There is an enormous amount of information and advice about creating a business plan for one’s startup. The advice ranges from the necessity to prepare a traditional narrative form business plan document, to preparing a business model canvas, or using a business planning tool or app. There are even notions like the idea-less startup, where the team is … [Read more…]
Friction is one of the more important concepts in the world. Many things are either made possible or impeded by friction. Strike a match and the friction creates a flame. Yet that same kind of friction stops other things from flowing smoothly. Perhaps the best description of the challenges that arise from friction is from … [Read more…]
I was reading Bill Bonner’s recent post Zombies Born of Government Spending where he posits the notion of zombies in our economy. As Bill defines it: “In economic terms, a zombie is a parasite. He contributes less to the economy than he takes from it. He lives at the expense of others.” His argument is … [Read more…]
It has been fascinating to watch the consumer and media response to the recent increase of interest rates above the Reserve Bank rate by the Commonwealth Bank. Many have expressed their opinion that the Commonwealth Bank is destroying its brand by such a callous action. But this view ignores the market reality in Australia that … [Read more…]
I’m lucky to be attending the Australian Institute of Company Directors 2010 conference DIRECTORSHIP:10 Ahead of the Curve in Christchurch this week. Sessions today included: Australia and New Zealand – performing in the global arena Is the current system broken? Challenges and opportunities in the global economy March to modernity – Asia tomorrow and the … [Read more…]
Many people have told me that freedom has a price. While others have told me that freedom has a cost. It got me thinking about the difference between a price and a cost. While pondering about this I recalled the Oscar Wilde quote: “A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything but … [Read more…]
Nearly 9,000 women signed up for the Febusave 2010 campaign, for example: 2,307 pledged to give up buying lunch 1,118 pledged to give up treats 162 pledged to give up taxis These might not seem like much; but little changes like this can make a real difference to your finances. My pledge was to stop … [Read more…]
For the month of February I decided to give up driving to work and bank the savings. It’s been surprisingly easy to catch the train each day, even if it does mean I need to plan ahead a bit more. The savings have been a real eye-opener, especially when one of my friends mentioned how … [Read more…]
As part of the ANZ Bank’s Febusave campaign I’ve been following up on my pledge to catch public transport as much as possible during February, especially for the commute to the office. I’m finding the daily train trip gives me a few unexpected benefits in addition to saving money: more time to work on projects … [Read more…]
I’ve been thinking about having an overarching theme for my blog this year and have finally decided on women in … that is women who are doing interesting things like finance technology science engineering management innovation start-ups marketing media and whatever other interesting careers pop up Women have come such a long way in a … [Read more…]
