How to find THE soulmate for startup | Tracksuit, Matt Herbert & Connor Archbold

Name: How to find THE soulmate for startup | Tracksuit, Matt Herbert & Connor Archbold
Duration: 20 min 43 s
Description: Did you enjoy our recent interview with Tae Yoon, Partner at Altos Ventures?https://youtu.be/cTv113vtUy4?si=xHCxjuTRRtSwxbJ7Following his insightful intervie...

EO20:43Added Aug 31, 2026

Did you enjoy our recent interview with Tae Yoon, Partner at Altos Ventures?https://youtu.be/cTv113vtUy4?si=xHCxjuTRRtSwxbJ7Following his insightful intervie...

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Contributed by 刘嘉琪

Transcript

00:00can you share the story of hanging out
00:01with Sam Alman I was launching Al's
00:03first accelerator program Sam Alman was
00:04like visiting New Zealand I just like
00:06bothered him in his Twitter DM you like
00:08surfing no answer eventually I got him
00:10like oh that'd be great when I said
00:12something like oh I can maybe get an
00:13investor to provide like a big boat and
00:15we could do a tour of a harbor and so
00:17first of all I didn't have a boat but he
00:18said oh that'd be great I'd love to meet
00:20some New Zealand startup went and found
00:21a boat from some investor in New Zealand
00:23but the investor was like fishing guy he
00:25wanted to go fishing Sam was vegan at
00:27the time I got this boat but the only
00:29way we could use it as if the guy could
00:30take us fishing it's just like oh I'm
00:32sorry we're hauling up all these poor
00:34fish and you're sitting there just like
00:36chilling in the inside of the boat
00:37talking to a few startup he was Running
00:39Y combinator I was trying to launch New
00:41Zealand's first accelerator
00:47program maybe to start could you please
00:49introduce yourselves yeah I'm Matthew
00:51Herbert co-founder and co-coo of trackit
00:53and I'm Connor arold co-founder and
00:55co-ceo of tracksuit tell us a little bit
00:58about tracksuit what this it do what
01:01problem is it solving tracksuit as a
01:02brand tracking platform the best way to
01:04measure top of funnel marketing the
01:06problem that we're solving in in
01:07marketing and brand building is there's
01:08two jobs to be done the 95 and the and
01:10the 5% the two jobs the 5% in any
01:13category there are about 5% of people
01:14who are ready to buy from you right now
01:17and that's one job go and get those
01:19people to buy from your your product and
01:21your Brands but at the same time there's
01:2395% of people who will come into the
01:25category aren't ready to buy from you
01:27right now but what are you doing to
01:29build your famili familiarity and and
01:31emotional closeness and and make people
01:32fall in love with your with your company
01:34and your brand so that when they are
01:35ready to buy they're going to come and
01:36buy from your business over the last you
01:38know 15 years or so the world of
01:40marketing has been so focused and
01:42successful at measuring 5% of people or
01:45the bottom of the funnel the sales the
01:46conversions at the expense of the 95 and
01:49so what we're doing at tracksuit is
01:50building the best way to measure how
01:52well you're building your brands with
01:54the 95% of people that will come into
01:56the category and they're going to choose
01:57your brand essentially tracksuit we do
02:00surveys of humans to find out what they
02:02think and feel about Brands that's novel
02:04because any company in the world hasn't
02:06been able to afford this it's only being
02:08available for Enterprise companies who
02:10have $200,000 to pay for market research
02:12reports that end up sitting on a desk
02:15Gathering dust and we've created a
02:17beautiful dashboard with you know we're
02:19collecting surveys every single day for
02:217,000 Brands now globally we help those
02:24marketers understand what people think
02:26and feel about those Brands and how did
02:28you two meet we we met at a previous
02:30startup we started on the same day when
02:32we were much younger mat was like the
02:34first SDR ended up looking after all of
02:36APAC I started as like sweep the FL
02:39floors generalist guy ended up as coo
02:41based out of New York yeah tracksuit we
02:43we both moved back to New Zealand many
02:45years later and tracksuit was sort of
02:48started off the back of a weekly coffee
02:50when we were figuring out what was next
02:52for both of us this goes back eight
02:54years colleagues friends and now and now
02:56co-founders having another go with you
02:58know with trackit bring on the all the
02:59learnings from our from our experience
03:01to you know build a company that we
03:03really wanted to do and so yeah 8year
03:04journey and few more to come one thing I
03:07wanted to ask is uh how would you
03:09describe each other and you can describe
03:12each other as friends but also as
03:15co-founders colleagues however you want
03:16to go about this but yeah how would you
03:18describe each other who's going first
03:20all right I'll start I'll start all
03:22right so con and I I've known each other
03:24for eight years now colleagues friends
03:26business partners Founders and so the
03:29way describe Connor as a person as a
