Yesterday I attended the ‘Entrepreneur’s Convention‘, run by the Entourage. Billed as Australia and New Zealand’s largest conference for entrepreneurs, I’d missed the previous two times it has been to Perth, so was keen to give it a look this time. So keen in fact, I bought myself a VIP ticket, which got me preferred...Read More
Tomorrow TPG take over Perth’s (as yet only) billion dollar tech startup, Australia’s #2 internet service provider iiNet, with financial settlement on the deal. Founded in his Mum’s Padbury garage in 1993, because newly graduated Michael Malone wanted to continue to use the internet post university, the rise of iiNet is testament to Michael’s audacity, vision and hard work,...Read More
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyn_xLrtZaY] International businesswoman Margaret Heffernan took to the TED stage a few months ago in Monterey, CA, to deliver an impassioned plea to business to remove the ‘superchicken’ culture. ‘Success comes from collaboration, not from competition’, she implored. In the video above she begins with the evolutionary scientist William Muir’s experiment with chickens at Purdue University. He...Read More
I’ve had to pitch in my time, and I’ve seen a few pitches (real and for competitions), and occasionally someone comes to pitch their startup business idea to me. When judging the value of a pitch, here’s what I look for… 1. Solves an existing/large customer problem The first thing I look for – is...Read More
One of my favourite quotations from economist John Maynard Keynes was “in the long run, we are all dead.” He made this quip to pour scorn on those who thought the problems of the day were insurmountable and impossible to cure in the interim. He argued for the government to take the lead, and ‘prime the...Read More
Having just returned from his hometown of Chicago, I must declare that I have long admired Barack Obama. I was (frankly) amazed, and delighted, when he was elected President of the United States in November 2008, for it seemed to be a heralding of a new age, and a resolute about turn from the years...Read More
I’ve been a David Letterman fan since I first saw his shows in the late 1980s. I loved the irreverent send-ups, self deprecating humour, the sharp quick wit. It was New Yorker wise cracking, stand up delivered with a huge smile. It was fresh. David was having as much fun as everyone else. In January 2010,...Read More
When I ran my own business I found that one of the best ways to get a free kick with media is to win business awards. When our business was a fragile 6 month old we won the ‘Best E-Commerce Innovation‘ award. We were up against some big players, and we were amazed. It gave us a...Read More
The ‘stop loss‘ decision is one of the hardest to make, whether it’s in management, sport, or in life generally. When something is not going well, your early inkling can be put any nerves down to ‘post purchase’ fear, but as things continue to pan out not quite as planned, you look increasingly bad if you persist...Read More
The long English suffering cricket fan had another reason to shake their head and shrug a saddening smile yesterday as their one day side subsided to their equal worst ever defeat, and in an important World Cup game, against New Zealand (population 3 million, lest we forget England & Wales’ combined population of 56 million, plus...Read More
