You’re probably asking yourself how this relates to innovation or even business and what in the world you could learn from Mike Tyson. Let me explain…

I’d hazard a guess that my interpretation isn’t quite what “Iron Mike” had in mind when he made the statement but within the context of innovation he really hit the nail on the head.  As the quote implies, once you take a punch, the game plan goes out the window and you do whatever it is you need to survive and endure.  After taking a punch to the head, you’re flailing about in the boxing ring, trying to avoid subsequent punches. At this moment, the last thing you’re thinking about is the plan you meticulously developed for the fight. The plan that you believed would ensure victory. Just like any savvy boxer, most companies do some form of business plan (or business case. For this piece I’ll use the two interchangeably) before they invest in a new product or service. The result is often similar, with the market not reacting as predicted and the plan quickly becoming irrelevant. Ultimately most of business plans don’t survive first contact with customers; in fact most of them barely make it through the first round.

At The ICEHOUSE we work with a range of businesses, all the way from start-ups to large corporates, helping them to bring new offerings to the market. With the more established businesses, what we frequently see is a flawed innovation process that stifles the business and limits the capacity and potential for growth.  One thing that always astounds me is the way with which new offerings go from idea to investment within a company and the decision process that’s used to disperse funds into the most promising business opportunities. It generally goes something like this… A diligent employee has a brainwave, conceiving an idea that will revolutionize the industry and unlock millions in revenue for the organisation. From there, the employee may discuss the idea with their manager who instructs them to craft a business plan that demonstrates the return on investment.  After hours of painstaking analysis the business plan gets presented to senior management who reviews and compares before allocating funds to the most promising cases. Anyone who has read any of my previous blogs will know the abysmal statistics that surround innovation projects in established companies [Click here to read my previous blog posts].

As such, you can probably guess where most of those business plans end up…  The TRASH!  But not before thousands, if not millions, of dollars have been invested to pursue the opportunity. What’s worse is that the chunky, expensive and time-consuming practice of producing business plans hasn’t changed much over time and, unsurprisingly, neither has the failure rate. Understanding the importance of top-line growth in today’s fast paced markets and the significant financial implications of getting innovation wrong, it’s crucial that we find a way to systematically tackle the act of screening and prioritizing new business opportunities.

Before we jump to possible solutions let’s quickly review what’s wrong with the current process. Let me first start by saying that business plans are extremely valuable. It’s much better to have one than not.  They provide an underlying frame to communicate the vision and progress the opportunity. But typically these plans are internal documents, in the sense that the inputs and information that is used to create and develop them, resides within the four walls of the company. A well-known thought leader in the innovation space, Steve Blank, notes that “no facts exist within the building”. The fundamental flaw is that these rigorous plans are based on opinions, guesses and hypotheses. Whilst the company might believe it has extensive market knowledge and an intimate understanding of their customer, there are always unknowns that emerge and catch them off-guard. This information could be  things like changing procurement processes, learning about a new product that competitors are currently developing or realizing that a key partner is about to become a competitor. (These are all real examples from projects I have worked on) This information is critical and in all cases, had significant ramifications on the business model. Like Mr Tyson, these issues can pack a devastating blow, often having enough power to kill the opportunity.

So what’s the solution? Simply put, delay the development of your business plan. Instead of carefully crafting an extraneous document, go and collect a body of evidence that validates your assumptions and feeds conclusive information into the ensuing business plan. By following this sequence you will develop a market-tested business plan that is more accurate, realistic and will be substantially more beneficial to the company. Why do we do it this way? It comes down to risk and value.

At The ICEHOUSE we believe that in the early days of a venture, the role of the founding team is to de-risk the venture over time. This is done by testing and validating the business model, proving that it’s scalable, repeatable and ultimately feasible. This is not a linear process outlined in a business plan but rather an iterative progression driven by market feedback. Each and every business model has a set of assumptions that support it. Each assumption has a certain level of risk that is associated with it. Assumptions are inversely related to value. So as the number of assumptions declines over time the value of the venture and the odds of success will rise. Rather than extensively documenting what we think the plan is, we prefer to test assumptions and discover whether our proposition will be received by the market. We start by confronting the riskiest assumptions first, helping us to rapidly understand whether or not the business model is feasible. This means that if your selected business model won’t work, you will learn this quickly and cheaply, providing you with the opportunity to pivot and try again.

So now you’ve got the “why”, let’s examine the “how”. With our clients, rather than developing a business plan straight off the bat, we follow a three stage process.

1. It starts with a two page document to capture the key risks and assumptions related to the opportunity.
2. Then in the second stage, having identified these potential “deal-breakers”, we develop a plan to systematically validate each of these assumptions which gives us clarity around the customer need we are solving and confidence in the solution we will offer.
3. The final step is the execution of the validation effort which includes the constant analysis of feedback and data that we are amassing.

At the end of this process, we possess a body of evidence that (hopefully) suggests that there is a real market opportunity. By collecting indisputable market evidence, we now have a solid foundation from which a business plan can be built upon.  The mechanics of how you validate varies by opportunity but could involve direct customer interviews, prototyping, manual testing, focus groups and even kickstarter projects. The output of the validation effort will inject real substance into the business case, giving it more credibility, accuracy and ensuring it really packs a punch when it’s reviewed by key decision-makers. Just like most professional boxers who are scrupulous in their preparation for prize fights and spar with multiple partners back-to-back, pushing and testing their limits; companies need to make sure they work through a similar process, testing and validating their opportunity in advance of a significant investment. In other words we need to “test before we invest”!

