Talking of non-lemons, remember the You've been TANGO'd ads? 

Despite a near perfect pitch from Mel, Geo AR Games had to concede first place at last night's Finals Gala of Zino's 2018 New Kiwis Challenge to Nicky SHANG and WuKong Education, all about teaching Chinese to second generation expat Chinese.

Congrats to Nicky and his team! 

They bring a wealth of relevant experience and address a pain point that clearly resonates with the Zino folk 

Nawaz brings a wealth of relevant experience from Chiasma and Uniservices, both linking university with hi-tech industry, Dasset in the blockchain realm, his own startup Kimera and he brings a healthy dose of smarts from his bioscience masters.

PS Jai has long since shaved, smooth to sightlike the proverbial baby's bottom.

It is AAA time again! Wednesday 5 September, 18:00 @ Simmonds Stewart, Level 4, 4 Vulcan Lane, Auckland 1010. ☞ more here.

Also, 3x ADI.Clinic next week in Wanaka, Whangarei and Auckland.

Flick is rumoured to be a 4x exit for most investors which is pretty good going given that Steve O'Connor only formed the company in late 2013 after he set up the first Lightning Lab for Creative HQ.

CEO Nathan Bryant-Taukiri took three strikes with a big sword to open a piccolo bottle, whilst Karin Enderle took only two with a kitchen knife to open a standard size bottle of champagne. At this point, we refrain from of the many obvious commentary angles around size, gender and nationality. Karin is from Germany and her surname derives from "Andreas", meaning manly, and was held by the first of Christ's disciples.

Thank you also to the crew from Moxion who shot and processed the video for the benefit of everyone who couldn't be there on Tuesday.

Charlie, Josh and Rudi say "Thank you, Tim, it's been awesome working with you on the board!" Newbies Jai and Garth say "We'll not attempt to emulate your style... but we will endeavour to do our best on the Board!"

BE THERE! Thu 30 Aug, 17:30+ Register here for FREE entry!

Thu 20 Sep, 18:00 ?  Full details and FREE registration here.

We halted DD on Yabble last month to give them more time to build traction and validate more of the assumptions in their business model. They keep doing good stuff, clearly, one to watch. 

Toothcrush was all about putting bamboo toothbrushes in your mouth, SmartAss.co.nz is all about bamboo toilet paper. James from Toothcrush is a fan and so is Debra, as she proclaimed at a recent branding workshop she ran for Jackie at the ecentre. 

Potentia, Level 8, 23 Customs Street East, Auckland, 1010

Uli is bringing one of the Top Three entries from Zino's New Kiwis Challenge: Geo AR Games. Mel the CEO pitched to us before in 2016. She was selling to councils then which was a turnoff. She gets that now but reckons we'll love her pivot to a new exciting market.

Also this week, Debra and Rudi were judging with Alex Mercer at the annual Angel at My Table event of the NZ Software Association. That has generated more leads for ADI.Clinic. Alex is with ArcAngels which should qualify the gender ambiguity of her first name. 

After a legless night with Tim Gelston, he is also helping a startup that is leveraging StretchSense tech for a smart knee brace. Garth and Tim? A mixed blessing, some might say, but not founder Arien Hielkema. 

Garth is stepping onto the FKA Board and wants to strengthen our Post Investment Managment.  AWESOME!

The photo has to be the most fiery shot of Garth on planet earth, in fact, the most fiery shot of any ex-banker.

BE THERE! Thu 30 Aug, 17:30+ Register here for FREE attendance.

CHH wonders "Can the Zino folk pull off a sabrage?"

He is also the Ⓗ in HGM Legal. The self-inflicted branding of his boutique Wanaka practice is very different from the corporate HGM brand. He is, of course, one of the most respected NZ IP experts.

Some have suggested this would a perfect 'corporate' video for WHipIT!

Jai has taken part in several DD exercises. He loved it so much so that he has put his own and the learnings of others together into our DD process and templates that we are using at present

Cut a long story short, Toothcrush succeeded in getting their US market entry financed by their bank which is a great outcome. We wish cofounders Anabel and James all the best for the road ahead and hope they'll pick up with us again when they need more growth capital for the next stage. Banks may not always play so nice. Ask Jai or Garth, they know all about risk management at banks!

Rudi has kept mentoring the founder and CEO Mel since the pitch in 2016. Uli was on the Zino judging panel and likes the new model so much, that Rudi could twist his arm to be the champion for Geo AR Games and bring Mel to our pitch night this month.

Funny thing is, all three - Mel, Rudi and Uli are German. So the Germans are going after the Chinese retail sector with massive support from Zino. Who in turn have massive support from Debra who is driving, literally whipping, the 2018 New Kiwis Challenge forward!

The full report is an interesting read, read it on our blog.

$54-lunch at The Northern Club, Wednesday 15 August.  ☞ Register

"Win A Work Day" was a 2017 initiative of CareersNZ.