How it all began.

Some of the best ideas don’t start in a boardroom, they start in the small, everyday moments of life. For me, Ripyl wasn’t born from a grand business plan or a high-stakes investor meeting. It started at the local park with my daughters when they were just three and five years old.

Every evening after work, I made a deal with my daughters. I’d take them to the park for about 30 minutes so they could use the swings (they loved them just like I did as a kid) while I caught up on the news, read a book, or simply unwind from the day. My eldest could swing on her own, but my youngest still needed a push.

As soon as we arrived, I set them up, gave them both a big push, and then it was my time to relax. But after just a few minutes of swinging freely, my eldest would have to stop, get off her swing, push her sister, and start over. Just as she found her rhythm again, her sister would call out for another push.

I could have stepped in and given my youngest a push myself, but that would have broken the deal we had. So instead, I decided to wait and see how it would play out.

One evening, on the drive home, she turned to me and said, “Dad, I hate the park.”

I laughed. “Hate? That’s a strong word for a park. Tell me why.”

She explained her frustration, telling me how she had to stop swinging over and over again just to help her sister. Every time she found her rhythm, she had to get off, give another push, and start all over. I could see how much it bothered her, and instead of brushing it off, I asked her a simple question: “If you could change it, how would you fix the problem?”

That question led to something unexpected. When we got home, I put a Business Model Canvas on the garage wall. Over the next few months, she worked on a solution - a solar-powered swing set, complete with seatbelts for safety and multi-speed settings for younger and older kids.

Then, I did something that would change my own thinking forever.  I asked the local mayor if he’d listen to her pitch. He agreed, and halfway through her presentation (which blew me out of the water to be blunt), I realised, “Looks like I’m going into the swing business!”

When she finished, took questions from the mayor, and we walked out of his office, she turned to me and said, “That was fun. What’s next?”

At that moment, something clicked.

The Birth of Ripyl

That conversation planted the seed for what would become Ripyl. I had spent years perfecting a startup accelerator for adults, one that saw over 1,700 participants, raised over $7 million in investment, and helped create 70+ businesses. However, one thing stood out.  Young people (even those in their early 20s) lacked basic business knowledge.

What if we could teach entrepreneurship to primary and intermediate school kids? What if we could create a mini-accelerator style programme designed just for them?

That’s where Ripyl began.

The Journey - From Idea to Impact

We launched our pilot in 2019, working with over 750 students from primary and intermediate schools. The success was overwhelming - schools were lining up to join. And then, the pandemic.

Like many others, we had to pause and rethink. But we didn’t stop. Over the next few years, we refined and expanded the programme. One of the biggest challenges was convincing schools to take a chance on something new. I wasn’t a teacher, I was a business guy. That made some schools hesitant.

But once they saw the results, the mindset shifted. One principal even said, “If I were redesigning the New Zealand school curriculum, I’d call it Ripyl.”

Over 4,500 students have now gone through the programme. Along the way, we realised another gap in the market. A business-only, plug-and-play resource platform strictly for business and commerce teachers that made the subject easy to teach and saved hours of planning time on the weekend for the teacher. That became our focus.

Winning Best Youth Programme in New Zealand

In 2023, Ripyl was awarded New Zealand’s Best Youth Programme by Global Entrepreneurship Network (Ripyl, at that stage, was being run under our holding company, The Brave Venture). It was completely unexpected as we were up against well-established programs, some had been running for 30+ years.

What made Ripyl stand out?

• Innovation
  A novel, new way to teach basic and complex business fundamentals to students based on global frameworks.  The world needs more entrepreneurs, right?

• Problem-solving
  We weren’t just another business course. We made learning real, hands-on, and engaging.  And we made it relevant so the students that were learning topics were learning from brands, businesses and models they knew and saw every day.

• Challenging the Status Quo
  Business and commerce are taught in schools, but they’re often seen as the “dummy subject”, outdated, undervalued, and stuck in the 1980s. While students learn about historical figures like Albert Einstein as entrepreneurs, the curriculum rarely highlights modern visionaries like Rod Drury from Xero or Steve Jobs from Apple. Ripyl changed that.

Winning was humbling, but more than anything, it reinforced that this work matters.

The Future of Ripyl

Where do we go from here?

• Global reach
  We’ve built a platform that houses our assets but, more importantly, allows teachers to connect from all around the world. Imagine teaching business in Melbourne, and you connect with a teacher in India. The cross-pollination that can occur for personal and professional development could be immense, not to mention finding a few new guest speakers for your class!

• A new way of learning
  We want kids to see business models as real, relevant, and essential to everyday life.

• Growing our platform
  Our next big step is subscribers, giving teachers and students easy access to high-quality content.

We have an amazing team of educators building relevant, engaging modules, not just for students but for teachers, too. When we save teachers time with ready-to-go resources, we know they can focus on what matters most - inspiring the next generation (and enjoying their weekends!).

Ripyl isn’t just about business. It’s about giving kids the tools to think differently, solve problems, and create their own futures. Imagine what our country would look like if a five-year-old knew the cost of goods sold at their lemonade stand.

And it all started with a simple question: “How would you fix it?”