S2 | E4 — Privahini Bradoo (Co-founder of Plank, BlueOak) on turning Kiwi ingenuity into deep tech success, engineering with AI, and identifying “force of nature” talent in NZ.

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S2 | E4 — Privahini Bradoo (Co-founder of Plank, BlueOak) on turning Kiwi ingenuity into deep tech success, engineering with AI, and identifying “force of nature” talent in NZ.

Diaspora.nz — profiling the founders, innovators, and leaders of the great Kiwi expat community.

David Booth

and

Privahini

Jul 26, 2024

Transcript

Privahini Bradoo is the co-founder and CEO at Plank — helping companies build and scale AI-enabled engineering teams + training the next generation of computer scientists.

Born in India, Privahini immigrated to NZ in her school years. Her time with us down-under was impactful… while pursuing a degree in Biomedical Science, then PhD in Neurogenetics and Drug Discovery at the University of Auckland, she also led the establishment of the Spark business competition (now Velocity); and co-founded Chiasma, an organisation dedicated to linking the biotech academic community with industry.

Drawn back off-shore in 2006, Privahini landed a Fulbright scholarship to pursue an MBA at Harvard Business School, and then settled back in the San Francisco Bay Area, joining Lanzatech as one of the first commercial hires in the U.S.

In 2011, Privahini co-founded BlueOak Resources to revolutionise how we treat and recycle end-of-life electronics - raising ~$50M from Kliener Perkins and others along the way.

In today's episode, we discuss:

From brain science to business: Privahini's unexpected career leap.
the early days of Auckland's startup scene and Velocity business competition.
Lessons from LanzaTech and BlueOak… navigating the complexities of deep tech startups, systems thinking across the supply chain of inputs/outputs, recycling industrial waste.
The future of AI - engineering, revolutionizing remote work, COVID as an accelerating force at Plank.
Optimism in the face of global realities.
How to foster 'force of nature' talent in NZ

Where to find Privahini Bradoo:

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(01:43) Privahini's origin story

(04:30) Inside the Velocity programme

(09:34) Journey at LanzaTech

(13:30) The birth of BlueOak

(14:51) The reality of e-waste recycling

(19:43) Lessons in deep tech

(23:11) Founding Plant to help businesses build remote e

(25:45) Plank's intelligent engineering strategy

(28:10) How to keep up with rapid changes in AI

(29:27) Nurturing NZ's entrepreneurial forces of nature

(32:07) The second-time founder mindset

(35:08) Advice for Kiwi entrepreneurs

(36:13) How to help Privahini

Discussion about this podcast

Diaspora.nz

Around 20% of New Zealanders live outside of New Zealand. This is our “Diaspora” — and it’s one of the world’s largest, per capita.

Not only is it large, it's insanely talented… early in their lives and careers, many of New Zealand’s most ambitious individuals realise— if they want to make a dent in the universe, they need to get out there… to study abroad, get the experience, build relationships to help them win on a global stage.

Today, those estimated ~1M expats include some of our finest talent. They are founders, top operators/execs at industry leading companies. They are scientists and researchers working at the frontiers of science: artificial intelligence, synthetic biology; global leaders in business, culture, and society… entrenched in all corners of the world, walks of live… largely “heads down”, doing their thing.

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