Quit your jobs, winners told

The SpeakEazy team flanked by award presenters Tracy Preston-Lett of KPMG (far left) and Bill Murphy of Enterprise Angels (far right). Photo / Mark Shingleton

An internet service which allows reluctant public speakers to upload a rehearsal video and receive valuable feedback from reviewers was the winning presentation at the completion of Tauranga Startup Weekend on Sunday night.

Fifty-four hours previously SpeakEazy was just an idea in the mind of strategy and web analyst Peter McHannigan but with the combined efforts of an international team the service not only won the competition's $18,000 worth of prizes but also has a real chance of becoming a successful internet product.

The SpeakEazy service would particularly appeal to professionals who have to deliver group presentations but feel uncomfortable with their public speaking ability and do not have the time to seek formal help.

SpeakEazy would match reluctant speakers with willing reviewers who would give helpful feedback after watching the rehearsal video online.

Trent Mankelov, one of the four Startup Weekend judges, said he thought the idea was so compelling he had felt goosebumps on his skin when the team was presenting their idea. "Quit your jobs, do this," he advised.

Fellow judge Brett Roberts said one of the reasons the judges had chosen SpeakEazy as the winner was because it was such a unique idea.

"There's huge potential for add-on business beyond what they're talking about already and most of the people sitting in the room while we were judging were of the opinion that they would use it in some way."

None of Mr McHannigan's team - one from France, one from Russia, an Australian and a South Islander - knew each other before last Friday evening but now the SpeakEazy team are determined to stay together and make a go of it as a business.

While all the prizes on offer went to the SpeakEazy team, the judges also gave special mentions to Almighty Choice, an internet service that encourages young people to make wills and matches them with lawyers, and SmartCare, a service that allows Alzheimer sufferers to regain some of their independence via friendly reminders sent by family and caregivers.

The audience favourite award was won convincingly by Pest Busters - an idea to deal with "pesky flies" by sucking them up through a specially-constructed funnel attached to a dustbuster.

Developer Vivian Cooper from Rotorua said she had constructed a prototype using a sawn-off plastic bottle and a vacuum cleaner which had been very successful in dealing to "those buggers".

One of the event organisers, Tina Jennen, said the whole weekend had been exhilerating.

"When you bring people together that really want to make a difference and chart new territory you get this amazing energy where it's almost addictive."

One member of the winning team will attend an Entrepreneur Bootcamp - one of the prizes offered by Ms Jeenen's organisation Plenty of Innovation - where they will consider all the possible downfalls of the business plan before approaching investors.