An OFFICIAL witch hunt against me has begun!

SHIT just got real. ACTUALLY!

Kia Ora all,

Ladies and Gentlemen - It looks like the witch hunt against me has OFFICIALLY started. Why? Because last month I stood up publicly for a bunch of innocent Kiwi Founders against Manaaki / We Are Indigo and its Directors Andy Hamilton, Pat MacFie and Monty Betham.

Here’s some FACTS. Not defamation. FACTS. 

1. I was a material witness alongside many others for a Due Diligence Report regarding Manaaki / We Are Indigo that was completed by Callaghan Innovation. 

2. The contents of this full report include hard documented evidence of some pretty despicable, unethical and shocking commercial/personal behavior by Pat MacFie, Andy Hamilton and Monty Betham. All of this info and much more came from witnesses / contacts who I have talked to in specific detail over the past 12-18 months after I was approached by multiple Founders for help.

3. This Callaghan Innovation Due Diligence report was requested months ago by at least 3 media outlets I am aware of including NBR, SpinOff and Mediaworks via OIA.

4. After multiple witnesses agreed to their statements been released from Callaghan Innovation, these statements and the full requested Due Diligence report was not released to the media or made public by Callaghan Innovation. Why not?

5. Since then - Manaaki has received EVEN MORE public funding through another government agency. Who from? Creative NZ. Seriously! Here’s the link.

6. I believe this additional taxpayer money would NOT have been given to Manaaki if the full Due Diligence report and evidence was released when requested by the media, and the facts made public by Callaghan Innovation, and most these government organizations actually talked to each other and disclosed key things like their documented behavior to one another.

Government Funding Received by Manaaki / We Are Indigo:

• MBIE Digital Boost - $3,250,000

• MSD - Digital Doers - $1,500,000

• MSD - Whanake Digital Accelerator - $50,000

• Ministry for Pacific People - Vaka Pasifika Accelerator - $300,000

• Te Puni Kokiri’s Maori Communities COVID Fund - $198,800 - delivering mentoring and business wellbeing support to Maori SMEs during pandemic

• Creative NZ - 12 week pilot - $125,000

TOTAL : $5,423,800 NZD

So instead of Callaghan Innovation releasing this report publicly as requested by 3 media outlets that I know of or sharing their FULL findings with other government agencies like Creative NZ to bring to light all this bad behavior from Manaaki, stop any future government funding and bring justice to the Founders who were done wrong by Manaaki, I have now officially received 3 different government OIA requests regarding Manaaki / We Are Indigo from Callaghan Innovation directed at me personally. SO JUST TO BE CLEAR - instead of the target being the actual bad actors who deliberately hurt these Kiwi Founders - it seems the target has now turned to me, who tried to stand up for these vulnerable Founders when no one else would. 

So today I’m MORE than happy to say this publicly - It’s blatantly clear this now ISN’T about protecting, supporting and helping any of our Kiwi Founders grow safely at all - but it’s feeling more and more like a coordinated few in power are REALLY trying to protect Andy, Pat, Monty and Manaaki / We Are Indigo so they can stay in business and keep their millions of dollars of government contracts coming in. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look at who’s connected here personally AND professionally over some key players LONGGGG career histories that’s made this happen. Hint hint.

After I released my own OIA statement publicly, a statement which was requested months earlier by media but not released by Callaghan Innovation - Andy Hamilton sent an email to someone in the industry saying “We are an open book, we have nothing to hide from”. Well Andy……………

SIMPLE QUESTION : If Manaaki / We Are Indigo really are an ‘open book’ with ‘nothing to hide from’ then why is Manaaki’s legal team and certain individuals various long standing ‘connections’ all throughout the ecosystem aggressively trying to stop this release of the Callaghan’s Due Diligence Report by any means necessary? 

SIMPLE SOLUTION : How about you and Callaghan Innovation agree to release the FULL report, including all the witnesses' testimonies and all their accompanying evidence? I mean, if you keep publicly claiming you ‘have nothing to hide’ - That seems pretty fair right?

The current system and process in Aotearoa which our startup and SME system is counting on is now looking like it can’t even protect Founders, Staff and Partners, so how about I turn the tables on this gong show and just Frank Lucas this shit and go straight to the source. I have a REAL and practical solution for Manaaki / We Are Indigo. 

Dear Manaaki - How about we ‘end all hearsay in the ecosystem’ together? How about you agree to release the full Due Diligence report from Callaghan Innovation, and all the internal comms in regards to your application and then you join me 1 on 1 for a #robettLIVE Exclusive Live Stream Interview for the world to see? This would give us all the opportunity to screen share the ENTIRE report page by page together?