03:32leader is just a little bit like a big
03:33grizzly bear and what I mean by a big
03:36grizzly bear okay is that he's the first
03:39one to come over and give everybody a
03:40big hug but every now and then he can
03:43show a little bit of teeth and a little
03:44bit of raw okay and he's the best at
03:46just at at honestly at drive at driving
03:49at driving forward and that's a a big
03:51part that when we came together I mean
03:53compliment child I know exactly what
03:55Connor's going to say so that's why I
03:56wanted to get in first he's like a big
03:57grizzly bear he looks tough and scary
04:00a big S but when he needs to drive he he
04:03can drive really well all right there's
04:04a reason the beard is just growing it
04:06out more and
04:08more all right yeah Matt I'll go I'll go
04:11with spirit animal as well I guess so
04:13Matt um I think like he's the perfect
04:16cross of like a border collie and like
04:19Golden Retriever and that he's the he's
04:24the stick with me here
04:28he's he will make your day every day in
04:31the office like you are stoked to run
04:33into Matt in the hallway Matt is stoked
04:36to run into you in the hallway everyone
04:38appreciates Matt's energy and what he
04:40brings but he also is like in every
04:43meeting he's like okay what what are the
04:45next steps like what are we doing he's
04:46keeping us on task he's keeping us
04:48focused and it's a really yeah it's a
04:50nice combination and we work really well
04:52together he also just like make sure the
04:55team are focused if he sees a ball
04:56bouncing somewhere he runs really
04:58quickly no just
05:00um but yeah it's it's a really nice
05:02combo he's just super kind and always
05:05has a smile but keeps you on task keeps
05:08you focused and keeps you moving you
05:10know I think one thing I think was is
05:11worth touching on here and why this is
05:13working why I just love working and and
05:15leading tracksuit with with Connor is
05:17that it's so complimentary and one of
05:19the the very first I me couple of weeks
05:22as we were coming in to start trackit
05:24what we did is we did not only personal
05:26Behavior profiling but team profiling
05:29and so
05:30this is where you say who do who do I
05:31think I am as a person but what do my
05:34teammates and what do my old colleagues
05:36perceive me as and so you get this
05:38really objective view around not only
05:40what I think but what does my team think
05:42we went through this exercise where
05:44Conor and I both did this and it comes
05:45out to say what is Connor what is Matt
05:48where are our strengths where our
05:50weaknesses but more so what are the
05:52things just to watch out where's Connor
05:54going to go and this is where Connor's
05:56driving and really good and compliments
05:59me and where are there where are the
06:01some areas where you know I'm leaning
06:03into to my superpowers or or My areas
06:06but just knowing where we might cause
06:09tension where we might see the world in
06:10different ways and so having that as a
06:13framework about who we are how we
06:15operate how we build and operate and
06:17teams together I think has had you know
06:19a really impactful and huge impact on
06:22who we are as As Leaders as friends as
06:25colleagues but also the type of culture
06:26and teams that we're building at
06:28tracksuit you know what your role is in
06:31any given team situation which is quite
06:33fascinating if you know that you're the
06:35strongest creative Problem Solver or the
06:38strongest driver you know that when you
06:39see people struggling with a problem
06:41that it's your turn to step in or you
06:43know when you see people kind of
06:44deliberating for too long it's your turn
06:46to step in and drive it forward and just
06:48make a call and so yeah once you
06:50understand how you fit in with the team
06:53you are able to kind of embody that
06:56trait at the right time and so yeah it
06:59was it was is fascinating to do that and
07:01it has helped we've done it for every
07:02single person we're now at 100 employees
07:04everyone knows what their roles are how
07:06they should and can interact with the
07:08team super helpful and then you also
07:11decided to become co-ceos that must have
07:14also been a very intentional decision as
07:17co-founders so maybe help us understand
07:19how that decision was made I I mean when
07:22we started truit we both were doing
07:24everything it was just and because we
07:26were bootstrapped it was just like half
07:28the time you're doing demo if you close
07:30customers they're your customers and you
07:32run it and we're both sort of thinking
07:34about product and iterating and it kind
07:36of naturally started that way where we
07:39were both kind of doing it all and just
07:41talking about the opportunity and then
07:43as we started bringing on team members I
07:46think you look at what we were doing and
07:48it's like this is perfect the way it is
07:50like let's not upset the apple cat I
07:52think Coos is it's a like it's a really
07:55interesting thing that you have to be
07:56intentional with and we redraft our JDS
07:59almost every 6 months I'd say where the
08:01company's changing really fast so we
