From Scientist to Entrepreneur
hi
my name’s james and i’m a scientist
now science wasn’t always on the list of
careers for me when i was growing up
hey prime minister maybe but certainly
not science
that was the stuff at all poppies for a
start no one in my family had ever been
a scientist
or been to university full stop for that
matter
and i really wasn’t sure about working
in a lab all day and wearing a white
coat
but do you remember that one teacher in
high school that really inspired you
well for me that was my chemistry
teacher mr gladding
to be honest it was the loud bangs and
explosions that sold me in the first
place
i remember one day mr gladding had
brewed up a concoction of this stuff
called touch powder
which he poured on the footpath outside
the classroom the lunch bell rang
kids ran out of their classrooms and the
stuff popped and exploded under their
feet
look we never got that sort of cool
stuff in geography or economics i’m just
saying
but mr gladding also really inspired me
with the promise that chemistry held to
do good things in the world
and that not all scientists wear white
coats
fast forward a few years you can imagine
how proud my mum and dad were when i got
offered a place at the university of
cambridge to do a phd in chemistry
i packed my bags i was off to the uk to
jump into the world of research
it was at this stage that i really
started to get excited
about the power that science holds to
transform lives and change the world
by solving problems
and i mean some big problems
covert 19 is a big problem that’s
playing out before our eyes
and in real time and the global
scientific community is mounting a
mammoth effort to tackle the pandemic
but these sorts of big global challenges
are really nothing new
the united nations launched the
sustainable development goals back in
2015
and ban ki-moon the secretary-general of
the u.n at the time
said that there’s no plan b for tackling
these challenges because there is no
planet b
we have no plan b because we simply have
no planet b and here are some of the
things he was talking about
25 000 people die from drug resistant
infections
alone in europe every year that’s about
the same number of people that die on
that continent from road accidents
three and a half billion people that’s
almost half the world’s population are
thought to be at risk of malaria
what about food production well one
hectare of land in 1950
could grow enough food to feed two
people
fast forward 100 years that same bit of
land is going to need to provide food
for six people
if we’re going to support our growing
global population
here in new zealand a massive chunk of
our waterways are thought to be
unswimmable because of pollution
and we have a terrible track record in
this country when it comes to equitable
access to health care
especially for our maori communities
this is something we really must get on
top of
and that’s before we even got into the
big meaty challenge of climate change
hang on what’s all this got to do with
science
well it turns out that science can help
fix a lot of this stuff
and that we’re well on our way to
creating a globally competitive
technology sector right here in new
zealand
that is doing just that
and this is where my journey as a
scientist comes in
i lead the kiwi innovation network or
kiwinet for short
and we’re helping new zealand grow by
turning scientific research
into market-ready opportunities
we’re doing this by pulling resources
and funding from new zealand’s
universities and research institutes
to support and accelerate research
commercialisation
so what this means is our support
enables new zealand’s clever scientific
discoveries
to be developed further ready for
private investment
so they can ultimately become the new
products services and companies
that are transforming lives and changing
the world from right here in new zealand
some of the companies we’ve helped to
create and support
include hot lime labs who
are reducing the carbon footprint of
commercial greenhouses
by providing a sustainable source of the
carbon dioxide they need to grow their
plants
or what about avalia therapeutics that
are leading new zealand’s
response to a clover 19 vaccine
then there’s x-frame that’s
revolutionizing the way we think about
building
by eliminating waste and reducing the
amount of raw materials being used by
the building industry
then there’s inclusives who have
developed a clever product called talk
with me
that’s enabling autistic children to
communicate with their families for the
very first time
and right here in the mighty waikato
ligar polymers are using their clever
chemistry
to remove toxic metals from industrial
waste
and are now working with the maori
economy to create a whole new
biotechnology sector right here in new
zealand
that will create valuable products from
horticultural waste
who’d have thought there could be so
much useful stuff and kiwifruit skins
out of all things
and the list goes on and on
now this all sounds really easy
but of course like many things in life
it ain’t that simple
but let’s wind back the clock a moment
to james at age 28
who’s now officially a mad scientist
i just got to the end of this amazing
phd experience and was now a doctor
of chemistry which was no good for
members of the family lining up for free
health care by the way but that’s
another story
by this stage i was absolutely loving
the world of research
creating new discoveries and pushing
back the frontiers of knowledge
but the thing that was niggling away in
the back of my mind
was that all too often these clever
scientific discoveries
these golden nuggets of new knowledge we
were creating in the lab
would almost get stuck in the world of
research
they weren’t always finding their way
out into the real world
where they could make a tangible
difference to people’s lives
and this made me think
what if there were more people with a
deep knowledge of science in the
scientific method
people like me that could help put more
of the science to use
it turns out that in new zealand we have
a thriving science base that punches
well above its weight internationally
and we have all of the right ingredients
to turn this clever science into
game-changing innovations
and this is what attracted me back home
to new zealand
a belief in the power of our ideas our
know-how
and our innovative spirit to create
technology solutions to the big global
challenges we face
and lead the world in doing so
and it’s more important now than ever
that we accelerate this
as a nation because of the massive
impact that covert 19
is having on our economy you can always
think of our economy
as a rainforest ecosystem
thriving rainforests are highly
productive they have a rich biodiversity
and symbiotic relationships that enable
life to flourish and prosper
well beyond its boundaries the
rainforest canopy consists of the big
plants that support the rest of the
ecosystem
now the new zealand economic rainforest
canopy currently consists of about three
or four big types of plants
one of which is failing before our very
eyes if we think of how our tourism
