Can you tell us the origin story of Lumin?
I was an engineering student at UC working on the city’s post-earthquake rebuild and saw a need to digitise all the paper blueprints floating around. Between my bedroom here in Christchurch and my student digs at Stanford University, I cobbled together the first version of Lumin.
Did the pandemic have an impact on your rapid growth? How have you managed that?
It definitely did, but we had good growth already. We were growing at more than 70% year on year, but the pandemic really made us level up. Everyone needed to find software solutions – not just tech people, it was people across the board – and I think that gave the public a better appreciation for good software. Our whole lives were suddenly surrounded by software.
This increase in user numbers alongside their need for good tools helped us improve the quality of Lumin a lot, too.
You’ve recently moved back to Christchurch – what lured you back from sunny California?
I really wanted to work here because the people in Christchurch are fantastic. There is a fantastic university here – UC – but the business landscape isn’t as built out as Auckland. This makes Christchurch the prime place to build a start-up team. I was already working with a few people here remotely before I moved back, and our first two in-person hires here, Lucy and Caleb, are wonderful. I am lucky to have them.
I also wanted to bring tech back to Christchurch because this is where I was educated. I wanted to expand the market here.
What’s it like running a global business from here?
Lumin has been running remotely from day one; in California it was a remote business as well. It’s great to work with different people from around the world, although it does mean a lot of time on Zoom.
Looking to the next 5 years, even 10 years, what goals do you have for the company?
Our goal at the moment is to process a billion documents a year. In 5 years, we want Lumin to be a household name.
What is a memory or experience that stands out to you when looking back at your time at UC?
I started at UC in 2010, so in my second year I was taught engineering out of a church in Avonhead for six months because it was the only place that was structurally sound. The university did not let the earthquake keep us from an education.
Read more on Max's entrepreneurial journey in our 150th Alumni Showcase here.
