newzealandinc.com reporting live from NZ Rocket Pitch competition, presented by The Icehouse and Geeks on a Plane.
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From The Icehouse website:
“This December fourteen high profile investors, entrepreneurs and executives will make their way from Silicon Valley to New Zealand to engage with the start-up scene down here. Among the fifteen geeks are Dave McClure, Founding Partner of 500 Startups and representatives from top US start-ups, VC firms and corporates. View a full list of the visiting geeks here.
Organized by 500 Startups, Geeks on a Plane is an invite-only tour for start-ups, investors, and executives. They travel to the most exciting international start-up scenes with the sole mission of uniting geeks and exploring cross-border opportunities.”
And here comes the live twitter feed:
Live tweeting from Geeks on a Plane thanks to @the_icehouse. Rocket pitch competition #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Welcome addresses from Andy Hamilton and Stephen Tindall. Excited to see the rocket pitch competition tonight! #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Stephen Tindall & Andy Hamilton
And here we go. Roger Boyd from @fly1above good luck! #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
US judges for first steam @outsourceIT_NZ No8 Wire – @davemcclure of @500Startups, @ryanlawler of @TechCrunch, and Andrea of @xgventures
— The Icehouse (@the_icehouse) December 11, 2012
#goapnz @chinwag Judges: ideas are great – but not enough focus on customers and distribution strategies.
— Rebecca Caroe (@rebeccacaroe) December 11, 2012
Outpost central it is #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Stream No. 2 at #GOAPNZ. Looking at science – early pick for Lanzatech to pace the field.
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
@sparkauckland winner ecofibre pitching at #goapnz
— Kevin Park (@kevinpark90) December 11, 2012
KAHNE impressed in stream two #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Fitting a pitch to 2 minutes and distinguish oneself seems to be hurdle number 1 at #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Quite a crowd we’ve got in here, and that’s not the half of it!
@andreazurek giving some great advice at #GOAPNZ. @nzincltd were lucky to speak to her earlier. Look out for our story later!
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
"Those pitches sucked ass" – @davemcclure. Blunt yet a#GOAPNZmusing + great business advice.
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Key to be clear when pitching for investment: Strong vision statement, problem, solution etc #GOAPNZ
— 90 Seconds (@90secondstv) December 11, 2012
Interesting choices. Manuka vs KAHNE vs Eco-Fibre. And the winner is…
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Eco-Fibre! #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Brutal but critical feedback from @davemcclure #goapnz
— Alex Mercer (@MercerInt) December 11, 2012
Dave McClure addressing the contestants.
@indiereign_news first up in stream 3 #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
@drikolor very impressive at #GOAPNZ. The value of a good pitch has been clear, that was one. Clear and concise. #sold.
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Stream 3 so much more clear than Stream 2. Getting ideas across is 90% of the battle. #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Very impressive field at #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Distribution distribution distribution! #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
" @Booktrk the most interesting" – @davemcclure #Stream3 #GOAPNZ
— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
Round 3 winner: double
tie! Winner is… #GOAPNZ— New Zealand Inc (@nzincltd) December 11, 2012
And the winner to the BNZ Breaking the Rules is KlickEx! Great job guys #goapnz
— NZTE (@NZTEnews) December 11, 2012
Kiwi startups got nothin on Kiwi dance troops. #awesome #MaoriStyle #goap #goapnz pic.twitter.com/lL8sF4EF
— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) December 11, 2012
Some closing thoughts from us here at the event:
Firstly, what a great event that The Icehouse put on today. A highly entertaining event that got some great exposure for some exciting New Zealand companies. The judges did an excellent job of offering constructive feedback to the presenters whilst maintaining an entertaining product for those watching on.
If we were to offer one critique, it would have to be the disappointing performance from those presenting in the second stream. Whether it was an issue of nerves, preparation or both, the quality of the presentations in this portion of the event was poor.
Check out the newzealandinc event page for Geeks on a Plane for all of our upcoming coverage. including exclusive interviews with the visiting geeks and profiles from todays winning companies.