I was recently interviewed about why we invested in Lightning Lab, New Zealand’s first digital accelerator. Here’s the YouTube clip:
We’d been wanting to start an accelerator for the last few years in Wellington, and when CreativeHQ pulled together the key players, we quickly jumped on board. So why did we invest in the accelerator itself? For the same reasons that angels invest in anything. In increasing order of importance,
1. We want to make the world a better place by creating something of great value
2. We want to contribute to our city and country
3. We really like the team behind the venture
4. We think it has an excellent chance of success
5. We want to get a great return on our investment
Unfortunately the video editor edited out that last point, which is pretty critical.
Bottom line: The Lab is turning out some amazing entrepreneurs and ventures. I’m confident we’re achieving all of the above, but only time will tell.
I was in LA last week on business. My colleagues had asked me to acquire an iPad so that we could test our web sites and mobile apps on it.
So I went into the Apple Store in Santa Monica, and was amazed to see it packed with so many people nearly ejaculating over the styley gear on offer. I made my way over to the till, and a pimply guy, early 20′s trying to look cool, stopped me. He held out his hand, palm facing me like a traffic cop, and said “Stop. Do you have an appointment?” I thought to myself, “what, an appointment to spend money?” I said, “No, I don’t have an appointment.” “What do you want, anyway?” he asked somewhat belligerently. I said “I wanted to buy an iPad or two”. He looked me in the eye, then looked down my body to my shoes, and up again. He paused. “I’m sorry, we’re all sold out.”
I nearly ran out of the store, wondering what on earth had ever possessed me to step inside an Apple store in the first place.
It’s nice to be back in Aotearoa, an iPad-free zone, for now.
