my gmail inbox is full of christmas messages from companies i don't care about. i got one from a legal firm who tried - and failed - to perform a simple property transaction for me a few years back, then tried to sue me when i refused to pay. their hypocrisy extends to the festive season, clearly!
if you want to network with me at christmas or any other time, add some value. just saying something nice is the equivalent of just going to an event like a business seminar. in the fat days of credit, how many business days were wasted in lush, pointless events all for the people from the office to return and say "yeah, it was interesting". what value did it add? most often, none.
in 2009, it's got to add value. it's got to be relevant. i was in a call with a prospective business partner the other day, for a new campaign i am running. within 10 minutes, i realized it definitely was not going anywhere, that we had no common interest, so i politely but swiftly drew the meeting to a close. nothing wrong in hunting, but if there is no prey, know fast.
in contrast, i had a great meeting today with a guy who is kind of competing, kind of cooperating with us (coopetition as they say). he said "look your stuff is great, just find three ways of cutting cost, increasing customer retention and preventing quality issues, and i will support you all the way". great - no "let's meet to explore some theoretical view of how this might in some future moment derive business value". given that his company helps cure people of brain cancer, i'm even more on board.
other bloggers are on the same message - check out http://hiddentargets.com
merry christmas, happy holidays, add value and perform in 2009!
Friday, 19 December 2008
Monday, 15 December 2008
Focus on the make
OK so in April this year I wrote that the world was bloated, that debt and fat were synonymous and that thrift was the way forward.
I did not predict the swift correction that would make thrift a necessity not a luxury response to gross over-consumption. I have also changed my mind to some extent.
To make money, you need to put yourself in the right place. You need to wear the best clothes you can; live in an environment that supports success (in my case this means i have to be able to find things quickly, not have to rummage and waste time, creating stress); find ways around immovable pains like commuting (in my case, use a Vodafone mobile broadband stick for hours every day). Physical well-being through sport or whatever exercise you need is crucial, so if that means going to a gym, do it. If you spend too much of your time trying to be too thrifty you may miss the opportunity to make.
Right after I wrote that blog entry in April, I bought some plants to grow in my garden. They were literally pennies and promised cabbage and other vegetables that would give me that "grow your own" thrift high that I had written about. Of course my lifestyle meant that once I had planted these bountiful things, I did not revisit them and did not have the time to take preventive action against vermin. They lasted about a week.
It's better for me to buy organic vegetables than to grow my own because I can succeed by focusing, not by scrimping. Don't be wasteful but focus on growth, on expansion - not contraction. As they say when you learn to ride a horse: if you look at the ground, it's where you'll end up.
I did not predict the swift correction that would make thrift a necessity not a luxury response to gross over-consumption. I have also changed my mind to some extent.
To make money, you need to put yourself in the right place. You need to wear the best clothes you can; live in an environment that supports success (in my case this means i have to be able to find things quickly, not have to rummage and waste time, creating stress); find ways around immovable pains like commuting (in my case, use a Vodafone mobile broadband stick for hours every day). Physical well-being through sport or whatever exercise you need is crucial, so if that means going to a gym, do it. If you spend too much of your time trying to be too thrifty you may miss the opportunity to make.
Right after I wrote that blog entry in April, I bought some plants to grow in my garden. They were literally pennies and promised cabbage and other vegetables that would give me that "grow your own" thrift high that I had written about. Of course my lifestyle meant that once I had planted these bountiful things, I did not revisit them and did not have the time to take preventive action against vermin. They lasted about a week.
It's better for me to buy organic vegetables than to grow my own because I can succeed by focusing, not by scrimping. Don't be wasteful but focus on growth, on expansion - not contraction. As they say when you learn to ride a horse: if you look at the ground, it's where you'll end up.
Inspiration: sport or stage?
This weekend in the
Personally I am moved, inspired by any form of great achievement, in sport, business, entertainment, politics and personal life. The selection of an individual over all others by the general public is surely the greatest “I am OK” message that we all – to some extent --crave.
