ADI.Clinic born 27 June 2013

ADI.Clinic  is a simple format. Founders book 20 minutes online to talk to a bunch of angel investors about their idea or startup. They will listen and give honest feedback, maybe suggest next steps, or make connections with others who may be able to help. The sessions are free format, more like a chat, not about pitching. This post covers the early days, our initial traction, some interesting reactions.

The Early Days
Back in 2013,   David Russel,   Nick Shewring  and Rudi Bublitz decided that not enough was being done to help startups get off the ground and steer a healthy course on their challenging journey towards growth and overseas markets. Cut a long story short, David and I put in time and Nick promptly threw in some free space at   BizDojo.
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Here   the BizDojo blog announcing our first Ⓐngelic Ⓓrop Ⓘn. 

The Initial Traction
The response was overwhelming, coming initially only from Dojo residents and other founders in the startup ecosystem who already knew David and me from before. We had expected only the occasional angelic chat and thought we'd mostly hang out at the Dojo, in those days in the Ironbank Building, and make good use of free office, coffee, and WiFi. NOT SO. From June 2013 onwards, David and I would, every Thursday afternoon, play a double act, not partners in crime, not dragons to dread, but angels with advice. From that first Thursday onwards, we have had four to six booked sessions most weeks, except of course during the Xmas break.

Interesting Reactions
Massey's   ecentre    very quickly started sending their founders along to get another perspective from the guys at the Angelic Drop In. That was incredibly encouraging because until then we had had virtually no contact with the entrepreneurs from the ecentre. David and I were Ice Angels at the time and figured that our IA-hat had gotten in the way. So when the IA's manager at the Icehouse saw our traction and invited us to run this under the ICEHOUSE brand, we kindly declined.
Because ADI is independent and is not looking to generate consulting or other income from the advice our referrals come from a wide range of entrepreneurial programs such as ecentre, ICEHOUSE, Microsoft Innovation Challenge, Lightning Lab, SODA, Unitec, Startup Weekend, ​ or Velocity (formerly Spark). Referrals also come from companies such as ASB, Deloitte, Everedge IP, EY, KPMG, PwC, or Three Sixty Capital Partners.

Staffing for Advice
​David Russell took a job with NZTE in San Francisco almost exactly at the first anniversary. He has carried on joining in as a mentor by Google Hangout from time to time. Thankfully, the void he left in NZ has been filled by many very competent mentors so that we can have from one to four mentors on any given day. More mentors is more fun for the mentors and offers founders different perspectives.
A big thank you to, hopefully most of, the mentors of ADI: 
Karl von Randow,   Claudia Wyss,    Jai Somaratne,   Lachlan Sloan,   Kate Turska,   Daniel Burrill,   Josh Comrie,   Tim Warren,   James Hoseason,   Rodger Howie,   John Newton,   Arron Patterson,   Simeon Burnett,   Christine Reeve,   Dale Shaw,   Glen Harris,    Paul Trotter,   Sanjay Ram,   Stu Christie,   Charlie James,   Katheren Leitner.