OUR STORIES

It is coming to the end of the year which means a good portion of you will be scrambling to get your Webstock tickets together for next February. But while you may be super excited about the lineup of speakers like Stefan Sagmeister and Genevieve Bell but if you are a startup you might also be excited about BNZ Startup Alley, a startup comp that takes place as part of Webstock. For the uninitiated, the competition allows startups to pitch for their chance to win cash, legal advice and a return trip for 2 to the states! We cornered Webstock Co-founder Mike Brown to talk startup, BNZ Startup Alley and why you should enter. 

The social enterprise foundation recently announced a new accelerator, aimed to help social enterprises creating employment in Auckland. But Launchpad Work is not just focussed on employment, they are focussing down to try and find employment for individuals facing the greatest barriers to work. This ambitious programme is the first of its kind in New Zealand and supported by the Ministry of Social Development and SKYCITY Auckland Community Trust.

Innovation, like Beyonce and chocolate cake, is one of those things everyone wants a slice of. We have spoken about it before - innovation is oft mentioned, lauded and praised but perhaps less diligently actioned in our organisations. That is why when the invite for the launch of Big I little i appeared in my inbox I was more than a little intrigued. While every day we see people spinning up new innovative approaches, ideas or iterations at a startup level - The Big I little i report is all about tackling the wicked problems of innovation in large New Zealand organisations. The learnings within the piece have been informed by interviewing 44 CEO’s of New Zealand’s biggest companies and most successful startups.

A familiar face in the NZ tech and innovation community, you may recognise Elyse Wyatt from Lightning Lab Manufacturing, or her constant presence at tech, innovation and startup events in Auckland and Tauranga. Recently, fusing her passion for people and love of hardware Elyse has founded the Hardware Meetup - Auckland. In the midst of prepping for their first event we managed to get a moment to talk to Elyse about what exactly a hardware meetup is, why it matters, and why you should be heading along.