Articles

The Queenstown Lakes District Council has approved landmark funding for local economic development. Funding of $220,000 was announced this afternoon for Startup Queenstown Lakes. The group has evolved from The Cube in Wanaka which has been supporting early stage businesses. A further $160,000 has been set aside for other economic development initiatives that are still […]

At this time of year, a lot of businesses are starting to wonder if the sales targets and goals they have just set were realistic. We thought it would be timely to share the biggest mistakes we see businesses making when it comes to sales planning. Mistake 1: Accelerated Growth Rates In this context, your […]

Vodafone has awarded nine Kiwi entrepreneurs entry to its start-up accelerator and innovation lab, Vodafone xone, to take New Zealand’s best start-up ideas global. The start-ups all have technology-based business ideas designed to revolutionise the way we live, work and play. Head of xone and Innovation, Lauren Merritt, says, “In our third year of operation, […]

With the enormous influence of the knowledge economy on business, the value of a strong startup culture as an engine of innovation has been recognised around the world. But identifying how to create the conditions in which start-ups can flourish – channelling something that is essentially spontaneous – has been a far greater challenge. 1. […]

Dunedin has launched a competition to find the city’s most promising startup businesses. Entries are open for the Challenger Series, a competition where three new Dunedin startups could each win up to $65k of value in services and a place in a four-month coaching series featuring Deloitte, Gallaway Cook Allan, Startup Dunedin and proven local […]

I’m not entirely sure what it is about Deborah Hill Cones’ “Stop drinking the entrepreneur Kool-Aid” that I find so perturbing. Is it the way entrepreneurs are tarred with the same dirty brush? The belittling of a particular young mans attempts to do something positive with his life? Or just the general ignorance of the […]

Coca-Cola Amatil and Australian tech startup accelerator BlueChilli have named two New Zealand startups amongst a cohort of twelve to take part in the 6-month, intensive tech accelerator program Xcelerate. The twelve successful founders earned their place from a group of 40, in the inaugural Xcelerate program. The intensive 6-month program, gives early-stage entrepreneurs the […]

Sweden, Norway and Denmark not only share a similar outlook and environment, they are also today’s business leaders in inventive start-up culture. Sweden in particular, has become the start-up capital of Europe by building a societal and business culture that fosters risk-taking through collaboration. According to US News Best Countries 2017 report, in terms of […]