If you haven’t read my previous article Start-up Weekend PASIFIKA, then I suggest reading that first before continuing. But if it’s a bit TL;DwR (Too Long; Don’t wanna Read) then here is a quick recap:
- Techstars Start-up Weekends are a global phenomenon, I attended the Start-up Weekend PASIFIKA in Porirua, 2017 Friday evening, I pitched my app idea that compares grocery items in your local area, formed a small team and planned the rest of the weekend.
- Saturday, we started surveying people, developing a business plan and a mock-up of the app. We worked with mentors to develop our 5min pitch.
- Sunday, we continued surveying people, worked on our business and roll out model, developing our app mock-up, and practising our 5min pitch.
We didn’t place but I learned a lot from the weekend.
After the PASIFIKA Start-up Weekend, I continued my Start-up journey and wanted to learn more and connect with other similar social entrepreneurs, so I signed up to the Wellington Start-up Weekend 2019, held at Victoria University Business School. This time I wanted to be a participant rather than pitch an idea, leaving the heavy lifting to someone else.
The Weekend was hosted by Travis Cornwall, EY Consultant, and Ryan Walker, Instinct NZ; and keeping a watchful eye was Start-up Legend Dave Mosk. The introductions, icebreakers and challenges kept a vibrant beat, and the creative juices were flowing as the pitches started. One idea stood out for me, a website platform that compares financial options for High School leavers pitched by an enthusiastic Anna Ou. Six of us joined her team and worked on her idea that night.
We continued the next morning yet kept looping back onto ourselves and getting side-tracked. I prompted Anna to think back to what she was trying to help solve; a platform that helped students compare financial options to study. Keeping that as our focus, we set off on our tasks; validating the idea through survey’s, developing a business plan, creating a mock-up of the site, and working on the pitch.
We had a team of very keen and talented people, yet somehow could not come up with a name and had to settle with [Place holder name]. We met with different mentors, each giving great advice, and worked on our idea; my focus was the business plan, with others working on a mock-up of the website and marketing. We grinded till late that night.
Sunday brought new learning for me, as we met with mentors to work on our business plan and was introduced to business terminologies and concepts; path to market, CAC, LTV, ARPU, Unit economics, and EBIT. Thankfully the mentors were patient, supportive and helped us develop a business plan for the pitch. Just before lunch we decided on a name and tagline; F0RT, Build you financial fortitude and wellbeing #jointhefortitude.
Anna continued practicing the pitch as the evening arrived. F0RT was placed in the middle of the pitching order, and as the pitches started, we saw the bar was set high. Anna delivered an enthusiastic and informative pitch, yet we missed out on a placing; the winner was Honi Mead, who were setting up a partnership with a local brewing company and had developed a drinkable product.
The weekend has given me a renewed focus, new knowledge and capabilities, great connections and the confidence to put myself and my business out there. I attended the recent reunion and caught up with several others working on their ideas and shared their post-weekend experiences. Several realising, like I did, that a lot of time, hard work and money is needed to continue their momentum.
Since drafting this article, I have made connections in the social enterprise community, and focused to support local social enterprise start-ups to develop purposeful product and service ideas. Many great ideas remain in ideation purgatory, Pūtahi Innovations Limited seeks to support, foster and help grow these ideas.
If, like me, you are considering attending a second Start-up Weekend, you should! You will learn a lot more about your own knowledge and capabilities the second time. I found both valuable for my own journey and have put my name in for the next Start-up Weekend as a Mentor. There is always one around the corner somewhere, its just a matter of giving it a go!