Posse Founder Declares Business Barriers Imaginary

Music industry entrepreneur and founder of social search engine Posse.com Wellingtonian Rebekah Campbell draws from her childhood to discuss how barriers to success are imaginary in a recent blog posting.

“As a 13-year-old New Zealander, I wanted to become prime minister, and was surprised that no one else wanted to be PM too. It was obviously the top job; didn’t everyone want to make it to the top?” Campbell writes.

“When I met David Lange [as a Wellington Girls’ College Year 7 student], he was relaxed and charming. He sat at one end of a huge wooden desk covered in piles of papers with his hands behind his head, his feet up on the desk, a wide smile and a booming laugh. He made jokes as I asked my list of ridiculous questions about the subjects he studied at school to become a prime minister – my interview was clearly the highlight of his day. At the end, he told me he thought I’d make a fantastic prime minister and that I should keep up the good work.

“When I first launched Posse, we were struggling to build a technology team. I approached Lars Rasmussen at a lunch break at Tech 23, shared my vision for Posse, my challenges as a non-tech founder, and asked if he’d help me. He agreed to meet for coffee, interview my existing team, and then help me recruit new people – before joining the board and investing in the company.

“One of the key components to the success of Posse has been our capacity to enlist the help of some of the best people in the world. When I share the Posse story and our list of investors, directors and mentors, I’m asked how we developed those relationships.

“You can reach almost anyone in the world by picking up the phone.”

Campbell’s website Posse.com, founded in 2011, acts as a verified recommendation service. She founded top music management company, Australia-based Scorpio, in 2002.

Original article by Rebekah Campbell, StartUpSmart, April 10, 2014.

Photo by Craig Simcox/Fairfax NZ.