Mike Tyson was definitely on to something when he made that statement. Whether or not he knew it, he pointed out something that was of massive importance and needed to be addressed – It’s not about having a fantastic plan but rather how quickly you can get to a plan that works.   Hopefully I have convinced you to delay your business plan and instead start by gathering relevant market information, direct from the source, which will enable you to validate your core assumptions. By doing so, you will be able to demonstrate and communicate the value of the proposition, with your business plan being constructed of concrete facts and indisputable evidence. By engaging with the market early, you will give your company an edge over your competition which will stand you in good stead for the war that follows.

If part of this blog has resonated with you or you are interested in learning more you’re in luck! The ICEHOUSE has Dr Rob Adams visiting in July. Dr Adams is one of the foremost authorities on market validation, a core technique required to discover feasible business models. If you’d like to understand more about taking new offerings to market, check out the New Venture Creation Workshops that The ICEHOUSE will be running in July.

Not all the thoughts outlined are my own. I have to acknowledge a couple of the key influences – Steve Blank, Ash Maurya and Scott Anthony. These guys are the experts, I am just the messenger.

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What intellectual property (IP) related steps should a start-up take? The answer is that they should take all the same steps as a large multinational, but within their budget. So in fact they end up taking quite different steps.

Make IP decisions and do so early

One of the main (and early) steps is to make a considered decision about what IP means to the business and what IP tools will be used to support the business model. Not doing so can cause big problems later for your business. Not doing so will also mean that you will have no answers to the IP questions raised by future investors or exit targets at the time of their due diligence. Asking them what they mean by FTO is not a good look.

You may answer with the fact that you made a conscious decision to not pursue registered IP rights – which can be perfectly acceptable. For example, start-ups often do not register their trade marks because they have an exit strategy in mind – an exit strategy that will see their business absorbed into a large organisation with its own house brands already in place. On the other side, the brand may play an important role in the value of the start-up. Eg TradeMe, Xero and 42 Below.

Avoiding any IP speed bumps

One major difference between big companies and start-ups is that big companies can steam roll over mistakes they make with their IP. Start-ups cannot afford to have such speed bumps. For some, dealing with one or two speed bumps may be fine, but multiple or compounding problems could be crippling. This makes it even more important for start-ups to make careful IP decisions very early on.

I was involved with the preparation of an investment disclosure statement for a well known New Zealand company that wanted to raise capital to expand their service into the USA. They had been running their very successful business in New Zealand for 10 years. Within the space of three hours of searching the US patent office database, I found a show-stopper patent. Patent infringement was certain had they entered the US market. We investigated if the patent was available to license, only to find out that it has been licensed exclusively already. The IPO did not proceed.

The shotgun approach

Start-ups cannot afford a full suite of IP protection. So as a start-up, you need to prioritise and stage your IP spend to help achieve your desired overall business strategy. A shotgun approach to IP protection is not realistic. This means that start-ups need to have an even better understanding, compared to larger companies, of the value that IP can have to their business. Start-ups need to make every shot count especially because the proportional value of IP, compared to the total value of the start-up, is much larger than for an established company. Sometimes IP is the only asset a start-up has.

Types of IP protection

It is vital to know early on what IP protection a start-up can have, what the benefits will be, and what the costs will be to secure such protection over time. It is important not to bite off more than can be chewed.

Some forms of IP protection are not expensive. IT system firewalls help protect your trade secrets. Using Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) can ensure your know-how is not misused. Copyright is free and can protect your source code or manuals from being copied. Keeping all, or some, IP secret may be the best form of protection.

However, the costs of keeping such secrets, or the cost of losing the secrets to your competitor, can also be high. One employee of General Motors sold trade secrets a few years back, costing the company an estimated $40m. It is estimated that trade secret theft costs the US economy $300 billion in 2012.

Failure to protect IP is like not locking up the lab or office every night. Eventually someone will come in and use what is not their own hard work.

The keys are:

1. to identify what IP rights are going to give maximum effect in increasing the value of the business
2. budget for it and implement
3. do so early.

The crystal ball

I keep talking about being early with considering your IP strategy. This is because many forms of registered IP rights need to be filed before they are made public. This means that crystal ball gazing may be necessary. But being equipped with information about what will impact the scope of IP protection, what you will be permitted to have, will help crystallise thinking. Perhaps your invention is not as original as initially thought and as a result, the scope of any patent will be so narrow that it will be of no commercial value. But on the flip side, the invention may be very unique and entitled to very broad protection.

Another difficulty that start-ups have, is crystallising their business model so that IP tools can then be chosen to support the model. Changes are often made to the business model of start-ups based on changing exit or market opportunities and FTO risks that may surface down the track. Large companies have the benefit of knowing who they are and how they will grow older. A manufacturer like Gallaghers  know their road to market and use IP to keep competition out of the market. So some degree of a shotgun approach may be necessary, ensuring a regular review of the IP strategy is done so as to cull any redundant IP.

Points to think about

All these things can help increase the value of the start-up and show you are on the ball with your IP when someone wants to make you an offer you can’t refuse. This aspect is really important – being IP savvy and ready for the sale and purchase process, or whatever the next phase in the start-up’s life may be.

