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[Music]
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kiwi's Love at
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First like Finn we're making
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[Music]
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waves generate switch online
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[Music]
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today sir Peter Bick welcome to my
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podcast oh it's a pleasure to be here D
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um how how does that it's only been like
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six months ago that you got the the the
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sewer title The Nigh Hood how do how
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does it sit with you uh it's very odd to
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be fair it's very odd and and and it
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take takes a while to to to kind of you
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know process that and uh obviously a
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huge honor but you know the way I look
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at this one is it's is it's for all the
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the entrepreneurs and and engineers in
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the country because there's not that
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many of them that that that get a title
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so you know I take great pride in the
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fact that it's it's it's for a it's not
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I don't really think it is for me I
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think it is is for those for that you
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know type of people is it your email off
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no what about when you fly and the the
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forms you have to fill on sewer no no oh
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come on lean into it it's only the
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people I don't like then you got to call
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me sir if I don't like you then then
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that's that's when you know it's it's um
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great to have you here uh you've been
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like a this is going to sound like an
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ncus but it's it's it's factual you've
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been like a dream guest for the podcast
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and I happened to bump into you a couple
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of weeks ago at this Art Gallery in pel
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of all places so I went on up and
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introduced myself and um uh like I got
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the surprise of my life like you you
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said you you're familiar with the
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podcast which was really yeah it was
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yeah no I I really really enjoyed the
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work so you know congratulations on on
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building a great a great platform yeah
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oh
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likewise and um I said to you I'd love
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to get you on the podcast and you you um
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Palm me on to Morgan who's your vice
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president of communications and I
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thought that was going to be the end of
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it I thought this is Sir Peters get out
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of jail free card but she responded the
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the the that same and we locked in the
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date and here we are yeah there you go
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yep system works and I've done um so
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much research on you the last couple of
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weeks I Reon I've just about read and
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watched everything there is to see about
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um Peter bck um one one thing I've
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noticed is like there's not a lot of
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personal stuff online is that is that by
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Design or is it because the like the
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interviews you do they're just way more
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interested in this amazing company
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you've built no I mean it's it's it's
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it's by Design I mean um uh I try and
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keep you know a family life out of out
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of the rocket business and and um and
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that's a conscious decision uh you know
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it's it's it's a tough enough Thing by
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yourself let alone you know dragging
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your your family all through it so um so
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you know I I um I try and separate those
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two possible so what does an average day
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look
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like uh well it's I don't know it's just
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so you know America starts at at sort of
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3:00 a.m. in the morning um you know
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quite often there'll be a few I really
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try and avoid the 3:00 a.m. morning
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meetings those ones throw me a bit two
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is fine and and four four is fine for
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whatever reason three I really struggle
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with um so the day starts pretty early
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and um uh and then you know America
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wakes up and and uh and then you know
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goes to sleep and then New Zealand goes
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to sleep when New Zealand goes to sleep
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we don't have any operations in Europe
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thank God because if it was in Europe I
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wouldn't be zero chance to get in your
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sleep because I saw a quote online from
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um the Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen
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and he said um I work from the moment I
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wake up till the moment when I go to bed
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and I work s days a week when I'm
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working I'm thinking about working and
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when I'm working I'm working does that
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sound sounds about right does it really
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yeah my uh my my family have got photos
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um of me every family holiday every
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every time it's just like the family
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joke there's there's everybody doing an
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activity and there's me St stood to the
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side on my cell phone and uh it's you
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know there's photos of of of us all
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around the world as a family um doing
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that but it's like it's it's the way it
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is like you don't achieve something big
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on on kind of an 8 to five you know 5
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days a week kind of timeline if you want
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to achieve something big it just has to
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be all consuming you just love it that
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you've just got like dead aim de aim
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you've got this goal and you know what
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you want to do and nothing's going to
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stop you yeah I mean I I think it's it's
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it's really important what we're trying
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to achieve and and um yeah I mean it's
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tremendous amount of type three fun um
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but uh what's type three fun oh it's the
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fun you know type one fun is just actual
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fun and then type two fun is is like
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it's not that fun at the time but but
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you know you're still relatively
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enjoyable and then type three fun is
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like it absolutely sucks the whole time
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and then maybe a couple of years later
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you look back on it and go oh that was
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actually
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fun I've never heard that before where
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did that come from well I don't know I
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thought everybody knew that yeah um how
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well how well known are you in New
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Zealand like do do you know do people do
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people come up to you and have selfies
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and you know are you aware when you go
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to restaurants and things of people sort
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of staring at you or what do people come
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up and talk about yeah I mean um yeah
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yep that that happens that happens um a
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bit um yeah a little
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bit how does how does that sit with you
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oh used to be you know super odd but um
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but people always have just the
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loveliest things to say um so uh and you
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know being a public company now so many
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people have uh you know are shareholders
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in the company and and uh you know so
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they feel like they have a little bit of
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that ownership as well so you know it's
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always it's always always been really
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really lovely I mean uh so
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yeah that um the public company thing
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yeah so I I bought some stock in rocket
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lab when it first went on the NZ deck
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when was that by the way 2021 21 yeah
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yeah and it sort of went down and then
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it's just sort of been sitting there
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very small amount in my sh's account
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doing not much yeah then um earlier this
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year I had Paul Henry on the podcast and
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he told me I should put some money on
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Rocket lab so I put some more money in
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and it's gone exceptionally well for me
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and I'm um I've got 600 shares in the
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company how many do you
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have I there's about about 10 10% just a
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bit over 10% of the company yeah so the
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um are you are you comfortable talking
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about this
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you the the sheares and the the stake of
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the company and stuff well yeah I'll
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tell you if I'm not yeah okay okay cool
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so the the night we met at the um the
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gallery and Parell um like you became a
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billionaire overnight on paper yeah yeah
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but you made like you went to sleep and
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then overnight you made like $200
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million or something crazy like that
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yeah I mean I guess I don't really think
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of it like that I mean as as you say
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it's it's it's on it's on paper um and
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uh you know we we we're trying to trying
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to build value you know in in the
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company for for everybody to be honest
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with you the more satisfying thing is is
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um is seeing a whole bunch of uh you
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know staff all of a sudden uh all their
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hard work being recognized and and also
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investors who who have been along for
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the journey that's that's much more
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gratifying than than you know seeing
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some things on a paper for you yeah
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you're just not driven by
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by by the money at all if I if I if I
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wanted to make a billion dollars I could
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have think of a thousand things easier
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to do than this so for me that's not the
