Cookie-and-Me

SMUNZ is Taking a Break — Here, Have a Cookie

22 March 2026
Burnout, Startup-Life, Mental-Health, Cookie-and-Me, Starting-Small, Reset

I’ve had a busy first quarter of 2026, and the past few weeks in particular have been a flurry of events across Wellington’s startup ecosystem — from an NZ Tech Rally event for International Women’s Day through to the day-long Code Camp Wellington conference spread across the Xero and Trade Me offices.

Me holding a glass of water and wearing a KiwiPyCon t-shirt

Two quotes bookended this series of events for me. The first came from NZ Tech Rally: “if you are not winning, you are learning.” The second came from Dean Pemberton at Code Camp: “you only win if no one loses.” There is something almost incongruent about holding both ideas at once, like a Zen koan without an answer.