Winning Like The All Blacks
New Zealand “is small in size and population, but vast in talent and its position on the global scale,” writes Rajeev Gupta in an article published on LinkedIn. Gupta was one of several Australian investors, who were hosted by Amazon Web Services and the NZ Trade Enterprise group in Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown. There they met with “Government officials, investors, incubators and tomorrow’s global leaders that are running innovative companies in New Zealand.” Gupta summarizes 5 key takeaways from the trip – all “incorporated into rugby thinking”.
Takeaway 1: World Class, Taking a Risk
Xero is one example for New Zealand world class. Gupta describes Xero founder Rod Drury as “a man that is clear, articulate, driven and knows where he is going.” Drury “took a risk to transition to the cloud” and now “has almost 1million companies using his products.”
Takeaway 2: Skill, Energy, Execution
“Companies in NZ think like the All Blacks,” writes Gupta after meeting CEO’s and Founders of 20 early stage companies. They were “clear with their market fit, product positioning and tactical growth plans”. “They play to a plan, they play to win.”
Takeaway 3: The Network/Eco-system is Conducive for Success
“New Zealand has a world class eco-system for Founders building a winning dream,” writes Gupta. “On this trip I felt that Founders talk to many people. They listen, they learn. The incubators facilitate. The Government provides resources in the form of matched funding.” “Like the All Blacks, the team that is around the players is robust and world class.”
Takeaway 4: Adaptable
“When the All Blacks are in a wee-bit-of-bother, they adjust.” Young NZ companies do the same. Gupta heard from several NZ companies who rapidly evolved to tap an arising opportunity to succeed. “The culture in NZ is to adapt, adapt, adapt to win.”
Takeaway 5: Small Steps to Mt Cook
“If you know a New Zealander, you can only love them. They are humble, honest, loyal, jovial and yet they are committed, focused, and have a yearning to succeed. Unlike other cultures, NZ’ers go about their job/role/growth and they seem to be going through the motions.” “Every company we met with was realistic about where they were in their life-cycle,” explains Gupta. “It’s just like the All Blacks play rugby. They bust a gut in Provincial Rugby. They then bust ahead in Super Rugby and then they dominate in World Rugby.”
Final Word: Last day in The Remarkables was Remarkable!
Article Source: LinkedIn, Rajeev Gupta, August 29, 2017
Image Source: Pixabay and Facebook – All Blacks
