By 2017 the country held more Startup Weekend events and facilitators per capita than any other, with more than 50 events and over 5,000 participants. Alan personally facilitated dozens of events, trained regional organisers and new facilitators, and developed the systems and structures that let local teams run consistent, high quality 54-hour events.
He served on the Global Board of Facilitators, helped shape training for events worldwide, and was invited to speak to 500 entrepreneurs in Las Vegas. In 2013, Garden Genie from the Auckland Startup Weekend won first prize in the first e-commerce circle of the Global Startup Battle, against more than 1,000 teams from over 40 countries.
The work built on an entrepreneurial culture of individual effort and technology-led abundance, and added community, collaboration and shared systems. The Startup New Zealand team of Rowan Yeoman, Mike Zeff, Nick Churchouse and Dave Moskovitz made that possible, and the network continued to support entrepreneurs until 2024.