Geoff Wilson's Work

Updated 20 Oct 2026

Reflecting on Auckland Startup Week 2026

What an absolute blast it was. I feel like I should write a ‘proper’ post about it, but I’ve noticed how little I feel like writing when I’m walking away from back-to-back, 12-hour days of deeply engaging, face-to-face interactions — basically, the social and professional validation need had been filled, so I may or may not get around to writing more. For now, here were the highlights:

• MON 12th: Getting to see all the inspiring people making inspiring things at the Challenger’s Expo (while I also helped run the Kiwibank StartUp+ booth). Then, the wildly expected, loud, frenetic, unique, surprising, and interesting ASW Disruptor’s Dinner held on the roof of a carpark.
• TUE 13th: Eating delicious taquitos found in the Kitchen Project alleyway of ASW, and then later scouting a new Auckland location for our HackAotearoa co-working community. I’d take the next 3 days off work to live my best unbridled life.
• WED 14th: Started with an early breakfast and AMA with Mayor Wayne Brown in which, rather than asking about policy (boring!), I asked what typically leads to his best, worst, and weirdest days (fun!). I then met with various startup supporting accelerators in their ‘Reverse Pitch’ speed dating; one of which I might be getting added to their adviser list🤞! Spent most of the afternoon in the Validation Lab which I knew would be my ‘home’ for the week as it had been the year prior, and I got to deeply know Ekot Circular Solutions and PitchLab — who I ended up running on-the-spot user testing for (the kind they hadn’t considered) and getting paid for it 🤑! The long day wrapped up with the Migrants In Tech Meetup at Grid before going home to spend a few more hours writing up a findings report for PitchLab to be worth the amount I invoiced.
• THU 15th: Little sleep but rearing to go, saw the tail end of the Bootstrappers Breakfast on making exit plans, then straight back into the Validation Lab to spend more time with Ekot and the event planning side of Lula. I got to meet and hear about StockRun in a MOA networking thing next door, which ended up being another fun hour-long deep dive into what they do and where they’re trying to go next. Then, while I had plans for a separate ProductTank meetup happening in the city, a free ticket opened up to me for the ADHD NZ Color Tie Gala which I said Yes to as my friend Steven Lyons would be performing in it. It was chaotic in an entertaining way, from getting to the venue to how the evening was run—so on brand haha. Because of this, I also got to meet Auriga, the networking maven I’ve heard her called, who gave me the ticket so I definitely need to circle back with her for more advisory opportunities.
• FRI 16th: Not ready for the week to end (and letting every event organiser know it), I took my adviser seat at the ASW Genius Bar and had what will easy be one of my top days of my year. 6 founders had rushed to book 30 minutes with me (as I was apparently booked out faster than most of the other advisers? Well that’s a neat little imposter syndrome squashing ego boost!) and every single one of these sessions went over by 10 minutes because we had soooo much to continue working through after we got started! I like to get straight into their problem space and it was clearly appreciated — hearing it was “great to get critical thinking that challenged me” and a “privilege to talk with someone who can dive into the details.” 😁 Finally, after one last catch-up with Keren to reflect on my week and where I should go from here, I departed, wishing we could do this all again on Monday. My night only got better as my wife and I dined at Tala, the recently Michelin Star awarded Samoan fine dining restaurant, for our 8th wedding anniversary. What. A. Week.

The one message above all others that I shared to nearly everyone I spoke to or advised through Auckland Startup Week was this: Be Useful and Be Generous. It is what I told everyone I was there to do and it is what I suggested each of them model their business around. I have Derek Sivers to thank for instilling this simple idea in me, I’ve put it to the test, and it’s all coming up wins so far.

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Resting my face

On Monday 19 Oct, I got various surgical procedures done in my nose and sinuses to help me breath better. I had undergone this procedure once before 13 years ago, and I was pleasantly reminded what it feels like to be able to breath freely through both nostrils at the same time, even immediately after waking up from surgery. However, before I can fully appreciate being a easy going nose breather for the first time in years, I’ve got to do 4 nasal rinses a day and wear what I call a ‘nose nappy’ for up to 2 weeks to collect the constant dripping — meaning I’m going to be a bit of a social recluse for a while, mainly just because of how annoying it is to be changing these gauze pads every couple hours.

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HOSTing & mentoring inspiring makers

Being around creative, self-motivated people solving interesting problems is my happy place, and I’ve been leaning back into it. My ‘free time’ calendar has been quite chocka between event hosting, attending, advising, and preparing pitches for more mentoring & speaking opportunities.

So, any given Friday that I’ve got the annual leave to take off, I’ve been gleefully co-hosting our HackAotearoa co-working community in Auckland — a space for startups who need a space to build solo, together. You don’t need to be a “founder” to come work alongside us or join our group chats; if you’ve got something you don’t want to create alone, the come along to our next gathering!

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Writing or recording when I have time

I’m sitting on a backlog of draft blogs and podcast recordings, but—as you may have noticed from the above activities—I’ve had a lot going on and these have fallen to the wayside. Because I am once again regularly engaging with people face-to-face,

I write when the mood strikes me or record when I don’t feel like writing, and I haven’t recently felt the desire to do much of either. Advising and engaging with communities face-to-face tends to lower my motivation to sit down and publish something for a faceless internet audience. No amount of Views or Likes can compare with seeing someone’s face light up with a dawning epiphany. So, I’ll still post something when I get around to it, but it’ll be even less regular than it was.

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Currently consuming

• Incorruptible (book)
• The Forever War (book)
• Tribe of Mentors (book)
• Fallout: New Vegas (game)
• Korean & Chess on Duolingo

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Thanks to Derek Sivers for the /now page inspiration—you should have one too!