Unfiltered Live, 5 Ideas in 20 Minutes, is a new form of business event.

Unfiltered Live is for Everyone with a Dream.
This event has already happened!

From the high-calibre of speakers who are taking the business world by storm, to the high-energy attendees who are disrupting markets here and abroad, Unfiltered Live is breathing new life to the way we all learn business. We've hand-picked entrepreneurs and business leaders who have taken their businesses to hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars - to help you bring success to your own journey.

We have speakers flying in from all around the world, including New York City, San Francisco and Phoenix, to share the key lessons they’ve learnt.

Unfiltered Live is for Everyone with a Dream.

We are a tribe of super-performers who inspire and learn from each other constantly. We believe that the old way of learning business has no room for the modern world of fast-paced exchange of information.

Unfiltered Live, 5 Ideas in 20 Minutes, is a new form of business event. Every speaker will take the stage for just 20 minutes, sharing their five greatest ideas to help you win in business. Fast. You will walk away with over 65 world-changing ideas. It will be intense, it will be exciting, and it will be totally unfiltered.

We want to learn business fast. And we want to win.

  • Conference
  • Education
  • Investment
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
Brought to you by:

Speakers

Anna Mowbray is the Co-Owner and COO of ZURU toys, now regarded as the 14th biggest toy company in the world. ZURU is known for its agility, innovation, industry disruption, leadership in automated toy manufacturing and family culture. Anna sits at the helm of ZURU and is the backbone of the organization overseeing all HR, operations, marketing, distribution, new product development, investments and financials.

Anna’s achievements include growing ZURU with her two siblings from its inception 12 years ago to a $450M+ business today, all while raising three kids under the age of 5 and living in Asia.

She leads a team of over 2,200 direct employees and over 10,000 indirect employees, and oversaw the transition of the world’s top selling toy in 2016, Bunch O Balloons, to automated manufacturing. With many “Toy of the Year” accolades and numerous industry awards to its name, Zuru is a powerhouse in toys.

The company is now diversifying its portfolio and is maneuvering into FMCG.
Brendan Lindsay is the Founder of Sistema Plastics. Brendan started the company over 30 years ago from his garage in Cambridge, making sizing clips for coat hangers, with the initial goal of simply feeding his family.

In December 2016 it was acquired by US conglomerate Newell Brands for NZD $660 million. At the time of its sale, Sistema employed nearly 900 staff globally, exported to over 90 countries and had recently finished construction of a new $100 million, 52,000 square meter manufacturing facility , the largest built in New Zealand in 30 years. As part of the sale agreement Brendan insisted that Newell commit to manufacturing in New Zealand, ensuring on-going employment for the 600 local staff.
Brian Wong is the 26-year-old Co-Founder and CEO of Kiip. Kiip (pronounced “keep”) redefines how brands connect with consumers through a rewards platform that targets “achievement moments” in mobile games and apps. This innovative approach to mobile marketing creates meaningful engagements between consumers and brands. Backed by Verizon Ventures, AmEx Ventures, US Cellular, North Atlantic Capital, Hummer Winblad, Relay Ventures, True Ventures, and others, the company has raised over $35 million in funding to date.

Kiip has been recognized by Forbes as one of the “4 Hot Online Ad Companies to Put on Your Watch List,” named on the Dow Jones “FasTech50” and is listed on Fast Company’s “50 Most Innovative Companies in the World.” Once the youngest person to ever receive venture capital funding, Brian received his Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia at age 18, after skipping four K-12 grades.
Carmen is the founder and Managing Director of Data Insight - a company that combines the best of advanced analytics, data visualisation and data strategy to help deliver actionable insights to businesses of all sizes and industry to help them create value from data.

Simultaneously Carmen has also founded Valocity – a cloud-based mortgage platform which streamlines the valuation and lending process and connect s the ecosystem of lenders, consumers, brokers and valuers to simplify the mortgage process. In just under five years, Carmen’s businesses have grown significantly and collectively now employ a team of over 80 people including teams in Australia and India.

Carmen has almost two decades of experience using data and technology to solve business problems, working with major banks and insurers in Australasia as well as a number of large retail, telecommunication and utility brands.