The next edition is going to help you identify the various forms of IP and understand what forms are good for what kinds of businesses or business models.

NZ Start-ups

In mid June 2013 US angel investor and early stage venture capitalist Dave Berkus will be visiting New Zealand to interact with the NZ investment and entrepreneurial community.

The ICEHOUSE is organising an exclusive event to facilitate discussion and knowledge transfer between Dave Berkus, NZ investors and NZ entrepreneurs.

Aimed at start-ups embarking on the capital raising journey, this half day event will give entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn from Dave Berkus and leading people from within the NZ funding ecosystem.

Date: Wednesday 19 June 2013
Time: 9AM – 12.30PM
Where: Auckland (location TBC)

Want to attend?

This exclusive event is FREE for start-up entrepreneurs but places are very limited and will be allocated to those start-ups believed to benefit most from the opportunity.

If you would like to attend please register your interest here.

We will let you know by 12 June if you have a place at the event.

Agenda:

1. The Capital Food Chain: How it all works with Dave Berkus and Robbie Paul
   • Dave Berkus and Robbie Paul (Funding Manager at The ICEHOUSE) will discuss the various sources and purposes of capital for start-ups
2. The Ecosystem: An insider’s look at who is who in NZ
   • A discussion of the players in the New Zealand market including seed funds, angel networks, and VCs
3. Dave Berkus: Learnings from over 20 years of investing in early stage companies
   • Dave Berkus will share his experiences as an entrepreneur for over fifty years and active investor or board member in a total of over ninety early stage companies since 1993.
4. Panel Discussion: Capital raising – Opportunities and Challenges for NZ Start-up Entrepreneurs
   • A panel discussion with Dave Berkus and key people from the NZ eco-system to discuss key challenges and opportunities for start-ups who are aiming raise capital.

This exclusive event is FREE for start-up entrepreneurs but places are very limited and will be allocated to those start-ups believed to benefit most from the opportunity. Start-up entrepreneurs who want to attend can apply for a place here.

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Visit Rebekah’s blog for more tips and insights from her: http://www.rebekahcampbell.com/

I’ve run a start-up for a couple of years now and ran my own music company for eight years before that.  Anyone who followed our progress would know I’ve made a few hiring mistakes in my time: we had a 100% staff turnover in the first year!  Yet, after a rough start, I’ve assembled one of the best start-up teams around.

Hiring team members at a start-up is very different to hiring for a corporate or even for your own business.  My music company had a team of eight at our peak, so you’d think I’d be pretty good at hiring by the time I got around to my second company.  It doesn’t follow.   Hiring is very hard and when you find you’ve made a mistake, letting someone go is even harder.

When I had my own business, it was sometimes easier to accept an underperforming team member than it was to make a change.  But, once I had a start-up, I was spending other people’s money to achieve something in a limited period of time.  I had to be much tougher.  Rather than keep churning through team members – a huge distraction, terrible for company culture and a horrible experience for everyone involved – I focused on improving my own performance at hiring the right people in the first place.

I’m far from perfect.  The rate at which people we hire work out is still only about 80%.  My mentors run major companies; they have hired hundreds of people.  When I ask about their success rate, most come up with a figure between 80 – 90%.  Maybe I’m not doing so badly.  Here’s some of what I’ve learned:

1. Find people that make things happen

The most important thing to look for in a start-up team member is the ability to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.  In a corporate or less intense environment, it’s okay to set a bunch of targets and then come up with a list of reasons why something wasn’t possible. Maybe even write a report and present it at a staff meeting.  In a start-up there are two meaningful outcomes: success and failure.  No matter why a target falls through the cracks the outcome is failure, which is no good for the company.   The ability to make things happen has nothing to do with intelligence – I’ve found that even the smartest people procrastinate or buckle under pressure.  So when you’re hiring, always look for examples of times in the past where they had an ambitious challenge and overcame barriers to achieve.

2. Look for creativity and intelligence

As the founder, you always think your ideas are brilliant – if you didn’t then you never would have started this crazy thing.  I soon learned that my first ideas are often wrong and it’s important to surround yourself with people who are passionate about your product, smart and creative.  The whole team works together to strategise major business challenges and design the product.  More importantly, each member of a start-up runs their own department – for example there’s not a whole team on Search – there’s one guy.  There’s one Community Manager, one Retail Engagement person, and each of these people are essentially running their own companies within the start-up.  So they need to strategise and make lots of smaller decisions about the best way forward.  You’d better ensure they’ll make the right decisions; that they have the passion and aptitude to strive for an awesome outcome.

3. Hire slowly and methodically

Almost every time I’ve rushed the recruitment process or hired for the wrong reasons (like someone else told me we needed someone quickly) I’ve made a mistake.  Check references!  I know everyone says to do this but it’s easy to get excited about someone and forget.  Then when they don’t work out everyone asks me what their references said, and it’s embarrassing to admit I didn’t check.  Ask lots of different people to interview a prospective new team member; obtain a range of perspectives.  I’ve learned which of my advisors are tough and which ones tend to like everyone.  I listen to the tough ones.  We ask candidates to complete a test before they join – no matter whether they’re an engineer or a community manager.  By giving a protective hire a list of questions and evaluating how they approach the answers you can see how creative and smart they are, and you also discover if they have a problem getting things done on time.

