NZ start-ups not alone

Rob Adams. Photo / Supplied

If Kiwi start-up businesses think their problems in getting capital are unique, they should think again, an entrepreneurship expert says.

Rob Adams has been appointed the new International Entrepreneur in Residence at Auckland University's business incubator, The Icehouse.

The Texas-based investor, author, consultant and university lecturer will spend two weeks a year here for the next three years.

New Zealand has a robust angel investor and incubator network, but start-ups always complain how difficult it is to get the next stage of investment.

"Everyone around the world complains about not having enough venture capital," Adams said.

Finding money was not easy, he said. "It never has been; it never will be."

Only 5 to 10 per cent of any population of start-ups had things that were really viable, he said.

"The other 90 per cent think they should be and can't understand why they're not."

It was far easier for businesses to get customers than venture capital, he said. "If you get customers you might not need venture capital."

While in New Zealand next month, Adams will conduct a one-day workshop based on his recent book, If You Build It Will They Come? Three Steps to Test and Validate Any Market Opportunity.

"I have an approach to start-ups around proving your market before delivering your product or service."

Often businesses get it round the wrong way. "I don't want to hear about the product - I want to hear about the market problem they're fixing."

New Zealand had a strong entrepreneurial community and it seemed stronger than when he last visited six years ago, Adams said. "There's kind of a gung-ho attitude towards making things work, which is what you need."

Adams will also speak at The Icehouse's Ice Ideas conference next month alongside keynote speaker Peter Thiel, an American tech billionaire who was the first external investor in Facebook.