Words: John McCrone Photo: Iain McGregor

Everyone is going to get their ‘‘Kodak moment’’, the day tech kills their familiar working world. Watch it come for panelbeaters and car insurers.

Huh? Cookie Time entrepreneur Michael Mayell is clearly still abuzz from the Singularity University event he helped bring to Christchurch last year. Thirteen exponential technology trends which are going to change absolutely everything. Kodak is the famous example of getting caught out. ‘‘From being the third most valuable brand in the world, it was bankrupt three years later because of digital photography,’’ says Mayell. So think through the consequences of something like self-driving electric vehicles. The impact on van and taxi driving jobs is obvious. ‘‘But panelbeaters and car insurers will also be gone because driverless cars won’t have accidents.’’ Mayell says this is why he has a new mantra. ‘‘If your business is not going exponential, then you’re going out of business.’’ And right now, 56-year-old Mayell certainly seems crazy full of new ventures. When we meet, he is in the middle of selling his home office and going virtual with a new business proposition, Nutrient Rescue – your daily fruit and veg requirement delivered as a powdered sachet shot drink.

He also wants to move to Northland, build an eco-commune subdivision using Israeli hot-house technology. Hemp is another big thing. And starting up the ‘‘Uber/Airbnb of home-made takeaways’’ is a plan.

Then there is his ‘‘Drinkable Rivers’’ billboard campaign, which has been confusing the heck out of motorists in