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motivation um of course uh we're a
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publicly traded company so we need to
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maximize value for the shareholders yeah
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but I mean for me personally um the
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thing that that wakes me up in the
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morning with a you know a jump in my
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step is that the space industry is one
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of the few things in the world that you
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can have tremendous amount of impact and
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the way to think about the space
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industry is is it's like infrastructure
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so when you put up a satellite into
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lowth orbit you know it provides say
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it's a weather satellite um it provides
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weather uh down to people on Earth great
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but the reality is it provides weather
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to literally millions if not tens of
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millions if not billions of people down
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on Earth and I don't know any other
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infrastructure project that you can do
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that has so much impact like uh if you
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go and build a new Harbor Bridge
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Crossing right um that's great it
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affects everybody in Oakland doesn't
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matter a toss of someone inago but it
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affects you know a relatively small
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amount of people in a positive way but
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you put something into space and every
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90 minutes it is orbiting the planet and
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every 90 minutes you have a chance to
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have a huge impact so the the kind of
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projects that we've got to work on are
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just incredible I mean uh you know we
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with's a good good example um National
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Security missions where people's lives
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matter um uh Communications missions
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Earth observation missions you name it
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we've we've had a part in a lot of those
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things and then in the Space Systems
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division uh you know we we built all of
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the solar cells for the James web
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telescope um some of the the NASA probe
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are going to the sun right now they're
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all our solar sales on on there as well
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Mars Ingenuity helicopter all of the all
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of the surface Rovers have rocket lab
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components on them so we get to play in
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in just the most amazing things that
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have just tremendous amount of
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impact yeah and then there's there's
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other stuff you're doing I got a I got a
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um DM on Instagram from someone and um
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I've paraphrase it here on this card um
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but it said sued is a legend on the East
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Coast uh so generous to the area during
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Cyclone Gabriel my dad has been an
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employee at Rocket lab in Mahia cleaning
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at the launch site and looking after
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staff houses he loves the company and
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their values so it's not just the stuff
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you're doing you're doing up there
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you're doing like a great job down here
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on the ground as well um yeah that must
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be like incredibly gratifying it is it
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is yeah know that it it is and it's and
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and I think that's yeah I mean uh look
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the technology is is is exciting all the
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of it but um you know at the end of the
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day as I was growing up um the only
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message I had from my parents is have
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the most amount of impact you can have
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with your life because you're here for a
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short period of time and and you know
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that is that is a measure of success is
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is is how much impact can you have to
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people to society to the planet um in
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the time you've got on this planet so um
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that's that's kind of The Guiding Light
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I I notic you just rolled one of your
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hours before we get and you you did
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mention in vagle as well so we'll get
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into your Roes because I I that's part
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of the story um that's part of the suped
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story that that I that I love like I had
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my cousin on the podcast a few weeks ago
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Sonia Williams she's one of the founders
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and um three of sheres yeah great and
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she's from Levin and I I said to her you
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know part of the inspiring thing about
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your story is that there might be some
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kids sitting in W college that I don't
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know when you're in a small town it's
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hard for other people to understand but
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you do have these sort of limiting
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beliefs to it agree I think you must
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find it like being from not really I
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think I think a lot of people do like
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they I don't I know maybe it's sort of
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changed now you and I are a similar age
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but I feel like you you know there is
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something about being in a small town
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that or a small City that sort of holds
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you back a little bit never for you
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never never for me never for me I I mean
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I was lucky to grow up an environment
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where anything was possible um you know
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if I if I came home and uh you know said
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that I was I was going to build a rocket
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for example um it wasn't you know I'll
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be careful with that I'm not sure you
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should do that um you know that that
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could be dangerous it was well if you're
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going to build one make sure you build a
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really really big one so there was never
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any any kind of um you know ceiling if
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you will on what we could achieve as
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boys um you know in in in my child but
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but you even got that from from I know I
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know a story about the school the school
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calling your parents and saying oh oh
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yeah yeah yeah like Peter's dreams are
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too big yeah what was the story with
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that you talked about this in a TED Talk
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yeah know so I mean I I knew exactly
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what I was going to work in the space
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industry and um and what
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age like Secondary School no it it was
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earlier than that I mean I I don't know
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I remember writing a report um on
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Haley's Comet um and that must have been
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you know in in standard four or whatever
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year that is now I can't remember but it
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was like 86 that haly's Comet was yeah
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something like that yeah yeah yeah so no
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I always knew I wanted to work in this
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work in the space industry and and work
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have something to do with space it was
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it was was very clear now what what was
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less kind of clear was how I was going
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to get there but you know the goal was
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to go and we at finessa and um uh and so
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you know when when when it came to you
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know the obligatory careers you know
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advisor session and I'm like yeah I'm
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going to go work for Nas I'm build
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rockets and do this stuff and and you
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know I was very good with my hands um uh
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in in the workshop and uh you know in in
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vagle the thing you do if you're good
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with your hands is you go and be an
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apprentice at the Ty aluminium smelter
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um so you know I I was like you'd be a
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great welder and I'm like yeah I can
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weld but um but you know I've got bigger
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aspirations than that and and and so the
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um did the careers counselor like call
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your parents and yeah yeah they called
00:12:28
them in we need to have Pete Pete's got
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these unrealistic kind of expectations
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here you know we need to need to just
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make sure he doesn't go off the rails I
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think and and I remember we all just sat
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there and just nodding away and then we
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knew there was no conversation on on the
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way home in the car and there was was
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there was no acknowledgement of what we
00:12:45
said and we just carried on like I think
00:12:47
you know everybody just thought there
00:12:48
was a crop of [ __ ] that is so cool of
00:12:51
your appearance and then there's um yeah
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then there's other um like adults that
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were on on your side like I heard I read
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a story about um Mr child yeah
00:13:00
grandchild's yeah your technology
00:13:01
teacher yeah yeah um and he talked about
00:13:04
just what a wonderful student you were
00:13:05
and he mentioned you and two mates um he
00:13:08
gave you like the keys to the workshop
00:13:09
basically he literally just fisted over
00:13:11
the keys to the to the school workshop
00:13:13
and we were in there all days all hours
00:13:15
of the night all weekend uh just welding
00:13:17
and turning and machining and and just
00:13:19
building stuff yep have you seen him
00:13:21
since or anything I haven't seen Graham
00:13:23
for quite some time but um but but yeah
00:13:26
i' yeah it was a few years since I've
00:13:27
seen Graham yeah that's a huge huge
00:13:29
honor it's a it's really like I think
00:13:31
that shows a lot of trust like giving a
00:13:32
school yeah yeah yeah yeah like yeah I
00:13:34
mean I imagine now it would be pretty
00:13:36
difficult for someone to just you know
00:13:37
give you the keys to the school health
00:13:39
and safety and how M of issues um what
00:13:43
else have I got yeah four years ago you
00:13:45
did a um um an AMA on Reddit do you
00:13:48
remember that no no it wasn't you well
00:13:51
it could have been but oh yeah lot
00:13:53
happen since then I so four years ago
00:13:55
I'm assuming it's you it seemed legit um
00:13:57
this is a quote from you in a comment
00:13:59
form rocket Labb is about 30% finished
00:14:02
still much more to do yep so fast
00:14:05
forward four years where are we at I I I
00:14:09
keep the Go 100% 100% I think it's it's
00:14:12
it's a baseball cap with a Moira bar on
00:14:13
a string for sure yeah it just just
00:14:16
keeps on keeps on moving and I think um
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uh yeah you you you you you set out you
00:14:22
set out a goal and then you go and
00:14:23
achieve it and then and then there's
00:14:25
always always the bigger thing it could
00:14:27
even be a disease so you so you're
00:14:29
always going to be at 30% finished it
00:14:32
feels like it yeah it does feel a little
00:14:33
bit like it yeah well there's always
00:14:35
going to be like another Frontier yeah
00:14:37
yeah yeah yeah well I mean uh the
00:14:39
projects just get bigger I mean we we we
00:14:40
built electron and then now we're
00:14:42
