The Morgo CEO Leadership program is a 9-month online and in person program that enables CEOs of tech or other high growth companies going global to understand the leadership, organisational, marketing, sales and financial requirements of rapid growth and global expansion from New Zealand.
CEOs growing globally need to learn how to go very fast, be courageous, be smart, take on competitors many times their size and win. They also need to know how to select a team that’s highly proficient at execution, then delegate effectively. The Morgo CEO Leadership Program is designed to help you learn how to do all of this ... and a whole lot more. Each year the program is limited to a cohort of up to ten CEOs.
18 CEOs have gone through the program over 2023 and 2024. Some of their comments are below. The most valued aspect of the program has been that you are in cohort with other CEOs going through similar growth issues as you build your company out into the world.
Read Why CEOs need Morgo's CEO Leaderhip Program - A blog by Alex Black >
The program is based on the stage of growth framework developed by Dr Jana Matthews, an internationally renowned business growth expert who has had over 1,300 companies go through her programs and has written 8 books on leadership.
The program will be delivered by Jenny Morel of Morgo who has extensive experience as a global tech company director (and sometimes CEO) ), Alumni from the last two years and Growth Experts (see below).
The program includes a combination of online and in-person sessions, including a week in San Francisco, visiting some amazing companies there and talking to domain experts to see what scale and speed look like. Once you’ve completed the Morgo CEO Leadership Program you will be invited to join the Alumni Program – a way to keep learning and sharing with each other.
Each year the program is limited to a cohort of up to ten CEOs.
“The content of this course is game changing. Being able to anticipate the next phase of leadership growth before getting there and plan for it instead of urgently figuring out what change in leadership the business needs when you are already in the middle of that stage - is powerful.”
James Sampson, FileInvite
To be part of the Morgo CEO Leadership Program in 2025, you need to be the CEO of a tech or other high growth company going global from New Zealand which:
And you need to be ready to learn and to invest this time in yourself and your company
Registration is open now for 2025.
If you would like to know more about the program, please contact your NZTE Customer Manager or Morgo.
“The content is tailored for leadership; the growth experts are experienced and insightful and the intimate cohort of other leaders brings a space to be inspired and challenged.”
Jono Jones, BlueLab
The Morgo CEO Leadership Program is comprised of the following components:
April
Sunday 27 April 6 pm - Tuesday 29 April 5 pm, Wellington
Sunday 29 June 6 pm - Tuesday 1 July 5 pm, Wellington
Thursday 14 & Friday 15 August
Debrief: Saturday16August morning.
Curated program:
Sunday 26 October (4pm) - Tuesday 28 October
Own visits with catch up in the evenings:
29 October – 31 October
Wed 26 November,
Auckland
Throughout
“This course was a total game-changer... I came out the other side feeling confident, equipped, and ready to truly lead. The content was on point, and I learnt just as much off the other leaders on the course in a super safe space. Lock it in!”
Dave Shoemack, Goodnature
The two 2-day sessions are the core of the program. These impart the tools and resources to be applied during the rest of the program and the work that participants will do between the meetings.
Each 2-day intensive session will have four sessions focusing on specific topics relevant to growing global:
You will receive a Learning Journal with materials and tools that will help you implement the concepts learned in each session.
Small group discussions will be facilitated by Jenny Morel and the Growth Experts.
You will identify changes that will need to be made in order to grow globally.
You will develop an Action Plan with timelines for you and your teams to achieve before the next part of the program begins.
"This course has been instrumental in helping me think bigger, plan bigger and be a better leader…this is one of the best things I have invested in since starting my career."
Melanie Spencer, Thompson Spencer
Goodnature is a Wellington based company reinventing global pest control with smart and humane solutions. We're a tiny but mighty team of 40, vertically integrated across all functions from product development to production, software to e-commerce, and everything in between. Over 80% of our revenue is outside New Zealand, but we're only just getting started - watch this space!
Prior to that my roles as VanMoof's Chief of Staff and Chief Marketing Officer were part of an unbelievable 6 year journey. We created the best electric bikes in the world, and our super-powered global team did an amazing job scaling the business (more than 30X in 6 years) through game-changing products, brand building, and experience design. VanMoof's wider mission is to 'get the next billion on bikes', and everything they do from product to brand to service supports this.
A commercially savvy senior leader, I thrive on helping businesses prosper with an innate ability to understand an organisation from a strategic viewpoint. My key expertise lies in discovering and unlocking what motivates people, businesses and brands to perform at their best. My senior marketing experience spans two decades, driving results with local and international clients across retail, property, banking, food & beverage, aviation, automotive, fashion and more. As Co-Founder and CEO of Thompson Spencer Group, I lead a team of specialists in delivering exceptional results for our clients through world-class strategy, creative, production, and media, always with an eye on the future. The signature, coveted Thompson Spencer goodie-bag we give our clients is a loyal community of raving fans. Resoundingly positive client feedback on how working together has led to transformation and growth, along with a groaning awards’ cabinet speaks to our success!
Mel won a commendation for Agency Head of the year (Australia/NZ), Campaign Asia Awards 2024, was named a Woman to Watch (Australia/NZ) in the Campaign Asia Awards 2023. She made 4 Acquisitions in 4 years + 1 merger to make Thomson Spencer one of the largest Indie Agencies in New Zealand with offices in London and Sydney.
Founder, international serial software entrepreneur, with 25 years’ experience in techleadership roles across NZ, Australia and the US - including as founder and CEO of Rad3,the successful software consulting business that spawned Comply Pro. As Comply Pro's CEO, Michael has his eyes on the horizon as the driving force behind Comply Pro’s growth agenda, but his hands firmly on the wheel, to ensure the business is consistently delivering to the exacting standards and expectations which underpin its success.
