Sarah Ramsay has been a true asset on the Startup Dunedin board and we’ve been reminiscing on the impact and wisdom that is Sarah’s legacy.
Just in case you don’t know Sarah, she and her husband Alex Ramsay own Dunedin stalwart United Machinists - providing niche machine components for some of New Zealand’s leading high tech exporters across industries such as aerospace, medical, marine and cinematography.
In early 2019 Sarah joined United full-time as CEO to oversee the company’s expansion.
Sarah is also an active angel investor and Chartered Professional Director through her company Immersion Ventures, Chair of Mainland Angel Investors, former trustee of Startup Dunedin, and was the 2018 Westpac Otago Future Business Leader.
Prior to joining United as CEO, Sarah founded her first company Immersion Marketing at the age of 28, following an early career within the investment banking and commercial property sectors in NZ and Australia. It’s safe to say her experience in the entrepreneurial ecosystem is nothing short of impressive.
As chair for many years, she has been the driving force in growth of Startup Dunedin. We picked her brain one last time for you to bring you 5 things we learned from Sarah Ramsay.
It takes a village to raise a founder.
Sarah believes wholeheartedly that entrepreneurial mindset can and should be taught to all teenagers and young adults as a way to break out of what can be a narrow future view.
Starting up in Dunedin in particular was an advantage. Sarah felt the Dunedin business alumni were really rooting for her. Though she admits it was lonely at times, Sarah developed a great cohort of business friends and said “it helped me get through those incredibly stressful early startup days.”
Later joining the board at Startup Dunedin, she saw this as an opportunity to create the kind of network she had in her personal business career, for the wider ecosystem. “Paying forward” the support she was given, Sarah was committed to ensuring a structure was in place to pass it down to future cohorts of founders.
“It’s such a privilege to be part of that founders journey right at the very start, even if their first idea doesn’t work out – you know you’ll see them again in the future doing something awesome.”
2. Dunedin is the best place to start.
We’ve had some fabulous successes in Dunedin, with recent big wins from companies like Timely, Education Perfect, Kaffelogic, Winely, Cheeky Tea, and so many more. These companies have created high social and economic impact in the community – high value jobs, patronage for retail and hospitality (particularly locally owned and operated), and most importantly they’re generous with their time – getting out into the community as role models and expanding the horizons of youth in the city, a subject incredibly close to Sarah’s heart.
Sarah has a great belief in Dunedin as a city. “Wouldn’t it be great if all the kids from my former school Logan Park heard stories about Timely, Pacific Edge, Abacus Bio and Education Perfect all the time and could relate to wanting a future doing the same?
That’s not something I had access to as a kid – ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’, so having a thriving ecosystem of smart global companies across manufacturing, technology, biotech and med-tech is such an incredible legacy for us to build for future generations.
It really could transform Dunedin, we’re building the foundations of the city our kids will hopefully want to stay and work in.”
3. Pathways to success are clearer every year.
When considering the path to entrepreneurial success, Sarah says “it's been fantastic to see a clear pathway emerging from school programmes such as Young Enterprise, to the Audacious Programme, the Otago University's Entrepreneurship degree, and the engagement between tertiary and business.”
Sarah doesn’t believe there’s ever been a better time in terms of employment opportunities in Dunedin for graduates looking to enter exciting growing companies and startups. And she’s right - there are many graduates that are sticking around and growing their own businesses, teaming up with local founders, or starting up themselves.
While there used to be a mass exodus from Dunedin straight after study, there’s been significant growth with the retention of 25 - 35 year olds in the city over the last 5-6 years.
4. Anyone can be an entrepreneur.
The diversity of the Dunedin entrepreneurial ecosystem is truly encouraging. There is no ‘stereotypical’ entrepreneur in Dunedin, and Sarah gives credit to initiatives like Mana Rangatahi, to at least 50% of our founders being women, to seniors entrepreneur programmes, all the way through to partnerships with Ministry of Social Development to run entrepreneurial programmes for the unemployed.
Of the future development of this and the commitment to inclusivity in the startup world, Sarah says “entrepreneurship should be accessible to everyone”.
5. Founders are problem-solvers at heart.
At Startup Dunedin, we are always learning about problems our ecosystem is solving. From microplastics from your washing machine, compliance of critical safety equipment, the environmental impact of tinfoil hair foils, passive phone data as an indicator of mental health… It’s the ‘why’ behind what we do.
Sarah says that “Dunedin founders are making the world a better place”, and we can’t help but agree. Through her time at Audacious, Sarah and United Machinists have sponsored students with a vision for products that have the capacity to solve real world problems.
It’s been amazing to watch her impact at an operational level with the students, founders, staff, and wider ecosystem around Dunedin, as well as at a governance level, ensuring Startup Dunedin can keep doing what we do best.
We’ll miss you, Sarah - but we’re stoked you chose us in the first place.