building a big rocket Neutron uh you
00:14:44
know and now we're we're chasing after
00:14:46
you know a multi-billion dollar program
00:14:49
finess of doing Mass sample return to
00:14:50
try and bring samples off the surface of
00:14:52
masss so there's the opportunities keep
00:14:54
getting bigger so the aspirations keep
00:14:56
getting bigger M and another
00:14:58
four-year-old quote this from your Ted
00:14:59
Talk uh launch frequency is the absolute
00:15:02
most important thing MH and funnily
00:15:04
enough just like a couple of days prior
00:15:06
to us doing this podcast uh you had two
00:15:08
successful launch missions in less than
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24 hours yeah from two different
00:15:11
hemispheres even Elon hasn't done that
00:15:14
do you do you know do you know Elon have
00:15:16
you met yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah what's
00:15:18
he like oh he's a great engineer and uh
00:15:20
yeah great business great businessman
00:15:22
for sure yeah yep so yes so SpaceX is a
00:15:26
lot bigger than rocket lab B are you
00:15:29
like the number two number two space
00:15:30
company yeah I think I think we're it
00:15:32
depends on what metric you want to use
00:15:34
um you know if if you look at pure
00:15:36
Revenue um there's probably Ula is
00:15:37
bigger than us but is with respect to
00:15:39
like launch Cadence and and kind of what
00:15:42
people generally uh expect um will be uh
00:15:46
you know the the real competitor um it's
00:15:48
it's sort of generally yeah so you've
00:15:51
met him you've hung with him yeah is he
00:15:53
all right all right guy he's an
00:15:55
intriguing guy I'm I'm um I'm a big fan
00:15:57
of the the stuff he's done but
00:15:59
I've listened to the audio book of um
00:16:01
that I think Walter isacson did of him
00:16:02
which is a very thorough book um he's a
00:16:04
very very complex man as we probably all
00:16:07
know is he sort of like a nous a nem
00:16:11
what's the word nemesis Nemesis yeah no
00:16:13
I mean the the crazy thing about the
00:16:15
rocket industry is it does attract um
00:16:17
you know the these kind of folks and and
00:16:20
uh you know you've got Elon and Jeff
00:16:21
probably our two biggest um competitors
00:16:24
um but but you know in their own rights
00:16:26
uh you know super passionate people
00:16:28
super uh you know super driven to to
00:16:31
achieve those things and um I maybe it's
00:16:34
the South thing but um it's people are
00:16:37
just people right it's just it's they're
00:16:39
just normal people with their own their
00:16:41
own drives and aspirations and and
00:16:43
whatnot and um yeah I mean I don't I
00:16:46
wouldn't call them nemesises or or
00:16:48
anything they're just they're just you
00:16:50
know people doing a similar thing but
00:16:52
you wouldn't be caught dead in a Tesla
00:16:54
or do you have an X account yeah yeah
00:16:56
yeah I have an X account yeah yeah no I
00:17:00
I I don't have a Tesla though I prefer
00:17:02
internal combustion I'm old school so
00:17:05
um yeah how do you feel with with each
00:17:07
launch like do you do you get anxious
00:17:09
with it and when it goes well is it Rel
00:17:12
no I hate launch absolutely hate a
00:17:14
launch it's terrifying yeah
00:17:16
no why just like your stomach tuning
00:17:19
nerves or yeah yeah well I don't puke in
00:17:21
the toilet anymore so we've moved we've
00:17:22
moved on from there but you have to
00:17:25
understand that when you're launching
00:17:25
someone's satellite that that can be you
00:17:28
know more often than not you are you you
00:17:31
they may as well just you know pass over
00:17:32
the keys to their company to you because
00:17:33
if you screw that up um you know and put
00:17:36
their satellites in the drink or or or
00:17:39
destroy them then their business can be
00:17:40
over um so it's tremendous
00:17:43
responsibility um and uh you know um
00:17:47
it's it's it's very very difficult to do
00:17:49
there's really only two private
00:17:51
companies in the history of this planet
00:17:53
that have that have managed to scale so
00:17:55
um there's there's a there's a lot
00:17:57
writing on every launch and and I'm I'm
00:17:59
a naturally uh um you know a very
00:18:04
um what's the word I care a lot um so
00:18:09
paranoid I guess is the right word so
00:18:11
I'm naturally very paranoid person so um
00:18:13
you know that launch day is not not an
00:18:16
enjoyable day so the puking in the
00:18:18
toilet thing how long was that for oh
00:18:21
probably the first 30 flights something
00:18:22
like that what are we up to now oh 56 oh
00:18:25
my God so I'm get better recently yeah
00:18:27
no I'm getting B yeah and and leading up
00:18:30
to it you like what would you what would
00:18:33
your wife say like are you a pain in the
00:18:34
ass to be around like you know your
00:18:36
bundle of nerves or oh yeah you can tell
00:18:38
that there's something on your mind yeah
00:18:39
yeah yeah everyone knows launch day
00:18:41
don't don't you know don't go near Dad
00:18:43
just just leave them alone I just go
00:18:44
quiet
00:18:46
yeah you're like an all black on the day
00:18:48
of a test or something like that well it
00:18:49
is it is like that though I mean a
00:18:51
launch is a huge orchestrated event I
00:18:53
mean uh we have to monitor space weather
00:18:55
we have to close down airspace we have
00:18:57
to close down Marine space um you know
00:18:59
these a typical launch is one year in
00:19:01
the making from when the customer first
00:19:03
comes to see you to the day you launch
00:19:05
it's about one year and you know in that
00:19:07
you're you're optimizing orbits you're
00:19:09
creating structures you you know
00:19:11
sometimes you got to change the rocket
00:19:12
um there's International uh licenses you
00:19:15
have to get local licenses you have to
00:19:17
get it's a huge huge event and then you
00:19:20
know that's why I think people tune into
00:19:22
a live stream the watch launch and it
00:19:23
goes and and watch it goes away and and
00:19:25
you know go on with their life but
00:19:27
actually what you see there is a year of
00:19:28
work by hundreds and hundreds of people
00:19:30
to make that to make that a success and
00:19:32
the stakes are very high very high yeah
00:19:35
yeah yeah yeah so um I went out to to
00:19:38
rocket lab last week um for a tour and
00:19:41
it was um it was touch and go as to
00:19:42
whether it was going to be on or
00:19:44
postponed um because there was a launch
00:19:46
that was potentially happening um at
00:19:47
around the same time so where where are
00:19:49
you for that are you sometimes watching
00:19:50
it like at home on on a screen or are
00:19:53
you always at work or well I mean you
00:19:56
know it depends on on I am around the
00:19:59
world is is to where I watch it but I
00:20:01
I've certainly never ever missed a
00:20:02
launch absolutely not wow yeah just
00:20:05
going back to that um tour of your
00:20:06
factory like I think most new zealanders
00:20:08
would be surprised by what's going on
00:20:10
there like it's amazing it's um it's
00:20:14
it's incredible so used to be the Avante
00:20:16
bike Factory yeah yeah yeah and um now
00:20:18
you're making Rockets there and it's
00:20:20
everything is made on site like there's
00:20:21
no you're not buying bags of screws from
00:20:23
t-o or anything like that there was even
00:20:26
the you better explain this better than
00:20:27
me but um
00:20:29
there's almost like like a a hardware
00:20:31
store inside rocket lab so if someone
00:20:33
wants to go and get some screws they
00:20:34
need to go to this hardware store inside
00:20:37
the rocket La Factory and get them
00:20:39
because if the wrong screws are in the
00:20:40
wrong holes or something it's going to
00:20:42
screw everything up yeah yeah well you
00:20:43
take a screw um we we can trace that
00:20:46
screw to when it was made where it was
00:20:47
made right down to the material
00:20:49
certification which will say at which
00:20:52
steel mill that that particular piece of
00:20:54
metal that that screw was made out of
00:20:56
and that that's just the level of deta
00:20:58
you have to go to uh because a rocket
00:21:01
has uh you know a safety Factor at Best
00:21:03
of 1.2 meaning if something can stand
00:21:06
100 PSI uh you know at 102 PSI uh it's
00:21:11
exploded so or 120 PSI it's exploded so
00:21:14
you know the safety factor is is is
00:21:15
really low on everything so you know you
00:21:17
put the wrong screw in there that that
00:21:20
that you know slightly less duct tile or
00:21:23
whatever um you can fail the rocket I
00:21:25
mean it's it it it's literally you know
00:21:27
one screw can can bring it
00:21:29
down yeah another big surprise to me was
00:21:32
um first of all uh how many staff were
00:21:35
wearing like rocket lab merch and um
00:21:37
there were a lot that weren't so I'm
00:21:39
guessing it's not a mandatory thing you
00:21:41
but yeah so they're wearing it by choice
00:21:42
because they love being there and they
00:21:43
love being part of the company
00:21:44
everybody's super proud of of of the
00:21:46
company and they should be because you
00:21:47
know their their their work is is
00:21:49
absolutely incredible and and it's one
00:21:51
of the peculiar things about the rocket
00:21:53
industry is that uh you know your
00:21:56
launches are every launch is is followed
00:21:58
by by thousands and thousands of people
00:22:01
and uh if you have a good day then you
00:22:03
know it's thousands and thousands of
00:22:04
people have watched and that's great if
00:22:05
you have a bad day you are on CNN NBC
00:22:08
you're international news around the
00:22:10
world so you know um so they should have
00:22:13
a lot of proud a lot of Pride and and um
00:22:16
in in in their work and and what they
00:22:17
achiev because it's amazing I mean and
00:22:19
then in that factory one rocket rolls
00:22:21
off that production line every 18
00:22:23
days yeah and you got massive 3D
00:22:25
printers and yeah it's in and yeah
00:22:27
everyone looks so happy and um it's the
00:22:30
most yeah it's the most I I I suppose I
00:22:32
was expecting it to look more sterile
00:22:34
lots of white boiler suits or something
00:22:36
I don't know but there was um people
00:22:37
wandering around in like Nike Nike
00:22:39
shorts and you know Warriors t-shirts
00:22:42
and in each different Zone there was a
00:22:44
different U boom playing a different
00:22:45
genre of music it's a a very very kywi
00:22:48
looking setup yeah yeah and and I think
00:22:50
if you go across you know all of our
00:22:52
divisions I mean uh so the New Zealand
00:22:54
Factory there's there's about 700 people
00:22:56
there and there's about 2,200 in the
00:22:58
company across five different states in
00:23:00
the US and if you go you go everywhere
00:23:02
there you'll see the Black Walls and you
00:23:04
know everyone everyone wearing the merch
00:23:05
and and a similar thing um you know
00:23:07
there is there is there's no ties and
00:23:09
and stuff at at at Rocket lab I mean
00:23:12
that doesn't help the machine go faster
00:23:15
how much time do you spend on the floor
00:23:16
these days or you busy on the phone and
00:23:18
and boardrooms oh look I I try and spend
00:23:20
as much time on the floor as possible I
00:23:21
mean on electron floor not very often
00:23:23
cuz those guys are are just machines
00:23:25
they're just just cranking um but we're
00:23:27
you know I'm still the engineer for the
00:23:29
company so um you know Neutron our big
00:23:31
rocket is our biggest project so um you
00:23:34
know I'm I'm I'm all over that um both
00:23:36
in the US and and New Zealand so uh and
00:23:39
and to be honest with you that is a fa
00:23:41
my the best part of my job is is uh you
00:23:43
know getting getting getting you know
00:23:45
hands on and amongst the W amongst the
00:23:47
ways putting putting engines together
00:23:49
and solving problems that's that's the
00:23:50
best part of the whole job [ __ ] yeah you
00:23:53
love it oh and um the coolest um I think
00:23:56
Reception Area I've ever seen in a
00:23:58
business New Zealand it's amazing so did
00:24:00
did it did it remind you of 2001 the
00:24:02
Space Odyssey as you walked
00:24:05
in uh I'd seen an interview with you
00:24:07
beforehand and you explained that so um
00:24:10
I can't I can't remember the movie
00:24:12
exactly but um it was just it's just
00:24:14
really cool it feels like suddenly
00:24:15
you're out of space and there's a big
00:24:17
glass window there with a bunch of
00:24:18
people like getting ready for this
00:24:19
launch that's happening somewhere else
00:24:20
in the world it just um like I'm I'm
00:24:23
familiar with you and I've you followed
00:24:25
the sueter big junor and what you've
00:24:26
been doing but I probably had really no
00:24:29
idea of the scale of what was going on
00:24:30
here in this Factory in little old New
00:24:32
Zealand well that's littlest Factory in
00:24:34
the whole place is yeah yeah yeah but
00:24:36
you turn into this um into the street in
00:24:38
what's this is it Mount Wellington yeah
00:24:40
you turn into the street in the Suburban
00:24:42
Mount Wellington and suddenly it's just
00:24:43
it's hard to find a park on the street
00:24:46
rocket lab Sho people don't like us
00:24:47
about that yeah we're not very popular
00:24:49
with the neighbors right now oh God I
00:24:50
bet I bet but um yeah what you what are
00:24:54
you as someone that spends a lot of time
00:24:55
in New Zealand and now that's a that's
00:24:57
rocket leue USA it's what it's called
00:24:59
now um but it's a New Zealand company
00:25:01
and you're from inago well we actually
00:25:04
we flipped into being a US company in
00:25:06
2013 when I started to raise Capital out
00:25:08
of Silicon Valley in the states and then
00:25:10
you know New Zealand is a is a subsidary
00:25:12
of the US entity yeah right but you see
00:25:14
this factor and it definitely has the
00:25:15
feel of new coming what what do you
00:25:18
think of the big differences between
00:25:19
like New Zealand and the US I think new
00:25:22
zealanders are much more willing to take
00:25:26
uh risks in in in areas that they don't
00:25:28
know anything about um and I think you
00:25:30
know the old adage um where you know
00:25:32
kiwi has to do everything is is very
00:25:34
very true so if you go around a lot of
00:25:36
our us factories you'll find in a lot of
00:25:38
senior leadership positions there a lot
00:25:39
of kiwis um and uh you know the the
00:25:43
cultures are are different but similar
00:25:45
in in a lot of respects and you know the
00:25:47
cultural elements of just work hard and
00:25:49
and and and make [ __ ] happen and all
00:25:51
that are kind of consistent but I'd say
00:25:53
the one thing that that we we tend to
00:25:55
notice is um is the kiwis tend to be a
00:25:58
little bit maybe it's you know like if
00:26:01
you're if you're a kiwi you know unless
00:26:03
you build your own deck there's there's
00:26:04
something the matter with you and and
00:26:07
you know you have to learn you know you
00:26:08
should know how to concrete and you
00:26:09
should know how to put posts in and you
00:26:11
should know how to deck and and all of
00:26:12
those kinds of things and I think that's
00:26:14
probably one thing in in the New Zealand
00:26:15
culture that's a little bit different to
00:26:17
the US culture is is you know you tend
00:26:19
to have like a concrete expert and a
00:26:21
[ __ ] expert rather than someone who's
00:26:23
willing to just go she'll be right and
00:26:26
and start you know go to High equip and
00:26:27
get a postle driller and just get stuck
00:26:29
into it yeah that sounds like a pro what
00:26:32
about the cons have have you what have
00:26:34
you sort of experienced in the way of
00:26:35
like toall
00:26:36
poppy um yeah to be honest with you so I
00:26:41
don't think T poppy exists with Mom and
00:26:43
Dad at home I think to Poppy only exists
00:26:46
in the media um because you talk to your
00:26:48
average mom and dad at home and they
00:26:51
they want everybody to succeed I
00:26:53
actually only think it's a construct
00:26:55
from um maybe there's a little bit
00:26:56
controversial but that construct of of
00:26:58
New Zealand media um that because they
00:27:01
seem to you know want to cut people down
00:27:04
but I think your average joeblow at home
00:27:07
loves to see people being
00:27:08
successful I love that that's a really
00:27:10
good take I've never thought of it like
00:27:12
that yeah how's your run being with the
00:27:14
media in New
00:27:15
Zealand uh well I mean we don't do much
00:27:19
um uh you know um we we do we do fear
00:27:22
bit of international media but even then
00:27:24
we don't we don't really do much I mean
00:27:26
uh this is only I've done um certainly
00:27:29
in New Zealand but you know not not many
00:27:32
even in in the world so um we don't we
00:27:34
don't we don't do it a ton and I think
00:27:35
that's probably a little bit one of the
00:27:37
the things about rocket lab compared to
00:27:39
some of our competitors is we just sort
00:27:41
of quietly go about getting stuff done
00:27:44
um rather than making a big song and
00:27:46
dance yeah I feel like it's a missed
00:27:48
opportunity for the um potentially the
00:27:50
New Zealand media here I'm not sure if
00:27:51
they've been trying or if it's you know
00:27:52
thanks but no thanks on on your behalf
00:27:54
but yeah like it was astonishing for me
00:27:56
having a look around this Factory and
00:27:58
just seeing what's going on in little on
00:28:00
New Zealand like I I was walking around
00:28:02
your you know your workshop with
00:28:03
