Network Event Headlines Leading Entrepreneurs and Futurist

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Thursday 7 June, 2012

ICEHOUSE Network Event Headlines Leading Entrepreneurs and Futurist

The ICEHOUSE Network Event is all about looking to the future. On July 6, 2012 the Network Event will introduce an impressive line-up of keynote speakers and panellists including Rob Adams, U.S entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author; Sarah Gibbs, co-founder of Trilogy; Tim Longhurst, futurist; Vinny Lohan, founder and CEO of OneBeep; and Chris Quin, CEO of Gen-i Australasia.

The world's business landscape is changing at a rapid pace. As entrepreneurs and business owners, it's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day challenges of running a business, without stopping to think about the impact of upcoming trends.

"It's a challenge to get a start-up or an owner-managed business with big ambitions off the ground. Often times the business owner is so focused on building their product or servicing their clients, they have little time for anything else,” said Andy Hamilton, CEO of The ICEHOUSE. “The ICEHOUSE Network Event is a great opportunity for business owners and entrepreneurs to hear from people who walk a similar path. It is also an opportunity to take a step back to consider the impact of evolving business trends and get inspired by the success stories of others.”

Rob Adams, a leading U.S. entrepreneur, is a panellist at the Network event as part of a two week visit to New Zealand mentoring local businesses and investors. An expert in market validation, Dr Adams is also a globally recognized speaker on entrepreneurship, product and financing strategy. He is on the faculty of the MBA program at The University of Texas at Austin, and is an active angel investor and board member for several start-ups. He has founded or financed more than 40 companies that launched more than 100 products with transactions exceeding one billion dollars of capital.

Dr Adams said, “Launching new products or start-ups is tough. More than 65 percent of new products fail. If we switch over to start-ups, the failure rate jumps to 90 percent. Market validation aims to increase these odds through the use of a series of common business practices that, when assembled in a unique way, can prove the validity of a market opportunity. The process is very similar for both start-ups and established companies and looks for concrete evidence of an opportunity before considerable amounts of time and money are invested pursuing it. New Zealand

has a great environment for early stage businesses. I’m looking forward to visiting again to share and learn from Kiwi business leaders.”

As a futurist, Tim Longhurst is a passionate advocate for innovation and collaborates with organisations to think about the future. He identifies trends and helps organisations adapt to a changing world. Mr Longhurst will talk about three key future trends that are redefining our lives and the opportunities these bring.

CEO of OneBeep, Vinny Lohan is a 23 year old information technology entrepreneur now based in India. An Auckland University alum, Mr Lohan was recently awarded General Electric’s Alva Emerging Fellowship which recognises young entrepreneurs who create useful and innovative products or services that contribute toward a larger vision and make an impact on the world. His company OneBeep is harnessing innovative technology to provide a simple, effective and low-cost way to share daily lessons to millions of Indian children without access to the internet.

As a panellist, Sarah Gibbs, CEO of Trilogy will share with us her exciting journey to international stardom and the challenges and successes behind her admired natural skincare brand. Sold to Ecoya in 2010, Trilogy is a great New Zealand success story in a very competitive market.

The ICEHOUSE Network Event will take place on Friday 6 July 12pm – 5:15pm at The Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland, followed by networking drinks. For more information visit www.theicehouse.co.nz/icehouse-networking-event/

About The ICEHOUSE

Named one of the top 10 start-up incubators in the world by Forbes magazine, the ICEHOUSE is a business growth centre focused on developing owner-managers and entrepreneurs who will shape the future of New Zealand’s economy. The organisation is a business incubator for start-ups and provides business growth programmes for small and medium enterprises. The ICEHOUSE is also home to New Zealand’s largest group of Angel Investors.

The ICEHOUSE is backed by the financial support and expertise of the University of Auckland Business School, BNZ, HP, NZTE, Gen-I, Telecom, Ernst & Young, KPMG, JB Were, Microsoft, Paul Diver and Associates and Grafton Consulting Group. Since 2001 The ICEHOUSE has worked with over 3,500 ambitious owner managers – from start-ups, to established multi-million dollar companies.

For more information visit www.theicehouse.co.nz

ENDS

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