08:03need to adapt and change really fast and
08:06so yeah it's that relationship has
08:09updated what we focus on at any given
08:11time has changed the main thing is that
08:13we have to be really good at
08:14communicating just maintain that like
08:17solid connection ourselves yeah it's
08:19worked so far and I think it would you
08:21know we can hire better people into a
08:23CPO position or a COO position who've
08:26been there and done that and there's
08:28almost a bit of a hack in Matt can be in
08:30London being a CEO and I can be in New
08:32Zealand being a CEO so it's like 247
08:35coverage yeah it's double it's double
08:37trouble yeah and I mean and I've heard
08:40I've heard a couple times where around
08:42if you're a CEO or a Founder founder CEO
08:44you're the one that gets the least
08:46amount of feedback in the business until
08:48you're really intentional about that and
08:50so to be able to do that together give
08:53each other feedback take on each other's
08:54feedback and have that ongoing dialogue
08:57is so important so that you know really
08:59lines and clear on what we're trying to
09:00do here at trackit but also you know see
09:03the world in slightly different ways and
09:05compliment but it's that ongoing
09:06communication I don't know how founder
09:08CEOs go around building and maintaining
09:11rapidly growing business as well as if
09:13you're going down and raising investment
09:15when we went through that that's that's
09:16two full-time roles and then that was a
09:18great example of when we decided to go
09:20and and raise Capital you know a lot of
09:23Connor time was spent on on doing that
09:25the upwards stakeholder management
09:27investor relations while I was able to
09:29lean into keeping the business going and
09:32maintaining and and the momentum that we
09:34needed so being able to split the roles
09:36we needed with what the company needs to
09:37do leaning to our strengths but being
09:39able to do it together is is fantastic
09:40highly recommend yeah that's great
09:42highly recommend as long as you're good
09:43communicators yeah as long as it works
09:45and you don't let your OS get in the way
09:46right CU you got to I think that's I
09:48reckon that's the main thing that gets
09:49in the way of Coos over time is just
09:52someone gets a little bit offended that
09:53some call was made or they're like you
09:55stepped on my toes and then it's like sh
09:58then everyone's doing best at any given
10:00time and and we're both aligned with
10:02that long-term Vision so keep pushing
10:04keep moving and make it
10:06work you've made the cooco format work
10:10quite well so far and so if you were to
10:12give advice to other Founders on the
10:17structure like how would you recommend
10:19what advice would you have on this
10:21co-ceo idea basically what I recommend
10:23it yes I would recommend it I think
10:25recommend it with a couple of flags is
10:27that we also knew each other we've known
10:29each other for 8 years when we first
10:31came into this we did that teaming
10:34exercise who are we as people how do we
10:35operate in teams how are we going to
10:37work dynamically so that I know exactly
10:40where Connor's going off somewhere like
10:41great I'm going to let Connor go there
10:43when I'm starting to really lean in or
10:44or or fight for all I want Conor knows
10:46that like there's a reason why Matt's
10:47going on on on that area knowing who you
10:50are and how you operate together is
10:52really important we're seeing in new
10:53zealands that the multi CEO is as a
10:56thing I think we looked at sh sharesies
10:58investment they have AO they've got AO
11:01shes and New Zealand have a three EO
11:03there are examples of where it worked if
11:05we weren't really honest with each other
11:07if we didn't really know who each other
11:09were deeply it probably would fall over
11:12and so recommend it but go into caution
11:15just because it works for us doesn't
11:16mean it's going to work for everybody
11:17else but what we do want to do is prove
11:21that we can build an incredibly
11:22successful business but be really well
11:24respected in how we grow and what
11:26trackit is as a place of work and the
11:28impact that can that we can have yeah
11:30everything you jump into in business in
11:33life like there's going to be an outcome
11:34and it's either going to be accidental
11:36or it's going to be designed the coast
11:38of your relationship is not something
11:39you can go into and be open to an
11:42accidental outcome you have to
11:43intentionally design the relationship
11:46your what Your roles are how you
11:49interact otherwise I don't think it
11:51would end well and and people aren't
11:52very good at doing that when things are
11:54busy and when they're hectic people
11:56forget that they leave it for too long
11:57so if you think you're that way inclined
11:59don't do the coasty thing if you're
12:02willing to put in the time and the
12:04effort go ahead maybe even rewinding
12:07further if you go to your personal
12:09backgrounds a little bit of your
12:11upbringing and also what some of the
12:13SEMA moments were that you think LED you
