Craig Piggott: Founding NZ’s Fastest Growing Company, Quitting Rocket Lab & Sir Peter Beck’s Advice

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Craig Piggott is the founder and CEO of Halter, one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing companies- they make GPS collars for cows that can do away with the need for physical fences. This wild idea he had 10 years ago is now a company valued at over 3 billion dollars. He was also named 2026 New Zealand Innovator of the Year.

This conversation sees Craig Piggot open up about his life and career in a way he has never done before.

He talks about being a very average student, scraping into engineering at university, and eventually landing a job at Rocket Lab after cornering Sir Peter Beck at a university event. That experience would completely change what he believed was possible.

After just nine months at Rocket Lab, Craig left to start Halter. We talk about why Peter Beck backed him, why the first few years were so brutal, and why there were moments when he would have happily gone back to his old job.

There is also some incredibly personal insights about leadership, pressure, marriage, becoming a dad, work-life balance, culture, and staying grounded when the company you started becomes one of New Zealand’s biggest startup success stories.

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