Real Founders’ Stories

Free online lunchtime session -join us!

Very often we just hear the glamorous part of the journey of Founders of start-ups. In this zoom session we will be hearing some of the other parts too - no sugar coating, no glitz, just the reality of being an entrepreneur. Sharing will be three founders who are each at different stages of the journey- Elise Hilliam from MenuAid, Sarah Grant from Magic Beans, and Nathan Taylor from Partly. As all these founders incorporated elements of purpose and impact into their business models, we will hear from each guest on their journey and challenges in an interview format hosted by Aislinn Molloy (Senior Solicitor at Parry Field Lawyers, with an expertise in capital fundraising) and Steven Moe (Partner at Parry Field Lawyers and Seeds podcast host).

We welcome questions in advance as well!  Send them to stevenmoe@parryfield.com  

We have an exciting panel of speakers lined up for this event:

Elise Hilliam
Elise is the co-founder & co-CEO of MenuAid. MenuAid solves the "What's for Dinner?" dilemma with personalised recipes and a smart shopping list, to take care of your weekly shopping in just minutes. MenuAid recently closed a $1M NZD seed funding round and is expanding their team here in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Sarah Grant
Sarah Grant is Co-Founder of Magic Beans Community – an impact SaaS start-up focused on educating and inspiring people to grow more of their own food at home and facilitating swapping and sharing of member’s surplus in their local community. Sarah is a passionate home food producer and has a background in business management, governance, sustainability, and community connection and resilience

Nathan Taylor
Nathan is the co-founder and COO of New Zealand tech company, Partly, where he manages internal operations, external stakeholders, and stay’s close to the customer. He has spent a significant part of his career in the startup ecosystem, building companies and promoting entrepreneurship.

Growing up in Indonesia as a teenager, Nathan has had an interest in languages from a young age. He holds a Masters of Linguistics, speaks Indonesian and Chinese, and enjoys developing language education, translation, and communication skills.

Nathan is passionate about humanitarian aid as well as effective altruism.

Steven Moe
Steven is a Partner at Parry Field Lawyers with a focus on corporate law, capital raising for start-ups and often acting for clients who have a purpose driven aspect. He has worked as a lawyer for 20 years in Wellington, London, Tokyo, Sydney and Christchurch. He wrote the book “Social Enterprises in New Zealand: A Legal Handbook” and hosts seeds podcast with almost 300 long form interviews of change making Kiwis. He is a member of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship and is chair of Community Finance which has raised $93 million for social housing and recently won the “Transforming NZ” Award at the Sustainable Business Network awards.

Aislinn Molloy
Aislinn Molloy is a Senior Solicitor at Parry Field Lawyers. She enjoys helping clients as they begin their start-up journey, particularly with capital raising.  Aislinn also advises charitable entities, impact driven enterprises and companies.