bio.t DISRUPT MBA
Are you out to disrupt your world, regeneratively? Are you an entrepreneur (or have an entrepreneurial mindset)?
Our signature bio.t Disrupt MBA program takes you step by step through the business model innovation process. It’s unlike any other MBA - using Nature’s disruptive design thinking. So you can disrupt your world, and make money.
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You’re a disruptive entrepreneur, or change agent with an entrepreneurial mindset.
You’re asking yourself: How do I go about the process of disrupting my world? How might I do it regeneratively? What steps do I take? Where do I start?
You’re dismissive of the 20th century thinking that sits in most of the entrepreneurial / design thinking / Agile playbooks.
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A clear roadmap + blueprint guide to follow?
A personal guided journey that meets you where you’re at?
Cutting-edge biotech, biomimicry, bio-materials, bio-processing case studies?
Real-life working examples and tips from someone who’s been in the arena?
The ability to network with other disruptors like yourself?
A price affordable option, packed with value?
And some goddamn positivity, inspiration and fun!?
Previously offered privately to clients like Ārepa, Dr Feelgood, Leaderful, Lof and Circularity, and offered in groups within the Academy EX professional Masters Disruptive Tech program, and guest lectured in part within the Auckland University MBA program. Now live online with Melissa.
common BMI problems
we solve
Quotes from qualitative insight interviews with circular bioeconomy founders, Q1-Q2 2026.
“The business model and lean canvases just told me what I already knew. They didn’t provoke any further thought. They weren’t insight led. And my business model didn’t fit their grid. The way they describe a market, define a customer, create a value proposition made no sense. They had the wrong starting points.” – marine biomaterials founder
“I had to use my own intuition to think through all the contextual conditions. There wasn’t any tool. I wish I had had a better handle on all the market connections”” – circular founder
“TAM / SAM / SUM are useless for disruptors. It’s a whole waste of time. We’re redefining markets.“ – biomaterials founder
“So much of it boiled down to being able to see and leverage what’s abundant around you. No accelerator program taught us that.” – biomaterials founder
“In hindsight I realised that the #1 barrier to innovation and industry adoption wasn’t the business case, it was legislation. And those behind it. If I had known this upfront, I would have played it differently”- pioneering carbon to value biotech founder
“Biotech is so novel. Its navigating into the unknown. You need to understand where value is in the system, how it flows across all socio – eco aspects. Where are all the pains and gains? This helps you better articulate the $$$ benefits.” – biomimicry advisor to biotech founders
“When you understand where the bio value is, it helps short circuit and filter out the noise” - biofertiliser founder
“Biotech means working back from the system to the process to a value prop. It’s a reverse BMI order.” – carbon to value biotech founder
“There are so many high value valorisation opportunities with biomass. There needs to be way better ways of working out how to connect and partner within the ecosystem” – bio circular fertiliser founder
“It’s hard for biotech founders to communicate and sell the benefits of their offering because they haven’t identified the full value across all socio / eco benefits. They underestimate the value potential because they can’t see the full context” - advisor to biotech startups
“You need to look way past customers to work out where you fit in the system, what you’re replacing, who cares the most, who your partners are, who you can leverage to help. Those with the biggest pain. Its more than a systems map, it’s like a web of value.” – bio circular agri waste founder
bio.t DISRUPT MBA Strategy
NEXT COHORT Q4 2026
bio.t METHOD Step 1 - 5
4 months | 10 sessions | Zoom live
DISCOVERY focused. Market ecosystem + Value chain + Customer Insight. DISTILLED into strategic direction.
bio. t DISRUPT MBA Innovation
NEXT COHORT Q4 2026
bio.t METHOD Step 6 - 7
2 months | 10 sessions | Zoom live
DESIGN focused. Value proposition development + Operational model.
bio.t DISRUPT MBA Transformation
NEXT COHORT Q4 2026
bio.t METHOD Step 8 - 10
2 months | 7 sessions | Zoom live
DEFINE + DEPLOY focused. Marketing mix + Network model + Monetization + Strategic action plan.
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“Melissa’s energy, empathy and experience have led me to believe she is a real world walking Wonder Woman! Within a short-time frame Melissa was able to help me craft the right business plan and strong brand positioning to attract investment and move forward into early stage market entry. Without her help I would have struggled to get to where I am now!”
Angus Brown, Founder Ārepa
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“It is hard to express in words just how incredible my experience working with Melissa was. Her structured design-thinking program has given me a solid base to completely redesign my business. It has truly exceeded all of my expectations.”
Sophie Poelman, Founder Lof
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“Melissa is a super power. She serves up gold. Her process is a real gift - she has this amazing way of getting to the core essence of the challenge and building up the process to help you make quality decisions. Her insights and frameworks are world leading. She’s engaging, empathetic, purpose driven and challenging; and she cares deeply.”
Andy Hamilton, CEO The Icehouse
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"Melissa helped me discover potential I hadn’t even thought of. She has the unique ability to help connect the dots using her Regen Method which is a useful and easy framework to follow. This was hugely valuable for my business strategy and I’m so appreciative to her insights and energy.”
Jayne Chater, Founder JC, Altris and Professionelle
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"Melissa is quite simply a world class design practitioner. She exposed core challenges and provided a clear strategic way forward. I've been consistently impressed with her ability to balance strategic and commercial demands within environments that are rapidly evolving.”
Abraham Gibson, Board member World Vision and tech entrepreneur
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"Melissa is a holistic thinker. She combines what are typically thought of as 'fluffy' concepts with quite a 'hard' edge of frameworks and outputs. It’s magic combo. She provides our Masters students with a way to see, and move through the complexity of a system. She gives order to the disorder and gets people unstuck. This is the key to momentum. It's awesome!"
Sarah Hindle, GM Academy EX - for entrepreneurial Masters disruptive tech students
