The Influencers: Marian Johnson
At Ministry of Awesome, we are completely focused on growing NZ’s future high-value companies. One of the most exciting projects we are working on right now is how we can encourage more women founders into the start-up pipeline. Not only do we want to encourage diversity in our start-up ecosystem we also know […]
The Influencers: Marian Johnson
We have around 530,000 small businesses in New Zealand. This represents 97 percent of all commercial ventures, 28 percent of employment, and 25 percent of GDP – proving that the Kiwi entrepreneurial mindset is alive and well. Why then do we have so few start-up versus small business founders? What’s the difference between a small […]
The Influencers: Marian Johnson
I’m sure all of you – alongside every other person in New Zealand (and the world!) – are looking forward to a long-deserved break from the turmoil of what has been a very difficult year. There’s no guarantee that 2021 will be easier, but the best prescription will be recovery and rest with whānau and […]
The Influencers: Marian Johnson
For the last few weeks, the Ministry of Awesome team has been working hard alongside New World to launch this year’s FoodStarter competition. We’re so excited about getting this underway because it is the ultimate opportunity for Kiwi food and beverage entrepreneurs to launch right into national success. And – if ever there was a […]
The Influencers: Marian Johnson
For the last few days, I have been helping eight finalists of the HealthTech Supernode Challenge prepare their five-minute presentations for the upcoming final Demo Night where they will compete for $340,000 of in-kind and cash prizes. It’s been pretty interesting work hearing about the healthtech innovations of our future and meeting the researchers, students, […]
The Influencers: Marian Johnson
With continuing concern around the impact of Covid-19 on the job market, there is no time like the present to consider entrepreneurship as the way forward. This doesn’t just apply to people already active in the work force. Graduating students are also entering the hardest job market since the GFC. Entrepreneurship will be a critical […]
The Influencers: Marian Johnson
In case readers aren’t aware, Ministry of Awesome enables and supports high growth entrepreneurship and innovation in Christchurch and, increasingly, across New Zealand. Why is this important? Because our city, our country and the world are undergoing a massive period of transition, stemming from the rapid uptake of technology, globalisation and the urgent requirement to […]
The Influencers: Marian Johnson
What a weird month April 2020 was. By the time you read this, we are hopefully emerged from our respective bubbles. It’s hard to think of any event as universal as this experience and there won’t be a single Kiwi amongst us who hasn’t been affected in one way or another. Yes – economic […]
The Influencers: Marian Johnson
One of the best parts of my job is getting to meet talented entrepreneurs and helping them succeed. And that’s exactly what the whole team got to do last week at the Pressure Cooker final of FoodStarter 2019 – a national competition looking for the most innovative food and beverage startups in New Zealand. […]
Marian Johnson: The Influencers
If the theme of the last few months has been startup and innovation funding, then the theme of the last few weeks has been Celebration, with a capital “C”. This month the business community is celebrating twice, with two phenomenal black tie events: the Westpac Champion Awards and the Deloitte Fast 50 Awards. Both […]