A Dynasty of Inventors: From the Photocopier to Orion
Mark Pavlyukovskyy and Hendrik Remigereau host TechMates, the NZVC podcast. The guest on this episode is Harry Gestetner, Founder of Orion, and it went out on 12 February 2026. It covers the NZVC portfolio company Orion.
- Guest
- Harry Gestetner, Founder of Orion
- Date
- 12 February 2026
- Companies
- Orion
- Watch
- YouTube
- Listen
- Spotify
Harry Gestetner sold his creator economy startup, Fanfix, for tens of millions while still in college, and comes from a family whose hardware inventions date back to the 1880s, including the photocopier. He explains how a charity project during COVID grew into a business that scaled to $120M in revenue post-acquisition. The conversation then turns to his new venture, Orion, a smart mattress topper built to democratize sleep optimization and compete with Eight Sleep, along with the reality of hardware startups, his view that founders are born and not made, and the 80/20 rule for longevity.
“a month of software is easier than an hour of hardware”Harry Gestetner
- A 150-year family legacy of invention, from photocopiers to ballpoint pens.
- Selling a startup for eight figures at 21 years old.
- Building Orion: the Tesla of Sleep vs. Eight Sleep.
- Why hardware and brand are the only moats left in an AI world.
Companies in this episode
Sleep Tech, Longevity, Health Tech, Hardware, Founders, Fanfix