Comply Pro - 150k users, 4,500 customers across from Europe to SEA , AUNZ and North America- using our Site App Pro or Safe Food Pro Products. Comply Pro has been built, very deliberately, using a B2B SaaS playbook, Michael's founders / CEO journey has allowed Michael to develop a deep understanding of what it takes to build out a B2B SaaS company.
Michael is a natural storyteller and uses this skill to impart knowledge in an array of settings. Michael sessions are sure to be entertaining, energetic and challenging.
Oscar is an experienced entrepreneur and operations leader with a strong background in technology, product, and business growth. As the founder of Yourdrive, he built and led New Zealand’s first peer-to-peer car-sharing platform, scaling the business over eight years.
He later joined Levno, where he played a key role in modernising the company’s infrastructure leading its transition to cloud-based systems and driving operational efficiency.
With expertise in product development, business strategy, and team leadership, Oscar excels at scaling startups and optimising operations for growth. His hands-on experience in both founding and managing companies gives him a unique perspective on balancing innovation with execution. Passionate about technology and problem-solving, he continues to focus on building and improving businesses through strategic leadership and operational excellence.
I'm a commercial and strategic leader who loves the challenge of transforming and scaling companies. I have deep customer and market strategy, business transformation and programme delivery experience which has led to successful outcomes while working in New Zealand, Europe and the US for brands such as PwC, Kiwibank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Microsoft.
I have an MBA in Finance, am the founder and grower of two tech start-ups and am active in start-up governance.
Jenny’s background is in investment banking, company directorships, and venture capital. She now devotes herself to the Morgo community of leaders of technology companies going global from New Zealand and Australia.
Over 20 years ago, Jenny started a niche investment bank to work with technology companies and, a year later, New Zealand’s first US-style venture capital firm, No 8 Ventures. For No 8 Ventures, Jenny was a director of 10 young tech companies going global and chair of 6 of them. She also did stints as CEO at two of them.
Jenny started the 2-day event known as MORGO 20 years ago to bring together people building tech companies out into the world from New Zealand, most of whom didn’t know each other. She kept this going on the side of her other businesses. 12 years ago she went to live in Singapore for 6 years. While there, with Dr Jana Matthews, she started MORGO in Australia. Covid has led to Morgo activities now being restricted to New Zealand.
AfterJenny returned to New Zealand 6 years ago,
Dr Alia Bojilova is a registered psychologist and a prolific expert in leadership, resilience and curiosity. She is the author of “The Resilience Toolkit”. Described as insightful, inspiring, energetic and restlessly committed to ‘better - always’, Alia has led, consulted and facilitated at the highest levels of complexity. She has served as an enabler to thousands of leaders, teams and organisations in some of the most testing environments, globally and in New Zealand.
Alia’s deepest passions are in making bold ways to build, broaden and nurture capacity for thriving and fuelling curiosity. She has an insatiable appetite for growth and contribution.
Alia served as an officer in the New Zealand Defence Force, including in the role of the lead psychologist for the New Zealand SAS. She is a recipient of the United Nations Commendation and the Inaugural Meritorious Service Medal for successfully negotiating critical incidents in the Middle East.
Jamie of Inspiring Performance is a well-known strategy coach who works with exporters and other aspirational organisations. He was involved in the Better By Strategy programme delivered via NZ Trade and Enterprise - using a proven methodology and practical tools to help organisations achieve more, gaining clarity and alignment on their purpose, business model and top priorities. And he helped establish leadership training at Waikato University.
After a professional career in New Zealand, Australia and Asia with a management consultancy firm, Jamie led the culture and training of 6000 Rugby World Cup volunteers in 2011. Outside his business career, Jamie has walked unaided to the South Pole, captained rowing crews against Cambridge and Oxford Universities, and holds the world record for rowing 5000km across the Atlantic Ocean.
Having completed degrees in Management and Marketing and growing Inspiring Performance from the ground up, Jamie delivers a range of strategic, leadership and performance-based initiatives with organisations, government agencies and individuals around the world.
With a career spanning GE, Microsoft, and Amazon, John moved to the Bay of Plenty in 2018 with his New Zealand born wife and three children. Prior to arriving in NZ, John led Human Resources for Amazon’s Worldwide Operations organisation and the hundreds of thousands of employees responsible for delivering on customer orders around the globe. John also led HR during the hyper growth of Amazon’s Devices organisation resulting in products like Alexa, next generation Kindles and Kindle Fire tablets, FirePhone, and FireTV.
Today John chairs the board of Groov (a New Zealand start-up focused on mental health) and is a board member at GoGenerosity (a New Zealand start-up focused on helping local businesses pay it forward). He also works with a variety of founders and venture capital firms to scale businesses for growth.
Murray is the co-founder and product visionary of Vista Entertainment Solutions. He was the CEO of Vista until after the company listed in 2014. In 2018 he became the Chief Product Officer of the Vista Group of companies. Now he is an Executive Director – continuing to contribute to the company he built.
Vista designs and develops cinema and studio management solutions for the international film industry. Its software is installed in cinemas and film distributors in over 90 countries. It has subsidiary companies with offices in Los Angeles, Shanghai, Cape Town, London, Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur and Mexico City and business partners in India and Pakistan to support its customers.
Murray says that the founders of Vista always wanted to build an enduring New Zealand software company and that is what they have achieved.
Once you’ve completed the CEO Leadership Program your cohort forms joins the Alumni to continue to share ongoing experiences and learning opportunities through Morgo. Details will be available at course completion.
“The leaders of every NZTE focus company should attend this program."
Max Ferguson, Lumin
“I would absolutely endorse and recommend this program for other CEOs who are looking to scale up and go global.”
Asantha Wijeyeratne, PaySauce