Why I Left Silicon Valley for New Zealand: A Tech Founder's Journey
Mark Pavlyukovskyy and Hendrik Remigereau host TechMates, the NZVC podcast. The guest on this episode is Philip Fierlinger, Co-Founder of Xero and Upstock, and it went out on 14 March 2025. It covers the NZVC portfolio company Upstock.
- Guest
- Philip Fierlinger, Co-Founder of Xero and Upstock
- Date
- 14 March 2025
- Companies
- Upstock
- Watch
- YouTube
- Listen
- Spotify
Philip Fierlinger built his first CRM on a Radio Shack computer as a kid, designed mobile devices before smartphones existed, worked at General Magic, pioneered VR for the Beastie Boys, and helped turn Xero into a billion-dollar SaaS company. He talks about growing up in a creative immigrant household, the lessons of General Magic's rise and fall, and why design rather than engineering drives the best products.
“If you want to build something great, start with the dream, not the details.”Philip Fierlinger
- Growing up in a creative immigrant household and early tech obsession.
- How a chance email to the Beastie Boys led to VR innovation.
- The bold moves that helped Xero revolutionize accounting from New Zealand.
- Why he believes design, not engineering, drives the best tech products.
Companies in this episode
Xero, General Magic, product design, fintech, founder story, Silicon Valley to New Zealand