Tony Bishop likens the relationship between venture capitalists and their portfolio companies to an “arranged marriage”.
“You’re going to be relying on each other and you know you’re going to be having trials and tribulations that come up and challenges and disagreements,” Bishop says. “Everyone wants the same thing – they want the company to succeed.”
It’s no surprise, really, that US tech entrepreneur Craig Elliott has been appointed a director of the Kiwi Landing Pad, the San Francisco-based hub for high-growth NZ tech businesses wanting to establish their businesses in the States.
Elliott was there in the beginning when KLP was just a twinkle in the eye of Sam Morgan, who set it up with Wellington entrepreneur John Holt and the support of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in 2011.
Shares in lightbulb maker Energy Mad surged after it announced it had begun selling its energy-efficient products online in the United States through internet retail giant Amazon.
The Christchurch-based company, which has continually failed to deliver on the profit forecasts published in its 2011 initial public offer prospectus, says four of its products are being sold on Amazon under Energy Mad’s US Ecospiral brand.
A strategy developed by Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) to attract foreign direct investment into Auckland has been named fourth best in the Asia-Pacific.
The ‘Asia-Pacific Cities of the Future 2013/14’ rankings were compiled by highly respected fDi Intelligence, a division of the UK’s Financial Times and the world’s largest foreign direct investment (FDI) centre of excellence.
Andrew Fisher has taken the mobile app from a bit of phone fun to an advertiser’s boon. But will it deliver a blockbuster float? writes Simon Duke.
Andrew Fisher chuckles before launching into an anecdote about the jet-black electric guitar hanging on the wall. Emblazoned with the message “Go Shazam!”, it was a gift from Al Gore, Bill Clinton’s vice-president.