4. When you do make a mistake (and you will) act fast

If someone is not right for us I generally can tell in the first few weeks, and have been pretty good at acting quickly.  It’s always a morale-breaker when the team loses a member but you can’t afford to have an underperforming person hanging around, bringing down the standard.

So, that’s my summary of what I’ve learned through the trial and error process of putting our team together.  I’m happy to report that we now have one of the most passionate, creative, smart and productive start-up teams around.  A start-up is a mission though a jungle.  You don’t want people who’ll sit around hypothesising – you want warriors who’ll get out there and try things.  People whose drive and ambition will overcome anything. When I think back to people who joined in the past and didn’t worked out it’s generally because either they were not the right cultural fit or were unable to make things happen.  Often, these mistakes stemmed from my rushing the recruitment process.

Visit Rebekah’s blog for more tips and insights from her: http://www.rebekahcampbell.com/

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Why buy when you can rent?

The idea came when my University friends and I were trying to open my laptop to add more memory. We couldn’t get hold of a screwdriver, even after going around to almost every one of my neighbors’ rooms. Naturally, the next step was to look online, but the little screwdriver was too expensive to buy for just one use; even if we did buy it, we would rarely use it. We realized that a new opportunity was up for grabs.

We researched a bit and came across a movement called Collaborative Consumption, which is also known as sharing economy, Access economy, and sometimes Disownership. Forbes and The Economist have predicted that this movement could become the biggest disruption on the Internet since e-commerce.

A survey of 2,252 adults found that 52 percent of people had leased or borrowed items instead of buying them in the last two years, and 83 percent said they would rent, lease, or borrow items instead of buying them if they could do so easily. This is where we come in: rentYbuy.co.nz. We’re not trying to create a new industry – rather, we want to port the existing rental industry to the web. We want to be the ebay of the rental market. The global peer-to-peer rental market is worth $26 billion, and it is growing. Our service offers:

Benefits for lenders

• Profit from underused assets

Benefits for borrowers

• Save money
• Save storage space
• Try various products before buying
• Access items needed once in a while without buying them

Benefits for all

• Ease the strain on depletion of resources. Save the planet.
• Opportunity to meet people and restore belief in community.

When most people first hear about our business, they think it’s an awesome idea, but almost immediately, they are wary of renting their valuable stuff to strangers. We know that this concern can make or break our business, so we propose many ways to ensure safety, transparency, and ease.

Most of us are comfortable sharing our belongings with our mates and families. We have a sense of security when giving to people we know. With the help of modern technology and connectivity, we can use online profiles to mimic the ties that used to develop face to face. But people still worry about how genuine these profiles are, and we hear a lot about crimes committed using fake profiles. The peer-to-peer economy is similar to online shopping, which began in America during the late nineties. At first, people were worried about security. But having made a successful purchase from, say, E-bay, they felt safe buying elsewhere.

We believe the media has perpetuated the pre-conceived notion that people we do not know are not trustworthy. In fact, most of us are normal people who lead normal lives and have a sense of integrity and global good. We do not wish harm on others. But the media keeps bombarding us with information about atypical crimes, making us unduly pessimistic about human nature and the community as a whole. This leaves us in doubt and skepticism. But actually, we should be amazed at how rarely things go wrong in the real world.

But we know that there are chances of rotten apples in every basket. So at rentYbuy, we have gone to great lengths to ensure that our users are real people by verifying physical location, financial data, and social presence as well as gathering feedback from people who know or have transacted with them. Each user will have a “trust score” associated with his profile, which is calculated internally based on our parameters and the user’s trading history. We also offer a “deposit” system. Deposits ensure that our Lenders will be fairly compensated if their goods are damaged or lost during a reservation. A deposit is an agreement on the part of the Borrower to compensate the Lender for damages up to a certain amount. RentYbuy also provides a standard contract that individuals are free to use, which includes all the essential clauses of a rental agreement. We are also working to improve trust through insurance and are currently in dialogue with insurance companies. This will provide an added sense of security for users.

For two international students like us, starting a business in a New Zealand has been an amazing journey so far. It started with the wonderful Masters program at The University of Waikato Management School. The faculty there helped us prepare the basic framework, of our business idea. Every door that we have knocked on so far has not only answered but has helped us beyond our expectations. New Zealand’s business community is so supportive and encouraging, and through social networks, we have contacted and enjoyed advice from leaders across the country. Ask and you shall receive.

Being part of the ICEHOUSE has helped our cause even more. They have helped us network and connect with valuable contacts easily. We also gained a boost in our business credibility through incubation at one of the top business incubators on earth. Most importantly, the continuing support and advice that we are getting from our ICEHOUSE mentor Debra Chantry has helped us stay on track. In short, the backing of whole team at the ICEHOUSE is a true asset for any start-up.

We hope to contribute to the world by changing the way we consume, restoring belief in  community, and stop the plundering of our planet.

Its time to start caring about sharing! Join us on rentybuy.co.nz to get the latest updates.

Did you know? The average usage of power drill is 12 minutes its entire lifetime.

Lesson learned : Launch fast! Don’t waste time on developing the perfect product before launch. We learned that the hard way.

