2015 PROGRAMME REPORT
POWERED BY
www.ventureup.co.nz
This report sets out insights and key information from the Venture Up programme for 2015.
Introduction – the what, how and who of Venture Up
Insights – key learnings and best practice recommendations
Participant demographics – geographical, applicants, gender
Location – participant feedback on the School of Design, Boulcott Hall and Wellington city
Programme – a week by week summary of who came, what we covered, events, reflections
Teams – summary of each team: members, business idea, where to next
Feedback from contributors – specifically on what attracted them to be part of Venture Up
The showcase – who, what, where and comments from those that were there
INTRODUCTION
WHAT
Venture Up is a six-week youth entrepreneurship accelerator programme, based on the successful Lightning Lab startup accelerator programme.
It is targeted at individuals and teams aged 16 – 24, in their first or second year out of secondary school, and aims to build the future generations of New Zealand entrepreneurs
and business leaders. Adapting the expertise and insights from New Zealand’s leading startup accelerator Lightning Lab to the youth demographic, we aim to build innovative
leaders skilled in problem solving and commercialising solutions through proven business tools (e.g. the Lean Startup Methodology), business processes and business
modelling. Venture Up is focusses on team building, market development and the execution of sustainable growth businesses. While successful startup ventures are a desirable
outcome from the six weeks, Venture Up emphasises the personal outcomes for the individual participants, particularly business skills, personal resilience and connectedness to
the global business and startup community.
HOW
OBJECTIVES: Education, Connection and Resilience
The Seed of an Idea
Getting the Green Light
Participant Selection Process
Putting the Programme Together
Creative HQ chat with YET about building
a bridge for secondary school students to
accelerate their entrepreneurial experience
beyond the YES programme. They decide
to call it ‘Venture Up’.
WCC and VUW as ‘early adopters’ show
their support by offering sponsorship for a
pilot programme in 2015.
YES alumni are invited to submit
applications. The selection process
looks for ambition, drive, leadership
capability, maturity, commitment and
outright potential, to decide who of the 65+
applicants is offered a place.
The CHQ team secure 30+ contributors,
develop the programme content, arrange
all timing and logistics for the 6 weeks;
prepare sponsors, participants, contributors
& stakeholders for the ride ahead.
WHO
FOUNDING PARTNERS
SPONSORS
INSIGHTS
A thorough participant selection process drawing from YES alumni and tapping into Although the concept of ‘getting out of the building’ is often touted, compelling
YET intel secures a top group with sound social and personal skill as well as technical results require a firm push, facilitation and follow up on this.
capability and potential, and group dynamics and team cohesion are more robust.
Weekly sessions on resilience ensure this key message is received well, with the
A programme of this nature attracts a lot of interest and support. Early engagement
individual sessions requiring structure and tangible tools/techniques to take away.
with potential contributors ensures they can make decisions about where they will
Weekly retrospectives (reflection sessions) are critical in making time to reflect and
best add value and commit their time. Then a balance between setting expectations
share, capturing the learning in progress. Field trips and inspiration speakers are
and frameworks up front, partly facilitating throughout, and allowing flexibility around
also best limited to one per week, covering various business types and styles.
timing and individual styles as the programme and ventures unfold.
A workshop on ‘soft skills’ should feature early on, including: how to write an email,
A range of speakers varying in age, experience and style ensures a broad range
make an initial approach, set up a meeting, respond to negative feedback, deal with
coverage of approaches to business, though the ‘young’ and ‘trailblazers’ will often
mentor whiplash, time management and agile practices.
have the most impact. As the programme progresses, speakers should spend less time
‘at the front of the room’ and more with individual teams to increase impact of learning. A balance should be struck between telling and enabling, in certain tasks
participants are supported to figure things out on their own, e.g. team conflicts. Other
A six week duration fits neatly between school and university term dates without
areas require more direction setting, parameters and checking in, e.g. market validating
splitting over Christmas. Carefully considering the sequence, components and pace customer interviews, finance requirements.
of programme (with a small contingency for unforeseeable changes) ensures the
maximum learning and output. An extra day or two following the Showcase should be
The VU team should provide guidance up front on the ‘emotional journey’ ahead
built in for a final wind-down, to capture and share feelings, complete surveys and talk and strategies to cope. Regular one-on-one sessions between VU team and
to media.
participants set early and solid foundations of trust and respect – flexible in duration
depending on individuals need but should occur weekly in some form.