goosebumps quite friendly like it's it's
00:28:05
made me really really [ __ ] proud to
00:28:07
be in New Zealander oh awesome it's
00:28:09
great yeah it was so cool and I feel
00:28:10
like it's yeah let's get S Peter B on a
00:28:13
on one of the the dollar
00:28:15
bills no one day no but like what what
00:28:18
you're doing and also the back story
00:28:20
which we'll get to now like being from
00:28:21
um you know the bottom of the [ __ ]
00:28:23
South Island like it's it's simply
00:28:25
remarkable like you you've dreamed big
00:28:27
um you know too big for your school
00:28:29
teachers and you're actually doing it
00:28:30
you're following through and it's it's
00:28:32
the coolest thing you're you're very
00:28:34
very humble about it yeah how does like
00:28:36
praise like this someone pissing in your
00:28:38
pockets that with you it's not yeah no
00:28:40
move on move on please okay all right
00:28:42
early years yeah so um inago earliest
00:28:46
memories oh earliest memories of
00:28:50
inago one of my earliest memories
00:28:52
honestly is um my father took me outside
00:28:55
and it's probably the Catalyst for the
00:28:57
for for my interest in space and I can
00:28:59
remember freezing cold South night but
00:29:01
super clear skies uh standing out there
00:29:04
and him pointing at the stars and and
00:29:06
explaining to me that those stars were
00:29:08
Suns and uh those Suns could have
00:29:10
planets around them and this could be
00:29:12
somebody on one of those planets staring
00:29:14
back and looking at you and um you know
00:29:17
you know when when astronauts go into
00:29:18
space and uh they look down on the earth
00:29:20
they they have this thing called the
00:29:22
overview effect where they see the Earth
00:29:24
for the first time as this fragile
00:29:25
little marble and you know it's a
00:29:26
life-changing experience and and all
00:29:29
that that that was that for me that that
00:29:31
that point for me was like wow yeah
00:29:33
actually that that's that's pretty big
00:29:35
to comprehend and and that that kind of
00:29:37
I guess you know started the started the
00:29:39
fire and um continues to you know kind
00:29:42
of f me as to you know are are other you
00:29:46
know people in in the universe or are we
00:29:48
are we special or are we not just not
00:29:49
that special what sort of
00:29:52
age I don't know um preschool or
00:29:56
probably probably about 5 years old I
00:29:57
think yeah and what do you think is are
00:30:00
there ET around well I mean
00:30:03
statistically um there's the you know
00:30:07
most likely there is intelligent life
00:30:09
but if you want to take the scientific
00:30:10
method until we have actual evidence
00:30:12
then you have to say if you want to be
00:30:14
scientific about it there actually there
00:30:16
is currently no proof of life therefore
00:30:17
there mustn't be any other life in the
00:30:18
universe so uh until we prove that that
00:30:21
either life has existed or it does exist
00:30:23
then um I think you know that's that's
00:30:25
an unanswered question I'm not going to
00:30:27
argue with
00:30:28
you yeah I I I would I would say it's um
00:30:31
it be arrogant of us to assume that you
00:30:33
we're the entire universe but yeah who
00:30:36
knows um yeah so what was the upbringing
00:30:38
like was it it was you your parents Two
00:30:41
Brothers Two Brothers Y how would you
00:30:43
describe yourself like middle class did
00:30:44
you share a bedroom have your own
00:30:45
bedroom yeah I shared a bedroom very
00:30:46
middle class yep yeah my mother was a
00:30:48
school teacher my father was um the
00:30:50
director of the Southern Museum and art
00:30:52
gallery um and uh yeah so know very very
00:30:55
very middle class but um uh but but we
00:30:59
always we you know we always did stuff
00:31:01
um and uh you know I think I think my
00:31:04
father always kind of um you
00:31:07
know sort of did stuff that was at the
00:31:11
time I guess considered unusual um but
00:31:14
uh and that that maybe probably I think
00:31:15
led to the the the feeling that you
00:31:17
could you could do
00:31:18
anything what do you mean unusual well I
00:31:22
mean uh he never went to University um
00:31:24
he was a geologist um and you know he he
00:31:27
he built the Southern Museum he became
00:31:30
uh one of the if not the preeminent
00:31:31
expert in in nefro Jade um and uh and
00:31:35
traveled the world and and and did a
00:31:37
whole whole bunch of kind of you know
00:31:39
amazing stuff yeah was he a sculpture as
00:31:41
well isn't there this like a umbrella
00:31:44
sculpture and SC yeah they they're
00:31:45
scattered all around the country yeah
00:31:47
yeah and your granddad was he was he
00:31:49
mates with Bert Monroe yeah Tru yeah my
00:31:52
my grandfather trale bck so uh yeah he
00:31:54
used to he used to yeah he hate ber
00:31:56
Monroe because he he come to B M jump on
00:31:58
the big motors lath and make a her of a
00:32:00
mess and then walk out and and you know
00:32:02
my grandfather used to chase him out
00:32:04
with a broom because he'd just leave a
00:32:05
mess behind Fu that's a great story that
00:32:08
uh world's fastest Indian with Anthony
00:32:10
Hopkins one of my favorite movies of all
00:32:11
time yeah great movie can you see the
00:32:13
like the parallels between yourself and
00:32:15
um Bert Monroe no Bert was an amazing
00:32:19
guy but but um his his stuff was a
00:32:21
little bit on the Rough Side um I I it
00:32:24
needs to be absolutely perfect for me
00:32:25
I'm afraid uh actually I've got a photo
00:32:28
here contrary to that yeah but look it's
00:32:30
beautifully made it's beautifully made
00:32:32
what is it can you describe what you're
00:32:34
looking at uh that that that's my rocket
00:32:36
bike yeah yeah but look how beautifully
00:32:39
made it is looks like a giant garlic
00:32:41
breed underneath well those are those
00:32:44
are pressure vessels um those are those
00:32:46
are yeah those are those are old oxygen
00:32:48
bottles that I I got from a wer that
00:32:50
were uh condemned um uh that uh yeah
00:32:54
they ended up holding the propellant
00:32:56
yeah so how old were you when you made
00:32:57
that
00:33:02
probably 18 19 something like that and
00:33:04
it went um something like 140 K an hour
00:33:07
and 0 to 105 seconds or something like
00:33:09
that yeah it was a good ride yeah no um
00:33:11
there's nothing like riding a rocket
00:33:12
bike actually like if you've ever ridden
00:33:13
a fast motorbike uh you know the
00:33:15
acceleration is great but it kind of
00:33:17
Peters out as you go faster uh the air
00:33:19
resistance increases and you know you
00:33:22
you you've got to you've got to you have
00:33:23
that moment where you have to change
00:33:24
your gear where there's a slight lapse
00:33:26
and acceleration when you're a rocket
00:33:28
bike um you push the button and because
00:33:30
you're depleting the mass the ma mass is
00:33:32
you know the largest mass of the the the
00:33:34
vehicle is the propellant as you're
00:33:36
depleting the propellant the bike gets
00:33:37
lighter and lighter and lighter and
00:33:38
cancels out the irr resistance in fact
00:33:40
so you when you when you're at the end
00:33:43
of the burn um at the fastest speed
00:33:45
you're feeling the most amount of
00:33:46
acceleration so there's nothing there's
00:33:49
nothing on this world that feels like
00:33:50
that you were you were quite defensive
00:33:53
about that
00:33:54
and sticking up for the workmanship yeah
00:33:59
um and there's there's some other photos
00:34:01
online of you testing it out at like the
00:34:02
Festival of a speed or something um it's
00:34:06
lucky you're alive no no no no no see
00:34:08
you misunderstand um that that that
00:34:11
looks dodgy but but actually um it's not
00:34:14
that dodgy um you know all of that is is
00:34:18
is well well engineered and and you know
00:34:21
I something like that you don't just
00:34:23
throw together and hope for the best
00:34:25
because that that will end in badly so
00:34:28
um so you know Al although it it it it
00:34:31
probably doesn't sound great um it was
00:34:33
you know it was well reasoned and well
00:34:35
engineered so there wasn't you know the
00:34:38
the the the biggest risk with that
00:34:40
actually um the only thing I was really
00:34:42
concerned about that uh was was two
00:34:44
things really is was falling off because
00:34:47
and falling off is fine I was in a
00:34:48
leather you know motorbike leather
00:34:50
that's fine just get along the ground
00:34:51
for a bit um but was worried about
00:34:53
getting burned um because that's not fun
00:34:55
because the you know the exhaust
00:34:56
temperature was
00:34:58
unpleasant um and then uh stopping it
00:35:01
because uh because of those Wheels they
00:35:03
had such high surface speeds um when you
00:35:06
put the brakes on the brakes just melted
00:35:08
so you had to sort of pop up and sit up
00:35:10
for a for you know sort of five or 10
00:35:12
seconds to let the wind resistance slow
00:35:13
you down before you could put the brakes
00:35:15
on that was that was that was a designed
00:35:16
flaw to be fear that was less well
00:35:18
you're owning that owning your [ __ ] good
00:35:21
on you um so you went to um James harest
00:35:24
high school um how what was your school
00:35:26
experience like I love school
00:35:28
yeah not particularly good at it good at
00:35:30
the things that I could apply um so um
00:35:34
you know uh no but but I I would not say
00:35:37
I was that academically strong at all um
00:35:40
but uh but once again I knew what I
00:35:43
wanted to do and and um you know the you
00:35:47
know the mess that was relevant to what
00:35:49
I was doing at the time would be fine
00:35:51
but if it wasn't relevant it I found it
00:35:53
very difficult to to you know make it
00:35:56
work but
00:35:58
yeah what would you like at school like
00:35:59
what would your peers say about you like
00:36:02
I I went to I went to a school called P
00:36:04
boy which is very Sports orientated um
00:36:07
and I look back now and I feel like
00:36:08
everyone was subjected to some sort of
00:36:10
bullying unless you're in like the first
00:36:11
15 or the first first 11 like were you
00:36:14
like did people how do people treat you
00:36:16
for being like different and you know
00:36:18
being like obsessed with the workshop
00:36:19
and surprisingly good for a geek cuz un
00:36:22
shambly UNAM geek no I know no I think
00:36:24
and maybe maybe it it was it was an Vago
00:36:27
thing or James arus I don't know but but
00:36:29
no never never never never had any of
00:36:31
those kind of experiences um and um you
00:36:34
know I think I I could I could make
00:36:36
stuff so um you know I remember at at
00:36:40
intermediate um we had those wooden
00:36:42
desks you may remember these wooden Des
00:36:44
with The Inkwell at at the end and with
00:36:46
the with the lift up lid and the little
00:36:47
little little slot yeah yeah yeah yeah
00:36:50
yep and so you got to sign one of these
00:36:52
desks and um one lunchtime well I was
00:36:55
worked up to it but but one lunch time I
00:36:57
just decided that I would would install
00:36:59
you know a complete alarm system in that
00:37:01
in that disc and so you know wi it up
00:37:03
with all micro switches and and a giant
00:37:05
Bell and and and everything and and and
00:37:07
had a small Optical sensor under the
00:37:09
bottom as well and uh of course this was
00:37:11
great fun because everybody knew that
00:37:12
Peter Beck's desk was alarmed up and you
00:37:15
just you just lift you just lift the lid
00:37:17
like 5 mm and the and the bell go ring
00:37:19
like that and then you just dro the lid
00:37:20
and the teachers like what's going on
00:37:22
here so that lasted for like you know
00:37:24
quite some weeks before they figured out
00:37:26
that this you know this this disc was
00:37:27
was all alarmed up but no I mean why did
00:37:30
you do that was was someone stealing
00:37:31
your stuff no it was just
00:37:34
cool were you just like um like I don't
00:37:37
know destined to be like an inventor or
00:37:39
something yeah I mean I think I think
00:37:41
throughout throughout our family uh
00:37:45
everybody's always making stuff whether
00:37:46
it's my father or my brothers we're
00:37:47
always just just making stuff um so um
00:37:51
and uh yeah yeah so I think I think it
00:37:55
was just natural yeah so
00:37:57
yes so so your dream then was to like to
00:38:00
basically start start rocket lab or what
00:38:02
is now no my my my dream was to go and
00:38:03
work for NASA
00:38:06
right you can see you can see why your
00:38:08
teachers wanted to oh no actually you
00:38:10
probably can't I was going to say you
00:38:11
can see why your teachers wanted to
00:38:13
manage your expectations because they
00:38:14
probably thought the likely of
00:38:16
likelihood of it was very slim um and
00:38:18
the disappointment it's going to be a
00:38:19
steep drop off can you sort of see from
00:38:22
their perspective no I think that's
00:38:24
criminal no I mean it's not a teacher's
00:38:26
job to crush people dreams it's a
00:38:28
teacher's job to encourage
00:38:30
them but you you did go to the states
00:38:33
yep and then basically no one no one was
00:38:35
interested in like a kiwi walking up
00:38:37
well I mean look we've we've missed like
00:38:39
decades there but but ultimately yes I
00:38:41
did go to the States on a rocket
00:38:43
pilgrimage and I went and visited all of
00:38:45
the places that I'd been corresponding
00:38:47
with or or dreamed to work with and it
00:38:49
was a super interesting time um and uh
00:38:52
you know I I turned up at like uh rocket
00:38:55
dine which is you know a large was the
00:38:57
preminent rocket engine manufacturer and
00:39:00
uh just naive as anything and you know I
00:39:02
turned up there and started taking
00:39:04
photos of of their facilities and walked
00:39:06
up in the reception taken photos in the
00:39:08
reception and and you know an actual
00:39:10
camera yeah yeah yeah yeah and and
00:39:12
they're like there security guards
00:39:13
everywhere and I got escorted out of
00:39:15
that place um they didn't you know cuz I
00:39:17
started asking to to talk to to rocket
00:39:19
scientists and and what whatnot and um
00:39:23
you know I went out to Edwards Air Force
00:39:24
Base uh and um same thing again you know
00:39:27
Edwards Air Force Base is Hell ground
00:39:29
for for a rocket guy um and you know big
00:39:33
security you know entrance at the front
00:39:35
and and it's funny I've got actually got
00:39:36
a picture I only got one picture off um
00:39:39
of the Edwards Air Force you know base
00:39:41
logo and it's all on the piss it's all
00:39:42
on the angle um because at that very
00:39:44
time I had my arm grabbed by a soldier
00:39:46
with a gun uh inquiring why I was taking
00:39:49
photos of this military base but um just
00:39:52
just so so naive and um but anyway yeah
00:39:56
I did I did go NASA and I I got you know
00:39:59
tour of JPL facility and and uh it was
00:40:02
it was super depressing it was really
00:40:04
really depressing um because this
00:40:07
organization that I I dreamed of working
00:40:09
for and and I thought NASA was like it
00:40:11
was in the polo era you know bunch of
00:40:13
young Engineers running around doing the
00:40:15
most amazing things and by the time I
00:40:17
got to NASA um the average age was 52
00:40:20
and everybody just talking about stuff
00:40:22
that they used to do um and it just
00:40:24
completely lost its way um you know
00:40:26
space shutle was starting to look like
00:40:27
it was retiring and it was all it was
00:40:29
all just just really Grim so so you yeah
00:40:34
we'll look back around to the inago
00:40:35
stuff but so you would you left America
00:40:37
sort of disillusion and that's when you
00:40:39
decided to start up your yeah that was
00:40:40
the the the impetus of starting it is is
00:40:42
I sat on the plane and I also learned um
00:40:45
I learned a couple of other things so I
00:40:47
went to the Mojave Desert which uh in
00:40:49
the Mojave Desert there's a whole bunch
00:40:51
of Rocket Little Rock up rocket startup
00:40:52
companies and I went there and I
00:40:55
remember going there and um went to this
00:40:57
one company and uh super cool guys and
00:41:02
they showed me their torch igniter that
00:41:04
they very proud of this torch igniter
00:41:05
for a rocket engine that the US
00:41:07
government had funded them through
00:41:09
various funding it's called and it was
00:41:11
like a million dollars of funding and
00:41:13
which at that time was just the most
00:41:14
insane amount of money I've never heard
00:41:15
of so much money and uh this for this
00:41:18
torch igniter and they bought it out to
00:41:19
me to show me and it was it was this
00:41:22
janky machined thing screwed to a piece
00:41:24
of plywood I'm like this is a million
00:41:27
worth of Rocket work this is insane I
00:41:30
can build a way you know my torch
00:41:31
igniters look way better than this and I
00:41:34
got talking to these guys and you know
00:41:36
they were having the same combustion
00:41:37
inst stability issues as I was having
00:41:39
with my engines and then like everything
00:41:41
everything was the same and so I kind of
00:41:43
realized look I I I had this impression
00:41:46
that that I was at this level and
00:41:48
everybody else was way way up at this
00:41:50
level and um I realized that that wasn't
00:41:54
the case the levels weren't hugely
00:41:56
dispar the the levels were actually
00:41:58
pretty similar for for for where I was
00:42:00
at to a lot of what of these these these
00:42:02
startup companies were doing right so