12:15to getting attracted to this world of
12:17startups and Technology I actually
12:19started my career as a corporate lawyer
12:21of all things kind of wasn't inspired by
12:24that uh so much which is probably easy
12:27to
12:27imagine but
12:29I like ended up raising a fund and
12:31almost going into the VC route first
12:33because I started Auckland New Zealand's
12:35first accelerator program and that was
12:37my like risk-free way of understanding
12:40everything I could about startups jumped
12:42into one of the startups that came
12:43through that program and that's that's
12:44when I met Matt now wife and I ended up
12:46running a surf and yoga retreat in
12:48Nicaragua at some point um inar yeah
12:51yeah we spent a year there and so yeah
12:53I'm I'm attracted by you know like kind
12:55of trying new things I've always always
12:57been a first principles thinker and I
12:58think that naturally you lend that lends
13:01itself to being in a startup and and
13:03maybe being a Founder in particular so
13:05yeah I think I was always going to end
13:06up here and have had a nice Meandering
13:08path getting here I also studied law and
13:11science I never went and practiced law
13:13but my first role in the world of tech
13:15was being part of the Uber team that
13:16launched Uber in New Zealand and so that
13:18was you know big Tech Big Brand that was
13:20coming across the other side of the
13:21world and being involved in that and you
13:23know startup mode but the backing of
13:25what Uber was in 2015 2016 that was the
13:27introduction to Tech and I said great
13:29let's get let's keep going in the in the
13:31startup world had the opportunity to
13:32move to Sydney that's where Connor and I
13:34move met on the first day back in New
13:36Zealand Connor was off to New York I was
13:37going off to Sydney that company was a
13:39company called Mish Guru it was looking
13:40after the snap uh Snapchat management
13:42platform and so we were working Keely
13:44with leading agencies and Brands to
13:45unlock Snapchat as a new channel and so
13:47that was the that was the real the the
13:49tow into to MK really helping modern
13:52brands use news new channels we there
13:54for you know 5 years or so and then
13:56ended up back in New Zealand linked up
13:57with Connor have always loved uh brands
14:00have always loved um an entrepreneurial
14:02spirit I guess growing up I ran
14:04Landscaping businesses and and pool
14:06cleaning and and car washing around the
14:07neighborhood so I don't know whether
14:09that's where my entrepreneurial Spirit
14:11came from but then Tech mtech and then
14:14now trackit tell us a little bit about
14:16New Zealand what is it like to grow up
14:18as a kiwi what is the tech scene this is
14:21a it's a great a great question I always
14:23like to get Connor's perspective on this
14:25um Connor brings the the best of the
14:26American and the best of the the New
14:28Zealand
14:29take s yeah I I was born in California
14:33and moved to New Zealand when I was 11
14:35so I kind of have a bit of both matx I
14:37think I can dial up one or the other
14:40depending on what we need at trackx at
14:42any given time do we need wild ambition
14:45optimism and uh Ching those dreams and
14:48drive yeah a drive yeah or you know he
14:50can turn on the sort of the cool chill
14:52kiwi charm and and that's the other side
14:55so I mean growing up in New Zealand is
14:57amazing I always like to tell my
14:58American and friends that like my first
15:00week of school in New Zealand I got in
15:02trouble for wearing shoes that's like
15:04New Zealand culture it's so relaxed it's
15:06a wonderful place to grow up the tech
15:08scene I think is it's an exciting place
15:11if you talk to investors around the
15:12world a lot of them are starting to look
15:14at New Zealand and Australia because
15:15we've had a lot of success recently with
15:17the likes of canva and just like some
15:20big companies coming out of that part of
15:22the world and and we're starting to see
15:24second time third time operators or
15:27Founders coming through we're known for
15:29being highly efficient that's because we
15:31haven't had a lot of capital previously
15:33you're seeing these companies come out
15:35that are highly efficient they've it's a
15:37great place to test and learn and so
15:39it's a bit of a beta Nation because
15:41you've got a highly engaged small
15:43population the things that are coming
15:45out tend to have good product Market fit
15:46they're highly efficient and then they
15:48can kind of take the World by storm
15:50relatively quickly I visited New Zealand
15:52a few years ago and I learned that there
15:54are more sheep than humans who told who
15:57told you that everyone I think cows are
15:59actually the most now cows okay got it a
16:02lot of cows but there there is a big
16:03agretech sector like in New Zealand so
16:06yeah we have we have Rockets we have
16:08agretech and now we have truit y there
16:11we go and does that impact the way you
16:14thought of or think of the way you build
16:16a company in other words do most
16:19entrepreneurs think to go Global from
16:21day one because it's a relatively
