As a student-led entrepreneurial development programme, each year a new Velocity committee is formed enabling students to take on roles within Velocity to ensure its relevancy and success. They also pick up a wealth of skills and experience in doing so.

The role of CEO is a both a privilege and a challenge. Leading Velocity this year is Nick Goldstein. Nick is in his fourth year of a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Commerce (Economics and Finance) and has been involved with Velocity since 2018 as Marketing Lead as well as part of the Education and Social teams.

We sat down with Nick to find out more about him and what he hopes to achieve as CEO of Velocity this year.

Tell us about you as a person and your background – what lead to your interest in innovation and entrepreneurship?

I was born in the UK and went to a relatively traditional school. When I came to New Zealand I went to Auckland Grammar School, also a relatively traditional school. Looking at it from a bird’s eye view, I think innovation and entrepreneurship is really about breaking rules to make things better, and this fits well with my own journey. I was always a very studious person, and I always did as I was told. I still remember the first time I had a detention in high school, but as I have grown and come through uni, I began to realise it was okay to break a rule every now and then. Somehow this has morphed into the love for rule breaking that is innovation and entrepreneurship, and now I enjoy finding better ways to do things.

What made you decide to apply to be CEO of Velocity and what will your role be? 
I have benefited from Velocity so much, both personally and professionally. So a big part of my decision to apply came from a wanting to give back, and expose others to the opportunities that participating in Velocity provides. I still strongly believe that Velocity is the most beneficial thing I have done at University. Other than that, the rest probably came from having a Type A personality that simply cannot sit still!

I am still sort of finding my feet in this role to be totally honest! Every day brings something different, but if I had to distil it down it definitely revolves around relationship building and managing and motivating people.

What are you most looking forward to for Velocity in 2019?

Seeing all the amazing ideas the student teams come up with! Every year amazing ideas come out of the Velocity challenges. It is just incredible to see the creativity that University of Auckland students have.

In your opinion, what is the key opportunity or value that Velocity offers students?

To me, Velocity is about expanding a person’s mindset. If you have ever read a book or watched a movie where when you finish it you think to yourself, “I am never going to look at the world the same way after this” this is how many people feel after participating in Velocity. Students who have got involved with Velocity look at the world differently.

What do you see yourself doing in the future?

I am not entirely sure, I am definitely keeping my options open. I feel that straight out of uni I would like to do something that works me crazy hard and gives me a range of experience in different industries, so that I can get a good feel for how this insane world actually works!

What is an interesting fact that readers might not know about you?

I am passionate about endurance sports. I have a personal goal of climbing the highest mountain on every continent by the age of 40 (I am now planning number 2 out of 7!), and I have just started training for an IronMan.