Editor’s Letter – August 2019

In this issue, we run some swanky event photos from our July 24 Success Summit, as well as the beginnings of the insights provided by some of the speakers on the day. While the future of business was an important theme of the day, the event is itself a testament to the evolution of the media industry.

We have become a mix of print magazine, a digital platform and an events company, but then again maybe we haven’t. Maybe our core purpose is to share ideas with an audience and to even connect ideas together. In that case, it doesn’t really matter what the platform is, it just matters what the content is. And in terms of that content, I am very grateful for the insights shared by a range of incredible speakers from very different industries. I am also very grateful that in the over 300 people in the room, we had some incredible leaders from many different industries.
And while much of the day was focused on stage listening to 13 people share their insights, another really important part of the day was seeing people connecting with each other and sharing insights from their industries to people from other industries. And this concept is important, I think, for the health of New Zealand business in general. Business lessons don’t just live in silos. The lessons from someone who runs a fishing fleet, or a trucking company might be really valuable to someone who runs a media agency or app start-up or vice versa. There are lessons from all industries that are applicable to all industries.

And sometimes, by connecting these dots, there is the potential for added value and growth and also perhaps the formation for new industries. One particular lesson that I learnt from all of our speakers is sometimes business success isn’t a zero-sum game and often if you help others with your time and your insights it will come back to you in kind.