Her unrelenting focus, determination and entrepreneurial ability is widely recognised. She was named a finalist in the 2016 ‘Women of Influence’ awards. In 2015 she won the Auckland University Business School’s ‘Entrepreneur’s Challenge’ award in recognition of the entrepreneurial and innovative initiatives she has bought to market and was a finalist in the ‘E Y Entrepreneur of the Year’ awards.

Both Data Insight and Valocity have also received a number of industry, innovation and marketing awards in recognition of their innovation and work in data and technology including CIO’s ‘Best Business Transformation’ award in 2017 and Nexus Supreme Marketing awards 2016.

A self-confessed ‘data-tech geek’ and devoted mother of four, Carmen is passionate about helping client s deliver innovation and game-changing value through the power of technology and data.
Dan Radcliffe is the Founder and Executive Director of International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ).

After completing a Master of Business degree, Dan gained a place in TelstraClear's graduate employment program. After realising that the corporate life wasn't for him, he quit after three days and returned to his family's farm in Taranaki.

After travelling extensively, including a trip to rural Keyna to volunteer for three months, he returned to New Zealand and founded International Volunteer HQ in 2007. The business now operates in more than 40 countries, has placed more than 80,000 volunteers abroad and employs over 300 people globally.

In 2014, Dan was named EY's New Zealand Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Deborah Pead is the Owner and CEO of Pead PR.

A PR veteran who started her PR career in South Africa in the early ‘80s, Deborah and her business partner Angie Makwetla created the first “new South Africa” PR agency and was largely responsible for the PR strategy behind the enormously successful Nation Building campaign.

When she immigrated to New Zealand in 1996, she brought her extensive retail and brand PR experience with her, starting the PR division of the Bates group before becoming GM of 141 New Zealand.

Deborah established Pead PR in 2001 to concentrate on consumer-focused brand building. Starting with a staff of one and her home dining table as her desk, the business quickly went from strength to strength.

Pead PR is now a leading agency in New Zealand with a team of respected and influential PR practitioners well known for their innovative integrated PR campaigns.

Deborah has personally led numerous successful campaigns for her clients including NZ’s first influencer led launch, My Food Bag.
Ezel Kokcu is a serial entrepreneur and the Founding Director of event and analytics platform Passphere.

Passphere successfully secured investment October 2016 and will see a product launched late 2017 with a core team of 5. Passphere's initial launch will be in New Zealand with quick movements overseas soon after.

Ezel has a passion for entrepreneurship that was formed at a young age. Ezel spent three months travelling around Turkey teaching English in schools for underprivileged children. She then returned to New Zealand to begin working on a degree in Computer Science at Victoria University. While studying, Ezel was involved in a start-up doing social and digital marketing that sparked a passion in starting and growing businesses. Shortly after, starting the discovery and exploration app that disrupted the Museum and Cultural market, STQRY. As Co-Founder of STQRY, Ezel’s ideas and narratives help to guide and shape the business every day.

3 years on, STQRY is now known as Area360 and are shaping the way visitors and organizations engage and share stories on a daily basis. With capital backing from one of the most reputable Venture Capital firms in the United States, Area360 were able to raise $5.5M in funds and are now developing and selling in over 4 countries to over 500 organizations worldwide. The team in New Zealand has grown to 35 and 7 in the United States.

Ezel then decided to move full time in her next venture as Co-Founder of Wellington-based Ticketing startup, Non-Stop Tix. After just 18 months of operation, the company was sold to a New Zealand-based private investor.
Frances Valintine (CNZM) is a thought-leader in emerging and disruptive technologies and has 20 years’ experience across business, technology and education.

In 2013 Frances founded The Mind Lab to bring contemporary knowledge and practical skills to students and teachers around New Zealand. In 2016, she launched Tech Futures Lab to navigate the new world of technology enabled businesses, as exponential technologies impact on every role, every sector and every economy.

Frances has worked with and advised 250+ organisations from every sector in New Zealand, from agriculture to finance, retail to law, and has gained a reputation as an expert in leading change initiatives.

