Rob Everett: Startup sector strategy top of mind
New Zealand Capital Growth Partners boss Rob Everett on juggling work and holidays.
Rob Everett is CEO of New Zealand Capital Growth Partners, the government agency that runs the Aspire seed fund and the Elevate fund of funds.
He arrived in Wellington from the UK in 2013 and the next year had a high-profile role as head of the Financial Markets Authority, the country’s markets regulator.
Here’s his take on how you can juggle taking a break from business as usual with still keeping the lights on in your business.
How long are you taking off over the Xmas/New Year break?
Not long, I’m taking time off from December 25 to January 5 with a few more days here and there in January and a big tramp planned over Waitangi weekend in February.
Where are you planning to go?
Down to Queenstown where my in-laws are and where we have a very unruly section.
How do you plan to keep the business going while you have a break?
In theory, there should not be much that requires urgent attention over those two weeks I’m away but I look at emails every day, just in case.
In previous years have your holidays been disrupted?
In my FMA role, roughly every second summer the break was significantly disrupted by work - the hacking attack on the Reserve Bank in January 2021 was one example. A couple of times I got back to the office in early January and felt like I’d had no break. That really takes a toll. Hopefully not this year!
How often will you take work calls or check emails?
Emails every day. In my current role I wouldn’t expect there to be work calls more than once or twice over the two-week break, if at all.
What was your biggest work headache during 2023?
Adapting to a difficult environment for our portfolio companies and working out how to adjust our investment strategy and support. Solving that is is ongoing process of being watchful and thoughtful about how we operate.
One thing you want to achieve in 2024?
Contributing to a coherent government strategy for the startup sector in New Zealand.
Rob Everett’s answers are part of a two-week series Break from Business as Usual Caffeine is running leading up to and during the Xmas break, featuring startup founders and ecosystem players.
As told to Fiona Rotherham
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