At Fresh Eyes, we explored this question by bringing together some of New Zealand’s most creative minds—leaders from start-ups, corporates, and everything in between.

The conversation was electric. With leading perspectives from a wide range of industries, the panel agreed on one shared truth: innovation is rarely straightforward. It’s about balance—between autonomy and collaboration, risk and structure, customer obsession and long-term vision.
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Key questions we explored:

Start-ups vs. Corporates: How do their approaches differ, and what can they learn from each other?

Bold Innovation or Consistent Improvement: Do we need both, or does one matter more?

Risk vs. Reward: How do you create space for innovation without derailing the core business?

This discussion were packed with actionable strategies and personal stories, like how listening to customer feedback led to unexpected product innovations (shoutout to our favourite dog raincoats).
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One Big Takeaway:
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‍Sometimes the most exciting ideas don’t fit neatly into the core business. They need their own space to thrive. Adrian Grey from Pet Theory put it perfectly:

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“Small teams, separate funding—and in that way, we move a lot faster, and we have all the benefits of that innovative culture people talk about, but we’re not encumbered by the core business.”

Dive Deeper into
Fresh Eyes:

Listen to the full podcast on Spotify: Listen here

Watch the event recording here: Watch here
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