In the 2018 New Year Honours, Frances was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit recognising her lifetime of contribution in education and technology. Last year Frances received the NZ Flying Kiwi Award and was inducted into the New Zealand Hi-Tech Hall of Fame. Frances was also named one of the top 3 NZ Innovators of the Year at the 2017 NZer of the Year awards. In 2016 Frances was named one of the top 50 EdTech Educators in the World by EdTech International, and was also awarded a Sir Peter Blake Leader Award. In 2015 Frances was awarded the Westpac New Zealand Woman of Influence (Innovation) and the Next New Zealand Woman of the Year (Education).

Frances sits on the boards of Callaghan Innovation, KEA and the NZ Artificial Intelligence Forum. She sits on a US Board of Talentnomics, committed to the empowerment of women in developing nations.

She holds a Master of Education Management from the University of Melbourne.
Iyia Liu is a serial entrepreneur and the 23-year old Founder of Bambi Boutique, Waist Trainer NZ AUS and Luxe Fitness.

After founding Waist Trainer NZ AUS fresh out of university at 21 years old, she experienced massive growth - turning over $3.5m in its first year of business, selling to 90+ countries and generating almost $1m in profits! Today, both Waist Trainer NZ AUS and Luxe Fitness are global brands selling products to customers worldwide.

In December 2017, Iyia founded and launched another business, Bambi Boutique, a women’s online clothing retailer, and used her expertise to grow her social following from 0 to a combined 250,000 followers within the first month.
Jake Millar is the 22-year-old Co-Founder of Unfiltered​.​

After graduating from Christchurch Boys' High School where he was Head Boy, Jake turned down​ ​a $40,000 law scholarship and decided to ​launch his own startup ​straight out of high school,​ ​after being inspired by Richard Branson's autobiography, "Losing My Virginity​."

He started his first company OOMPHER as an 18-year-ol​d, ​before selling it to the NZ Government one year later. Jake then weighed up several options, before deciding to launch business learning platform Unfiltered with Yuuki Ogino in November 2015.

​I​n March 2017, Unfiltered raised $1.2 million in seed ​capital in preparation for its launch in the​ U.S. market​​, from one of the most impressive groups ever to invest into a New Zealand startup, including: Rob Fyfe (CEO, Icebreaker), Kevin Roberts (Founder, Red Rose Consulting), Sara Tetro (Founder, 62 Models), Diane Foreman (CEO, Emerald Group), Tim Norton (Founder, 90 Seconds)​, the Huljich Family,​ ​amongst others.

Rob Fyfe and Kevin Roberts both serve on Unfiltered's Board of Directors.​

Now spending most of his time in New York Cit​y​,​ Los Angeles and San Francisco,​ Jake is passionate about filming world-changing​ ​interviews with the ​​most successful​ ​entrepreneurs and business leaders​ on the planet, ​to ​give everyone in the world the opportunity to learn directly from the very best, globally.

All while building a multi-million dollar startup, Jake has interviewed over 350 of the world's most successful people, including Sir Richard Branson, Jordan Belfort, Ian Wright (Co-Founder, Tesla), Miguel McKelvey (Co-Founder, WeWork) and Don Valentine (Founder, Sequoia Capital).
Jeremy is the founder of Italic, a platform empowering the world's best manufacturers to sell directly to end consumers.

Jeremy previously founded Fountain.com as an early Thiel Fellow and scaled it to 40 people after going through Y Combinator in 2015 & raising $13m. The company is thriving today and is deployed in 50+ countries and 800 cities. Jeremy is also an angel investor, having co-invested with the likes of A16Z and KPCB.

Prior to Fountain, Jeremy worked on the award-winning design team at Shyp in addition to co-founding and serving as president of JK Labs, a collection of high-growth CPG brands that have done $1m+ in annualized revenue.
Karen Walker’s eccentrically elegant style has established a cult international following for her ready-to-wear, eyewear, jewellery, bags and fragrance.

Karen’s signature energy and optimism define the label. Her designs cleverly play with cultural subtext, juxtaposing luxe and street, masculine and feminine, folk and utility, creating pieces that are both directional and wearable: Alexa Chung, Lorde, Rihanna, Gigi Hadid, LeBron James and Adele count themselves amongst the formidable roster of celebrity fans.

The brand is available at retail in 42 countries, 200 cities and 1,020 stores including Barneys New York, Liberty London and Harvey Nichols.