Recent article on the Sharing economy : Forbes , The Economist

This month:

• Hype This Track – the ultimate way to share and discover new music
• Rest in Pets - biodegradable coffins for our furry friends
• Thankyou Payroll – online payroll intermediary services for businesses
• Houdini – stop your escape artist in their tracks

Hype This Track – the ultimate way to share and discover new music

Created by 26 year-old Taranaki Entrepreneur Misty Gibbs, Hype This Track is the ultimate way to share and discover new music with friends and other music fans. Create a profile, follow friends, musicians and bands, share and tag music videos on Facebook and Twitter, and download the tracks you love straight from iTunes. You can even find out who your friends, favourite artists and bands are following by checking out their favourites list. View posts by the people you’re following, the latest tracks shared by all users or by the most popular tracks.

Hype This Track’ is used to connect music fans all around the world. After creating a profile, users find people to follow, then start sharing their favourite music videos by searching an artist or song name, the results of which are drawn from YouTube’s extensive database. Users are able to like, comment and share tracks within the app, and share to Facebook and Twitter. Their favourites list keeps track of all the songs they’ve liked, and their friends and followers can check this list out to see what music they’re into.

Hype This Track has been available on the App Store since March 19 2013. The app is free (and ad free!) for everyone to use. Songs shared have an iTunes link for people to download songs they like directly from the app and it’s this exchange that generates the revenue model for the App.

Visit www.hypethistrack.com for more information or download the App from the Store: www.appstore.com/hypethistrack

Rest in Pets - biodegradable coffins for our furry friends

The death of a beloved pet can be hugely painful, and it’s difficult to plan for such a sad event. But think back to your early childhood memories of pets passing away. Goldfish flushed unceremoniously down the toilet. Guinea pigs and bunnies wrapped in old tea towels, and cats squashed into shoeboxes. Surely our furry family members are worth a bit of forethought?

We have launched our range of biodegradable cardboard pet caskets on Kickstarter - http://kck.st/1282Im8

We are ready to go but need to raise the funds so we can produce our first run. We are targeting anyone with small pets, up to the size of a cat but mainly families who want to help children say farewell to their furry friend with a dignified burial.

Our range includes 3 sized caskets and an urn if you wish to have your pet cremated. They all come flat packed in a wallet with a bonus keepsake photo frame and a temporary grave marker. Our smaller designs use a classic coffin shape, a well-known visual metaphor that everyone can relate to. It adds a sense of solemn dignity. For the large casket, we designed a new hexagonal shape. At the end of their lives, Cats are best farewelled curled up.  The hexagonal shape suits this best.

If you wish to have your pet cremated the urn is an ideal way to hold the ashes. If you wish to scatter these at some stage there is an easy pull tab to do this.

Our goal is to spread the word and tell everyone there is a new way to bury your beloved pet that isn’t “just a box”

Support us on Kickstarter and help us make this become a reality!! Pledge and spread the word.

Visit www.restinpets.com for more information.

Thankyou Payroll – online payroll intermediary services for businesses

We offer a free fully featured service with a 2-day turn around to all employers in New Zealand eligible for the payroll subsidy (which is about 90% of employers). Not only is the 2-day option free but we’ll give 25c per-employee-per-pay to a cause or charity of the clients choice. Our shorter turn around services are super cheap too and we offer clients the option of paying us or giving a regular amount to charity in lieu of payment.

We’re an organisation focused offering an excellent service and on doing good for the people you think are doing good. If you want to save time and stress working on your businesses admin and help out your local animal shelter or school or cancer charity then look no further.

We’re just about to release a new system that’ll knock many a pair of socks off with its focus on usability, flexibility and clean design. Built to integrate with any and all comers we currently fully integrate with Xero and Workflow Max. If you have other integration suggestions let us know.

Take advantage of the little known IRD payroll subsidy and get the sweetest payroll tool around for free

Visit www.thankyoupayroll.co.nz for more information.

Houdini – stop your escape artist in their tracks

InKIDable Solutions Ltd is a company that has invented several products that assist parents & care givers who have “Houdini” children. The company was founded by stay at home mother, Bianca Richardson, who had $30 in her pocket, and a sewn up prototype of her Houdini Stop. An invention that stopped her 2 year old from getting her arms out of her carseat harness.

Four years and two more novel inventions later, (Houdini Door & Houdini Locks),  InKIDable Solutions Ltd now sells their 7  products both nationally & internationally.  They sell directly into Baby City & The Baby Factory here in New Zealand and have a large Australian distributor that is contracted to sell 50,000 Houdini Stops a year. Houdini products are also sold into smaller retail stores & internet based distributors throughout UK, Ireland, USA, Canada & Spain.

Bianca has just redesigned her packaging and is hoping to secure a larger distributor in each of these countries shortly in a bid to get into some larger retail chain stores. She has 2 other novel Houdini Products due for release, but she is holding these off until she cements her other products into the international market place. She never dreamed that there would be such a demand for her first product the Houdini Stop, and has high expectations that her latest release Houdini Door will do just as well, if not better.

Visit www.houdinistop.co.nz to see her products and if you know of any international distributors that maybe interested in picking up the “Houdini” range, certainly make contact with Bianca.

Email: houdinistop@xtra.co.nz

Phone: 078472756

The notice board is your place to share stuff with the start-up community. Looking for a co-founder or team member? Job hunting and would love to work for start-up? Looking for a shared workspace? Wanting to sell or buy anything start-up related? Anything else you want to share with the Start-up community? This is the space to do it.

If you want to list something here email the details to Lisa at l.jansen@theicehouse.co.nz

Experienced marketeer is searching for a new team to fill a gap in sales & marketing

You want global experience but hands on local execution? Story telling, sales pitches, staff development, product training and new market activations are my specialty. I would love to help you market your product(s) or service(s) in a unique & relevant way.