A consistent daily/weekly format allows teams to plan their own activity and drive
their businesses with greater independence, along with the full programme being
Awesome facilities were key – central location, urban feel, cultural surrounds and
made available to participants and mentors early, and referred to regularly throughout, natural environment all contributed to a safe, comfortable and fun place allowing a
with ‘real time’ updates using a shared platform.
focus on the learning but break away when needed.
A half day dedicated to idea storming and team forming ensures enough time
but keeps pressure on individuals to think fast – setting the tone for the rest of the
programme. A robust follow up process over the next few days can iron out potential
later kinks, particularly addressing what teams can expect if they are made up of new
and pre-existing members.
The equivalent to two full-time resources is needed to ensure the group always has
someone onsite, urgent needs can be addressed quickly, and capturing the experience
and crafting regular comms in a proactive way.
PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS
65 applications
NORTHLAND
AUCKLAND
27 participants
MANAWATU
MALBOROUGH
WELLINGTON
KAIKOURA
CHRISTCHURCH
37%
male
63%
female
LOCATION
VUW SCHOOL OF DESIGN
VUW BOULCOTT HALL
WELLINGTON
On a scale of 1-5, ALL participants rated
their experience of the VUW’s Design
School campus as either a 4 or a 5 out of 5
On a scale of 1-5,
80% of participants
rated their experience
of VUW’s Boulcott
Hall a 5 out of 5
ALL participants thought that, as an
entrepreneur, Wellington would be a
great place to start a business.
“It was a really cool space that had a good creative
design and atmosphere which made it fun to be
working indoors”
76% said Venture Up was the main
factor in that perception
“The workspace was awesome!”
“I found it a really good space that has everything we
need and is close to many places we needed to get to.”
12
“It was an awesome setting for our programme as we
were all together which really made the programme the
most fun for me to be able to work on my business and
refer to our teammates easily as well as socialise with
everyone.”
“It did seem like home away from home at times. The
RA’s took really good care of us as well, always there
when we needed them.”
10
8
6
“The staff have been awesome, always happy to help
out when we’ve asked, the food has been good, the
facilities are great and the location makes getting
everywhere really easy.”
4
2
0
1/5
2/5
3/5
4/5
5/5
“I think you can start a business anywhere in the
world. The startup culture is very central and vibrant in
Wellington, which definitely gives it an advantage over
the rest of New Zealand.”
“Wellington’s business community is really central and
close so I find it really convenient.”
“Wellington contains the best people and environment
to be creative and to get help from other entrepreneurs.
I think Wellington has a different style of doing things
which makes business more exciting.”
Business Basics
PROGRAMME
forming your team and understanding key tools
MENTORS:
WHAT WE COVERED:
Claudia Batten – serial entrepreneur, founder of Massive Software,
Victors and Spoils
• Sharing potential BUSINESS IDEAS in a pitch format and
FORMING TEAMS around the best of these
• Key business tools including the BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS
and JAVELIN BOARD
• What’s an MVP?
• How to write and deliver an ELEVATOR PITCH
• Tips on what, how and when to ENGAGE EARLY CUSTOMERS
• LEGAL 101 – including shareholder agreements and common
legal issues and risks for startups
Nick Rowney – director, company owner, Lightning Lab mentor
Alan Hucks – head of incubation at Creative HQ
Simon Swallow – investor, director, owner & CEO of Charter
Square Services
Bruno Bordignon – owner at Duncan Cotterill Lawyers and Angel
HQ board member
LEARNINGS:
EVENTS:
“Timelines matter!”- Ben Seelen, TRIBE
2 x Mentor Mixers – speed dating style
Field trip to Optimal BI with Victoria McLennan
“Never be afraid to ask for something,
as the worst answer someone can come back
with is only no.”