00:42:03
like an aathy in the best sort of way
00:42:05
yeah yeah but uh to counter that um uh
00:42:09
nobody nobody in America is going to
00:42:12
employ a kiwi that comes from a country
00:42:14
with no space industry that has no
00:42:17
degree and no experience in in the space
00:42:19
industry um you know to work in the
00:42:21
space industry in America uh it's it's a
00:42:24
dual use um it's called a dual use class
00:42:26
so B basically uh you you you have to
00:42:29
you have to be a US citizen you can't
00:42:31
you can't turn up there unless you get a
00:42:33
a green card or a dsp5 or you you're a
00:42:35
US citizen so for so just the regulatory
00:42:38
hurdle to get in there is is enormous so
00:42:41
in order for that a company would need
00:42:43
to sponsor you in um there is no chance
00:42:46
that a company is sponsoring in a guy
00:42:48
with no degree from New Zealand to go
00:42:50
and work on Rockets um so you know that
00:42:53
that was there was that was Zero
00:42:56
opportunity to to go and go and do that
00:42:58
how' we then early 20s yeah early 20s
00:43:01
yeah yeah yeah so were you um like
00:43:04
depressed for a while yeah a little bit
00:43:07
so I remember getting I remember you
00:43:09
know we we we basically um finished up
00:43:11
at at JPL I think the next day we got on
00:43:13
the plane or might even that night got
00:43:14
on the plane uh back from LA to New
00:43:16
Zealand and there's you know there's
00:43:17
nothing like 12 hours of of plane flight
00:43:20
to to reevaluate your life and um yeah
00:43:24
you know it was it was a little bit
00:43:26
disappointing and then um then I just
00:43:29
did the only thing you could logically
00:43:30
do and it just just lay out logically
00:43:33
okay if I'm going to work in the space
00:43:35
industry what what are the Avenues and I
00:43:38
just just went down the Avenues and it's
00:43:39
like well the only logical solution here
00:43:41
is to start my own company and and do it
00:43:43
from New Zealand uh that that that's the
00:43:45
only outcome here so scri a little logo
00:43:48
called it rocket lab and I I actually
00:43:50
put Lab at the end because not very
00:43:52
imaginative names it's kind of like New
00:43:54
Zealand how we name our Rivers like
00:43:55
River One River two you know same thing
00:43:58
um I was doing rocket so it should have
00:43:59
rocket in it and I was worried about you
00:44:02
know being legitimate um or at least
00:44:05
looking real so if I put laboratory
00:44:07
after the end that looks that looks kind
00:44:08
of you know legitimate so that's where
00:44:10
the name rocket lab came
00:44:13
from you look back R to viago then we'll
00:44:16
get back to this because it's a
00:44:17
fascinating story because I I feel like
00:44:18
that's the point most people would have
00:44:19
given up and I think this is what sets
00:44:21
you apart from most people you know
00:44:23
nothing's in the too hard basket for you
00:44:26
um yeah so your mom in she's still in in
00:44:29
viago yep yep yeah is she still teaching
00:44:31
or is she retired no no she's retired
00:44:33
yeah she's she's old what what age did
00:44:35
she teach like Primary School
00:44:37
Intermediate yeah High School yeah High
00:44:39
School y yeah so you think she should be
00:44:41
the sensible one in the family the one
00:44:43
that would sort of go okay Peter well
00:44:45
let's just you know get an education in
00:44:48
case sensible in the fact that um she
00:44:50
was she's always the one that telling us
00:44:52
to be careful um uh but but not sensible
00:44:56
in the fact that you should have high
00:44:59
aspirations was she did she go to
00:45:01
government house with you for the the
00:45:03
Knighthood thing she did yeah yeah that
00:45:04
was that was it was great yeah yeah yeah
00:45:07
well I feel like you you you seem fairly
00:45:10
like indifferent about this but I feel
00:45:12
like for like um like an aging mother
00:45:14
this is this is huge yeah well I mean it
00:45:18
it it was it was it was yeah it was it
00:45:20
was good and and then um you know for me
00:45:22
personally it it was it was it was it
00:45:24
was actually quite special because um
00:45:28
like you know my father had a long
00:45:29
battle with cancer like like a lot of
00:45:31
people unfortunately do and uh he he was
00:45:34
a real battler and um he he said he
00:45:36
wasn't going to die until I got to orbit
00:45:39
and you know we reached orbit in 2018
00:45:41
and 10 days after we reached orbit he
00:45:43
died so it's amazing what the human body
00:45:45
will do when when when it when you know
00:45:48
you have a goal and you can and you can
00:45:49
work to it but um I remember you know I
00:45:52
I was I was tasked with um you know
00:45:55
talking to him about the kind of final
00:45:57
preparations and um you know Dad what
00:46:01
what sort of Tombstone do you want this
00:46:03
is not a great conversation to have to
00:46:04
be fear and I'm like oh how about a
00:46:07
giant stainless steel monolith and he's
00:46:09
like no no no I want I want this piece
00:46:10
of gabro and you know this this piece of
00:46:14
gabro uh is is a is a Precision surface
00:46:17
table so he is the only person on this
00:46:19
planet I think that has a tombstone that
00:46:21
is optically flat within two wavelengths
00:46:23
of light um but that and but that was
00:46:25
cool and and you know I didn't want to
00:46:28
leave on that that note I didn't want to
00:46:31
you know walk out of the room uh and and
00:46:34
you know leave on that so I was figuring
00:46:35
trying to think of of something you know
00:46:37
inspiring or nice to say uh for the end
00:46:39
of the day um and that day someone had
00:46:42
sent me uh an email saying a what what
00:46:46
you what you achieved with the you know
00:46:47
first rocket out of the Southern
00:46:49
Hemisphere and getting to Orit was
00:46:50
amazing I'm going to nominate you for a
00:46:52
Knighthood and so I said to Dad I said
00:46:54
oh look this this person you know said
00:46:57
uh said he's going to nominate me for a
00:46:58
Knighthood and you know he was he was
00:47:01
pretty out of it by then and and he
00:47:03
looked up and and he said oh that's just
00:47:05
great and um so it was you know it was
00:47:08
it was it was it was special to to close
00:47:10
that
00:47:11
off yeah was that your last conversation
00:47:14
with him it
00:47:17
was yeah so he was um 76 y when he died
00:47:21
in 2018 so he was around to see you um
00:47:23
get the Kiwi Bank New Zealand of the
00:47:25
year in 201 what did he make of
00:47:28
that those those sorts of things my
00:47:30
father was very much about service I
00:47:32
mean he he got an OB himself um he's
00:47:34
very much about about service not those
00:47:38
so so those kind of awards you know
00:47:40
they're not you know we didn't really
00:47:42
talk about those those kinds of things I
00:47:44
think and and look some of those things
00:47:48
uh you know I don't want to diminish any
00:47:50
of those those awards that just sounds
00:47:52
arrogant but um you know some of those
00:47:54
things they they they they you you know
00:47:57
you you you do a good thing and they
00:47:59
just everybody just piles on wants to
00:48:00
give you all these things and and I've
00:48:02
always maintained like you know there's
00:48:04
a lot of people that do amazing things
00:48:06
um in this country so you know one award
00:48:09
should be your lot and then you know
00:48:11
everyone should focus off on doing other
00:48:13
stuff geez you're almost annoyingly
00:48:16
humble aren't you like you're so um
00:48:19
lowkey about like what you've done and
00:48:20
what you're doing and um these these
00:48:22
accolades as a result of it um it's it's
00:48:25
refreshing
00:48:27
well it just is what yeah yes this just
00:48:31
how you erased your thing so you your
00:48:34
brothers as well I'm guessing they're
00:48:36
immensely proud of you but they're just
00:48:37
like oh yeah yeah it's just just Peter
00:48:39
being Peter oh yeah yeah no yep there's
00:48:42
no there's no room for for big kids in
00:48:45
family yeah no everybody everybody
00:48:47
brings make sure everybody's on an even
00:48:49
K so do do you get to um catch up much
00:48:52
now yeah as as often as often as we can
00:48:54
so uh you know we we'll get down to
00:48:56
Central ago you know as often as we can
00:48:58
and and um um so and and you know they
00:49:01
still live in in Vago so know and my
00:49:03
wife's parents live into to needen so
00:49:05
Central atago is kind of the collection
00:49:07
point of all the families yeah um yeah
00:49:10
how old are you now what are you 48 4 47
00:49:13
47 yeah yeah no I'm I'm 51 and no no one
00:49:17
gets to sort of our age of Life the perk
00:49:19
of reaching middle age without going
00:49:20
through some sort of adversity you know
00:49:22
life life just kicks you in the ass a
00:49:24
couple of times um what about you losing
00:49:26
your dad is that your biggest adversity
00:49:28
or what else has there been uh well I
00:49:30
I'd say I'm tremendously lucky um I you
00:49:33
know I look at I look at you know a lot
00:49:35
of my friends and and and other people
00:49:36
and they've had to deal with a whole
00:49:38
much whole way worse stuff than than I
00:49:40
have to um have had to today and um yeah
00:49:44
yeah of course you know losing losing a
00:49:46
parent is always a is always a difficult
00:49:48
thing but um I don't know it just it
00:49:51
maybe you become desensitized it feels
00:49:53
it does feel like a fire hose a [ __ ]
00:49:55
100% of the time um and and you ask any
00:49:58
founder running a company that's that is
00:49:59
that is the reality of a running running
00:50:01
a company there's there's there's never
00:50:03
never plain sailing but no I think I
00:50:05
I've I've been tremendously lucky I mean
00:50:07
compared to what other people have had
00:50:08
to had to endure yeah okay so um so you
00:50:12
finished school at James harest why no
00:50:14
University what was the there was a plan
00:50:16
no the plan was to go to university um
00:50:18
but I wanted to build rockets and there
00:50:20
was no courses at University to you know
00:50:24
no Aerospace degree um and uh to me uh
00:50:27
the best Engineers um not all this is
00:50:30
this is gross generalization but but the
00:50:32
best Engineers are Engineers that can
00:50:34
design it and then go down to the
00:50:36
workshop and build it um because you you
00:50:38
get the get that you know what's
00:50:39
practical to build and then and then you
00:50:41
know what's also practical to to design
00:50:44
so uh so I went off to Fisher and P and
00:50:46
did a tool and die making which was the
00:50:48
most precise engineering that I could do
00:50:50
within the country um and uh if you
00:50:53
wanted to build rocket engines then
00:50:54
that's that is a skill that that that
00:50:56
you needed so the plan was always to go
00:50:58
to university but I just wanted to get a
00:51:00
trade under my belt before I went
00:51:02
there yeah so you um you leave home at
00:51:05
17 and move to denan did you did you
00:51:07
have any friends or like a network in
00:51:09
denan no no
00:51:12
no even that's a big call that's that's
00:51:15
a big move at 17 you're very young at 17
00:51:17
it didn't feel like it honestly didn't
00:51:18
feel like it so you yeah so you've got
00:51:20
this job at Fisher and P um I believe I
00:51:23
might have this wrong but you um you
00:51:24
move into a two-bedroom flat you're in
00:51:27
one bedroom the other bedroom is like a
00:51:28
like a home Workshop no well so so for
00:51:32
the first year or so I moved in with a
00:51:33
family um and you know that that was
00:51:35
Mom's way of making sure I ate um
00:51:38
because uh one of one of the challenges
00:51:40
as I would just go down to the workshop
00:51:41
at school and and and just never eat um
00:51:44
if you look at photos of me when I'm
00:51:46
young um I'm emaciated uh it's because
00:51:49
everything else you know eating is is
00:51:51
just is just a you know an unfortunate
00:51:54
thing you have to do to like a
00:51:55
distraction a total distraction you
00:51:58
should eat space food hydrated meals or
00:52:00
whatever it's not a bad idea but um but
00:52:03
you know she just just slide the plate
00:52:04
under the workshop door and you know I
00:52:06
trip over it on the way to bed and and
00:52:09
uh so so she she put me with his family
00:52:11
so so I didn't die basically and um it's
00:52:14
it's one of the reasons why I'm married
00:52:16
to my wife is because she was worried
00:52:17
was going to die too she used to cook
00:52:19
meals for me like the at Fisher and P
00:52:21
everybody used to worry that that that I
00:52:23
would you know for my health so they
00:52:26
would would invite me around and cook me
00:52:27
deal cook me meals and things like that
00:52:29
but um uh what were we talking about oh
00:52:33
just yeah talking about you um this must
00:52:35
have been further down the track I must
00:52:37
have got the timeline wrong but you're
00:52:38
living in a flat oh yeah no so I bought
00:52:39
a house yeah so anyway I bought a house
00:52:41
did you what age oh it's been 19 or
00:52:45
something like that sh that's impressive
00:52:47
on its time wasn't a good house to be
00:52:50
come on no no but you know you maybe
00:52:52
it's cuz you weren't having smashed EV
00:52:53
on toast every every week
00:52:56
so you bought a house well just just cuz
00:52:58
you weren't much of a spender you had
00:52:59
this job at Fisher and P yeah no I why I
00:53:01
spend everything everything on on on on
00:53:03
Rockets but um but but yeah I managed to
00:53:05
to to save enough to to to buy this
00:53:08
little little house in Mornington and
00:53:10
and um and yeah that that um yeah that
00:53:13
the rooms got converted like had one
00:53:15
drawing room was just designated for for
00:53:17
drawing and one room that was just
00:53:18
designated uh you know as as a workshop
00:53:21
and then had a little garden shed out
00:53:23
the back that was was actually a
00:53:25
hydrogen peroxide um distiller uh so I
00:53:28
could distill the propellants
00:53:31
out I can see now why you had to buy
00:53:33
your own place like no land you failed
00:53:36
the first flight inspection no I can
00:53:38
remember it was it was so uh uh I I got
00:53:42
visited by a census lady and it was the
00:53:44
most inopportune time to be visited by a
00:53:46
census lady because I I was out outside
00:53:50
up my driveway with this garden shed and
00:53:52
these days like it would look like a
00:53:54
peacook facility because it was was a
00:53:56
garden shed it had compressors in it and
00:53:58
it had a a bubble reactor column in
00:54:00
there to distill out the hydrogen
00:54:02
peroxide to you know to propulsion grade
00:54:04
and this thing just ran 24/7 with lights
00:54:06
on and and sounds and hissing and all
00:54:08
the rest of it and uh I was doing I was
00:54:11
doing a a change um because you you sort
00:54:14
of distill only see Safety First only
00:54:16
distilled sort of 200 milliliters at a
00:54:18
time in case it went bad um because the
00:54:20
explosive radius wasn't you know big
00:54:22
enough to take out my house basically
00:54:24
but um so but I was I was right in the
00:54:27
middle of a swap over and um I couldn't
00:54:30
afford uh the proper PVC suits because
00:54:33
if you get hydrogen peroxide on you is
00:54:35
organic uh it just com instantly
00:54:38
combusts so if I tipped it on this the
00:54:39
shirt you know the shirt would just
00:54:41
start on fire So you you're supposed to
00:54:43
use these PVC suits so I fashioned
00:54:46
myself a PVC suit out of rubbish bags
00:54:48
You Know M multi-layer thick rubbish
00:54:50
bags and the census lady come up the
00:54:52
driveway and I'm in this black rubbish
00:54:54
bag PVC suit
00:54:57
with a welding Alon literally you know
00:54:59
holding this Beaker of of of 98% proof
00:55:02
hydrogen
00:55:04
peroxide yeah so how how are you not
00:55:07
dead but I know I mean it was it was
00:55:09
perfect it it always sounds dodgier than
00:55:12
it than it was but I mean it was it was
00:55:14
all you know it was all perfectly safe
00:55:16
like You' like you think about that in
00:55:19
in a laboratory environment it's not
00:55:20
it's no different you know I you know
00:55:23
the the the suit is is was perfectly
00:55:26
impervious and and so no it was it
00:55:28
wasn't wasn't as bad as it sounds yeah
00:55:31
you're definitely a hyper fixator aren't
00:55:32
you probably yeah yeah which is you know
00:55:36
it could could be your superpower
00:55:38
definitely yeah yeah yeah y
00:55:41
um yeah that's amazing what an amazing
00:55:43
story so was so then you worked in New
00:55:45
Plymouth for a while on boats or
00:55:46
something how what's your Recollections
00:55:48
of that time yeah so I was a project
00:55:50
engineer uh for for building a 123 ft um
00:55:53
super yacht um and uh that was you know
00:55:57
at the time I didn't really enjoy it um
00:56:00
but I look back and now and realize that
00:56:02
was just such a uh you know an important
00:56:06
part of shaping me because um you know
00:56:09
in the morning I would have to um you
00:56:11
know work down with some you know the
00:56:13
welders who were you know some of them
00:56:15
were completely illiterate and you know
00:56:16
explained to them uh you know all the
00:56:18
weld details and and and what we needed
00:56:20
and and and all the rest of it um and
00:56:23
then in the afternoon um you know I'm
00:56:25
I'm sh with the owner of the that's
00:56:28
flowing in on the on the helicopter uh
00:56:30
and and being able to having to be able
00:56:33
