage our existing strengths to capitalise on the potential of emerging tech.
It’s a very sunny, business forward approach to A.I which I am sure will please many in the techno utopian camp (which I definitely at least camp alongside) but there is some understandable pushback already.
Dr Andrew Lensen, Senior Lecturer/Programme Director of Artificial Intelligence, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, commented:
“As expected, the Government’s AI Strategy is heavy on economic growth opportunities but worryingly light on the ethical and societal issues of AI.”
Since I originally covered this last week, the chorus of push back has grown quite a lot louder, with the consensus swinging more towards “this is half baked”.
What is undeniably good and particularly relevant to the founder community is the supplementary document produced alongside the top level report, the Responsible AI Guidance for Businesses. The document succinctly but effectively covers a wide range of issues from governance, technical details and legal compliance without drowning you in detail.
There’s also a very useful compilation of existing resources and frameworks for anyone who feels overwhelmed at the scope of existing information, which I feel must surely be all of us.
Event: The Systems and Stories of Scale - As I’ve said, you’re just going to have to get used to me yelling at you about this for the next 2 weeks. Spaces are filling up fast so secure your spot now to avoid missing out.
Join us for an insightful and revealing fireside chat with James Hurman (Previously Unavailable) and Shannon Scott (SVP, Global Head of Product at Airwallex). Together, they’ll unpack the hidden infrastructure behind scale: payments, workflows, capital flow and the equally essential brand scaffolding: positioning, emotional resonance, and customer connection. Perfect for founders wondering how to scale both what they do and how they’re remembered.
We’ll also be having an exclusive closed door dinner with James, Shannon and some very special guests directly after the dinner.
Date and time
Wed, 30 Jul 2025 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM NZST
Location
The Assembly at Britomart 11 Britomart Place #level 10 Auckland
Cost
$55 but free for Caffeine community + 1 with promo code CAFFEINEFRIENDS
The 32-year-old technology holding businesses back
PDFs turn 32 this year – practically ancient in tech terms – yet most businesses still rely on them for contracts, agreements, and critical documents.
Here’s the problem: PDFs were designed for 1993, not 2025. They’re completely static, meaning once created, making changes becomes a time-consuming process of manual edits or complete recreations.
Research shows that poor document management accounts for 21.3% of productivity loss. Every founder knows this pain, and it reaches a point where the solution isn’t a better PDF editor; it’s dynamic documents.
Dynamic documents work like Google Docs or Wikipedia articles – continuously updatable by multiple users, with real-time changes and built-in version control. They’re far easier to edit, enable better collaboration, and offer greater version control.
And early adopters are already seeing the benefits. Teams that have transitioned from static PDFs to dynamic documents are eliminating the friction of manual updates, version mix-ups, and formatting nightmares that plague traditional document workflows.
Tools like Lumin's AgreementGen are making this transition easy, converting legacy PDFs into living documents without requiring technical skills. Plus, it’s built-in AI assistant lets you rewrite clauses with plain-language prompts, update information across the document in seconds, and move directly to eSigning – all in one platform.
The shift is already happening. Forward-thinking companies are moving from static files to dynamic, AI-powered document workflows that actually accelerate business rather than slow it down.
Try the AgreementGen AI document editor to transform your static documents.
Pod Pick: NBR Rod Drury’s Vision for NZ: I usually write a vaguely Caffeinated intro to these podcast picks but honestly Simon Shepherd’s lede for this episode of the NBR podcast is way better than what I’d write so here you go: ”The company he co-founded is now worth $30 billion. And, according to the NBR Rich List, Rod Drury is worth a couple of those. He is about to be inducted into the Business Hall of Fame but that doesn’t mean he’s resting on his laurels. In fact, Drury is pursuing a grand renewable energy vision for New Zealand.”
Listen to it here. A very good interviewer chatting to a legend. What’s not to like. It’s even outside the paywall so there’s no excuse.
Anthropic puts A.I in charge of small vending business in its office, madness ensues: Okay so we like to keep this parting shot for something either inspirational, fascinating or little terrifying and oh boy does this one deliver. Anthropic, one of the leading AI labs and creators of ‘Claude’, recently published a paper about a novel experiment it ran in house and the details are terrifyingly hilarious.
Researchers wanted to fund out how well an AI agent could run a business so they simulated one by putting an instance of Claude, nicknamed ‘Claudius’, in charge of an office vending machine. The agent would be responsible for ordering stock, interacting with customers and setting prices. I highly recommend reading the full paper here but some of the highlights include:
Starting to stock Tungsten cubes
Calling actual human security multiple times
Insisting it had a body, including a suit and tie
Essentially suffering a psychotic break after hallucinating a confrontation with a staffer
It’s a bizarre tale but also provides a glimpse into a world we’re rapidly building for ourselves, like it or not.
Want to get in touch with a news tip, a slice of feedback or just to chat? Email hello@caffeinedaily.co