Nick Erskine-Shaw

After 14 years, you wrapped up your journey with 90 Seconds at the end of 2025. What inspired the creation of the company, and what has its mission been?

In the early days, we were selling videos to small and medium-sized businesses in New Zealand and the UK. These businesses wanted video but struggled to access it. It was expensive, slow, and dominated by traditional production models that were not built for scale.

At the same time, platforms like Facebook and YouTube were emerging as major distribution channels, fundamentally changing how brands communicated. Video was quickly becoming central to marketing, yet the production industry was not equipped to support that shift at scale.

That experience revealed a much bigger opportunity. From the outset, the ambition was not simply to sell video, but to build a global, best-in-class video creation platform. One that radically reduced the cost and complexity of video by combining market-leading technology with a global network of local creators.

The vision was simple but bold. We wanted to create the “Make My Video” button on the YouTube homepage. A single, intuitive way for businesses to brief, create, and publish video anywhere in the world.

By bringing together software, workflow automation, and a distributed creator marketplace, we dismantled the traditional production model and democratised video creation. What began with SME customers in New Zealand and the UK scaled into a truly global platform, including becoming the first New Zealand company to raise growth capital from Sequoia Capital in Asia alongside other tier one global investors.

Today, 90 Seconds operates as a global video creation platform, having produced more than 50,000 videos across 100 countries and over 900 cities. That scale has enabled the company to work with more than 200 of the world’s largest brands across travel, professional services, financial services, and technology, including global leaders such as Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook. What started as a local idea continues as a genuinely global platform trusted by some of the world’s most recognised organisations.

Looking back over your career so far, what have been some of your standout highlights?

One of the most formative experiences in my career was working in recruitment at Kelly Services. It was where I learned real sales discipline. Hard calls, constant rejection, and the understanding that progress often comes from persistence rather than perfect conditions. That environment built resilience and belief that stayed with me throughout my career.

Those lessons carried directly into building and scaling 90 Seconds. Cracking open doors to the world’s largest brands as a small Kiwi company required grit, patience, and a refusal to take early rejection as a final answer. Sales leadership became less about tactics and more about instilling belief. When teams believe something is possible, they find ways to make it happen.

As the company grew, one of the most rewarding aspects was building and leading teams. Seeing people develop, step into leadership, and back themselves has been incredibly fulfilling. Some of the best moments now come from watching former team members flourish beyond the organisation.

The success of the 90 Seconds alumni is a legacy we are deeply proud of. Knowing the business helped shape people who have gone on to do great things matters as much as any commercial milestone.

Conversely, what have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

The vision was always to build a global technology company from New Zealand and scale quickly. Doing that meant learning fast, evolving constantly, and making big decisions with limited information.

We started by learning on the SME segment before rapidly shifting to an enterprise focus, adapting the product, organisation, and go-to-market approach to meet the needs of the world’s largest brands. Scaling at that pace brought challenges across capital, timing, and execution, particularly as growth and funding cycles rarely align perfectly.

Operating across different markets also reinforced a key lesson. Global products are rarely one-size-fits-all. Localisation in approach, product, and execution proved essential.

COVID tested that adaptability further. With global production shutting down almost overnight, we had to move quickly, rethink offerings, and evolve the platform in real time. Coming out the other side, the business was more focused and resilient than before.

Ultimately, challenges were never a negative. They shaped better thinking, forced evolution, and strengthened the business. If you are not facing challenges, you are probably not pushing hard enough.

Are there any exciting new ventures or projects on the horizon for you?

Yes. I am now working closely with founders looking to scale through my consultancy business, Kauri Global. The focus is founder to founder, providing practical, tangible advice and hands-on, on-the-ground execution rather than high-level theory.

We work with founders who are juggling multiple priorities, helping streamline go-to-market, expansion, and operational tasks using a combination of experience, technology, and targeted consulting. A key part of this is the practical application of AI to remove friction from workflows, automate repeatable processes, and enable teams to move faster with fewer resources.

Kauri Global primarily supports businesses with strong foundations in New Zealand and Australia that are preparing to expand into Asia, Europe, and North America. We draw directly on our own experience of scaling globally to help founders avoid common pitfalls, execute with confidence, and accelerate growth in new markets.

How did your BCom in Management help prepare you for the working world after graduating from UC?

The BCom was a strong fit for me, particularly with a major in Human Resources. The grounding in core business fundamentals proved invaluable early on in my career, especially in recruitment, where understanding people, incentives, and organisational structure was critical.

As we scaled 90 Seconds globally, that foundation became even more relevant. Building teams across different markets reinforced the importance of understanding how businesses are structured and how people operate within them. The broad range of subjects available within the BCom provided a well-rounded perspective that I drew on repeatedly.

You do not always realise at the time how valuable that knowledge base is. It is often only later, when you are applying those theories in real-world situations, that the impact becomes clear.

Do you have any favourite memories from your time at UC that have stuck with you?

UC offered a genuinely well-rounded education alongside an outstanding campus experience. While I completed a BCom and particularly enjoyed subjects like economics and management, the ability to study across disciplines was one of the most valuable parts of the experience. Papers in areas such as Antarctic studies and American Studies added variety and helped shape a broader, more worldly perspective, along with some surprisingly useful pub-quiz knowledge.

Uni Hall in my first year stands out straight away. Living with around 500 people felt like a year-long school camp and created an incredible network and lifelong friendships. Over the years, events like end-of-year Steins, the Undie 500, and ENSOC barbecues were a big part of the experience. For me, university was as much about the network and soft skills as the degree itself, and many of my closest friends today are still the same UC crew from 2002.

Finally, are there any parting thoughts or reflections you’d like to share?

If I had one piece of advice, it would be to just start. Get involved in side hustles, hackathons, networking events. There are more tools available now than ever before to build, test, and launch ideas quickly, often with very little capital.

You do not need to build the next global company while you are studying. The goal is to learn by doing. Use technology to move fast, test assumptions, and make a bit of money along the way, even if it is just enough to cover noodles and a few beers. Those early experiments teach you far more than theory ever will.

At the same time, invest heavily in relationships. Join clubs, get involved on campus, and say yes to opportunities. Entrepreneurship is rarely a solo sport, and your network truly is your net worth.

Be curious, challenge the status quo, back yourself, and stay resilient. Momentum compounds quickly once you start moving