Business ideas take flight at startup event

For Mathew Pottinger, it was a lastminute decision that turned out to be life changing.

‘‘I was too busy to think that I had 54 hours spare to do this, but I got that free ticket, went to the event and couldn’t have imagined not going,’’ he said.

Pottinger is the Managing Director of Nelson Company, One Giant Leap, and attended Nelson’s first Startup Weekend two years ago after being given a ticket by a friend.

He is now making it a hat trick, attending Nelson’s third annual Techstars Startup event this weekend .

One Giant Leap has gained inter- national recognition for its kayak power meter, which helps athletes improve their technique.

The meters are built inside a kayak shaft to measure the power generated by a paddle stroke.

Pottinger described the event as an intensive course in business education, with attendees pitching ideas, and others choosing the ones they’d like to work on.

Techstars Startup is a global course, famed in New Zealand for helping launch software company Banqer, a learning tool that teaches money skills to school children by giving them a fake bank account.

More than 450 schools in New Zealand use the app and it is gaining attention worldwide.

Sacha MacDonald is one of Nelson Startup Weekend’s mentors.

It’s an ‘‘important platform’’ for people with a business idea who don’t know where to start, she said, herself the founder of four businesses, including Maori Event Management company, Meke Events, which managed the city’s ‘‘Fight 4 Victory’’.

‘‘So when you can get yourself in a room with very like-minded people who are almost at the same level and you all work together, it’s quite interesting to see the creativity that comes out and how those ideas can foster.’’

This year’s Nelson Techstars Startup Weekend will take place at NMIT.

Details can be found at http:/ /startupweekend.org/