Takeaways from Sunrise Aotearoa 2023.
After arriving at Shed10 in Auckland, designing our lanyards with bright coloured sharpies and emoji stickers, we were ushered into a dimly lit room with beams of lights and wall paneling that represented the colours of a sunrise (how fitting). The perimeter of the room was surrounded with food and coffee stands, while the center of the venue had space for communal dining, and networking tables that could be booked through the event app…kind of like a dating app but for networking. The place was buzzing with VCs meeting with big thinkers, dreamers, business owner and startups ready to make connections, and scale up.
We spent the day hearing from individuals and panels of founders upstairs at the big stage, while down stairs smaller groups workshopped more specific topics.
We got the COIN South team to dive into their notes app and pull out their key takeaways:
Allbirds - Tim Brown
Interview started off with Allbirds (at the time Wool Runner’s Kickstarter video). Recording the journey may seem cringy but how epic to be able to watch the whole thing back.
Link to Kickstarter video: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/video/original-kickstarter-campaign-for-allbirds/PBYXHBRVSHSVWOGQ2Z4Q5FRB6M/
Book recommendation mentioned: Belonging Owen Eastwood
Tim referred to storytelling and related it to the carving seen at Marae. The carvings speak to not only the good stories, but the stories that resulted in struggle, loss, failure, support and resource found within the ecosytem. The message was that it is good to talk about the successes but we need to talk about the failures and really hard stuff that also happens on the journey.
Spoke about times of growth and times that the company has struggled for a variety of reasons. In these times it is important to take the time to reanchor to your mission and values of what you are trying to achieve.
In comments after this he shared that it was important to be able to zoom in on the details as to what was happening in the company, but also be able to zoom out to gain perspective that this struggle is just a small moment in time on the journey as a whole.
“It all starts with passion” - Passion towards solving the problem.
Sharesies - Brooke Roberts
Importance of team building
Three E O’s (Three CEOs). Trialed for 6 months and it worked. Team knows who to go to for which issues.
John Gelsey - building a team
Marketing. Easier to teach the ‘expert’ how to do marketing, than find a general marketer and expect them to become an expert in the specific industry.
Set yourself up as the trusted adviser. Help people over the years so you become front of mind when they are ready to purchase - trying to make them the hero before they even purchase. They become the salesperson for you.
Veve - David Yu
Customer validation
Started with two physical stores for collectables. Hosted in person gaming nights at the store, main reason was to build community, but in doing so they could also fully understand their customers issues.
Focus on the purpose of what you are trying to do. Get the whole team to focus on purpose.
Embrace failure and things not working out
Build relationships before you need them (investment), but also generally as you won’t know how/why people will be important until you need them
Niche down on who your community really is.
Where he thinks the future is going. AR, mixed reality, digital layers to things we do every day. Eg. emails will not just be emails anymore.
NY entrepreneur of the year https://www.ey.com/en_nz/entrepreneur-of-the-year/new-zealand/finalists-2023/david-yu
Canva - Cameron Adams
Know when to keep going and persevere, but know when to move on to the next idea.
“We’re all still learning” - it’s never too late nor is there a perfect time to start a business or pursue your idea. Also triggered thoughts around imposter syndrome or looking at other people further ahead in their business journey and thinking how could you ever get to where they are. It’s all constant learning, and solving the next problem.
Also, a personal challenge to accept that it is okay to be a beginner at something. We are all learning all the time and that’s a good thing.
Overarching themes throughout the day
Build the right team and have a clear vision.
Just get started. You should be embarrassed by your first product.
“passion” a lot of talk about it. If you have passion for solving the problem/helping a certain group of people, you will work out the ‘how tos’ as you go. 4
While getting her ice cream rolled Fran chatted to the founder of EatKinder. They spoke about the problem that were solving when it comes to current diary free options in the market. It was a challenge for consumers to find something that was both nut, dairy and soy free. The team at EatKinder is extremely passionate about making good ice cream that everyone can enjoy.
