Playing by instinct

Terrie Lloyd’s investment gave Instinct’s aspirations a major boost, but the deal took time. The middleman was strategic marketing consultant Chris Lipscombe of Ground Zero, who was working at Positively Wellington Business when he met Milward about six years ago. In his role, Lipscombe took young business leaders on trips to explore partnership opportunities in Asia. Milward joined a trip to Japan, where Lipscombe introduced him to Terrie Lloyd.

“At that stage, Terrie wasn’t interested,” says Lipscombe, “because Instinct was just another service business. Once Dan started developing products, Terrie could see that he had intellectual property.

“Dan was pulling skilled developers around him. He was working on the smell of an oily rag. [Milward still employs only three contractors.] Terrie knew that Dan’s products had strong potential in Japan. This time last year, we started having discussions, and that’s when things got really interesting.”

By then, Lipscombe was working as an independent consultant. He agreed to help Instinct raise capital and secure an entry strategy into Asia. Over the course of a year, there were many conversations with Lloyd. It was difficult to value the company, because Milward was the sole investor and the Game Creator’s success was untested. Eventually, both parties reached a deal, on which the ink has now dried.

“Some people believe the ICT and creative industries are ‘flaky’, but now we know that our companies can earn hard cash by entering those key industries offshore,” says Lipscombe.

“Instinct also proves that you can transform from a service-oriented business into a product-oriented business, without turning yourself inside out. Dan focused on his areas of interest and expertise, and came up with niche products.”

Lipscombe has signed capital-raising mandates with eight Wellington firms, and is talking to content providers in Asia about representation. He agrees with economic development agency Grow Wellington that big rewards are available, tapping into ICT hotspots in Asia. There are many ways to attempt that leap, but Instinct’s grassroots approach seems to be paying off.