Go Global from Day One

Another of the great speakers at Morgo was Bill Reichert from Garage Ventures who presented his new rules for Entrepneurs.

Andy Lark has covered these very well on his blog.

I especially like rule number 6 “Be global day one.” While this doesn’t mean you need to sell globally and open offices around the world from day one, it does mean you need a global mindset in which to build your business on.
New Zealand is a great place to do business but on the world scale we are an extremely small economy and, if you have a very specific market (eg Architects), it can be extremely limited.

Constantly thinking about how you can build your business globally opens up new markets and large opportunities and also enforces an ‘efficiency mentality’ where you need to consider in a wider context, and in a context where you may never meet your customers face-to-face.

In this day and age the internet has made doing business globally a natural extension to many businesses especially software. Being able to communicate easily and undertake business electronically has broken down all the historic barriers to exporting. This is extremely beneficial to business like ours that are based on the opposite side of the world to our major markets.

In my opinion going global actually enhances a business from a New Zealand point of view – Not only for the founders but more importantly for our local customers. Our New Zealand customers benefit hugely from our international businesses as they get the ongoing benefits of innovation that directly help their work without the cost that would be incurred if we were only selling to New Zealand.

Morgo 2009

I had the opportunity and pleasure to once again attend Morgo – a conference for entrepreneurs held at Waitangi.

The conference was again full of great people, stories and fun. From Jetpacks to Electric Cars and Surgical Robots to Venture Funds in West Africa the 2 days were jam packed with inspiration.

I especially enjoyed Selwyn Pellet’s talk on “Setting out with the end in sight” and Mark Billinghurst from HitLabNZ who shows us his lifelong dream regarding Augmented Reality (more on this in another post when I get time!)

I could recount all sorts of highlights however I’ll leave this to other people who attended and have already typed up their notes!

NZ Angels review of Day One

NZ Angels review of Day Two

NZ Building Consent Process

I was checking through the NBR Online the other day (no not the paid subscription – you can read here, here and here what Lance Wiggs has to say about that!) and I came across this article that caught my eye.

Now getting a Building Consent is one of the most frustrating parts of any building project. Over the years with leaky buildings and such, the process has become more involved, rigorous, costly and longer!

Apart from the fact that changes are being made the comments at the bottom of the article interested me most:

building act need IT solution

the solution here has been stareing all and sundry in the face.get the companies office to build the department of building ( local councils) an internet site which is interactive, where the whole design process is online and the client attaches their plans.

While the idea misses the mark a little the concept behind it is incredibly sound – don’t just dabble with the current processes but take a completely new look at it.

Changes to the way buildings are designed and constructed is the business I am in and I have been involved both directly and as an advisor in projects trying to encourage these changes.

Without wanting to ‘pigeon hole’ them a couple of my customers, Predefine and Bisco, are looking at addressing this issue, with a commercial and residential focus respectively.

On the other hand these changes are nothing new, the Singapore Government implemented an ambitious project that involves code checking of intelligent 3d building models (ie BIM Models.)

You can read more about the CORONET e-PlanCheck here.

Toughen Up – Michael Hill

what I’ve learned about surviving tough times

mh_book

I have just finished reading Michael Hill’s recently released book ‘Toughen Up’ I found it an extremely easy and interesting read and the messages inside really helped my re-focus on where my energy should be put.

The general message is one that I have previously written about that the current economic times are a re great time to look for opportunities.

The book is broken up in to 16 chapters which form the basis of Michael’s business philosophy:

  • Don’t Panic
  • Tough times are good for you
  • Never be afraid of change
  • Hunt the right people and help them become better
  • Get down to the coalface
  • Embrace mistakes
  • Work is the wrong word
  • Keep an eye on the underdog
  • Now you see it: the power of visualisation
  • It’s nothing personal…
  • Start at the bottom
  • Present yourself perfectly
  • Keep your balance
  • Give back and you shall receive
  • Find your point of difference
  • Money is just a yard stick

Unlike many business books only about 50% of the book relates directly to business, the other 50% is a mix of stories from some of Michael’s staff and a series of anecdotes that help provide the context for each of the philosophies.