I believe in the power of conversation and look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,

Hagen Diesterbeck

+64 21 309 616

hagen@diesterbeck.de

Entrepreneurial and versatile business management professional is looking for a new role.

Kunal Gwalani is currently looking for an opportunity to work in an innovative start-up or established company in Auckland that requires a senior manager for leadership and general management, commercialisation of ideas, business strategies and development of international markets.

His goal is to work at the intersection of technology, innovation and strategy with creative people that also have the goal of improving the world, as well as launching ultra-successful products, services and businesses.

Kunal has solid experience in business and project management, international trade and business development, marketing and operations. Extensive international travels across six continents has made him a creative, broad-picture thinker.

For more info on Kunal view his profile on Linkedin nz.linkedin.com/in/kgwalani1 or contact him on kgwalani1@gmail.com or 021 2255275.

Experienced business and process analyst looking for a new role

My name is Manju Nath and I am currently looking for a job opportunity to pursue my career as a successful business and process analyst.

I am an experienced analyst with more than 4 years of experience in IT project maintenance, delivery and business analysis space mainly in insurance and financial services domain. I also have significant experience in understanding client requirements and providing necessary solutions to full fill their business needs with my IT consulting and solutions delivery capabilities. Recently I have completed couple of contract-business analyst jobs with Waikato District health Board.

Areas of expertise:

• Business and Data analysis
• Data Base management- MySQL and DB2
• Agile product development methodology and support
• Market research and analysis

Education Background:

• Bachelors in Computer Science Engineering
• Master’s in Business Management

LinkedIn: nz.linkedin.com/pub/manju-nath-k/32/2a0/416/

Please do let me know about any opportunities that suit my profile.

Manju

021 08255409

k12.manju@gmail.com

Experienced marketer looking for a part-time internship with a start-up

Do you have a million dollar idea but need a help with marketing? You are lucky because a successful marketing graduate from UK university with two-year experience in marketing and sales is looking for a part-time internship. I am not interested in earning money during our collaboration because the feeling that I can help to like-minded people with their business ideas is more rewarding and exciting for me.

If I were asked to describe myself in one sentence, I would say that my personality combines a distinctive flair for entrepreneurship and creative mindset of the marketer. During the last years I went through all fundamental steps from selling products of personal care and making research in the educational market of Oxford to coordinating the marketing activities of the restaurant brands. I consider myself fortunate indeed because not every person at the moment of their graduation can boast of an experience of working in such international companies as Macmillan Education and Colgate-Palmolive.

I am available to work about 20 hours per week and ready to help with different variety of marketing tasks. Please, get in touch with me if you want to look at my CV and discuss possible cooperation: pzaruchevsky@gmail.com or 022 340 6314.

Successful Silicon Valley tech company is recruiting a team in Auckland

Uber, a tremendously successful Silicon Valley tech company, is rapidly expanding across the world. They’re modernising the taxi system, making it more reliable for passengers and helping drivers to earn more money. They setup Sydney as the 20th city in November, and are now looking to setup in Auckland as the NZ hub.

The General Manager role would appeal to anybody interested in founding their own startup but for whatever reasons hasn’t quite made the leap. Running an Uber city is a tremendous opportunity to launch a business from zero but with significant capital and technology in your pocket that most entrepreneurs do not enjoy. Find out more here: http://ow.ly/kh87U

Biomatters WebApp Development Group is looking for a Cloud Platform Engineer

The Biomatters WebApp Development Group brings the highest usability and interface design to applied genomics workflows. We collaborate with diagnostic, forensic, and biosafety labs and researchers. Using their scientific secret sauce, we build and deploy production-quality web apps to crunch omics data sets and generate meaningful results reports.

We want someone to jump in to our New Zealand HQ or San Francisco R&D office and start scoping, architecting, and building the best scalable web app solutions for our clients, using appropriately selected and expertly executed technologies.

Do you like to answer questions like:

• AWS or an OpenStack cloud?
• Public, private, or hybrid cloud architecture?
• MondgoDB, HBASE, or MySQL?
• Desktop, mobile, or both?
• Java? Rails? Node.JS? None of the above?

Does that sounds like you? Find out more and apply here: http://biomatters.com/web/biomatters/careers

Vend are looking for a Project Manager – ASAP

Vend are looking for a Project Manager to manage a project for them (surprise surprise), a really freaking big project that will require you to 1) start quickly 2) be okay with doing some international travel 3) do a kickass job that impresses the hell out of everyone who touches said project 4) be open to possibly joining us on a permanent contract ( for the right person this could happen immediately).

• You’ll need at least 5 years of experience and you’ll need to be qualified, if some of your experience is with a SaaS product, that would be most excellent.
•  You’ll need to be comfortable working in a high growth/high change environment.
• You’ll be comfy with dealing with large enterprises but have a preference for working in a start up.

Read more here.

If you, or you know of someone, who fits this bill get in touch asap. Call Kirsti on 021835566 to apply!

Join the start-up weekend family in Seattle, USA

Interested in entrepreneurship, community-building, and technology? Considering moving to the US for an awesome job? Startup Weekend is an incredibly fast growing global organization, giving aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to experience entrepreneurship through weekend-long workshops being hosted in 90+ countries worldwide. They operate in all parts of the world from San Francisco to Nairobi to Shanghai, and have grown 300% in the last year, with a global team of over 3,000 volunteers and supporters. The core team of approximately 25 funky and fun-loving folks is headquartered in South Lake Union in Seattle, WA.