to kind of you know um operate in in
00:56:35
those two worlds is is is I think was
00:56:38
was really really informative and uh and
00:56:41
and I think you know that that's my my
00:56:44
life now I mean you know have to operate
00:56:47
in in a whole bunch of different spheres
00:56:48
whether it be political spheres or um
00:56:51
you know uh raising money or or you know
00:56:54
public company stuff um
00:56:56
it's you know right right down to you
00:56:58
know swinging a wrench on an engine so
00:57:00
having having having the ability to kind
00:57:03
of translate across all of those those
00:57:04
kind of people and disciplines is is is
00:57:07
super important yeah I watched a ton of
00:57:09
stuff that you've about you on YouTube
00:57:11
and um you're one of the early clipes
00:57:12
you with Paul Henry on breakfast TV in
00:57:14
2009 um and then you see the progression
00:57:17
of Sir Sir Peter back through the years
00:57:19
and you you speak you're definitely a
00:57:21
lot more comfortable now um I think with
00:57:23
that public facing stuff not that you
00:57:25
weren't then but I suppose it just comes
00:57:26
with maturity and experience and not
00:57:29
really I I do not enjoy it do you not
00:57:32
absolutely not no no but I I can see why
00:57:34
you you'd managed to win over rooms of
00:57:36
like your venture capitalist or or
00:57:38
whoever else because it's um you're I
00:57:42
don't know you you you're so determined
00:57:43
and so fixated on what you're doing and
00:57:45
it's um it's quite
00:57:47
intoxicating people people I think a lot
00:57:49
of the times people are probably buying
00:57:50
into you in your vision I don't know
00:57:53
what this guy just said but he believes
00:57:55
that well no I mean look uh you know
00:57:57
especially raising Capital out of uh
00:57:59
venture capital is um is is you you have
00:58:01
to be a good Storyteller um and uh uh
00:58:05
you can't you can't just just go up
00:58:07
there and and present a thesis um you
00:58:09
have to you have to be a good
00:58:09
Storyteller and and lay out the and and
00:58:12
and and to still very complicated things
00:58:14
into into into very consumable things
00:58:17
that people can can can understand and
00:58:19
and and get behind for sure yeah but I
00:58:21
suspect that's part of the like a
00:58:23
necessary evil for the job for you
00:58:24
something that doesn't necessarily come
00:58:25
natur you'd rather just be in the
00:58:27
workshop you know tinkering but you
00:58:29
understand don't get me wrong I love the
00:58:31
thrill of a Chase of a deal um so so
00:58:33
there there's there's definitely that
00:58:34
side of it I love I love the thrill of a
00:58:36
Chase and and um you know business is is
00:58:39
a lot like a game of chess and um you
00:58:41
know you'll spend a long time
00:58:43
positioning pieces that uh that that may
00:58:46
be completely useless and and in the
00:58:47
form of like you I've had thousands upon
00:58:50
thousands of meetings that I've walked
00:58:51
out thinking man that was a waste of
00:58:53
time and then it's the one time you know
00:58:56
where you you're you're you might be at
00:58:58
a you know at a customer and they go oh
00:59:00
yeah I I remember I met Pete 10 years
00:59:02
ago and we were talking about this and
00:59:04
all of a sudden that meeting is really
00:59:06
really
00:59:07
important yes so rocket lab so so you
00:59:09
launch it and then what does the how
00:59:11
long is it before you meet um Mark
00:59:13
rocket yes so I started the company and
00:59:15
then uh then then you know obviously I
00:59:18
needed to you know to find uh some some
00:59:21
backing for it and I heard mark on the
00:59:23
radio he just changed his name uh to
00:59:25
mark rocket and done very well out of
00:59:27
out of his internet businesses and I
00:59:29
thought well here's an interesting thing
00:59:31
uh has some money check um and is
00:59:33
passionate about space check so uh so I
00:59:36
got managed to find Mark and got a hold
00:59:38
of him and gave him a ring and he came
00:59:39
and visited and and then that was you
00:59:41
know that that provided the first bit of
00:59:42
funding to to start the company yeah so
00:59:45
how much did you get from him a couple
00:59:46
hundred thousand or something yeah and
00:59:47
it's for half the company yeah yeah yeah
00:59:49
yeah worst deal ever well no that's not
00:59:52
true best best deal ever because that's
00:59:54
what started the company but uh you know
00:59:56
if if anybody like if if if you're
00:59:58
trying to build a company like that is
01:00:00
the that is commercial suicide to sell
01:00:02
your company in the a round for 50% of
01:00:05
your company it's like you went on Shark
01:00:06
Tank and got re yeah yeah yeah yeah but
01:00:09
but but if it wasn't for Mark um none of
01:00:12
this would have happened because he was
01:00:13
the first person to put some money in
01:00:14
and and and you know all credit to Mark
01:00:17
ultimately uh you know I bought mark
01:00:19
back out and um that that that that was
01:00:23
that was critical because you can't turn
01:00:25
up to Silicon
01:00:26
with half your company sold like um you
01:00:29
know and this this is one of the things
01:00:30
that that you know early New New Zealand
01:00:32
Venture Capital just make huge amount of
01:00:34
mistake on is is I think that the
01:00:36
riskier the company the more they need
01:00:37
to own and uh that's how you destroy a
01:00:40
company yeah so so how long was he in
01:00:42
the company for before you bought him
01:00:43
back out a few years yeah few years did
01:00:45
he do well out of the deal I think he
01:00:47
did very well yeah
01:00:48
yeah I don't think you have any
01:00:50
complaints from him there yeah yeah did
01:00:52
he keep any stock on the company yeah
01:00:53
yeah yeah yeah he's still in yeah yeah
01:00:56
well I don't know if he's if he's still
01:00:57
still holding out as a public company
01:00:59
but um right but uh yeah yeah you're
01:01:02
very different day like say he he was
01:01:04
one of these these was he on one of the
01:01:06
first virgin trips to space yeah he
01:01:08
signed up to go on one yeah yeah yeah
01:01:10
yeah so did he go well no virgin hasn't
01:01:12
oh right okay um yeah so yeah so he he
01:01:16
wanted to go into space you from what I
01:01:18
can understand about you you've got no
01:01:20
interest in going to space no the
01:01:21
challenge is that uh I understand all
01:01:23
the engineering extremely well so I have
01:01:25
all of the knowledge know and none of
01:01:26
the courage and I think you know an
01:01:28
astronaut is is an incredible person
01:01:30
because they can climb aboard something
01:01:33
and they have a good knowledge of what's
01:01:34
going on and just turn that off um I I
01:01:37
just wouldn't have the ability to climb
01:01:38
on board that and just turn that turn
01:01:40
turn that off what about eventually if
01:01:42
that say 20 years from now if that's
01:01:43
where if that's where you know the
01:01:46
rocket lab goes or the industry goes
01:01:48
Never Say Never um but I mean uh look
01:01:52
Rockets have not changed since the 1950s
01:01:54
they're still you know they've improved
01:01:56
but they're still fundamentally you know
01:01:58
one you sort of 3% to 5% of the total
01:02:02
mass of the rocket is the thing you get
01:02:03
into orbit it's 92% fuel there's no way
01:02:06
to make 92% fuel completely
01:02:09
[Music]
01:02:10
safe okay so um yeah I've mentioned this
01:02:14
a couple of times the um yeah the Paul
01:02:16
Henry interview uh in 2009 at 32 years
01:02:19
old um when was the last time have you
01:02:21
ever gone back and watched that or no no
01:02:24
no he kind of he kind of like I don't
01:02:26
know I got the feeling he was sort of
01:02:27
like um didn't believe you necessarily
01:02:30
or was like it's like it's that's why I
01:02:32
bet him no of course he didn't believe
01:02:33
me yeah that's why I made the bit but he
01:02:35
starts by saying oh you look very young
01:02:37
and you're like thank you and your
01:02:39
answer catches him off guard you can
01:02:41
tell that he's sort of thinking like
01:02:42
with a bit of side eye like the
01:02:43
producers have organized the guy and the
01:02:45
guy is not going to amount to anything I
01:02:47
I don't know I'm I'm yeah that's
01:02:49
definitely what he thought he's a huge
01:02:50
fan of yours now but what what bit did
01:02:52
you make I think we bit uh we bet $20
01:02:55
that
01:02:56
um I can't remember as I wouldn't get to
01:02:58
the moon or I wouldn't get to orbit or
01:03:01
or or or something like that and and the
01:03:03
BET was that um that if he lost he had
01:03:06
to dress up in a bunny suit um so he
01:03:10
dressed up in a bunny suit to full
01:03:11
credit to Paul yeah oh that's amazing um
01:03:15
yeah are you friends you've caught up
01:03:16
with him in Palm Springs yeah yeah yeah
01:03:17
yeah yeah I mean I haven't seen Paul for
01:03:19
a long time but uh you know he's he's a
01:03:20
great guy and what are your
01:03:22
Recollections of that first launch in
01:03:24
2009 15 years AO going now the first
01:03:27
suborbital launch yeah can you remember
01:03:29
can you remember your um your quote like
01:03:31
this oh yeah oh well which there's a few
01:03:34
I don't know which quote there there
01:03:36
kind of Infamous ones and and and less
01:03:38
Infamous ones but um but yeah no it was
01:03:41
there was uh yeah it was it was it was a
01:03:44
it was it was a big day for sure because
01:03:46
we had we had no money that was that was
01:03:48
it um and you know there's been a number
01:03:50
of times throughout the company's
01:03:52
history where it's all on the table and
01:03:54
you know that was the first time so yeah
01:03:56
when you say by the way the quote I'm
01:03:58
talking about is you [ __ ] Beauty yeah
01:04:00
I know it's the most um like like raw
01:04:02
and honest and unfiltered thing had you
01:04:05
not thought about the significance of
01:04:06
the moment and what you should say it
01:04:08
was no it's right right up there with um
01:04:11
we KN the bastard off from Ser manery
01:04:13
yeah no like you you are like for for
01:04:16
two years is is just uh you you know it
01:04:19
was just 247 and just just work to get
01:04:22
to that point so no it's it's it's
01:04:25
engineering execution it's not there's
01:04:27
no time for that that kind of nonsense
01:04:29
and and when for that kind of nonsense
01:04:32
when you say and when you say it's all
01:04:33
on the all on the line like what do you
01:04:35
mean so if it failed if that blew up on
01:04:38
the pad we had no resources to have have
01:04:39
another crack uh if it if it didn't if
01:04:41
it didn't fly well we had no resources
01:04:44
and um uh you know that that launch um
01:04:47
straight after that launch I got on a
01:04:49
plane and went to America and um and you
01:04:52
know that that that was a you know that
01:04:54
was the time to to to make hay that was
01:04:56
the time to turn something into into
01:04:59
something else and you know following
01:05:00
that um you know I went and and we we
01:05:03
kind of ran the company's a little kind
01:05:04
of advanced technology house we did work
01:05:06
for uh US Government research houses
01:05:09
locked Martin and we built like this
01:05:11
little Skunk Works of of doing crazy
01:05:13
difficult things um and then achieving
01:05:15
them and and ultimately that that kind
01:05:18
of led to the point where I thought
01:05:20
right it's time I've got enough
01:05:21
credibility and enough capability to go
01:05:23
and build an orbital rocket um and and
01:05:25
that's when I went to Silicon
01:05:27
Valley did you yeah like I don't know if
01:05:32
this is something you even thought about
01:05:33
then but from 2009 like if you could if
01:05:36
you could imagine yourself 15 years into
01:05:38
the future like what did you imagine
01:05:39
could you have imagined what you know we
01:05:41
you're at now well I mean I I think
01:05:44
we're behind schedule to be honest with
01:05:45
you um so um uh you know everything
01:05:49
everything expect you expect everything
01:05:50
to go way faster than than than it did
01:05:53
um you know we we we the first bit of
01:05:55
money hit the bank for electron uh in
01:05:58
2014 January 2014 and we had our first
01:06:01
flight in 2017 now I was run around
01:06:03
telling telling everybody we're going to
01:06:04
have our first flight in 2015 um and you
01:06:07
know how naive it was then but um but
01:06:10
but uh you know the the I guess that you
01:06:13
know the timeline is always always feels
01:06:15
longer than it than it should be but
01:06:17
it's you know part naivity and I think
01:06:19
part part optimism and part in patience
01:06:22
absolutely yeah yeah you just wanted
01:06:24
done that yeah there are parallels like
01:06:26
with you with you and Elon like in this
01:06:28
this book I was telling you about that I
01:06:29
listened to I think it was him U making
01:06:31
a public statement about how many
01:06:33
teasers they were going to roll off the
01:06:34
production line in the next five years
01:06:35
or whatever and it was some outlandish
01:06:37
figure and his point of view was that
01:06:39
well if if if if we don't make it at
01:06:40
least you know to push the team to get
01:06:42
as close to that as possible i' like to
01:06:44
set a sort of I think mine was pure
01:06:46
naivity to be honest
01:06:48
with um yeah that's this this is
01:06:51
fascinating stuff thank you so much for
01:06:53
being so generous with your time today
01:06:54
it's really cool I got some
01:06:55
miscellaneous questions here so um the
01:06:57
the building launch in 2018 um you had
01:07:00
William Shatner over yeah it was super
01:07:01
cool yeah yeah how did that come about
01:07:03
well I saw he is in town um oh was he
01:07:05
coincidentally in town he was
01:07:07
coincidentally in town and and um uh
01:07:10
well we heard he was coming to town to
01:07:11
to do to do a show and they were
01:07:13
starting to advertise for it and and uh
01:07:16
my EA Christie I remember going into
01:07:17
work the morning said Christie I know
01:07:19
who's going to open the building it's
01:07:20
got to be William Shatner and um and all
01:07:23
credit to her she just just made that
01:07:25
happen and and he is such a nice guy uh
01:07:27
such a such a a generous guy and um uh
01:07:31
actually take a few life lessons from
01:07:33
him is is one day he was on he having a
01:07:35
few tough times and one day he just
01:07:37
decided he's going to say yes to
01:07:38
everything and he just lives his life
01:07:40
saying yes so when we rang him up and
01:07:41
said hey can you open this rocket
01:07:43
building he's like yes and you know we
01:07:45
took him we took him around the factory
01:07:47
and uh he uh he he stole an ethernet
01:07:51
cable um around the Factory and then
01:07:54
when he when he went to open the
01:07:55
building he did this great comedy gig
01:07:57
where he said oh I was just looking at
01:07:59
your rockets and and he pulled this wire
01:08:01
out from his sleeve it was just an
01:08:02
ethernet cable that he grabbed off
01:08:03
someone's desk and said I pulled this
01:08:04
out of the rocket does anybody mind it's
01:08:07
just it's an incredible guy oh that's
01:08:09
great that's so and and he's um I find
01:08:12
him inspiring because he's so old but
01:08:14
still so vibrant oh yeah yeah like he's
01:08:16
so sharp and so active so much going on
01:08:19
oh um so Trump's recently been reelected
01:08:22
and um him and Elon mus and incredibly
01:08:25
tight um yeah what sort of impact do you
01:08:28
think this will have on on Rocket lab or
01:08:31
yourself or space exploration in general
01:08:33
well I mean under the new Administration
01:08:35
uh space is clearly a priority so that's
01:08:38
great for us um what's also a priority
01:08:40
is um you know uh a very commercial
01:08:43
approach to space like space is is kind
01:08:45
of bisected into the old the old kind of
01:08:48
dinosaurs who do Cost Plus Contracting
01:08:50
and then the new space uh folks like you
01:08:52
know Space X and ourselves that do firm
01:08:54
fix price and and so um so under under
01:08:57
the kind of new Administration firstly
01:08:59
space has a great priority and also uh
01:09:01
you know that way of working has a great
01:09:02
priority so these are these are great
01:09:04
things for us yeah um and you're ke to
01:09:06
explore Venus absolutely yeah so elon's
01:09:09
elon's he's what's the planet he's marss
01:09:12
yeah so why is he to Mars you're into
01:09:15
Venus well uh for very very different
01:09:17
reasons um so you know I mentioned it
01:09:20
you know before that that that you know
01:09:22
my father took me outside to to look at
01:09:24
the stars and um pose that question is
01:09:27
is the life and um you that that's sort
01:09:30
of that's that's remained in my head
01:09:32
it's like well um we really need to
01:09:34
answer that question are we the only
01:09:35
life in the universe or not and uh in v
01:09:39
in Venus has a set of clouds and at 50
01:09:41
km altitude in in the Venetian clouds
01:09:44
there's there's a very interesting
01:09:45
atmospheric layer um it's kind of it's
01:09:48
kind of O It's kind of okay I mean it's
01:09:50
still rockus but it's okay um there's
01:09:52
there's enough kind of an environmental
01:09:54
conditions at that 50 km altitude that
01:09:56
life could theoretically uh survive and
01:10:00
uh very famous uh friend and scientist
01:10:02
um Sarah Sega uh she made the discovery
01:10:05
of of phosphine gas um in in that
01:10:07
particular croud Cloud region and the
01:10:10
only known uh the only known way to make
