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Added 13 Jan 2009 Disclaimer
These opinions are my own, and not that of any of my current or former clients.
Category Archives: NZ Business
What else is important to the NZ Government?
Having had our fun with Antarctica, let’s look at some other areas of concern. How often do the Briefings to Ministers mention certain other words? Let’s start with “internet”. I would content that the internet is an important feature for … Continue reading
How important is Antarctica to the New Zealand Government?
The MED’s Briefings to Incoming Ministers are a wonderful institution, and a must read for anyone interested in NZ Government policy. They were released today, and survey all of the major issues that ministers need to know for their portfolio. … Continue reading
The Facebook IPO: comments
I’ll update this as I read the S1 prospectus. Facebook’s daily user growth is slowing. While 6-10% growth per quarter feels like a lot when annualized, it is getting close to being a normal company. Facebook is running out of … Continue reading
Posted in NZ Business
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Don’t do big deals
McKinsey Quarterly reports on a study of 1,000 companies and their approach to mergers and acquisitions. This builds on work we did in the Evergreen project in 2001. The answer is simple, just don’t do big deals as they will … Continue reading
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Don’t blog like a pro
I strongly believe that any activity that is “good for business” but bad for customers, is, in the long run, bad for business. One example is from ProBlogger, who say this about their attitude to linking to other websites from … Continue reading
It’s not safe working in America
The Atlantic’s photo survey of America at Work (or not) is doing the rounds. It’s a compelling set of pictures that showcases all that is right and wrong about the world and the US today, and I highly recommend having … Continue reading
Stuffed pictures
For some reason Stuff have chosen to “protect” their photos by disabling right-clicking. This is a giant leap backwards. Firstly it makes for an awful browsing experience. I tend to randomly right-click on things as I browse, and the pop-up … Continue reading
Share portfolio 2011
US portfolio results for 2011. A relatively simple trading year for my US share portfolio, which was up pleasingly versus the benchmark of 0%. All I did was buy some Call options on Amazon (betting that would go higher). I … Continue reading
Posted in NZ Business
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Xero blog: Focus on the customer, and do so with your strengths
Xero’s blog has drifted off course recently, as they commissioned external writers to come up with such marvels as Choosing the right smartphone for your business, How to avoid holiday computer disasters, Social networking policy: what’s in yours?, How to exit a business … Continue reading
2011 in review (auto-post)
Below is an automatically generated post by WordPress.com. While I don’t agree entirely with the direction of WordPress (the last thing we need is yet another social network), I do enjoy their essentially free service that continuously gets better. The … Continue reading
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Investing with appropriate speed
So you are, or are not an Angel. But as commenters pointed out from that post there are several ways to invest, and we don’t want to scare off potential investors. I got some flack for being a bit too negative, … Continue reading
Lotto investments
Well it seems the years of investment in lotto tickets for a Nelson couple paid off: Nelson region couple celebrating their $8.2 million Lotto win say they will retire earlier than planned. They had a strategy: The couple has been … Continue reading
Posted in NZ Business
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OurFarSouth – the route
On February 10th we are heading South. If you know a school that would like to be involved in following the trip and learning about the region, then point them to www.ourfarsouth.org/education, and this brochure for schools. (Credit for the … Continue reading
Are you an Angel? Probably not.
The other night I was speaking to a self-described angel. I asked the standard questions of “What have you invested in?” and teased out approximate answers for “how much, with how many others, when and tell me about the company?”. The answers … Continue reading
The ultimate protective gear
This really has to be seen to be believed. As the backbone of the imperial army, the Stormtroopers are the empire’s legions, a mass of menacing power in their awe-inspiring armor. Now, one of the most iconic uniforms in the STAR … Continue reading
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