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How to kickstart your startup idea with the power of community

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How to kickstart your startup idea with the power of community

By August 30, 2017No Comments


Have a great startup idea and not sure quite what to do next? We talked to the team from the
GridAKL / Tech Café – a GridAKL space crafted to help people get their ideas off the ground about services, tools, tips and tricks to get your idea going. This is the second part in a three part series; you can read part one all about programs to kick start your idea here.

One of the common themes you will hear when you delve into the startup world is the community. When you think about it, it’s constant appearance in start-up lore makes sense. Getting a business off the ground can be exceedingly challenging, and community offers much in the way of support when times are hard, and celebration when times are great.

The other side of community is that when you build trust between a group of people, they really want to help each other; the power of this cannot be underestimated. Many current AND former GridAKL residents have attributed community and the shared knowledge, connections and ‘secret sauce’ that comes with it as something that has underpinned their success.

But how do you meet these people? How do you grow your own startup community?

Get out and about

“Events and meetups bring together such a diverse group of people all doing different things but all focussed on a similar subject matter – so it is an excellent way to meet people, especially people concerned with a particular part of startup or business life”Alana Mitchell, Activation Coordinator, GridAKL / John Lysaght Building

Events and meetups are as valuable to those starting their entrepreneurial journey as those in the thick of startup life. For those getting going however here are some great events and meeetups to get you going.

Startup Grind
Startup Grind Auckland is a series of monthly meetups aimed at connecting, educating and inspiring the local startup and entrepreneur ecosystem. We are the local chapter of Startup Grind, the global network sponsored by Google for Entrepreneurs.

Bootstrappers coffee
Bootstrappers’ Coffee is a light before-work event to meet similar minded people; share what you’re working on to get some help; and build a peer support network for yourself so you don’t feel like you’re doing it all on your own.

Entrepreneurs Unleashed
This evening event is the perfect place for aspiring entrepreneurs, or those in their first year of business, to gain insights from founders and meet like-minded others. Each event will see two founders or startup specialists share stories and insights.

Idea show and tell
Kickstart your ideas & projects to make the world more awesome! At Idea Show and tell four people get to share their idea for 5 minutes, the audience then supports them in a 10 minute live brainstorming session. Any member of the audience can share their idea at the end of the event for one minute.

Foundercon
The FounderCon NZ event series truly are events by the people, for the people – we’ll connect with government, investors and the wider eco-system before and after, but these conferences are just for us!

Sales and marketing Jam
An event series and online resource dedicated to supporting the New Zealand ecosystems development in sales, marketing and product management.

Tap into an online community

“Online communities are a great way to have free and frank conversations, ask about peoples experiences and connect with others quickly and easily. I am always surprised by the kind of people I see pop up, from our residents through to founders of larger companies and investors. We have seen pivots in communities, big debates and good ol’ gossip. There really is something for everyone”Eva Perrone, Activation Manager, GridAKL John Lysaght Building

NZ Tech Startup Ecosystem

Auckland Entrepreneurs

Startup NZ

400 slack communities

Talk to someone that can help connect you with a community

“One of my favourite things is being able to talk to someone about their business and then be able to connect them to the next thing they need, most of the time that is making an introduction”Emma Ashley, Community Co-ordinator BizDojo @ GridAKL and The GridAKL / Tech Café

We know first hand the power of making the right connection. The GridAKL / Tech Café team have an excellent lay of the land here in Auckland (and further afield) and are always keen to help connect you in with people, services, organisations or businesses that can help you. To make it easy you can click here to book in a 101 session with the GridAKL / Tech Café Activation Manager Eva Perrone.

Need help support progressing that glimmer of an idea into a fully formed thriving business? Reach out to the team at the GridAKL / Tech Café here. If you are a student make the most of our student discount that gives those between 18-25 50% off their Tech Cafe Membership – to get your discount code click here and sign up for our Student Business Builder list, we will connect you with events and opportunities to help you on your entrepreneurial journey.

This blog post was written by GridAKL / John Lysaght Building team member Anya, if you have a story you think she would love to write about tweet her about it.