Our company culture is one of passion, empowerment, and action over talk. We believe we are changing the world and hold this responsibility close to our hearts. We balance hard work and long hours with play, doing monthly team activities, retreats (a la “Whistler Workaway”, “Startup Camping”, “Startup Barbecue”, etc.), and enjoying the many travel opportunities inherent in having a global presence. We are as much friends as colleagues. Join us!

Startup Weekend is currently looking for three people to join the team in Seattle:

• Lead Designer
• Web Developer
• Community Manager

Find out more here: http://startupweekend.org/jobs/

Corporate videos that attract more customers and investors, and set your apart

Hi start-ups, do you want to improve your online presence, attract more customers or investors, and set yourself apart from other businesses? I’d be happy to help you achieve it.

While offering high quality video production that will suit your budget, I aim to capture the essence of your organisation. As an experienced Fairfax and NZ Herald video journalist, my services include scripting, audio/sound, filming and editing. For a limited time and exclusive to Icehouse start-ups, I offer these services for $975 (all inclusive).

To find out more, please visit www.dwyerproductions.co.nz. When you like what you see, please contact Krissy on 022 0673 529 to take advantage of this rare opportunity and help your business grow.

Ideas keep growing – but do your presentations?

When you are busy making an idea work, sometimes you need someone from the outside to mediate it to the rest of the world. Here at x|c media we are eager to help you create not only websites, but also everything else you need to look professional and to be understood.

We have been working for start-ups from the incubator before and for any company sprung from the ICEHOUSE we can make arrangements. In essence, it will free you up and you can spend the money and time on developing your business rather than on the necessities which are involved in making your dream come true.

Contact us at xc@xmascrow.net and we have a chat about your needs and what we can do for you.

Networking is the key and this is an opportunity for you and us at the same time.

Introducing JVOS – the business super-heroes!

We’re pleased to offer all Start-up Flash subscribers access to a full range of services from the team at JVOS. If you need web development, copywriting, graphic design, social media, SEO or AdWords, then they are there to help. We have secured a special discounted rate on these services for our network – you can find out more about what they offer on www.jvos.co or email latesha@jvos.co (mention The ICEHOUSE Start-up Flash to receive your special rate).

Shared space in Birkenhead Village, North Shore

Shared space avialable in Birkenhead Village, North shore. It’s on the main road and we are looking for 1-2 entrepreneurs to join the space. It’s a nice spot with a beautiful bush backdrop and a ton of services on our doorstep including cafe’s, wine bar, restaurants, banks, mall. A great location that is only 10 minutes from the CBD and easily accessible via motorway and ferries.

There are currently 4 people sharing here and we work independently on a range of businesses with some of us collaborating on ideas and projects. Some of our businesses/interests include Web development, eCommerce, SEO, Software dev, Bookbinding, China product sourcing and development (I am on the Alibaba buyer service advisory board) Working on the ‘next big thing’

We’re keen to get in someone that would be a good fit, the office is a relaxed, fun environment. We play a bit of music. We have some storage so this may suit someone that sells products online too. We have a good courier service that could be tapped into.

The going rate is $90/Week which includes Power, Phone, Unlimited Internet. We have a coffee grinder and espresso machine and welcome a barista challenge!

Find out more here: http://www.sharedspace.co.nz/listings/detail/office-space/auckland/458/birkenhead-village-web-creative.html

Find out more below or download the full details here or get in touch with Mark Crouch mark@olc.co.nz.

What is CashWatch?

Cashwatch is a cloud based SME application that takes the guesswork and subjection out of cashflow forecasting and puts the small business owner in constant awareness and control of the company cash situation.

Using locally developed intelligence, CashWatch produces an interactive daily cashflow forecast giving the business visibility of the likely cash balance for the next 180 days.

What Does The Trial Involve?

Trial participants will grant READ ONLY access to their XERO accounting system.  CashWatch will then use the data to produce a 180 Day cashflow forecast.  By having access to the company XERO accounts CashWatch will then be able to test its forecasts against what actually occurs in the company accounts.

In order to be effective the trial participants should:

1.  Have at least 2 years of XERO data
2. Actively use XERO on a regular basis for the company accounting function
3. Incorporate Bank Feeds as part of their XERO use.

How Will My Company Benefit?

All results, forecasts, observations, and analysis will be shared with the trial participants.  Those involved in the trial will be offered a 12 month free subscription once CashWatch is live.

How Can I Find Out More?

Download the full overview of the trial details here and/or get in touch with Mark Crouch mark@olc.co.nz.

We are looking forward to having Rob with us for two weeks from 1^st – 12^th July.  At the core of his visit is a series of workshops in Auckland, Tauranga and Hawkes Bay.

New Venture Creation – Turning Ideas into Revenue

Whether you have a business idea, are in a start-up or work in an established business, getting new products to market is challenging. This full day workshop is aimed at equipping attendees with a core set of skills needed to take new ventures and products to market.

What will you learn?

• The four stages of taking new products to market:
  • Market validation
  • Business models
  • Financials
  • Communications
• How to improve the success rate of new products

Who should attend?

