Before hitting on a success, most young startup entrepreneurs experience a necessary apprenticeship of failures, something that requires plenty of resiliency and support as they go.
Startup Dunedin facilitator and students taking part in an Audacious workshop as part of Nohoaka Pakihi.
Before hitting on a success, most young startup entrepreneurs experience a necessary apprenticeship of failures, something that requires plenty of resiliency and support as they go.
Startup Dunedin General Manager, Rachel Butler, enthuses about her organisation’s support for young entrepreneurs, giving them a chance to dip their toes into the startup scene.
Startup Dunedin supports everything from PIPE (Pacific Incubation Programme) for primary school kids, to high school programmes, and the tertiary level Audacious, showing young people the potential of entrepreneurship, team work and innovation.
Rachel says, “Youth have much better creative muscle and are great at creative problem solving. We help young people through that process by providing space for them to have a go, before they head into establishing the next Education Perfect.
“Some people have a great sense of urgency to improve things in the world – like diverse representation, climate issues, mental health, equality – and these people tend to lean toward building startups.
“For us, entrepreneurship – which looks at solving problems in the community – needs youth input to add to the diversity and creative voices of the city and beyond.
“Dunedin is the best place in Aotearoa for anyone, regardless of background, who sees an opportunity to make something better through creating a startup. People here are keen to support you and your next big idea.”