Here’s a somewhat random assortment of posts that I like – updated June 19, 2013.
Investing and growing companies
Investing on the dot – Using Syft as a case study of when to invest.
Investing with appropriate speed – Balancing decision and execution speed with the amount.
Blame directors for failure, CEOs for success – and make sure you have good directors
The Baupost story – An amazing investment track record
Are you an angel? Probably not – Unless you invest frequently quickly and offer good advice.
Dissecting the close-down of MiniMonos – and their next steps. I’m just glad founder Melissa Clark-Reynolds agreed with this outside in assessment.
IPOing in NZ – notes from the (first) NZX and Xero presentation – A masterclass
Don’t do big deals – McKinsey research
Trade Me has added at least $3 billion to the NZ economy – At least.
Xero’s second round – deserved praise
Starting up your own business
Set up an email account in your own name – A good place to start. Really.
Five ways to increase your free time – and then you can start a business.
So you’ve got a good idea – now what? – How to start a business – or not
Making sure you make money from your business – Notes from a BarCamp session that I facilitated
Why living in NZ sucks – and how you can profit – Take advantage of our remoteness and start a business here.
Idiot taxes mean business opportunity – Don’t buy cables at Dick Smith – why not sell them yourself?
Focus on the end users, the products
A series of posts from Better By Design events.
Top lessons from Steve Jobs’ biography – It’s the products
Buyers and Sellers guide to Web Design and Development firms – Resonated with a lot of clients and firms.
Selling your house – the third way – with 200 Square
Much ado about strawberry jam – Focus on end users please Air New Zealand. A follow-on from a 2009 post about lousy cookies.
How to win back customers – in 4 not so easy steps that Air New Zealand did well.
Air New Zealand is the best – here are some reasons why.
Well done Green cabs – now how about that website – Robust discussion on Green Cabs, CEO responds
Bank homepages in New Zealand – We’ve seen some improvements since, and a massive shift to mobile.
Apple is clueless about international people – I’m an Apple fan, but they are not there yet
Xero cops the flak, but is doing things well – And oh how well investors have done since.
Ten tips for better (business to business) pitching – land more business at higher prices
Integrity – what to do when your academic paper is challenged – My experience with Yale’s Prof. Paul MacAvoy was wildly different from the Reinhart/Rogoff debacle.
Technology trends
The resolution war is coming – That’s video resolution
Meeting the high resolution challenge – An earlier take
Plotting Apple’s next steps – Giant screens, retina displays and so on.
The media is no longer the message – Who do you trust to get your news from?
Notes on the iPad – First thoughts on the USA release day – I happened to be there.
NBR’s Barry Colman replies – defending paywalls after this earlier post on NBR’s traffic performance. A good conversation.
Living in NZ
Let’s make New Zealand the 1 percent. This went off the charts with international traffic
Lessons from Webstock: We’ve come a long way, now let’s move on up – Go NZ
10 ways to stop the cyclist killings – It’s madness.
Time to fix the jury service – 10 ideas as to how.
2 shots were fired – Self restraint from our Police makes NZ a wonderful place to live
Should I stay or should I go? – Shopping around for places to live.
Let’s stop MPs drinking and lawmaking – Seriously
10 alternative suggestions – made in response to the Labour/Greens proposal to restructure the electricity market made during the Mighty River Power pre-IPO period.
Can we replace the Tiwai smelter with a data center? – No.
West Australia recollections – for comparison purposes
Photo Op – with Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Heubner
How to twitter if you are a corporation – this positive post attracted 16 comments
How not to twitter if you are a corporation – while this, negative post, attracted 43 comments.
How to manage your company’s online reputation – Mainly about blogging as it predates the twitter takeoff
What makes for a good newsletter? – Webb Henderson performs well.
Trade Me trounces eBay, and eBay is in real trouble – Trade Me leads the way
Motorcycling
Failing – pictures from an ignite talk, mainly of motorcycles on their side.
Getting the KTM 950 ready for Safari – Big tanks, lots of orange – Australian desert bound
Want to motorcycle the world? It’s easy – Just get on the bike and ride
Extreme sport and adventure motorcycling – The biking isn’t that hard
Rapid tour of NZ – 2009 – over New Year with a US friend
Brass Monkey 2012 – the Captain’s last one
Brass Monkey 2011 – the big wet – it was wet
Brass Monkey 2010 – snow time and before the snow
Brass Monkey 2009 – a photolog – It didn’t even snow <– prescient
Brass Monkey 2007 – Early days for me
Aussie bush excursion – sand and trees
Never buy the warranty – fix it yourself – Complete with motorcycling pictures from Pakistan.
The road near Alice, Not Ayers rock, and the great sandpit – from Aussie.