Entrepreneurs, product development managers, innovators, intra-preneurs, investors, and other business people in start-up AND established businesses who are looking at bringing new products/services to market

Cost: $ 199 + GST (morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea will be provided and all attendees will get a copy or Rob’s book “If you build it will they come”)

When & Where:

Click the images below to find out more and register.

Missed the other parts? No problem, just follow the links to Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Now is the time to put it into action!

The last step in any marketing plan is the execution of the tactics. The best way to get results is to do more of the things that work and less of the things that don’t. The first step in execution is thinking about how you can test & measure ideas.

Test, Measure & Improve

The great thing about digital marketing is that things are infinitely measurable and easily changed. So, if something is not working, you can test something different and see if you get improved results. You can even often test things side by side – called A/B testing or multivariate testing.

There is a great article on how to run marketing experiments with purpose. Check it out if you want to learn more about how to test your digital marketing strategies.

If you find something is working, then keep doing more of it, until doing more of it makes no difference or starts to cost too much. Which brings me to my next point.

What do you measure?

This will be very dependant on your digital marketing goals. However, do think carefully about what you are measuring and why?

For example:

TIME ON SITE / PAGES VIEWED

Does people spending a long time on your website & visiting lots of pages mean that they are engaged with your brand? Or does it mean that they can’t find what they are looking for?

EXIT PAGES

Does tracking the pages where more website visitors exit the site tell you the pages are naff? Or that they were perfect and the customer found what they were looking for?

FACEBOOK LIKES

Do these mean anything unless they’re engaged? Did they just enter because you offered them a prize for entering but have no interest in your product or service? What is the value of these likes?

CLICK THROUGH RATES

Are these important if you’re looking for brand awareness? Or is it the number of people who have seen the advert? And how many sales did they lead to? What is your conversion rate from click through to sale?

CONVERSION RATES

35% of people in New Zealand purchase items online. 34% of these researched online and then bought offline…. So where do they feature in your conversion rate? Do you have a unique 0800 number for your website so that you can track people who research online and then call and purchase? Or do your staff ask how what prompted them to buy from you?

There are so many things to measure in the digital marketing environment, and it’s difficult to cover them all in this article – just make sure you’re measuring things that lead towards your ultimate business goal.

To finish off talking about measurement, there’s a great quote that I love to use:

 “Only a truly capable manager is willing to measure their results as it quantifies both their successes and failures.” – Anonymous

Nothing is really a failure though – it’s just an opportunity to revise your thinking and try again!

Social Media Listening

Social Media Listening is one of the terms that has appeared over the last few years. What is really means is having your eyes & ears open to see what customers are saying about you in the online environment – and monitoring the trends.

• Are they saying more good things than bad?
• Is there an increase in people talking about your product or service?

There are many different tools that you can use to do this but the key thing is, what can you do with it?

• What can you do when they say bad things?
• Can you do something to turn a negative situation into a positive situation?
• Can you amplify the good experiences?
• Can you surprise & delight your customers?

One thing about social media, is that you can’t control the environment and if you start to block or hide ‘negative’ comments then it will come back to bite you. There is never a right & a wrong in a situation…. Just 2 different viewpoints

The best thing you can do is try to put yourself in the customers shoes and see what you can do to make things right in their perception of the world. Try to never have a disagreement online or in the digital space… these very quickly become viral!

If you’re not keen to engage in social media as a business then you don’t have to broadcast but don’t stop listening. You need to understand when customers are saying things about your business and product / service. At a very minimum, have a way to jump in and take the conversation offline to see if you can help them.

If you can continue to do more of the things that get good results and do less of the things that don’t appear to work then you will have a digital marketing strategy that works. However, just with any other form of marketing or channels, customers & the marketplace change over time…. What worked last week may not work next week. So, continually review your objectives, strategies & tactics and make sure that you are still getting the result that you need!

That’s all for now folks… Please don’t forget to celebrate success & have some fun with it!

If there is anything in my articles that you don’t understand, you disagree with or you’d just like to have a chat to me about, then please feel free to contact me – d.chantry@theicehouse.co.nz.

This brings our series on digital marketing to a conclusion.  

Other parts in this series:

• WHAT IS A GOOD DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR MY BUSINESS? (PART 1)
• DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY PART 2 – ANALYSE YOUR CURRENT SITUATION
• DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY PART 3 – DEVELOPING DIGITAL OBJECTIVES
• DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY PART 4 – DECIDE ON YOUR STRATEGY & TACTICS

Debra Chantry is an Executive in Residence (EiR) & Business Coach at The ICEHOUSE working with start-ups and established business to help them achieve their growth goals.  Debra is also the owner of Ventell, a Strategic Consultancy focused on growing businesses profitably through business coaching, business and digital strategies and governance.

Debra uses her distinctive coaching skills and digital passion to work with both start-ups and established businesses to help them unlock their potential and realise profitable growth whilst having fun along the way.

Main specialties include:

• Strategic Planning
• Marketing Strategy, including Digital Strategies
• Sales Strategy & Management
• New Product Development & Innovation
• Governance

Debra is a member of the Institute of Directors, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Marketers and lectures at the marketing association on their Certificate of Digital Marketing and Certificate of Marketing Management courses.

Debra is one of life’s true enthusiasts, with the rare ability to motivate and excite colleagues, customers and clients. She is passionate about working with New Zealand Businesses and Boards to ensure that they grow profitably.