I definitely recommend the book – I for one like to read about other business leaders stories and ideas – and it is especially good to read about a New Zealander.

As many of you know Michael has done pretty well for himself (private golf course etc etc) and for that reason all the proceeds of the book to Cure Kids – an extremely generous gesture.

A good piece of timing

Our recent holiday in Cairns happen to coincide with an R&R visit for the crew of the USS Essex and the USS Tortuga prior to some ‘exercises’ with the Australian Army.

With security the way it is I was surprised to be allowed onto the Essex let alone take photos.

The USS Essex (LHD 2) “Iron Gator” is the largest ship in the US Marine Fleet carrying 1800 Marines, 1200 Sailors and 33 aircraft.

It is known as an Amphibious Assault Ship as it carried a huge array of ground vehicles which get transported to land via three enormous hovercraft that are also stored on board.

At 257 metres long it isn’t an aircraft carrier so carries helicopters and Harrier Jets (which take off vertically.)

The Essex Medical Department can be expanded to a 600-bed hospital with a 14-bed intensive care unit and 46-bed impatient ward, by far the largest at sea with the exception of hospital ships.

Google making some Interesting Moves

Over the last few weeks Google have been announcing some really cool stuff. All of it designed to move people more towards cloud computing.

The first announcement was Google Wave which Rod from Xero has explained better than I could.

In the last few days they have made a head-on assault on moving people away from Exchange Server to Google Apps and also providing Blackberry Syncronisation.

This does look interesting, it will be interesting to see what move if any Microsoft have in waiting:

Xero Analysis – Sam Stewart

So most of my readers by now will know I am a 100% Xero convert – though I am still waiting for the much anticipated Foreign Currency Release later this month to complete my transition.

Anyway I was recently catching up on Rowan Simpson’s blog and discovered a link to a wonderful analysis of investing in Xero and a model (I suggest you read the article and download the model from Sam’s site) to determine customer numbers and revenue requirements to achieve an acceptable rate of return on your investment given the risks etc.

While I found the analysis extremely comprehensive I was more intrigued by the author – the name rang a bell.

Reading various other posts on www.samstewartnz.com made me more sure this was an old acquaintance from my university days.

So I sent an email with a few snippets of history that would have been a  little strange were it not the same Sam Stewart but as it turned out it was.

Sam has spent time in Wellington after studying at the University of Auckland and is now currently in Brisbane.

Just goes to show you don’t need to rely on Facebook to catch up with old friends!

Frank Lloyd Wright… in Lego

Yes that’s right.

As I just outlined on Twitter some people have too much time on their hands. Case in point this person who loves his Lego creations:

The Lego version contains 9000 bricks, most of which are in the base and the stream. And at present, although the house is more or less complete, I have not yet installed the stairs leading to the stream from the main terrace. It provided several problems that I’ve yet to sort out. But apart from that the house is finished. Reviews are appreciated. Many thanks. 

Also announced last year Lego themselves are also bringing out an Architecture Series in partnership with Adam Reed Tucker of Brickstructures Inc.. Soon to be released are a couple of Frank Lloyd Wright Sets.

Shot while Running

I’ve had numerous injuries while running but have to admit all up till now most have been virtually self inflicted.
That was until today…
Today I was out doing a typical circuit around Auckland… down to Mt Smart, up Great South Road, Market Road and home.
The changeable Auckland weather is normally all I have to content with until about 35 minutes into my run I got shot in the jaw by a ****** idiot with a paint ball gun.

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Unfortunately having filed a report with the police there is little that can be done unless the idiots continue with there antics and all I can do is hope my swollen jaw settles down soon.
On one hand you have to say it was a fluke of a shot, on the other hand I have to be thankful I still have my right eye.