- Emily Tasker, FLATPAK
Customers
PROGRAMME
Market validation and building your team
MENTORS:
WHAT WE COVERED:
Ezel Kokcu – entrepreneur, co-founder of STQRY
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Tim Alpe – founder and Chief Jucifier at Jucy, entrepreneur
extraordinaire
Greg Twemlow – startup manager at Creative HQ
How to write, execute and analyse CUSTOMER SURVEYS
Ways to MEASURE early SUCCESS
The importance of TEAM CULTURE and how to get it
STARTING OUT small scale while keeping a GLOBAL FOCUS
BUILDING A ROADMAP to forecast and track your business
goals and activities
Owen Evans – founder of Hoist Apps, former head architect for
XERO
Mike Riversdale – business expert, co-founder and internet guru
Phil Veal – CE of Rangitira and Chair of KEA NZ
EVENTS:
LEARNINGS:
“Build the relationship, not the business”
- Kryten Vlug, FLATPAK
Field trip to Wellington Chocolate Factory
with Gabe Davidson
Film night
“It isn’t necessary that you only be in one business, you
can end up going through many before you find success.”
- Shannon Sologar, EL PALEO
Product/ market fit
PROGRAMME
Map market potential and identify partners
MENTORS:
WHAT WE COVERED:
Rachel Taulelei – business guru, director, founder & managing
director of Yellow Brick Road
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Amanda Santos – high growth CE, board member
Laura Reitel – startup mentor, investor, former manager of
TechStars Boulder
Jonny McKenzie – hospitality guru, founder and CEO of PosBoss
AGILE 101 – key tools including: Kanban boards, daily
stand-ups and fist-to-five
Further work on engaging with customers and PRODUCT
VALIDATION
How to identify your TOTAL ADDRESSABLE MARKET
Who, why and how of identifying and building PARTNERSHIPS
Learning the basics of code with a CODESMASHERS in-house
workshop
Rhys Faleafa – Executive Director at Pacific Business Trust and
company founder
LEARNINGS:
EVENTS:
Pitch Dinner with Sponsors – YET, WCC and VUW
“Ensure you are schooled up on your industry”
- Emily Tasker, FLATPAK
Field trip to Xero and talk with Philip Fierlinger
Field trip to Gibson Group with Victoria Spackman
Halfway celebration dinner
“Competition is not necessarily a bad
thing!” - Jonathan Brandon, KUDOS
Selling
PROGRAMME
Market positioning and sales technique
MENTORS:
WHAT WE COVERED:
Amanda Santos – high growth CE, board member
• Understanding your audience and crafting unique MESSAGING &
POSITIONING for impact
• An INTRO to CROWDFUNDING the Pledgeme way
• How NZ compares to GLOBAL MARKETS and their cultures
• SALES & MARKETING on a shoestring
• HOW TO PITCH – content, format and style
Anna Guenther – founder and Chief Bubble Blower at PledgeMe
Tim Bennett – CE of NZX
Sam Bonney – Lightning Lab programme manager
Sarah Gibbs – co-founder of Trilogy, director
Mark Vivian – director, investor, partner at MOVAC
LEARNINGS:
EVENTS:
Field trip to Six Barrel Soda with Joe Slater
“Know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it – it pays
to be ready and prepared going into every meeting”
- Michael Lough, KUDOS
Film night
“Positive feedback from important people
is a huge motivation”
- Sarah Methven, EL PALEO
Building growth
PROGRAMME
Financials and governance
MENTORS:
WHAT WE COVERED:
Jon Mellors & Kevin Summerhays – Deloitte
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Dave Allison – financial expert, investment broker, manager of
Angel HQ
Simon Swallow – investor, director, owner & CEO of Charter
Square Services
FINANCE 101 – including forecasting costs and pricing models
What’s a BALANCE SHEET?