sector has been decimated by the
pandemic
so the way things are panning out we’re
going to be left with some pretty big
holes in our rainforest canopy
and our struggling economic rainforest
can only support a limited number of
people to work in it
as plants die away many people are
losing their niches or being left behind
forty thousand jobs were lost in only
the first five weeks of the covert 19
lockdown here in new zealand
and that’s already halfway towards the
total number of jobs that were lost
during the 2009 recession
so things are looking pretty bleak for
future generations of kiwis that are
going to have to find a way to survive
and prosper in the sun for certain
future but even
before this started to happen i’ve been
wondering about what sort of planet
we’re leaving behind for them to inherit
anyway
the need to take action now on all of
this has only become
more urgent
so here’s the opportunity this is the
time
for new ideas the time to create some
new beginnings for rtro new zealand
to tackle things like health and equity
environmental sustainability
food production climate change and not
to mention
future pandemics while rebuilding our
economy
what if we were to use our covert 19
recovery
to build a much more diverse economic
rainforest
with a plethora of different plants
while also embedding the maori
principles of kaitiakitanga or
guardianship
that aim to care for our land our
resources and our people
not just now but far into the future
well i can tell you that we would end up
with something that is very unique to
atero new zealand
the great news is we don’t have to
sacrifice anything to do this
we don’t have to throw out what we’re
already good at and start again
new zealand can do this by enhancing the
very primary sectors that are at the
core of our heritage
by leading their transformation from
high volume commodities
through to unique high-value products
that will give us a competitive
advantage
so i want you to imagine for just a
moment that growing into the gaps of our
rainforest canopy
we’re 100 high growth technology
startups
led by 100 inspired entrepreneurs
an ecosystem bringing forth technology
solutions to global challenges
while driving our economic recovery
deploying the many people who have lost
their jobs through the recession
and creating exciting new opportunities
for our young people
not only would our rejuvenators
rainforests be diverse and resilient
it would be nurturing a thriving
entrepreneurial workforce
and leading the world through our work
at kiwinet
we’re making real strides in bringing
about this prosperous future for new
zealand
we’re accelerating cutting-edge
technologies out of our universities and
research institutes
and into our new economy the secret to
our success is that
all of the organizations within the
kiwinet family are collaborating in a
uniquely kiwi way to do what’s best for
new zealand
rather than going it alone in a little
over 10 years
the kiwinet whanau have already created
over 50 new technology startups
that have already generated hundreds of
millions of dollars in our economy
and have created over 500 new high-value
jobs for new zealanders
all from our homegrown kiwi science and
things are really starting to speed up
the magic works by sprinkling these
clever scientific discoveries
with a dash of entrepreneurship
entrepreneurs are ambitious they’re
resourceful
and they’re also open to new ways of
thinking
they’re the inhabitants of our new
economic rainforest
they’re the people that know what it
takes with the mindset and the skills to
start with an idea and transform it into
something special
importantly they come from a diverse
range of backgrounds and in all shapes
sizes and colors
the thing is entrepreneurship’s not
something that’s reserved for people
with
some sort of privilege it’s not about
just running businesses and making money
it’s a mindset that’s applied to
everything we do in life
it’s about being bold being driven and
being decisive
one of our most famous kiwi innovators
the late sir paul callahan
once said that new zealand’s future
prosperity would be completely
transformed with only 100 inspired
entrepreneurs
well i think he was right
and that artero new zealand needs this
entrepreneurial insurgency now more than
ever
so where on earth can we find all of
these people well it turns out that
we’re making a great start
firstly at kiwinet we’ve already found
and are supporting 50 emerging
innovators
these are 50 kiwi scientists with an
entrepreneurial spark
that we’ve empowered to take the lead in
a fast tracking to success
our emerging innovators are leading some
of the many startup companies i spoke
about earlier
and this program has been so successful
that we’re now
actively fundraising to find and support
our next 50 inspired leaders
secondly there’s an important role here
for the many talented new zealanders
that are currently returning home from
overseas to escape the pandemic
bringing within the skills and the
experience that can be turned to
something new
and of course we can be deploying many
of the kiwis that have already found
themselves unemployed through the
recession
but for me the most exciting and
important opportunity here
is how we support our young people to
travel this journey
to nurture new zealand’s next generation
of technology entrepreneurs
because we’re rapidly charging into a
future where the nature of work will
never be the same again
there will no longer be a job for life
and we will all need to be adaptable
so this means that future generations of
kiwis
will need to be entrepreneurs in order
to thrive
and they will need to be literate in
science to navigate the technology-based
future
now when i embarked on my journey as a
scientist from the early days of the
loud bangs and explosions
i never for a moment dreamed that i
would end up doing what i do today
it turns out that science has given me
all of the skills that i’ve needed to
travel my own journey of
entrepreneurship
and this has made me realize that
science is for everyone
it enriches our lives by solving
problems
it helps us to make sense of the crazy
world around us
and most importantly it empowers us to
take the lead
and making the world a better place
we all have our part to play to bring
about this prosperous future for new
zealand
whether we embrace our own
entrepreneurial spirit or we support our
next generation of kiwis to become
the tall poppies it simply starts by
encouraging our kids to be
curious about science at school
and by doing what we can to nurture
their entrepreneurial spirit
i’m grateful that i had my chemistry
teacher mr gladding
to inspire inspire my passion for the
possibilities that science can bring
and that many people along the way
especially my mum and dad
encouraged me to be adventurous and bold
this magic combination of science and
entrepreneurship
is a gift we should make available for
all young new zealanders
because ultimately they will become the
guardians of our new rainforest
we can all work together to bring about
this prosperous future
and i know that if we get this right
we will all make mr gladding proud
you