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Robett Hollis
Entrepreneur, Speaker, and Former Professional Snowboarder
Robett Hollis is a multi-faceted entrepreneur and former professional athlete currently serving as the Owner of Skylinks Golf & Community Club.1 Here's an overview of his background and accomplishments:
Professional Career
Former Pro Athlete: Hollis was a professional snowboarder for 9 years (2003-2012), representing Burton Snowboards.1 He achieved notable success, including:
- New Zealand Snowboarder of the Year
- World Finals Silver Medalist
Entrepreneurial Ventures:
- Founded FRONTSIDE, a content strategy and video production agency, which was acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi / Publicis Groupe in 20181
- Created ColabNZ, New Zealand's largest network of co-working spaces, which was also acquired in 20181
- Launched AIRTIME, New Zealand's largest action sports community1
Accolades and Influence
Hollis has gained significant recognition for his entrepreneurial and community efforts:
- Ranked by LinkedIn as one of the Top 3 Most Influential New Zealanders
- Listed in Metro Magazine's Top 10 Innovators of The Year
- Medalist at the Local Hero Awards
- Official Nominee for Kiwibank's New Zealander of the Year1
Current Focus
After a successful career spanning sports and business, Hollis is now based in San Francisco, USA, and has entered the golf industry as the Owner of Skylinks Golf & Community Club.1 In October 2023, he announced the acquisition of a golf course after 18 months of behind-the-scenes work.2
Personal Background
- Originally from New Zealand, grew up in Dargaville, Fiji, and Christchurch
- Represented New Zealand in basketball and soccer
- Identifies as Ngati Porou (Māori tribe)
- Describes himself as a "#GirlDad" and "Millennial Misfit"1
Hollis continues to be active in business consulting, speaking engagements, and media production, leveraging his diverse experience in sports, entrepreneurship, and content creation.
Highlights
Kia Ora whanau, Sorry I've been MIA for the last 10 months but just wanted to jump in today and publicly say how absolutely DISGUSTED I am to see Andy Hamilton now being promoted online as an official active advisor to The Icehouse to ‘help’ more Kiwi Founders.
After the complete and utter shit show of the Manaaki fiasco of 2022 that was directly led by Andy Hamilton, Pat MacFie and his personal connections to those in power it’s now very clear how The Ice House, it’s CEO, it’s Board, investors and it’s Chair all roll. You ALL KNOW EXACTLY what when down with the victims and yet you think after a year you’ll try to snake oil your fading and irrelevant old boys network to smoke and mirror the public once again as if word isn’t well known about what ACTUALLY happened within the true circles of those that matter.
I think we can collectively agree the Aotearoa Startup System deserves way better than this. Even from afar - it's sad to see not much has changed. Shame on you all.
Look..... we all ain't perfect, we all stuff up (me 1,000,000 times) and I'm all for moving ahead - but only after you've genuinely acknowledged and truly addressed any missteps (aka financial redress, personal apologies & even ethics training) with genuine Manaaki to those innocent victims that were exploited and truly hurt emotionally and financially, so our system can be cleansed and try heal itself with time.... and eventually grow to the greatness of what I believe it can be.
ps. True leaders show true mana at all times. The standards you've chosen to walk past are the standards you've chosen to accept. Are you still happy backing these standards Sam Stubbs, David Downs & Robbie Tindall?
- Robett Hollis
#FoundersFirst #LoooooongGame #IaintgoingANYWHERE
Here’s the $11,423,800 story of Manaaki / We Are Indigo in 1 picture….
Andy Hamilton, Pat McFie, Monty Betham and Rachel Adams and their ‘multi million dollar gov funded income vehicle’ Manaaki / We Are Indigo was initially leveraged through personal friendships such as now sacked/shamed Minister Stuart Nash, they then burnt and hurt multiple innocent kiwi Founders who courageously spoke up, burnt all their credibility after they got busted through Callaghan Innovation’s due diligence reports (which were independently vetted by EY) who interviewed the victims, burnt all their sponsorship cash from corporates and now in their final chapter of dwindled relevance and money train grifting are desperately trying to setup Callaghan into a legal payout regarding ‘Process’ and ride off into the sunset with ‘vindication’ and a few final tax payer bucks.
Manaaki - YOU CAN ALL PISS RIGHT OFF!
TLDR So Manaaki milked over 11 million dollars of government funding, left innocent Maori / Pacifica Founders broken with over 100k in legal bills with not a single public apology or ANY accountability whatsoever, and now Manaaki is seeking even more government funding to exit in shame. What a great scam! Sorry - I mean a great ‘business model’.
And for the record - Manaaki’s complaint to the Ministry of Justice / PSPLA (Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority) was FULLY DISMISSED, based on evidence - not opinion - PROOF. I truly hope this new government cuts these cancerous leeches like Manaaki / We Are Indigo from the startup ecosystem and NEVER allow them to get close to vulnerable Founders or ANY government funding ever again.
Sad to see NO ONE stepping up for those who mattered in the first place - THE FOUNDERS, except for legends like Sir Ian Taylor. Great article my friend - I couldn’t have said it better myself. https://lnkd.in/gXXg-5BF
- Robett Hollis