Understanding BUSINESS MODELS and developing your own
Various ways of RAISING CAPITAL and what’s best for your
business
How to appoint and make the most of your ADVISORS & BOARD
CROWDFUNDING types – projects vs equity
Melissa Clark-Reynolds – serial entrepreneur, board member
Sam Knowles – chairman, board director, ex CEO of Kiwibank
Anna Guenther – founder and Chief Bubble Blower at PledgeMe
Dave Moskovitz – startup guru, tech founder, investor, lead mentor
at Lightning Lab
EVENTS:
Field trip to Good Nature
Pitch Practice and dinner with mentors
LEARNINGS:
“The business model advice has made a huge difference
- our ‘ask’ is now really compelling” - Tasi Nofoaiga,
SOHLER HOMES
“We’ve been super focused this week - it
was great to get our finances sorted!”
- Michael Lough, KUDOS
Pitching
PROGRAMME
Pitch and graduation
MENTORS:
WHAT WE COVERED:
Vaughan Rowsell – founder and CE of Vend
• What comes AFTER VENTURE UP? Taking some time to think
about what comes next.
• PITCH PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
130+ supporters!
EVENTS:
LEARNINGS:
“We have a real motivation to carry on beyond Venture Up”
- Steph Benseman, FILTR
SHOWCASE!
Post production breakfast and reflection
“Expectations and accountability within
the team are key” - Ben Seelen, ILLUNO
“Now that we’ve developed our business model, we are more certain of
ourselves and our idea, and can talk more confidently when challenged by
others” - Jonathan Brandon, KUDOS
TEAMS
EL PALEO
FILTR
FLATPAK
TRIBE
Hannah, Jess, Sarah, Shanon S, Raniella
Steph, Jade, Stacey, Heidi, Shannon M
Emily, Anika, Kryten, Alysha
Ben, Bradley, Aditi, Lilia, Wilson
The paleo-diet friendly chocoate product
was an existing YES business for Jess
and Sarah before the others joined the
team to take it further at Venture Up. The
team focused on refining the product and
packaging, market validation, developing
their business model and expanding sales
& marketing.
A fresh idea conceived at Venture Up, this
team went through several iterations to
come up with their final business model – a
recruitment tool for businesses, using a
Tinder-like interface to quickly and easily
source interns and graduates who are
studying in relevant fields. Their MVP
is a manually operated version before
developing an app.
Flatpak, a collapsible bag for the back of
quad bikes, was an existing YES business
for Emily and Anika with Kryten and Alysha
joining the ride. After further market and
product validation the team developed an
improved prototype, sourced manufacturers
and reduced production costs. Focusing
on raising awareness and funds to produce
the first 100, they launched a PledgeMe
campaign at Showcase.
A fresh idea brewed at Venture Up, Tribe is
all about healthy and sustainable energy on
the form of a drink. The team focused on
market validation and product development,
maximising contacts and connections, and
sales and marketing strategies.
What’s next… the team are continuing
with El Paleo and workimg on ongoing
reols and responsibilities for the next
phase of the business.
What’s next… the team are continuing
with Filtr, have secured their board
of advisors and are working through
ongoing roles and continuation plan.
What’s next… Emily and Anika are
continuing with Flatpak, exhibiting
at Field Days around NZ. Kryten
and Alysha will remain minority
stakeholders.
What’s next… the team are continuing
with Tribe, basing the business in
Auckland, and are currently working
through the team configuration before
their initial production in early April
2015.
TEAMS
KUDOS
NOTIFR
SOHLER HOMES
Jonathan, Michael, Chance, Elijah
Sam & Varoon
Tasi & Naotia
Solving the pain point of providing a common place
for friends and family to grieve the loss of a loved one,
Kudos was a brand new business brought to life at
Venture Up. The team focused on market validation,
defining (and redefining) their product offering and
securing their first customers.
Having met an earlier startup conference Varoon and
Sam came with a partially validated venture around
teacher/student feedback. They focused on further
market validation, product development, their business
model and maximising contacts. They secured five pilot
agreements with education institutions, one of which is
currently underway.
Housing is a well-recognised problem in NZ and these
ladies wanted to focus on finding a unique and impactful
solution. Conceived at Venture Up, their idea was a
mobile modular solution where various types of rooms
can be moved easily onto a property to offer extra
space for large families in small homes. They focused
on developing their business model and where their
business could offer value.
