If you ask a bunch of local people what kind of business they’d start if they had the funds, you’re likely to hear about a bunch of restaurant and cafe concepts, clothing or craft stores, more than a few boba tea shops and maybe a tour or transportation company or two.
A tech startup — where the products are virtual, distribution is global and a physical office is unnecessary — would be a less common answer.
There is nothing wrong with any of the ideas behind the majority of businesses formed in the islands, of course. The successful ones meet a demand (often generated by the visitor industry) and make enough money to pay bills, pay workers and hopefully grow.
But Hawaii leaders and policymakers have been pushing for more local tech companies for decades, both to diversify our distressingly tourism-dependent economy and to create knowledge-based businesses that can be built digitally and can scale easily.
Despite this repeatedly resurgent drumbeat, however, the list of Hawaii-born breakout tech successes is dismally short. Verifone, Cheap Tickets, maybe Digital Island and Pihana Pacific make the cut. Sure, the University of Hawaii helped develop the technology behind the earliest version of the internet, but that was 50 years ago.
The issue isn’t so much a lack of imagination, but a lack of role models and success stories. People imagine another boba tea shop because they’re surrounded by them. We need to see more tech businesses. We need to hear more tech stories. We need to inspire more tech ideas.
That’s the thinking behind Next Round.
Sponsored by Two Towers Private Equity — an Asia-Pacific investment firm and fund manager that has handled nearly $35 million in transactions in the past two years — Next Round is a monthly pitch competition for Hawaii entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs.
Two Towers founder Justin Paik is a 1981 ‘Iolani School graduate who found success in South Korea but has now returned to the islands (with a wife and two young kids) with a mission to build up Hawaii’s tech sector. And while his big hairy audacious goal is to see three local tech companies list on NASDAQ by 2030, he’s also willing to start at the grassroots, ground level.
The pitch is a critical part of the launch of a startup: selling your idea, and more importantly your story and team, to potential investors. For a new entrepreneur it can be daunting, especially without real-world practice.
Next Round provides that welcoming space for the first-time founder. Its pitch competitions — which include pupu and drinks and networking — are described as “pitch karaoke,” a kind of open-mic night, where just getting up on stage is worth celebrating.
Nobody expects to find the next Whitney Houston or next Iam Tongi. If you have the guts to go for it, you’re already on the right path. You can work on your tone and breathing later.
The best pitches, however, will get more than applause and bragging rights. Paik is offering cash prizes for the top three teams each month. And since there were only five pitches at the first event last week, that made for pretty good odds.
Obviously, Paik and his collaborators at ThriveHI (led by fellow ’81 ‘Iolani grad Trung Lam) would love to see many more people sign up to pitch their business ideas. The more ambitious the better, but if you’ve thought up a quirky little app you think might catch on, you’re welcome to pitch as well.
The goal of Next Round is in its name: to get founders and startups to the next round of building, fundraising or business success. And the hope is to make the process fun and inspiring, even if only to get someone in the audience to think, “I can do better than that!”
One piece of advice? Your idea is not as unique or as valuable as you think it is, and you shouldn’t worry about someone in the audience stealing it. Hundreds of people have already had the same idea. What matters is execution: building a team, then building the product.
Next Round and its small cash infusion is designed to help entrepreneurs begin that journey. For more information, visit NextRoundHI.com.
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Ryan Kawailani Ozawa hosts Hawaii Slack, a free and open message board for Hawaii’s tech workers and entrepreneurs. Join at HawaiiSlack.com.
