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MyFriendQuest

This is an unashamed plug for MyFriendQuest – released this week to the world from Tutukaka’s own BrightMind LABS.

090930-myfriendquestcom-logo

MyFriendQuest is an animated computer game designed to teach children on the autistic spectrum to recognise and respond appropriately to emotions.  It does this using a fusion of cognitive behavioural therapy and immersive gaming techniques – a process they have dubbed psytainment. [Read more…]

NZ Focus on Health

The semifinalists for the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise NZ Focus on Health competition were announced this week.   These 21 ventures will pitch to the five US and two kiwi judges for a spot on the ten-strong finalist’s list.  All ten finalists will work on their business plans then participate in a US roadtrip in mid 2010 where they will be introduced to influential players in the US health industry. [Read more…]

NZ Focus on Health Challenge

Entries for The New Zealand Focus on Health Challenge closed this week, and judging is now in progress.  The Challenge is NZTE run, and is just the sort of initiative New Zealand needs to help specific high potential industries to penetrate lucrative export markets.  Ten points to NZTE for this one!   The Health industry was chosen due to the global need for innovative solutions 0- and New Zealand’s strong capabilities in the sector.  NZTE reports that the US already spends over US$2 trillion every year on healthcare – and has plans to spend an additional US$135 billion over the next few years.  This is a massive opportunity for kiwi health entrepreneurs! [Read more…]

Winner – What’s your problem, New Zealand?

I have been criticised for being a bit harsh about the lack of initiatives to help Kiwi entrepreneurs get their products to the world – compared to what is available in America and other OECD countries.  I stand by my previous comments, but of course there are some great initiatives here – some of which I have blogged about previously. [Read more…]

You get what you reward, right?

You get what you reward, right?  Give a monkey a handful of nuts every time he jumps through a hoop, and he’ll jump through hoops all day. Compliment a young child every time they say “please” and “thank you”, and pretty soon you’ll have a well mannered kid. Give people massive tax incentives for investing in residential rental property, and before you know it that’s what is happening.

I’m hot on this topic right now, having just returned from Boston and seen firsthand what the American federal and state governments reward. Yup, entrepreneurial behaviour.

I had a coffee with a Kiwi guy in Boston on Sunday.  He is an Auckland University graduate and has a very cool Life Sciences venture which might just change the way some aspects of mental health are managed.  Potentially a big success story within a small niche of the US$2 trillion American health market.  He is located in Boston with a staff of seven techies.  The city of Boston pays the rent and utility bills for his offices, because they want to keep him from relocating to Cambridge City, 30 miles to the west.  The federal government has stumped up serious six figure cash as an SBIR grant (not a loan) to fund his research and development.

The US machine bends over backwards to make sure his innovation stands the best possible chance of success. Why? Because if he succeeds – and if hundreds of others like him also succeed, then that is great for the American economy. Sure, some will fail.  But for the Americans, investment in guys like him is a no brainer.

So if he had stayed in New Zealand, what would the same guy need to do to get massive government support for a venture? Yup, that’s right – he would probably be more incentivised by the system to get a salaried job, and then negatively gear himself into as many residential rental properties as his salary would allow.  The benefits for him personally?  Government subsidised wealth creation.  The positive benefits for New Zealand as a whole?  Absolutely zero.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not dissing the New Zealand political machine completely here. There are some great initiatives going on to encourage entrepreneurship – and I have blogged about some of them before here. 

But what if the massive tax incentives (I don’t know what the total is, but I’m guessing in the hundreds of $millions annually) were removed from investment in residential rental property and redirected to NZTE’s budget in support of Kiwi entrepreneurial activity that stands a chance of dominating some niche out there in the wider world?

Why are we still so fixated on the old hand’s off market doctrines of “sink or swim” when even the free market Americans have long ago abandoned that ethos and seen that everyone benefits from nurturing entrepreneurial activity?

Fraser Hurrell is one of three directors of Elevate CA Limited, Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors in Whangarei, New Zealand.

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