Blog
A simple question in the New Zealand Builders group got a lot more traction than expected: what watch are you wearing on site? The poster was using an older Apple Watch that had clearly taken a bit of punishment over the years. It was scratched up, probably past its best, and he was looking at upgrading […]
Fuel prices are climbing again, and for many builders across New Zealand, it’s starting to bite in a way that’s hard to ignore. What used to be a background cost is now something you feel almost every day, especially if you’re constantly moving between jobs. Running utes, towing trailers, picking up materials, and doing site […]
The Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) scheme has been part of New Zealand’s building industry for over a decade. Most builders know the basics: certain types of residential construction work are classified as Restricted Building Work (RBW), and that work must be carried out or supervised by an LBP. But a recent discussion in the New […]
It’s a topic that keeps resurfacing across the industry. Every few months, another builder posts the same question in forums and trade groups: Why are so many tradies leaving New Zealand for Australia—and what would it take to keep them here? That exact question recently sparked a lively discussion in the New Zealand Builders Facebook […]
Running a small trade business used to be simple. A notebook in the ute. A calculator. Maybe a printed invoice pad. Quotes written by hand and totals worked out on paper. For years, that system worked perfectly well for many sole tradies. But things are changing. A recent post in the New Zealand Builders Facebook […]
Most builders think about it eventually. Your body gets sore. The days feel longer. You still enjoy the work, but not the physical toll that comes with it. At some point, the question comes up: How do you step away from the tools without stepping out of the industry entirely? That question sparked a wide-ranging […]
At some point, most builders slow down. Some close their business. Some take fewer jobs. Some decide they’re done with contracting altogether. Others focus on their own home after years of building for everyone else. And that’s usually when licensing starts to feel less important. You’re no longer quoting jobs. You’re not advertising. You’re not […]
As a founder, product lead at Pinterest and PM for a couple products at Google, as well as a growth partner for Initialized Capital, I’ve seen many product teams struggle to grow. Many products start out with a bang. Some find product-market fit with sustained growth. A few have gone through spurts of hyper-growth. But […]
There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. One of them is whether profitability matters. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up. Or you know the other one — the one […]
Enterprise applications are complex — there is an insane amount of information that is to be displayed that contains data from various sources, modules and users. There are complex graphs, usage patterns, and lists of data that need to be skimmed through before one can make sense of what the console is getting at. “The biggest challenge […]