Her influence has seen her consistently ranked for the past five years in The Business of Fashion’s powerhouse BoF 500, reflecting her position as a global industry figure shaping the future.
The Founder and CEO of the Kathryn Wilson brand, Kathryn and has established herself as New Zealand's premier footwear designer in just over a decade, growing from a fledgling designer to becoming an influential business woman with a brand that is in constantly high demand.

After graduating from Massey University and winning an AMP Scholarship, Kathryn honed her design skills and set about creating her own line of footwear. In 2003, Kathryn Wilson the label was born. Kathryn Wilson has emerged as one of the fastest-growing fashion brands in New Zealand. Stocked in over 100 local boutiques and with an ever-growing online market, the label is on the front foot in the fashion industry.

In 2011 she opened her first retail store in the form of a pop-up shoe box that travelled New Zealand, which was later joined by a stand-alone store in Auckland's bustling Britomart precinct, and has since grown to three retail boutiques in Britomart, Herne Bay and Newmarket.

Her acute business acumen has also meant Kathryn is in demand as a leader and brand ambassador, garnering the attention of global brands Volvo, Veuve Clicquot, Samsung, Nespresso, Dermalogica and Vodafone to become long-term supporters of herself and the brand.

Kathryn is a recipient of the Sir Peter Blake leadership award and is passionate about celebrating “leadership” with the younger generation of NZ. She has received numerous awards and accolades, including:

Newmarket Business Awards Employer of the Year, 2016
Next Magazine Woman of the Year Finalist, 2015
ANZ Young Business Person of the Year, 2015
Metro NZ Best Shoe Store, 2014
Massey University Distinguished Alumni Award, 2014
Liam is a 2x Paralympic Gold Medalist and record holder. Liam conquered the Paralympics in 2016 and broke the records previously held by Oscar Pistorius after training for a short three years.

He represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he won gold medals in the Men's 200m and 400m, and silver in the Men's 100m.

Liam was born with bilateral fibular hemimelia, and as a result had to have both legs amputated below the knee when he was 18 months old. He lost his mum to bowel cancer aged just 18, and at 19 hit "rock bottom", after drink driving and crashing his car multiple times. He set himself the goal to go to the Paralympics and within three years had achieved it - after raising $20,000 from the public and training "24/7 for three years".

Liam was forced to pivot out of sport in January 2018, following rule changes to the blades he ran on.

Liam has recently taken up a role inside one of New Zealand's most exciting technology startups, Soul Machines, an endeavour focused on humanising computing by creating “Digital Humans”. Liam has also invested in First Cut Ventures and Sharesies as an angel investor.

In May 2017, Liam was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to athletics, and he has also been awarded the Key to the City of Nelson and M2 “Man of the Year”, amongst many other accolades!
Linda Jenkinson is a renowned serial entrepreneur and the first New Zealand women to take a company public on the NASDAQ. She has built three multi-million technology-enabled services companies with successful exits and received multiple awards for her entrepreneurial efforts in the United States and New Zealand.

Most recently Linda was named a World Class New Zealander, one of the most Influential Women in the Bay Area (San Francisco, CA, USA), Master Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in New Zealand and was the first women to be awarded The Sir Geoffrey Peren Award from Massey University.

Prior to her current entrepreneurial endeavors she was a Partner at A.T. Kearney where she was a global leader in financial institutions strategy and strategic sourcing. Her consulting career spanned the globe.

She is also a Director of Air New Zealand, The Guild Group and The Massey Foundation. She was a Co-Founder of WOW, an innovative business based approach to SME development in West Africa. Linda was a five-year Chair of the Bay Area Red Cross, is a member of “Global Women” and was a Board Member of the New Zealand Trade Board in the United States. Linda is a member of the New Zealand Olympic Counsel and an Advisor for The Icehouse.

Linda has an MBA from The Wharton School – University of Pennsylvania and a BBS from Massey University in New Zealand. Linda resides in San Francisco and Wellington with her husband and two children.
Nadia Lim is a Nude Food advocate, best-selling author, and Co-Founder of My Food Bag!

In addition to being one of the Co-Founders and food inspiration of one of New Zealand’s most talked about and fastest growing startups, Nadia has her own lifestyle Magazine “Nadia,” has seven best-selling cookbooks and is the proud mum of Bodhi!

