Wellington Startup Weekend secures US gaming entrepreneur
Agora Games founder Mike DelPrete loves working with young companies.
Thursday, October 13 2011 || Startup Weekend || BY Nick Churchouse
DelPrete founded Agora Games in 2005 and fills his spare time with interaction with entrepreneurs and startup companies. Agora's titles include Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty and Guitar Hero and DelPrete has worked with some of the world’s largest publishers - Activision, Warner Brothers, Sony and Microsoft.
“I'm really looking forward to Startup Weekend. I've never been to one before, but I've worked with and love working with young companies. It's a real treat to work with energized, passionate individuals trying to build something from scratch, whether it's a product or a company,” DelPrete says.
He is familiar with concepts similar to the Startup Weekend, where teams create, building and pitch startups over 54 hours. His company runs hackathons every few months, which he says result in some top quality work.
“We give everyone the freedom to work on whatever they want for 24 hours and challenge them to complete something for a demo at the end of that time. Not only is it great fun, but the quality of the work that comes out of it is astounding. Several of those projects have turned in to real products or tools for the company.”
DelPrete wants to "contribute what he can" to those participating in the Startup Weekend.
“I'm looking forward to meeting the people involved in the challenge. I know what it's like up here in New York, but not half a world away. I want to plug in to that energy and contribute what I can to help the teams get their ideas off the ground and on their way to success.”
He knows how to grow businesses from scratch too.
“I was employee number one at Agora. We grew organically - without outside investment - from myself to 25 people at the time of acquisition in 2009, to over 40 people as of 2011. I frequently advise other startup companies, mentor entrepreneurs, and speak at local universities. My educational background is in human-computer interaction and interface design. While I don't do much of that anymore, it helps me always stay focused on the user.”
The Wellington Startup Weekend will involve mentors from the local business community, incubator Creative HQ, investors, along with visitors from Auckland and overseas. More than half the registrations have come from centres around the country.
DelPrete is the second well-known person based offshore to lend their services to the event. Last week ReadWriteWeb founder Richard McManus joined the judging panel.
Nick Churchouse is venture manager at Creative HQ in Wellington.
