Andy's March Message

Icehouse CEO, Andy Hamilton, shares his insights on the OMP 36 programme and our new startup model as we gear into March. 

Hi Icehouse Network,

We’re now three months into 2016, and hopefully you’ve well and truly settled back into the swing of things. Here at The Icehouse, 2016 brings a year full of new milestones and goals. First and foremost, this year marks our 15 year anniversary of helping kiwi businesses grow.

Recently, I was privileged to stand in at the closing day of our 36^th Owner Manager Programme (OMP) and it really caused me to think and reflect on the journey of business growth that our customers go on. The Icehouse OMP alumni are a remarkable group of people and businesses.

Today, they employ 33,000 people and this number has grown by 7,800 over the 15 years The Icehouse has been operating. It’s really only when you attend OMP or sit in the room, that you see the impact it has. It is hard not to be inspired by some of the speakers, from Murray Thom on the Friday night to Cam Calkoen on the Saturday morning.

One of the participants went so far as to say it was like “nothing else like I have experienced in my life.” This however can quickly turn to fear of failure once the glow of OMP subsides and life returns to normal.

The good news is that at The Icehouse we have been learning how to be there for our owner-managers on an ongoing basis; how to help them and cajole them to come together again to maintain that special connection and knowledge of each other’s challenges. It is also a truth that we have really struggled with how to do this effectively over the years.

In an effort to continue on our path to helping kiwi businesses grow and as part of our changing startup model, we have raised a new fund to invest in startups. The fund will leverage the combined resources of the ICE Angels, The Icehouse and four leading angel investors to invest in a portfolio of 25 kiwi startups over four years.

The fund will actively engage with and invest in high potential startups at any stage (pre-seed to emerging venture) and in any industry. We set off in early November 2015 to raise $5m and are pleased to say we have more than $6m committed by more than 100 investors including nearly 20 offshore kiwis.
Andy