Although he came from a rural town, it was a big move from a country of 18million people where the density of population meant it was hard to stand out.
What he had noticed through his startup journey in his new country was the support available and that “everyone is here to help”.
The entrepreneurial 19-year-old University of Otago student is the co-founder of Cue-Go , a Dunedin-based event technology business which was one of nine startups recently accepted into Startup Dunedin’s Distiller Incubator.
Cue-Go won the best small team and industry disrupter awards at the recent Startup Dunedin Audacious showcase and also provided the lighting for the event. The startup was founded in July last year and it had gone “pretty rapidly from there”, he said this week.
When he was a first-year student studying computer science and management, he was keen to make some extra money so he looked at how to use his skills in lighting design.
An interest had developed during his secondary schooling at Kuranui College in Greytown, where he had looked after the lighting and also stage-managed the school’s national Shakespeare festival.
Despite English being a second language, he was top in four out of five years in the subject at school and was both head boy and dux in 2022, completing university papers in computer science in his final year. He was awarded a University of Otago Leaders of Tomorrow entrance scholarship.
One of the drawcards of Kuranui College was its aviation studies programme. He gained his solo glider flight certificate while there, aged 14. Working part-time in a supermarket he put every cent he earned straight into his gliding fund.
But gliding has been on the back-burner since he has been in Dunedin, concentrating on his business and his studies. He found the southern city very welcoming. He liked the landscape and it was the sort of city that was not so big that people did not know each other, he said.
Mr Wiegman’s first taste of business came during Covid-19 lockdown when he was at school. He and two other year 11 pupils noticed many elderly people needed support setting up computer programs such as Zoom and Skype to stay connected with family and friends.
They built a website from scratch, explaining how to keep in touch through the use of simple, easy to follow video tutorials and the initiative won a youth Rotary award.
From humble beginnings, Cue-Go started with a lighting desk and had grown to equipment hire, lighting and AV design services and photography — “the whole events package”.
It was the preferred supplier for the Dunedin Fringe Festival and it also did work for both Otago Polytechnic and the university.
Mr Wiegman is chief executive and joint managing director with Abby Fernandes, who is chief operating officer, and Milla Swanson-Dobbs is head of commercial/education.
The trio worked with contractors to help pack-in and out events and they had used some university students for jobs. Mr Wiegman was also keen to see venue technicians coming out of secondary schools.
The work was not as labour-intensive as it used to be; it was “just like a version of computer science — but you get to see the smile on people’s faces with events”, he said.
He could not recommend the Audacious programme enough, saying it was the connections made that had been so beneficial and he enjoyed meeting the other founders.
The biggest challenge was capital, particularly given the cost of equipment. They had managed to “bootstrap it” themselves so far.
While the arts industry was feeling the economic downturn, he was hoping that there would be more revenue coming in next year.
He also figured if they had managed to keep a business running this year, then they would be well placed when the economy picked up.
Reflecting on a fast ascension in business, Mr Wiegman said there had been little time for reflection as “you get caught up in it and are constantly looking for ways to improve and grow bigger”.
The intention was for continued growth and, at some point, he hoped to also have bases in Nelson and Christchurch, to cover events throughout the South Island.
In the meantime, he continued to juggle his studies with business, but that was manageable.
“I enjoy it, it’s fun. I’m having a lot of fun doing it and the people I’m doing it with are having a lot of fun. There’s nothing better than helping an event manager complete an event and seeing a smile on their face at the end of the day — it’s a heartwarming feeling.”
sally.rae@odt.co.nz
