David Downs

A business leader, ex-comedian, board director and terminal cancer survivor

At the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown, David co-founded sosbusiness.nz, a not-for-profit initiative to help bars, cafes and other small businesses sell vouchers. It quickly became a huge hit and to date has sold over $1.5 million in vouchers for over 2500 small businesses. Based on that experience, he published a book about the innovation that happened during covid-19 in New Zealand, ’Silver Linings’, published by Penguin.

In January 2017, David was facing a terminal diagnosis and given less than a year to live, but managed to beat cancer. In his book A Mild Touch of the Cancer, David’s reflects on the remarkable series of lucky breaks that saw him beat cancer, and on his new approach to life.

In his previous life, David was a General Manager at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) for ten years, helping fast growing tech companies grow internationally, and leading a cross-government project for the Agritech sector. David also spent 13 years at Microsoft, in New Zealand and as regional director for South East Asia, and he has set up and run successful businesses of his own. He’s also an ex-comedian, TV and Radio actor, semi-finalist for New Zealander of the Year.