16:23smaller Market or are there people still
16:25focused mostly on the domestic Market
16:27the global from day one I think there
16:29are so many different ways to build
16:31business and what the aspirations are
16:33and when you want to to take things
16:34absolutely at some point if you do have
16:36international intentions you need to
16:39leave New Zealand I mean there's only
16:40you know there's 5 A2 million people in
16:42New Zealand there's 25 million people in
16:45Australia so the same it's the same size
16:47as California how many hundreds of cows
16:49thousands of hundreds of millions but
16:52when you look at so when you look at the
16:53size of of New Zealand at 52 million and
16:55and Australia at about 25 it's the same
16:57as California and so depending on what
16:59you're doing and where you're trying to
17:00go absolutely people look you know
17:02offshore you can still build big
17:03business across Australia and New
17:05Zealand for us for you know for Conor
17:06and I with track we were so intentional
17:08about the way that we wanted to grow
17:11track a few scars and burns about trying
17:14to go Global too fast and and and
17:16product Market fit and that type of
17:17thing so with trackx right from the
17:19start we said hey look the back end of
17:21the technology that we're doing needs to
17:23be in a position that we can turn on any
17:24Market in the world when we're ready but
17:26we wanted to be super intentional about
17:28the way that we built do we have product
17:30Market fit are people paying us are we
17:32solving real problems are we building a
17:34great team are we building great brands
17:36that then enables us to go and scale so
17:38we started in New Zealand our New
17:40Zealand customers said can you do this
17:41in Australia great we moved into
17:43Australia we started working with
17:44Incredible Australian Brands like
17:46Culture Kings and Bondi Sands and then
17:48those businesses said hey look the us
17:50we've got a whole lot of Revenue in the
17:51US we're trying to figure out how to
17:53position what our competitors are doing
17:55where we should be spending our
17:56marketing dollars and so we went into
17:58know came into the US off the back of
18:00our our customers the same into the UK
18:03so we've been pulled into the markets
18:05which has allowed us to scale a team
18:07with our customers with product Market
18:09fit but always from the start absolutely
18:11Global from day one but not turning it
18:12on straight away and I think being from
18:15New Zealand and how intentional we are
18:17with our company Matt and I when we
18:18started we wanted to spend 50% of our
18:21energy on what we were building and
18:23creating a great product and and trying
18:25but we also wanted to like spend 50% of
18:27our energy on how we were building and
18:29sort of taking a great culture in our
18:31company and then kind of taking that
18:32culture to the world so we do have four
18:35Global offices now we've got Sydney New
18:37York and London on top of our our New
18:39Zealand Auckland head office and we've
18:41been putting some of our key members of
18:44our early team into those offices and we
18:47try to bring that New Zealand and that
18:50tracksuit culture to the world while
18:51making like a good amount of room and
18:53and setting space for that kind of local
18:55flavor to be a part of that in each
18:57office as well all right we'll end on uh
19:00can you share the story of hanging out
19:01with Sam Alman in Auckland I was
19:04launching Oakland's first accelerator
19:06program Sam Alman was like visiting New
19:08Zealand I think on a holiday not to like
19:10do anything official I just like
19:12bothered him in his Twitter DMS for a
19:16long time like hey you want to we go
19:18you're from California do you like
19:19surfing do you want to go no no answer
19:21do you want to like do something I don't
19:24know and eventually I got him like he
19:25said oh that'd be great when I said
19:26something like oh I can maybe get an
19:28investor to provide like a big boat and
19:30we could do a tour of the harbor and go
19:33so first of all I didn't have a boat um
19:35but he said oh that'd be great I'd love
19:37to meet some New Zealand startups so I
19:38went and found a 70ft boat from some
19:41investor in New Zealand go and we all
19:43went out on it but the investor was like
19:45he was like a a fishing guy like he he
19:47wanted to go fishing and he wanted to
19:49show these American visitors the great
19:52fish you can catch in New Zealand
19:53harbors and Sam was vegan at the time
19:58so like I got this boat but the only way
20:01we could use it is if the guy could take
20:02us fishing and so it was just like oh
20:04I'm sorry man like we're hauling up all
20:07these poor fish and you sitting there
20:09just like chilling in the inside of the
20:11boat talking to a few stups and yeah
20:13anyway so that was that was my
20:15interaction with Sam mman 15 years ago
20:19he was Running Y combinator and I was
20:21trying to launch New Zealand's first
20:23accelerator program and here we are here
20:25we are here we are amazing
20:28Bo thank you Matt thank you Connor we
20:30really appreciate it thanks T thank you