We’ve all endured it. We’ve all been there. The presenter clicks to start their power point presentation and the screen flashes up a slide chock full of bullet point phrases, which they then proceed to read out, one by one. Each slide has yet more bullet points, in diminishingly sized fonts. You slowly and surely...Read More
Disclaimer upfront – I am an Englishman living in Australia, and I support the English in Ashes contests. I endured the 8 consecutive Ashes defeats of 1989-2003 and I had opportunities to switch allegiances. I had emigrated to Perth in 1997 and became an Australian citizen in 2001. But having caught the cricket bug aged...Read More
Leading WA ebusinesses may have been around awhile, but this disguises how the nature of the sector has radically changed Mark Pownall’s piece “Renewal Challenge for local online leaders” (15th July 2013) was in response to Business News’ first list of WA online businesses. Mark noted that most of the businesses were over ten years old...Read More
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL9SUtemSiU] Self made man John Hughes is an institution in Western Australia. Above you can hear him speak for about 35 minutes to a business crowd in Perth, in November 2011, then there’s a Q+A for another half hour. I’ve heard him speak a few times, and his direct no nonsense approach is always...Read More
In Walter Isaacson’s admirable biography on Steve Jobs, a central belief is noted: “If the big guy wins, it holds back innovation; they are a force for evil; we must be the force for innovation“. I’m not sure I totally agree with this notion, but I get what Apple were on about. Until recently, they...Read More
A day after I left REIWA, I addressed the current intake of the Founders Institute – an intense 12 week course for budding entrepreneurs. It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane remembering the 7-month journey from having the idea for aussiehome.com to launch in December 1999. The talk gives 10 tips… view hereRead More
[slideshare id=18390369&style=border:1px solid #CCC;border-width:1px 1px 0;margin-bottom:5px&sc=no] Taking the Plunge! from Charlie Gunningham (A talk I gave this week to a UWA undergrad class, entitled “Taking the Plunge: 10 lessons for entrepreneurs”) 1. Start Up is Easy Starting a business is easy, as it involves buying things. Buying a company name, a domain name, some IT...Read More
In 2006, my business school alumni held their annual dinner with then NAB CEO Ahmed Fahour as guest speaker. Not yet in his 40s, the eldest son of Lebanese immigrants, Fahour delivered an inspirational call to action for MBA graduates: “the MBA gets you to the door, but it’s up to you to walk on...Read More
Run every business like a startup … the secret is how to keep that buzz, hunger and excitement going. Too many businesses are just dead boring. Going through the motions. Budgets and meetings. Political workplaces. Them and us. The thrill has gone. The edge has gone. It was there at the beginning, why must it...Read More
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, they say, and true enough, it is easier to make judgements when all the facts are in. However, neither is it a waste of time to review past decisions and see how you could have done things differently. Best not to indulge in the self pity of “if only”, but...Read More