What’s next… the team are continuing with
Kudos and working through ongoing roles and
responsibilities within the business.
What’s next… the team are continuing with Notifr
and seeing through the user pilots.
What’s next… the team are continuing with Sohler
Homes, with a pilot due in March 2015.
FEEDBACK FROM CONTRIBUTORS:
What attracted you to being part of
“Exposing people at the beginning of their career to the
idea that entrepreneurship is a valid career path.”
- OWEN EVANS, CE and Founder of HOIST
?
“Helping youths who are actively into business.” VICTORIA SPACKMAN, CE of GIBSON GROUP
“Young kids with ambition - love to help.”
- PHIL VEAL, CE of RANGITIRA and Chair of KEA
“It sounded like an adventure for me, mentors and
the students with only positive endings possible, who
wouldn’t want to be a part of that?”
- MIKE RIVERSDALE
“I’ve recently had two children finish up their high school education and having followed
their journey I’m not convinced that they’re well prepared for the fluid work culture of the
21st century. Their education seems to have prepared them better for work in the 1960’s
then nowadays. Venture Up seems to be trying to address that by encouraging kids to think
for themselves and make their own opportunities.”
- ADRIAN FALVEY, CE and Founder of TOUCHTECH
“The concept of growing NZ
entrepreneurs.”
- JONNY MCKENZIE, CE and
Founder of POSBOSS
“Opportunity to mentor and encourage young
entrepreneurs.”
- VICTORIA MCLENNAN, CE and
co-founder of OPTIMAL BI
“Credibility of Creative HQ and Young Enterprise Scheme to create
something meaningful, plus wanting to help future entrepreneurs with
the bridge out of school into life” - MARK VIVIAN, Partner, MOVAC
THE SHOWCASE
Kevin Summerhays (DELOITTE) @phraxosisland Feb 18
130+
Some fine pitching at #ventureupnz . Great
to see young entrepreneurs doing so well & a
network of support for them.
Brett Holland (Creative HQ) @bhollandnz Feb 18
guests
I’m very proud of @CreativeHQ for a great
#ventureupnz program
including: mentors, investors, startup/ business
owners, private/ public sector, local government
representatives and family & friends
I want to be 17 again. So jealous of your
adventures! #VentureUpNZ
7
pitches
4th
trending in NZ on twitter that night
1
awesome wellington venue
Dave Craig (BCC) @caffeinatednz Feb 17
Anna Guenther (PLEDGEME) @where_is_anna Feb 17
So proud of all the #VentureUpNZ teams. Fab
folk, fab work, fab ideas, and so many fab
ladies. #ahtheyouth
Philippa Bowron (WCC) @PhilippaBowron Feb 17
And here is our exciting future #ventureupnz
Innovate Welly @InnovateWelly Feb 17
Look out world #VentureUpNZ watch this
space!
Julie @wellyjulz Feb 17
My fav part of the #VentureUpNZ presentations
is the variety of businesses: digital, food, drinks,
social housing…
Owen Williams (NEXT WEB) @ow Feb 17
Awesome thing: #ventureupnz startup program
here in Wellington, NZ was 50% female
NEXT STEPS
2015 Participants ENGAGEGMENT PLAN
2015 Speakers & Mentors ENGAGEMENT PLAN
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End of programme survey
Monthly check-in and support offer
July/Aug 2015 – Venture up 2015 reunion
Monthly check-in and support offer
12 month full retrospective
NEXT
End of programme survey and interviews
End of Feb – follow up email
End of March – final ‘postcard from Venture Up’
July/Aug – Venture Up 2015 reunion
Quarterly updates thereafter
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FUTURE OUTLOOK
$300k funding from the Ministry for Youth Development has been secured toward Venture Up programmes for 2016/2017.
Actively seeking further funding to roll out the programme to at least one other NZ major city.
Long term strategy to have the full 6-week Venture Up programmes running out of several main centres concurrently and
Venture Up bootcamps occurring mid-year in various NZ locations.
CLASS OF 2015