She is also a qualified dietitian with a Bachelor’s degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics. She was the winner of MasterChef NZ in 2011, and has since been a guest judge on both MasterChef and My Kitchen Rules.
Sharndré Kushor’s life passion is helping her generation discover their capabilities, confidence and leadership potential. As Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer of Crimson Education, Sharndre has helped turn a small start-up into a global education company reportedly valued at over US$160M.

In 2016 Sharndre was nominated as a finalist in the Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards and has mentored students who have gone on to be presented with nationally-acclaimed awards such as the Future Young Scientist Award (over NZ$50,000 in award funds). That same year she graduated from Auckland University with a Bachelor of Health Sciences specialising in Population Health. This is while overseeing Crimson's expansion from Auckland and Sydney to Melbourne, London, Bangkok, Singapore and beyond.

Sharndre was featured on the 2017 Forbes Asia - 30 Under 30 list. She also received the 2017 New Zealand Youth Enterprise Award, designed to recognise and celebrate the passion, success and commitment of young people who are leading change, innovating and creating solutions throughout New Zealand; as well as setting the record of being the youngest person to receive the Best Businesswoman of the Year award, along with winning the Best Young Entrepreneur of the Year, in New Zealand’s 10th annual Indian Business Awards.
Sir Eion Sinclair Edgar (KNZM, CNZM) is a noted philanthropist, investor and a highly regarded New Zealand businessman.

Eion has extensive corporate experience in New Zealand. He is currently Chairman of the Edgar Olympic Foundation, Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP, NZ Dementia Prevention Trust, Queenstown Resort College and the Winter Games NZ Charitable Trust.

He is a past President of New Zealand Soccer Inc., Tennis NZ and the Otago Rugby Football Union. In 2008 he retired as President of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, and was honoured to be made President for Life for his contribution to the Olympic movement.

He has also been Chairman of the NZ Stock Exchange and the Central Lakes Trust and a Director of the Accident Compensation Commission, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Vero New Zealand.

In 1995 he was awarded the Dunedin Citizen of the Year for his contribution to the arts, business, education and the sporting community. In the 1996 Queen’s Birthday Honours List he received the Companion of New Zealand Order of Merit. In 2003 he received the Distinguished Companion of NZ Order of Merit, which changed to a Knight Companion of NZ Order of Merit in 2009.

In 2004 he was named The NBR New Zealander of the Year and was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame, and in 2007 he was awarded NZ’s Visionary Leader at the Top 200 Companies Awards. In 2009 he received the SPARC Services to Sport Award and was made a Life Member of Diabetes NZ. and in 2010, he received the award of Senior NZer of the Year.

Sir Eion and his wife Jan have made substantial philanthropic gifts; the main ones being $1 million to each of the Edgar Centre in Dunedin, The Edgar Centre for Diabetes and Obesity, the Edgar Olympic Foundation and the NZ Dementia Prevention Trust.
Sir Ray Avery is the Founder and CEO of Medicine Mondiale, and one of New Zealand’s greatest entrepreneurial stories.

Sir Ray grew up living under a railway bridge in London after staying in several orphanages.

He moved to New Zealand in 1973 and is now one of our most incredible entrepreneurs. With a background in pharmaceutical science, he founded Medicine Mondiale, an organisation devoted to "developing and commercialising innovative affordable products and technologies that make a significant and measurable impact on improving access to quality healthcare on a global scale."

He is the inventor of intra-ocular lenses, which an estimated 30 million people will benefit from by 2020, and also of the Lifepod incubator, a specially designed incubator for third world countries.
Vaughan is the founder of Vend, a New Zealand high-growth tech success story, with 20,000 customers worldwide and several high-profile investors, including Paypal Co-Founder Peter Thiel, Trade Me Founder Sam Morgan, and Co-Founder of Seek.com.au, Paul Bassat.

He is also the founder of the OMGTech! charitable initiative to help kids into careers with future technologies, and is Vice Chair of the NZ Hi-Tech Trust celebrating the successes of the NZ tech industry. He is passionate about developing the next generation of innovators.

He was EY's Tech Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015 and is a regular TEDx speaker on the importance of challenging the status quo and trusting your inner weirdo.

Top →