Commercialising Ideas

Digital columnist Helen Baxter writes about commercialising ideas and X|Media|Lab in Auckland.

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I have a quote on my fridge that has been there for years, on a sky blue postcard with faded red letters. "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now", Goethe. One thing successful entrepreneurs have in common is that they share their dreams with a team of experienced mentors. Access to the knowledge, and networks of a mentor you trust will make your big idea far more likely to succeed in the long run.

At Mohawk Media everything starts with a brainstorm using pens and a layout pad to capture our creative flow. At this point there is no such thing as a stupid idea, that comes later. Some ideas are great, and some of them are never going to work. Telling the difference is what stands between success and failure which is why filtering them is so important. It's a smart idea to find experienced mentors to give you feedback on your plan, before you waste time and energy going in the wrong direction.

Your friends and family will tell you that your ideas are great, as they want to support you. An experienced business mentor will be able to tell you the truth, and help you stay focussed on your goals and income streams, as even a not-for-profit or social enterprise needs to pay the bills. It is easy to get caught up in technical or creative ideas, without having a solid business model, and a mentor will help you plan and stick to a realistic strategy. Online tools can help you manage day to day such as the ones I covered in A Creative's Toolkit. Above all try to stay flexible, as Chris Deering said at the New Zealand X|Media|Lab last year, "there must be a plan, but the plan will change."

I have been fortunate to be a mentor at two X|Media|Labs so far, the one in Wellington for "Commercialising Ideas", and the other in Melbourne for "DIY TV". They have both been inspirational, fun events and I'm very much looking forward to the X|Media|Lab in Auckland this month on "Commercialising Ideas".  International mentors & keynote speakers from across the creative industries will be at Auckland's Hilton hotel for a public keynote conference day  packed full of speeches from a lineup of digital media stars. There will be plenty of opportunities to meet the mentors in between sessions over coffee and at the networking reception afterwards.

Over the following two days handpicked project teams get to spend time in the Labs with the international mentors, business incubators and investors, who have all won awards or grown internationally successful companies. I will be reporting live from the keynote conference day on The Big Idea's twitter feed, spending time in the Labs as an international observer and writing a round-up for The Big Idea afterwards.

If you have a digital media project that you would like to enter into the Auckland X|Media|Lab, then you still have time to nominate your Project Team. Applications are free, with a fee for each successful project team member. You can also register a place at the keynote conference day through the X|Media|Lab website, and watch videos of keynotes from a number of previous keynote conferences on X|Media|Lab TV.