Across The Table With David Melse

It’s time to talk business. Join David Melse every week as he talks to some of the most insightful and interesting business people in New Zealand

Across The Table With David Melse is a business podcast hosted by davidmelse, with 100 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

davidmelse hosts Across The Table With David Melse, a business show with 100 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #232

  EP232: We Built a Fast Food Empire, Then the Economy Broke It (Jayden Smith | Empire Chicken)

  Jul 22, 20261h 16m

  For episode 232, we sat down with Jayden Smith, founder of Empire Chicken. Building a brand in the hospitality industry is rarely a smooth journey, and Jayden brings an incredible level of honesty to the table about the real challenges his business is currently facing. We dive deep into the gritty details of running a chicken empire when the economic landscape shifts and the realities of the market set in. This conversation strips away the glamour of entrepreneurship to focus on the hard metrics of survival and strategy. We explore the tough decisions required when managing overhead costs, rethinking store footprint, and navigating the heavy complexities of debt and operations. Jayden shares exactly what it takes to keep the doors open and why adapting your playbook is the only way to survive when the numbers stop adding up easily. We also discuss the unvarnished truth behind handling one star Google reviews, the complexities of managing landlords, and the future of artificial intelligence in hospitality. Whether you are running a local retail shop or trying to build a massive enterprise, this episode is packed with crucial lessons for any business owner. Check out Empire Chicken here: www.empirechicken.nz ___________________ Produced by Buddy Booth

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  Episode #231

  EP231: High Steaks: The FUTURE of AI in NZ (Brad Fraser | Agentic Intelligence)

  Jul 8, 20261h 38m

  For episode 231, we sat down at Bessie Steakhouse with Brad Fraser, Co-Founder of Agentic Intelligence to catch up over some incredible food and dive into the future of tech. Brad shares exactly how his company managed to scale rapidly from just 4 staff 18 months ago, to 44 staff today. He walks us through his unorthodox fifteen minute hiring playbook that ditches resumes for pure trust, explains why high agency teams will absolutely chew up and spit out average performers, and warns why getting too comfortable is the quickest way to kill your creative edge. Brad breaks down the biggest flaw of modern AI, which is the looming compute shortage. We also speak about what sovereign AI really means for the local industry, and we look closely at the painful reality that access to top tier tech is about to get way more expensive for businesses trying to keep pace. We also dive into the rise of vibe coding and how the entire landscape of software development is being turned on its head. Brad explains how the barrier to entry for building tech is shifting rapidly, changing the way engineering teams function and forcing founders to completely rethink how they deploy software in a fast moving market. We round things out by looking at how to solve massive business headaches by stripping away the corporate fluff and using first principles thinking. And then, towards the end things get completely off the rails and we talk about cars, travel, adventure, UFOs, and living to 100. Thank you to the incredible team at Bessie for the wonderful experience. Check out Agentic Intelligence here: www.agenticintelligence.co.nz ___________________ We’d like to thank Bessie steakhouse for hosting us for this episode. Check them out here: www.bessie.co.nz ___________________ Produced by Buddy Booth

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  Episode #230

  EP230: The 20-Year Passion Project: How to Fund Your Ultimate Life Goal (Dr Tom Cawood | Dr Tom Nailcare )

  Jun 23, 20261h 34m

  For episode 230, we sat down with Dr Tom Cawood, a remarkable Christchurch based serial entrepreneur and medical specialist who is leveraging e commerce growth to fund a massive environmental rescue mission. In this episode, Dr. Tom reveals the fascinating journey behind his latest venture, a science based nail strengthening product born out of his own frustration as a classical guitarist needing durable fingernails. He shares the brilliant direct to consumer business strategy that allowed the company to completely bypass traditional retail pharmacy margins, keep operations entirely online, and achieve explosive month over month sales growth. We dive deep into his incredibly diverse entrepreneurial background, exploring how he previously built and scaled prominent IT systems, managed medical conferences, and navigated complex financial advisory landscapes. Dr. Tom opens up about the harsh realities of doctor burnout, discussing his current search for ultimate career clarity inside and outside of hospital medicine to ensure long term longevity. He provides rare transparency into the mechanics of building highly profitable businesses not just for the sake of wealth, but as engines to fuel a much grander purpose. The core of Dr. Tom's ultimate life mission is the "Didymo" passion project, a multi million dollar, 20 year environmental initiative aimed at eradicating the invasive "rock snot" alga suffocating New Zealand’s South Island rivers. Instead of using destructive chemical solutions, he explains his groundbreaking scientific approach to deploy targeted RNA based technology to safely deactivate the alga's sludge production. To wrap up, Dr. Tom lays out his bold, public one year accountability goals, challenging himself to scale his e commerce brand to 100 sales a day, publish a critical viral study, and dramatically drop his golf handicap Check out Dr Tom Nailcare here: www.drtomnailcare.com ___________________ We’d like to thank our sponsor for this episode, Rosefern Homes. Check them out here: www.rosefernhomes.co.nz ___________________ Produced by Buddy Booth

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  Episode #229

  EP229: From farmers market to over 100,000 customers in 2 years (Curtis Fairweather / Primal Pantry)

  Jun 2, 202634 minS0

  <p>For episode 229, we sat down with Curtis Fairweather, founder of Primal Pantry, to map out an absolute masterclass in online business scaling and relentless execution. We chart the incredible journey Curtis took from a single bone broth stall at local markets in late 2024 to a massive direct to consumer brand serving over 100,000 customers by Q2 2026. He shares the raw reality of walking away from a six year full time career to go all in on his business, revealing the exact frameworks that allowed him to quickly scale from a single rough product to a diverse lineup of 40 separate items...

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  Episode #228

  EP228: Important Podcast Update! Mid year recap | David Melse

  May 19, 202610 minS0

  <p>For episode 228, David and Buddy go to the pub!</p>

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