01:10:12
phosphine gas is is through um through
01:10:15
through organic symbiosis so um it's
01:10:18
it's like a a sign of Life uh so armed
01:10:21
with that um we put a we stitched a plan
01:10:25
together to to build this probe to go to
01:10:27
Venus and it's like a go noo gauge for
01:10:31
life and we get about about 200 seconds
01:10:34
to to you know Transit through this
01:10:36
atmospheric cloud and and measure uh me
01:10:39
measure whether or not um we can we can
01:10:41
we can find life or not so uh incredibly
01:10:45
difficult thing to do um it's the only
01:10:46
private mission to another planet um
01:10:48
ever uh it's a nights and weekends thing
01:10:51
so you know it's constantly delayed but
01:10:53
we're having with 2026 where is is the
01:10:56
date that we we we have you know Venus
01:10:58
and Earth are aligned enough that we
01:10:59
think we can have a crack and um we'll
01:11:02
have a crack at answering that question
01:11:03
and I think if you can answer that
01:11:05
question two things happen like if if if
01:11:07
you don't find life then um then I think
01:11:09
you know we continue on thinking that
01:11:11
actually well maybe you know life is is
01:11:13
not that prolific Through the Universe
01:11:15
um if we find life there then you've
01:11:17
answered the question we are not the
01:11:19
only life in the universe moreover if
01:11:21
you find it in the Clouds of Venus
01:11:23
chances are it's prolific throughout the
01:11:25
universe and and I think that's a
01:11:27
question worth
01:11:28
answering how far away is Venus a long
01:11:31
way takes about uh at the at the
01:11:35
shortest Transit um can't remember the
01:11:37
exact time it takes about a year and a
01:11:38
half to get there at the shortest
01:11:42
Transit wow you wouldn't want to do then
01:11:45
economy
01:11:47
economy wouldn't be raw dogging that
01:11:49
flight well the the crazy thing is that
01:11:51
the the the hardest part of that mission
01:11:53
is is the probe interface with the
01:11:55
atmosphere course the probe heats up
01:11:57
because it's inter fading with an
01:11:57
atmosphere and during that sort of 200
01:11:59
seconds um you know we we have 12 Watts
01:12:02
worth of radio power amplifier that has
01:12:05
to make its way all the way back to a
01:12:07
dish here on Earth that and receive the
01:12:09
signal that's that's that's non-trivial
01:12:13
that what about the um the the original
01:12:16
moonlanding in 1969 with um uh Neil
01:12:19
Armstrong Buzz Aldren yeah yeah yeah did
01:12:22
they go or is it a fil oh come on come
01:12:24
on
01:12:26
so it seems you see the footage it just
01:12:28
seems very film City so any anybody who
01:12:30
has a doubt with that I always say go to
01:12:32
Cape Canal and stand under a satin five
01:12:34
rocket and then look at the hundreds of
01:12:36
thousands of Engineers and scientists
01:12:38
and uh you know if you can fool hundreds
01:12:40
of thousands of the smartest people you
01:12:42
know that lived at the time and arguably
01:12:44
ever lived um then then then you know
01:12:47
that that's some kind of cover up um
01:12:49
because you can't you know you can't you
01:12:51
can't hide that stuff oh going by that
01:12:54
answer I'm I'm take it you curved
01:12:55
earther as well very much a
01:12:58
curved yeah we live on a a spherical
01:13:01
planet for sure and some of the um yeah
01:13:03
some of the footage I've seen from your
01:13:04
launches and stuff the um the footage is
01:13:07
just exceptional isn't it when when when
01:13:09
the launch first goes off what's all the
01:13:10
debris and stuff that's flying
01:13:12
everywhere water it's just water um so
01:13:15
uh so we spray the the the the launch P
01:13:18
pad and mount with um with with
01:13:20
thousands of liters of water um and we
01:13:22
have to do that because the the acoustic
01:13:24
reflection or the noise from the rocket
01:13:26
engine is so loud that it it would
01:13:28
rupture the rocket like the noise
01:13:30
pressure would break the rocket in half
01:13:32
so the the water that we spray on the
01:13:33
pad um you know Deens all the sound and
01:13:37
all um all the Rockets you've done have
01:13:38
all been um they've all been like
01:13:41
beautiful they've all been like
01:13:42
aesthetically really really
01:13:44
nice is everything is everything to do
01:13:47
with performance or does Aesthetics come
01:13:48
into it oh well the one and the same for
01:13:51
me absolutely the one and the same um
01:13:53
there used to be a saying up in the wall
01:13:55
uh in headquarters in America they may
01:13:56
me take it down because apparently it's
01:13:58
not polite to say crap in America but um
01:14:01
then the saying on the wall said um you
01:14:03
know make everything a work of art um
01:14:05
because you know if it looks like crap
01:14:07
and doesn't work you have nothing um at
01:14:09
least if it looks good it looks good
01:14:11
right um so uh you know you can walk
01:14:13
into a rocket lab facility whether it's
01:14:15
a boardroom table or a rocket or a
01:14:16
spacecraft and everything is beautiful
01:14:18
and everything is beautifully made and I
01:14:20
think that's that's super important
01:14:22
because um there is no room for error in
01:14:24
this industry there is just none so the
01:14:27
moment you start cutting a corner um
01:14:29
you're you're for sure going to end in
01:14:31
Failure yeah um yeah you say there's no
01:14:34
room for failure and and um honestly
01:14:36
hand on heart even though um the share
01:14:40
price at the time for Rocket La was was
01:14:41
um very very high there' just been a
01:14:42
recent Spike when I went and had a look
01:14:44
at the factory last week and met some of
01:14:46
your team and saw the work they were
01:14:47
doing um I went and put some more money
01:14:50
in at the what was potentially an
01:14:52
overinflated price that night because
01:14:53
I've just got so much more like belief
01:14:55
in what and what you're doing and the
01:14:57
people you've got there like I've never
01:14:58
seen I don't know like a workplace where
01:15:01
people are so happy I get the feeling um
01:15:03
there's a lot of people there that
01:15:04
aren't too concerned with work life
01:15:06
balance they're happy to be there off
01:15:08
the clock yes they're they're it's like
01:15:11
you cannot do amazing things 8 to5 that
01:15:14
is a fact um and uh there is a lot of
01:15:17
dysfunctional Workaholics at at Rocket
01:15:19
lab and if you look at our nearest
01:15:22
competitor being Space X um same so you
01:15:26
cannot be competitive if if you want to
01:15:28
just have a cruzy life um and and not
01:15:31
not strive for for big things and you
01:15:33
like you you cannot do amazing things in
01:15:35
normal business house that is a fact
01:15:38
yeah and generally like um I mean you're
01:15:40
you're the founder and the CEO and the
01:15:42
chairman of the board but for for anyone
01:15:43
else like if you want to get further in
01:15:45
your career whatever it happens to be
01:15:46
whether it's um rocket lab or something
01:15:48
else um you get out what you put in 100%
01:15:51
100% you you can make up for a lot with
01:15:54
just hard work um and you know as we
01:15:56
looking to employ people um you know uh
01:15:59
we we we naturally get the the most
01:16:01
wonderful CVS but the people that that
01:16:04
end up actually being employed in the
01:16:05
company are not necessarily the people
01:16:07
with the multiple phds and a grades
01:16:10
they're the people that demonstrate
01:16:11
passion and the people that demonstrate
01:16:13
that they will go that extra mile
01:16:14
because that's what it takes so um you
01:16:16
know the best CVS um you know all all
01:16:19
the qualifications look the same and
01:16:20
just flip that page what I really look
01:16:22
for is like what are you do in your
01:16:23
spare time what is what is the project
01:16:25
that you've undertaken what is the thing
01:16:27
that you've really stretched to achieve
01:16:28
whether it be you know engineering or
01:16:30
sporting or whatever CU those those are
01:16:32
the those are the people you
01:16:33
want and say if um some you wide-eyed
01:16:38
naive kid like you were when you went to
01:16:39
the states um you know came and knocked
01:16:41
on the front door of Rocket lab um with
01:16:44
a yeah headful of Dreams whatever um
01:16:47
yeah what would you
01:16:49
do well I mean it depends on what what
01:16:52
what their dream was um like if you know
01:16:55
it's it's one one thing to just knock on
01:16:56
the door and say I've got a dream but um
01:16:59
and that that's great um but you know
01:17:01
there's been people that turn up at
01:17:02
Rocket lab um you know they they've
01:17:04
built complete rockets and they just
01:17:05
turn up with a rocket um CVS made all
01:17:07
out of carbon fiber um I had we had one
01:17:10
guy that who came from Canada hired a
01:17:13
car parked it in the car park and didn't
01:17:15
leave he just stayed there he say not
01:17:18
going back to Canada until he gets a job
01:17:20
and what happened we gave him a
01:17:22
job how long was he there for oh not
01:17:25
long yeah but I mean that's that's the
01:17:28
kind of person you want because because
01:17:30
you like you can teach you can teach
01:17:32
mths you can teach a lot of things you
01:17:35
have to transpant a BL transpant
01:17:37
someone's brain to have that level of
01:17:39
motivation do you think some of it is
01:17:41
people I don't know you you you might
01:17:43
not be to answer this this might be a
01:17:44
question for someone else but do you
01:17:45
think some of it as people just buying
01:17:46
into your
01:17:48
vision uh well I think I think it's
01:17:50
important um uh you know to have good
01:17:52
leadership in in a company for sure
01:17:55
um and you know as you walked in the in
01:17:57
the facility the first thing you would
01:17:58
have read is that we go to space to
01:17:59
improve life on Earth and um that means
01:18:02
different things to different people if
01:18:04
you're working on the Mars team um that
01:18:06
means going to Mars um if if you're
01:18:08
working on on electron production floor
01:18:10
that means you know enabling a customer
01:18:12
to get to orbit to do the amazing things
01:18:13
that they're doing so it means it means
01:18:15
different things to different people and
01:18:16
I think um every every company has to
01:18:19
have you know a vision to or in an
01:18:22
anchor on because um you know
01:18:25
like great there was a whole bunch of
01:18:27
happy people there but man they have
01:18:29
[ __ ] days too real [ __ ] days and I
01:18:31
always say to everybody that when you
01:18:33
have a [ __ ] day um go down to the
01:18:36
factory and and look at what you're
01:18:38
building and look at the amazing things
01:18:40
you you're you're working on you go and
01:18:42
stroke the rocket you know appropriately
01:18:44
don't stroke it inappropriately but but
01:18:47
go and just just remember that that's
01:18:48
going to space and that's got your DNA
01:18:50
on it and the amount of people that can
01:18:52
put their DNA on a rocket that goes to
01:18:54
space is extremely small on this planet
01:18:57
so you get to do the most amazing things
01:19:00
yeah I get the feeling you're um your
01:19:03
your love for space and what you do has
01:19:05
has not wavered at all like I'm thinking
01:19:06
about my um my career like when I was
01:19:08
when I was a kid at school I really
01:19:10
wanted to get into into radio I love the
01:19:12
idea of being on the radio and I managed
01:19:13
to do that well you're still here so
01:19:15
yours hasn't either yeah yeah yeah yeah
01:19:18
yeah it's a different thing now but when
01:19:19
I started in radio it was like I'd do
01:19:20
this for nothing like I'm working in the
01:19:22
middle of the night I don't [ __ ] care
01:19:24
I just just love it and I'd spend
01:19:25
weekends there tinkering around in the
01:19:27
production Suite then it gets to the
01:19:28
point you've been doing it a while and
01:19:30
you know there's no way I'd work on a
01:19:31
weekend unless I was you know whatever
01:19:33
but I feel like you're you kept From a
01:19:35
Different Cloth it's like I say it's
01:19:38
it's it's all in and and um uh you know
01:19:41
when when you when you set your mind to
01:19:42
something it is it's it's all
01:19:46
in that's intoxicating mate hey um one
01:19:49
thing I'd like to ask all my guests
01:19:50
about is um yeah some crunchy questions
01:19:52
about mental health and things so um
01:19:55
how's your mental health how are you
01:19:56
today how are you mostly uh I I I
01:20:00
wouldn't have a clue to be honest with
01:20:01
you um uh well I mean
01:20:05
so what I what I've learned is is I I
01:20:09
have to find uh a a a some kind of
01:20:13
switch off release because you know it
01:20:15
is it I'm I'm once I fixate on something
01:20:17
it it definitely fixate on something um
01:20:20
so um so you know I I have to force
01:20:24
myself to do things that enable me not
01:20:26
to think about rocket lab so that's why
01:20:29
I started to learn to fly a helicopter
01:20:30
and got my helicopter's pilot's license
01:20:32
because you cannot sit in a helicopter
01:20:34
and be thinking about rocket engine ISP
01:20:36
because you will die so have to have to
01:20:39
find myself doing things where it's it's
01:20:41
kind of forced shut off um and um
01:20:44
whether it's whether it's that or flying
01:20:45
a jet or or or those kinds of things
01:20:47
that's that that that that is that is
01:20:49
what I think is it keeps keeps my mental
01:20:52
health sane is is trying to making sure
01:20:54
I enforce but there a same problem
01:20:57
before is like then then those things
01:21:00
start to get out of control as well you
01:21:02
know gold mining so I always love gold
01:21:04
mining and started off with with a gold
01:21:07
pan and and great for the family and we
01:21:08
just puddle away in a river and then
01:21:11
well there a better way to do this we
01:21:11
get a gold slle box and get a gold slle
01:21:13
box and then um then well there's got to
01:21:16
be a better way to do this get a
01:21:17
detector we get a detector well actually
01:21:19
now I need a gold claim so I need one
01:21:21
gold claim I have to have two gold
01:21:22
claims now I've got diggers in a trml so
01:21:25
it can't it it it starts to get you know
01:21:28
you have to have to find things that
01:21:30
that that switch you off but even those
01:21:31
things you know start to start to get
01:21:33
carried away so whatever you do you want
01:21:36
to do as well as what can be done it
01:21:38
seems to be that way y I've learned that
01:21:40
over time what what other Hobbies
01:21:42
helicopters gold panning yeah that's
01:21:45
that that's that's pretty pretty pretty
01:21:46
much it I mean car racing as well do a
01:21:48
little bit of that um so but um but yeah
01:21:52
are you able to watch like television or
01:21:54
movie no no no it's a standing joke
01:21:57
amongst my entire executive team is is
01:21:59
is is I a social [ __ ] so there is
01:22:02
there is like any movie or any book or
01:22:05
anything is just completely lost on me
01:22:07
to the point that it's it's it's it's
01:22:08
like you know taking taking the piss out
01:22:10
of Pete um as an executive team because
01:22:13
someone someone will mention a movie you
01:22:15
seen that movie Pete ah Pete's never
01:22:16
seen that movie so no no not even what
01:22:19
about growing up like were you obsessed
01:22:20
with like Star Wars or just in the
01:22:22
workshop 100% of the time yeah yep
01:22:26
um what about when you're doing family
01:22:28
stuff so if you if you're if you're
01:22:29
involved with um you know the wife and
01:22:31
kids are you like are you able to go
01:22:33
okay I'm going to be fully present for
01:22:35
the next you know hour two hours however
01:22:36
long it is well you'd have to ask I feel
01:22:38
like I'm very present you'd have to ask
01:22:39
you'd have to ask ask them but I mean
01:22:41
you know all credit to my wife and she
01:22:42
she'll she'll you know the way the way
01:22:45
our holidays work is is Pete needs to go
01:22:47
to the UK for for some meetings so you
01:22:50
know that gets turned into a family
01:22:51
holiday and I'll go and have meetings
01:22:53
and and then you know I I'll find myself
01:22:55
at stonehinge um and then oh it's good
01:22:58
with stone Hing this is quite good and
01:23:00
um that that's the way it's not me
01:23:01
organizing the trip stonehinge like it's
01:23:04
it's it's very much uh you
01:23:06
know I'm I'm I'm lead yeah so you're at
01:23:09
stonehinge but you're think you're
01:23:10
thinking I've got I've got [ __ ] I want
01:23:13
to do but I said I think they probably
01:23:15
got a photo of me on the phone at St If
01:23:16
we're
01:23:17
[Laughter]
01:23:19
honest yeah are
01:23:22
you can can the company be bigger than
01:23:25
you like if you ever decide oh no this
01:23:28
super critical um and one one of the
01:23:30
reasons why um I I selfish reason I I
01:23:34
would decided to take the company public
01:23:37
um was because you know uh you talk to
01:23:40
talk to Jeff and and and Elon and um
01:23:43
it's very very clear that that you know
01:23:46
when when they depart the planet is is
01:23:48
that going to continue and I was
01:23:50
terrified that look you know the one as
01:23:52
I mentioned before the one thing that my
01:23:54
parents said to me is make sure you have
01:23:55
the biggest impact you can have and um
01:23:58
the way to have the biggest impact is is
01:24:00
to have longevity and you're only on
01:24:02
this planet for a short period of time
01:24:04