Soooooo I would officially like to invite (aka challenge) Andy Hamilton, Pat MacFie, Monty Betham and Rachel Adams to all come onto a LIVE interview alongside the full unredacted government documents, witness statements and all evidence to clear the air once and for all. I also have a list of VERY specific follow up questions regarding an additional range of issues brought up by other parties that were too scared to be interviewed then but have approached me directly since, so I even have some more documents to share and ask about publicly which I am sure everyone would love to know about. I’ve got RECEIPTS!!! And no doubt some of the media and public could jump in for some real interactive Q&A with you too. Sounds like a blast right?

So Team Manaaki - when would you like to go LIVE with this report and public interview to ‘clear up any ‘misunderstandings’? And don’t worry - my legal team has made it explicitly clear it’s impossible to get sued for defamation if what I say publicly or publish is actually true. But weirdly enough I found out months ago after your ‘timely’ communications to some of my commercial partners that I can actually sue others personally if they’ve falsely accused me of specific things publicly - Especially if they were documented with a clear paper trail. Mmmmmm. That really does seem to ring a bell. Might need to look into that and pull this trigger after the Founders have finally gotten their well deserved justice.

This is simple Andy, Pat and Monty. You’ve received over $5,000,000 in taxpayers funding and you have proudly claimed you have ‘nothing to hide’. So simply agree to Release the full Callaghan Innovation Due Diligence report and come LIVE on air and let’s close this chapter once and for all….. PUBLICLY. 

On a serious note - this whole fiasco with Manaaki / We Are Indigo which has been going on for over 2 years now is giving me NO faith in our system, NO faith in our processes for justice and fairness, NO faith for those in power, NO trust in those supposed to help and support the vulnerable, and as we speak is leaving MANY more innocent kiwi Founders/Staff/Associates still hiding in the shadows and keeping their voices / painful experiences suppressed out of fear by these bullies who continue to flex and strut around publicly. We should be ashamed of this current system. I certainly am!

And if this is the type of weak leadership that exists in these critical parts of our NZ startup / SME ecosystem across various organizations where money and power mixes with politics, who after all of this still don’t have the actual ethical decency and Mana to do what’s right for their own people they are there to actually protect - then shame on you all. Seriously. Shame on you all!

How have we disintegrated trust of some of NZ’s ‘industry leaders’ to such a pathetically shameful low bar where a situation like this with Manaaki has been left to fester in the shadows for so long, and finally get extrapolated to such a horrendous moment in time where those that really care and matter want nothing to do with you any of you. You are now all looking like a JOKE. So I say to you all - here’s a moment of truth. A moment to REALLY stand for something, or a moment to get exposed even further. What you decide to do next will speak volumes for all of us watching.

Finally, if anyone reading this thinks I’m going to be intimidated, scared away or will back down a single inch to Andy Hamilton, Pat MacFie, Monty Betham and their entire team at Manaaki / We Are Indigo, their legal team or any other piece of shit bully in the Startup / SME industry who has deliberately and purposefully hurt innocent people that I care about, and is now actually stupid enough to try to put me in their crosshairs personally - you really picked the wrong one. I’m NOT that guy!

To make my position crystal clear - I genuinely DO NOT GIVE A SHIT about your self imposed titles, brand, position, legacy, backchannels, political buddies, organizational influence, personal contacts, boardroom ‘credibility’, industry history, perceived ‘power’ and your ego blinded narcissistic arrogance which makes you think any of your bad behavior is ok.

The Founders who I continue to stand up for have nothing but truth on their side. And trust me - one way or another - IT WILL COME OUT!

To Manaaki / We Are Indigo and it’s Directors - Here are 3 things you should ACTUALLY be fearful about:
1. Any member of parliament asking on the record in the house to ask how the content and findings of this Due Diligence report was not FULLY disclosed to another government agency? And then how did Manaaki receive even more government funds? How did this happen?
2. The Ombudsman getting involved and Callaghan Innovation finally releasing this report publicly with all the witnesses statements and documented evidence for all to see, because at this point it’s clearly ‘in the public interest’.
3. Karma!

In my life - I only fear 3 things. The rath of God, the rath of Karma and the fury from my Mexican wife. You amateur unethical clowns definitely don’t make the cut. 

This shit is simple…….

LET’S PROTECT THE FOUNDERS - NOT THE PREDATORS.

My name is Robett Hollis
I am a proud Kiwi Founder
And I FULLY approve this message

• Robett

ps. A FINAL PUBLIC CALL OUT. If you're a Founder/Staff/Partner that has been wronged, bullied, intimidated, threatened, screwed, rolled or hurt IN ANY WAY by Manaaki / We Are Indigo or Andy Hamilton, Pat MacFie and anyone associated with them in your own careers journey to date but have been too scared to speak out until reading this - please reach out to me privately directly via DM or at kiaora@robett.com. I am more than happy to listen and support you with ANY resources if I can. You won’t be the first, and you won’t be the last. There are A LOT of supporters in your corner - including me. Much love yo!