NZ needs new ideas to compete globally: Thiel
US angel investor says we need to foster world-beating ideas that have never been tried before.
Friday, July 08 2011 || Icehouse 10th anniversary || BY William Mace, Businessday.co.nz
Thiel, who gave the keynote address at the Ice Ideas conference in Auckland this morning, is reported to be worth US$1.5 billion whiche he made mostly by founding Pay Pal and investing in Facebook.
He has recently taken an interest in New Zealand companies with investments in online accounting firm Xero and cross-Tasman cable builder Pacific Fibre.
He says unlike the Australian economy, which is focused on globalising existing products like raw materials, New Zealand must innovate new technologies and foster world-beating ideas that have never been tried.
“The next innovative company will not be a PayPal or a Facebook because that’s been done – you need to think of something that hasn’t been done before,” he said.
“To do something new you have to do something new globally, so one of the challenges… is you have to focus on the product, and the market, but also broaden it and think about ‘how is this unique and hasn’t been done before anywhere in the world?'”
The Ice Ideas Conference is aimed at renewing the goals set ten years ago at the Knowledge Wave conference.
Icehouse chief executive Andrew Hamilton has also launched a website, www.3000.org.nz, aimed at inciting kiwi entrepreneurs and investors towards a goal of 3000 internationally engaged, investment grade companies by 2020.
– Businessday.co.nz