so whatever you create if you want to
01:24:05
have you know big impact you have to
01:24:07
create it for a long time so um I always
01:24:10
worry that um that that you know if I
01:24:12
die would rocket lab stop and that
01:24:14
simply cannot be true um I've completely
01:24:17
failed if that's the case so one of the
01:24:19
reasons to go public was that really
01:24:21
enforces that generational thinking
01:24:23
building a multigenerational space
01:24:24
company building a profitable company
01:24:26
that is enduring it really is forced
01:24:29
discipline and um in the space industry
01:24:32
that that's sorely lacking I mean you
01:24:34
look at the space industry there's
01:24:35
tremendous amount of failure uh in in
01:24:38
the industry and that's because you know
01:24:39
a lot of people you know get get
01:24:41
enamored with technology or you know
01:24:43
before that before actually getting
01:24:44
enamored with building a business that
01:24:45
works so so for me um uh AB absolutely
01:24:50
so I think you know the company is the
01:24:53
company is in in grow great shape um for
01:24:55
sure and only get better yeah but you're
01:24:58
the the founder the CEO the chairman of
01:25:00
the board like can can you step back or
01:25:03
is there just no one that can at this
01:25:04
point do any any other job as good as
01:25:06
what you can truth be know there's
01:25:08
probably people that can do it better
01:25:09
than me um but uh but but no I think you
01:25:12
know at this point we're at a critical
01:25:14
point in the company's history um you
01:25:16
know there's a couple of really big
01:25:17
Milestones that we need to take over
01:25:19
that that will that will be huge for the
01:25:20
company and um and you know look the
01:25:24
reality is you're going to have to take
01:25:25
me out on the box um you know I'm going
01:25:26
to die at my desk probably that's that's
01:25:28
that's the reality but um or or somebody
01:25:31
convinces me I'm no longer useful but um
01:25:33
but uh but but yeah I mean making sure
01:25:36
that the company out survives me is is
01:25:38
has always been a priority and you
01:25:40
mentioned Jeff before just in
01:25:41
conversation um Jeff Bezos um yeah like
01:25:45
what's your relationship with him well I
01:25:47
mean have you caught up you have like C
01:25:50
all the all the all the rocket guys um
01:25:52
you know there's a mutual respect right
01:25:54
it's it is extraordinarily hard to go to
01:25:57
orbit uh it's extraordinarily hard cubed
01:26:00
to do it over and over again so uh yeah
01:26:03
so although you know they competitors
01:26:06
there is just uh an incredible sense of
01:26:09
of um of kind of you know respect mutual
01:26:13
respect among amongst everybody and um
01:26:17
uh you know and I'm sure um you know if
01:26:19
anything if anything needed to be done
01:26:22
between either of us we would all help
01:26:23
each other out um so so so no I think
01:26:27
you know there's it is it is you there's
01:26:29
a lot of mutual respect amongst
01:26:31
everybody I mean I think Jeff and Elon
01:26:33
don't get on but there's there's still I
01:26:35
would say a guarantee there's a lot of a
01:26:36
lot of respect between the two yeah for
01:26:38
sure yeah a lot of um um employees from
01:26:41
the early days of Amazon say um the the
01:26:45
criticism of Jeff is that um apparently
01:26:48
he he had very little time for anyone
01:26:49
that um didn't wasn't on on his level of
01:26:52
intelligence or higher if if St um were
01:26:54
to pick on your worst flaw what do you
01:26:56
think that'd
01:26:57
say oh Jeepers um I I would I would I'm
01:27:01
probably too intense um I micromanage um
01:27:04
I get down into the details um and um
01:27:07
you know I think I think those those
01:27:09
will be th those will be some negative
01:27:11
traits
01:27:13
um yeah for sure how how are you with um
01:27:17
vulnerability um one thing I've got from
01:27:19
doing a lot of these podcasts is um the
01:27:20
importance of um you know guys in
01:27:23
particular I think um to be able to be
01:27:24
open and vulnerable and talk about stuff
01:27:26
that's on their mind have like if you
01:27:28
got like an inner circle of like close
01:27:30
friends that you talk to or your wife or
01:27:32
are you you're a botler I'm 100% a
01:27:34
botler this is a very unpleasant thing
01:27:36
we're doing now no no no and and a
01:27:39
conscious decision like I I never talk
01:27:40
about uh work at home because like you
01:27:46
you don't need to share that that like
01:27:48
that especially the bad stuff you don't
01:27:49
to share that that just bringing
01:27:51
everybody down um so so no I when when I
01:27:54
go home I you know to use your War I try
01:27:56
and be as present as I can and we're not
01:27:58
I'm not talking about rocket Lab at all
01:28:00
in fact it's it's a constant frustration
01:28:02
because my mother will ring me up and
01:28:04
she just wants to talk about rocket lab
01:28:05
and I always have to correct her it's
01:28:06
like Mom we're not talking about rocket
01:28:08
lab how often does how often do you
01:28:10
speak oh every week every week yeah yeah
01:28:13
yeah well she's just so proud though
01:28:14
right yeah but but we can be proud about
01:28:16
talk about other
01:28:20
things what what um what frustrates you
01:28:23
hey by the way thanks for being so open
01:28:24
about these like you you said just
01:28:26
before it's uncomfortable for you to
01:28:27
talk about but you you wouldn't know
01:28:28
like you're very you're very Frank and
01:28:30
forthright oh good illusion yeah what
01:28:34
frustrates you uh frustrates me um look
01:28:39
I I've I have a sense of urgency so when
01:28:42
when you know when when things are too
01:28:44
slow uh everything well everything is a
01:28:46
little bit slow but when things are just
01:28:47
very very too slow that that that's
01:28:49
incredibly frustrating uh just bad
01:28:51
decisions or indecision you know much
01:28:54
rather someone make the wrong decision
01:28:55
than not make a decision at all so you
01:28:57
know people just mucking around and and
01:28:59
and not making decisions and um uh you
01:29:02
know people that don't work hard um you
01:29:05
know uh you think you made the point you
01:29:07
get in what you you put out and and you
01:29:09
know the people that that you know put
01:29:11
in the least um were always the people
01:29:13
that moan they get the least out yeah
01:29:16
well this is um yeah this is something
01:29:18
Elon said when he took over x uh Twitter
01:29:20
that became X um it was very seen as
01:29:23
very controversial at the time but he
01:29:25
was like I I want people here that want
01:29:26
to you know be here early in the morning
01:29:28
and be here late at night I don't want
01:29:29
anyone working from home and it was seen
01:29:31
as like a controversial statement but
01:29:32
it's like yeah like if if you want the
01:29:35
best out of your own life you have to
01:29:36
work hard at whatever you do and that's
01:29:38
um well point to any company that has
01:29:41
been incredibly successful like you know
01:29:44
you know a company that goes down in
01:29:46
history that's worked 8 to five and I
01:29:48
don't know I can't name a single
01:29:50
one so if if anyone at Rocket lab is um
01:29:54
fixated on the work life balance thing
01:29:56
um do they sort of get like naturally
01:29:58
you know chewed up out Philly we we're
01:30:00
very upfront and very very upfront with
01:30:02
everybody that this is if you're looking
01:30:04
for a work life balance and you want to
01:30:05
cruise this is not the place for you and
01:30:08
the reality is that we did the
01:30:09
statistics and it's twice as easy to get
01:30:10
into Harvard than it is to get into
01:30:12
rocket lab so the bar is extraordinarily
01:30:15
High and um and yeah I mean the you're
01:30:18
not going to be successful in the
01:30:20
company if if you if you just want to
01:30:21
turn up and do your thing and go home
01:30:24
but likewise the flip side to that is if
01:30:26
you have drive and you have U
01:30:28
motivation you you can do anything I
01:30:30
mean uh one of the guys uh we hired a
01:30:33
guy young guy and he mowed the Lawns at
01:30:36
the launch site that was his job he said
01:30:38
I want to job at Rock La mow The Lawns
01:30:39
at launch site so he M the laun at the
01:30:41
launch site and he's great guy and then
01:30:43
uh he got promoted and he would do the
01:30:45
the weather balloon releases and then uh
01:30:47
then he got in charge of logistics and
01:30:49
and and um and then he started taking on
01:30:52
more responsibilities on the launch pad
01:30:53
and so on and so forth that guy runs an
01:30:55
entire facility in uh in in Baltimore a
01:30:58
new one of our new factories um young
01:31:00
kiwi guy um so the flip side to that is
01:31:03
is that if you're hungry and you're
01:31:05
passionate
01:31:07
um you know you climb as high as you
01:31:10
want like the opportunities for
01:31:12
everywhere that's inspiring how yeah how
01:31:14
how much time of the year are you in the
01:31:16
US about half the year right
01:31:20
yep it's it's full on isn't it yeah yeah
01:31:23
it's full on
01:31:24
yeah it's it's like it's a lot of flying
01:31:26
the flying must drive you crazy do you
01:31:29
manage to like have um work that you can
01:31:31
get done on the flight yeah yeah yeah
01:31:33
yeah um although in New Zealand does a
01:31:35
great great job um and you know those
01:31:38
those nighttime flights you have a nice
01:31:39
meal and a wine and and then you know
01:31:41
try and get a get a few hours sleep and
01:31:42
you wake up in the morning good to go so
01:31:44
um so so so you know that's that that
01:31:46
works pretty well yeah are you a drinker
01:31:49
you have a wine with your meal I have a
01:31:51
wine with a meal but that's that's I'm
01:31:53
super lightweight so that that is that's
01:31:55
about my life yeah so do you do you have
01:31:56
any
01:31:58
advices um you're not even a coffee guy
01:32:00
you were telling me before like no just
01:32:02
makes me sick makes me I love this I
01:32:03
love the smell of it I love the taste of
01:32:05
it makes unfortunately makes me sick no
01:32:06
I think I think my my vices are that um
01:32:09
I just I just get hyperfocused and and
01:32:12
um and and would just just won't stop um
01:32:15
it's probably probably the worst thing
01:32:17
is and I'm sure if you asked my wife she
01:32:19
she'd comment on on Plenty of things but
01:32:22
um but uh but yeah yeah what would she
01:32:25
what would she she say your best and
01:32:27
worst habits
01:32:29
are uh Jeepers um well
01:32:33
uh I think I probably mansplain way way
01:32:37
way too much but the stuff that you're
01:32:38
mansplaining you need to well no but
01:32:41
it's stuff that I don't need to
01:32:42
mansplain you know about the symmetry of
01:32:45
the spoons in the drawer and how they
01:32:46
should be all symmetrical that doesn't
01:32:48
that that probably probably doesn't need
01:32:50
explaining and I I have to check myself
01:32:52
because I know that upsets everybody and
01:32:54
I I have to pull away because otherwise
01:32:56
you know I'll just I'll just drive
01:32:58
everybody insane do you notice things
01:33:00
like that so taals have to be on the
01:33:01
rail evenly oh absolutely everything has
01:33:04
to be straight and neat absolutely yeah
01:33:06
yeah yeah yeah what about your kids'
01:33:07
bedrooms is you just let oh you used to
01:33:09
walk away walk away um what about regret
01:33:13
any
01:33:14
regrets oh look there's plenty but I
01:33:17
I've I'm always Avo the view of of to
01:33:19
look forward not back and um your
01:33:21
biggest mistakes and some of your
01:33:23
biggest regrets um I think are the are
01:33:25
the most influ influential on on your
01:33:28
future decisions and who you are as a
01:33:29
person um and uh you know hu you made
01:33:33
bunch of silly mistakes and bunch of
01:33:36
silly regrets but I think um but I think
01:33:39
ultimately I think that that's only bad
01:33:41
if you just if you just don't log them
01:33:43
if you log them in in your brain then I
01:33:45
think you know it's all good but as long
01:33:48
as you can log them then um then then
01:33:51
don't really have any regrets that's a
01:33:53
great answer yeah mistakes should be
01:33:54
seen as like a stepping stone to success
01:33:57
otherwise it's like you were saying
01:33:58
before they never feel like that but I
01:33:59
mean no at the time it sucks yeah yeah
01:34:02
yeah yeah but but um yeah but but
01:34:05
sometimes you need to make what is seems
01:34:06
to be a big mistake at the time to avoid
01:34:09
a much much bigger mistake in the future
01:34:11
and where do you see yourself at say 55
01:34:13
or 60 years old still at Rocket lab
01:34:16
obviously but that's a long time um you
01:34:20
know we joke at Rocket labor like dog
01:34:22
years right one year here um it just
01:34:25
just seems Seems a crazy amount of time
01:34:27
um so so you know we got a lot lot left
01:34:31
to do at at the company and and you know
01:34:33
we' got a lot of big projects and stuff
01:34:35
to do and as as we saying before it
01:34:37
always seems like the next big thing is
01:34:39
bigger than the next and you know we
01:34:40
keep keep running towards it but I think
01:34:42
the definition of success for for me is
01:34:45
is is like when it's time to clock out
01:34:48
is is you know reflect back and and like
01:34:51
did you really do everything you could
01:34:53
to have the amount of impact that's
01:34:54
that's how I measure everything against
01:34:56
against that pretty
01:34:57
[Music]
01:34:59
much yeah what about
01:35:02
Legacy well I think your legacy is is is
01:35:04
your impact I mean there's yeah that
01:35:07
that's that that that that that's the
01:35:09
only way you achieve immortality is
01:35:11
actually you know achieving something
01:35:13
for the planet and and and you know
01:35:15
everybody on it that's yeah that's
01:35:18
nobody nobody remembers anything
01:35:20
else mate this has been super inspiring
01:35:23
yeah how's it been for you oh unpleasant
01:35:26
unpleasant unpleasant is it why so well
01:35:30
I mean uh I I I I you know I'm the
01:35:34
Rockets rockets in in in rocket lab you
01:35:38
know that's the priority and and um you
01:35:41
know nobody enjoys talking about you
01:35:43
know themselves for sure you'd be
01:35:44
surprised some people do um so it's been
01:35:47
okay it's an unpleasant experience
01:35:49
that's um it's it's not the go nothing
01:35:51
to do with you though I was going to say
01:35:53
that's not the goal I have for for my
01:35:55
guests yeah I'd like them to have an
01:35:56
enjoyable experience but Pleasant is a
01:35:59
bit harsh were you unfort oh no no no no
01:36:01
no it's interest it's a fascinating
01:36:02
insight into you as a person but um you
01:36:04
I got the feeling when I cornered you at
01:36:06
this gallery and asked you to come on
01:36:07
the podcast that you know you were
01:36:08
reluctant to do so but you you kindly
01:36:10
did do so it's been bloody great um why
01:36:14
did yeah why didn't you just weasle your
01:36:15
way out of it you could have like told
01:36:17
me to message Morgan and I could have
01:36:19
messaged Morgan and then it could have
01:36:20
you know just just fizzled out then well
01:36:23
I mean part of parting of being being a
01:36:25
good leader is to really trust your
01:36:26
people and um you know Morgan does a
01:36:29
great job she told me to go on here so
01:36:31
I'm
01:36:33
here he does listen to some people Hey
01:36:36
sir Peter Beck you're a great New
01:36:38
Zealander um mate this has been an an
01:36:40
absolute dream scenario for me and um
01:36:43
even more so after having the look
01:36:45
around um the rocket lab establishment
01:36:47
last week um it's incredible what you're
01:36:48
doing and um yeah I just cannot wait to
01:36:51
see what you and your team at Rocket
01:36:53
League do in the future oh thanks very
01:36:55
much that's very kind and and you know I
01:36:56
think uh it it is a team right like um
01:36:59
massive team massive team and and you
01:37:01
know people look back at Rocket lab and
01:37:03
and you know it's like the 17 18 year
01:37:05
overnight success but if I look back
01:37:07
through through the history of the
01:37:09
company and all the things that needed
01:37:10
to go right and all the rest of it um
01:37:13
there is like there is so many hundreds
01:37:15
probably thousands of people that that
01:37:17
helped along the way that that kind of
01:37:20
believed in in me or believed in the
01:37:21
company that that things just just just
01:37:23
wouldn't have happened you know whether
01:37:25
it's you know Michael Fay letting me use
01:37:26
his Island to launch a rocket from or um
01:37:29
you know NASA awarding us um a contract
01:37:33
uh for for you know you know first ever
01:37:36
well third turned out to be third flight
01:37:38
of our electron rocket you know they
01:37:40
they took them even that organization
01:37:42
government organization took a huge bit
01:37:44
on on a on a little company down in New
01:37:46
Zealand so you know it it it it is it is
01:37:49
a big team and a lot of people that end
01:37:51
up creating these successes m I honestly
01:37:54
believe that those examples like s
01:37:55
Michael Fay and great Mercury Island and
01:37:57
NASA and everything else it's um people
01:37:59
buying into your vision because um yeah
01:38:01
you're very
01:38:03
intoxicating
01:38:05
okay no you I I don't know a lot of what
01:38:08
you've said today but I believe every
01:38:10
word of it Hey sir Peter Beck thank you
01:38:12
so much thanks Dom appreciate it