Andrew Hamilton: Wanted - 2000 more business winners

American billionaire Peter Thiel is among those sharing ideas. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Opinion

New Zealand needs 3000 internationally engaged, capable and competitive firms.

There are now about 1000 such firms, so the challenge is to grow this 1000 while also finding another 2000. If we succeed, we will become the best little country in the world.

At the recent ICe Ideas conference in Auckland, ideas were shared by 30 speakers keen to improve New Zealand's economic success.

They included Peter Thiel of Facebook fame, Yike Bike founder Grant Ryan, Cabinet Minister Steven Joyce, Peter Chrisp of NZTE and Murray Bain of the Ministry of Science and Innovation.

And 3000.org.nz was also launched by The Icehouse with a view to transforming New Zealand's economic performance.

New Zealand needs thousands of talented executives to support the growth of companies as they go international.

One of the innovative projects identified by Fady Mishriki, co-founder and CEO of wireless power company, PowerByProxi was to issue a Start-Up Visa for international entrepreneurs to come to New Zealand to start businesses from the intellectual property (IP) that exists in publicly-funded science institutions.

Kauffman Foundation from the US has proven that the fastest way to turn IP into products is by getting an entrepreneur on board.

Imagine if we could attract 100 of the best entrepreneurs to come here and start a business off our IP.

Other projects include a productivity kicker for SMEs, with the BNZ and NZTE creating a $1.5 million fund for SME business owners to receive up to a 50 per cent subsidy on attending the Icehouse Owner Manager Programme and an initiative to deepen our technical software and engineering skills in New Zealand so that we could create partnerships with global centres of innovation such as Silicon Valley.

NZ needs a better mechanism to channel capital into the funding ecosystem that supports firms.

Enough wealth and funding is available in New Zealand through organisations such as NZ Super and overseas via expatriates.

What is lacking are mechanisms to channel this funding on a portfolio basis, and a range of product options for these classes of capital to make their investment choices. We need a radical redesign of financial offering to support the needs of New Zealand's firms.

The chief executive of the NZ Venture Investment Fund, Franceska Banga, says that over the next 10 years there is a funding gap to support the growing firms of $2 billion, or $200 million a year.

Banga's plan to fill the gap is sensible and practical. The annual $200 million could come from NZ Super and institutional investors ($50 million), high net worth investors and angel investors ($50 million), KiwiSaver ($30 million), international Co-Investment Funds ($25 million), NZVIF ($25 million) and wealthy migrants ($20 million).

Other capital projects include a seed fund being raised from high net worth investors by The Icehouse and leading seed investor Sparkbox, and two venture funds, Pan Pacific Capital and Movac.

These funds are important as they provide $5 million-plus investments, a critical area of need.

Living at the bottom of the world with little or no scale, we have no choice but to build the bridge to the rest of the world.

Sue Watson, chief executive of Kea, the global expatriate organisation, is focused on creating the most able and supportive network to propel our companies to global success. Scaling up Kea is essential.

Other projects identified included the Silicon Valley Concierge Service being lead by the Angel Association of NZ with support of US angel legends and friends of New Zealand Bill Payne and Ian Sobieski.

To create, enable and grow thousands of firms, you need to have a well functioning environment that supports concepts - and kills them when they are no longer viable.

It happens naturally eventually and is commonly termed an innovation ecosystem.

Ray Avery started the New Zealand Knowledge Bank, a bid to create the Wikipedia for New Zealand knowledge and content. It has a big vision and big ambition.

System projects included scaling up New Zealand's start-up support organisations by merging or moving closer together organisations such as The Icehouse, Bio Commerce Centre and others who support start-up creation, establishment of a New Zealand Innovation Park in Auckland the formation of an innovation council to lead the overall monitoring and performance of NZ's innovation system, lead by the NZ Institute.

If you create a goal or mantra, you must measure with discipline.

It should start with who are New Zealand's 1000 hero firms now and then who will be the next 2000 to join them.

* Andrew Hamilton is chief executive of The Icehouse, a business growth centre.