<p>David Downs is a man with a wild CV: he quit university to become a comedian, helped build the New Zealand comedy scene, co-founded The Classic and even wrote a few books.&nbsp;</p><br><p>Then somehow pivoted into tech, ended up working for Microsoft, running the show across Southeast Asia.&nbsp;And now he is the chairman of The Icehouse and works in government helping shape how the world sees New Zealand.</p><br><p>But there is so much for to his story than the wild career:</p><p>A few years ago, David was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. What started as feeling a bit run down turned into being told he had less than a year to live… and that there was no treatment options left in New Zealand.</p><br><p>And that’s where things take a pretty wild turn.</p><br><p>Through a random LinkedIn message, he ends up getting access to a cutting-edge treatment in Boston. Problem is… it costs about a million US dollars.</p><p>So in this episode, we get into all of it.&nbsp;</p><br><p>We also talk about what he’s doing now to help bring that same life-saving treatment to New Zealand, so other Kiwis don’t have to go through what he did.</p><p>There’s a lot in this one, laughter and tears.&nbsp;It’s heavy in parts, but also funny, honest, and genuinely inspiring.&nbsp;All told by a man with an incredible ability of telling a great story.</p><br><p>David’s one of those people who’s been through something huge… and instead of just moving on, he’s decided to use it to help others.</p><p>It was the first time we met.&nbsp;I thoroughly enjoyed his company and I think you will too.</p><br><p>Check out the work being done at the Malaghan Institute: https://www.malaghan.org.nz/</p><br><p>Donate here: https://donate.malaghan.org.nz/event/go-the-distance/home</p><br><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>