Rocket man enters hall of fame
The man who launched the world’s first rocket into a space from a private launch pad in Hawke’s Bay has missed out on a big international award.
Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck competed against 48 of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs for his second EY World Entrepreneur of the Year award in Monaco.
Beck won the top EY award last year, but this year was inaugurated into the award’s hall of fame.
Before the announcement Beck said the awards were the ‘‘Olympics for entrepreneurs and businesses’’.
‘‘It’s a huge honour, whether you’re a sportsman or an entrepreneur: Representing your country is the ultimate. It’s the ultimate responsibility, too, so I’d better bloody win for the country,’’ Beck said.
Beck said his vision to create a company that would challenge the norm and take New Zealand into space began at an early age.
‘‘As far back as I can remember standing outside looking up at the stars with my father I knew that space was something I had to be involved with. It’s kind of a marriage between engineering and space that has led to all of this,’’ he said.
Beck had to raise multimillion-dollar capital and convince both the New Zealand and United States governments to negotiate a bilateral space treaty.
His story was one that resonated with the global media that assembled in Monte Carlo, and he received attention from numerous international media outlets including CNBC, Fox, and the BBC.
Beck said that his achievements were not so much his own, but rather belonged to his team and the country.
The top award was taken by AGT Food and Ingredients chief executive Canada Murad Al-katib, for having produced revenues of $1.4 billion and 23 per cent of the world’s trade of lentils.
Beck’s advice for young Kiwi entrepreneurs was to work hard and be persistent.
‘‘There’s going to be a lot of people that tell you it’s not possible; there’s going to be many, many times when it just seems impossible and hard, but we always find a way … You can accept that it’s a barrier and stop or you can find a way around it.’’