But what is truly inspirational? Does the combination of years of hard training, blisters where you don’t want them and the mental strength of a warrior beat the guts, the beauty and the talent of a singer? The answer is subjective, and opinions vary hugely. My wife wants to outlaw X-Factor but cried the whole way through SPOTY. My daughter would probably donate a limb to meet/snog/talk to some of the male X-Factor finalists but Olympic victory? Whatever.
And is it about inspiration? Is it not more about deep-seated national pride and the need to lead in the world vs the celebrity-obsessed cash machine that is Simon Cowell? Wait – Alexandra Burke is a no-one (a beautiful and talented no-one) who came from the wrong side of town to find herself duetting with Beyonce Knowles. That IS the stuff of dreams. Chris Hoy seems like an ordinary guy, a Scottish strong man with the determination of a Viking – but when the Union Jack rises over the podium and the national Anthem plays, can any British national not want to blub? I know I have to wipe a tear now and then at such times.
It’s impossible to judge the worthiness of dreams. Are my business goals less or more worthy than my friend Beate’s spiritual goals? Of course not.
Yet there is a difference that I believe we can quantify. I have been as moved by entertainers as I have by sportspeople. Even my wife agreed that seeing Brooke Shields and Luba Mason on Broadway in
The equivalent would be for me to go the chairman of the company I am currently advising and saying “Hi John, I’ve always wanted to make a killing out of a start-up’s IPO, please give me 5% of the company. I want the money more than the other guy” and expecting him to say “OK Nick here you go”.
Whatever happened to changing the world? You have, I know, experienced musical life-changing moments. Everyone has. I will never forget being in the front row of a
This lack of regard for the good that music can do in the world is the reason why I have to side with my wife on this debate. When Rebecca Adlington teetered onto the stage at last night’s SPOTY – the twice gold-winner in the pool at Beijing 2008 is clearly more elegant in goggles than high heels – the words “Please vote for me it’s all I’ve ever wanted” were not top of mind. Her message? “I came from a small town in the north. I am an ordinary girl. I train at 5am every day. I have a long term plan for London 2012. I never thought I would win. Thank you”. This is British humility, British class irony, British power and British eccentricity all rolled into one. The still gorgeous Sharon Davies was in the audience. Mediatized and glamorous yes, Olympic champion - no. The Brits love Beccy: she’s an ordinary girl with a northern accent and a big nose but man can she pedal in the pool.
This year’s X-Factor brought out some real talent. Many people myself included thought Laura White would win. Half way through the contest, the JUDGES voted her off – not the public, the judges. Why? Her “survival” performance was “Somewhere over the rainbow” dedicated to her grandfather. There you go again Laura, it’s all about YOU, not about US. I (and clearly Simon, Dannii. Cheryl and Louis too) don’t want to hear a song from the Wizard of Oz and as lovely as your grandfather presumably was, we don’t care about him. We want you to sing Landslide or something like that that makes our heart race faster, that makes the hair on our neck stand up. Or even if it just makes you smile and want to leap around, which happens when I hear Fluorescent Adolescent - great! I don't love it because the Arctic Monkeys want me to. I love it because it's just a brilliant something.
Whoever on the X-Factor 2009 understands this simple concept of us not them will get my vote. Until then, when I get up at 5am to start my business day, and I need inspiration to keep seeing where I am headed, I’ll call Rebecca, not Alexandra.
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
Stealing my taxes
I am on the train into London. The guy opposite me has his badge round his neck already. He works for the NHS and his title is "Business Manager". I can't see the badge of the person opposite him but they are clearly colleagues and I bet she also is some form of "business manager".
The NHS is not a business. It is a service. Its employees have the vocation of helping the nation to stay healthy, and therefore to enable people to live well and business to run.
Maybe that's why they have business managers - is that a new name for doctor? I doubt it.
We recently moved and I was summoned to an NHS health check. Great! Kick the tyres and change the oil type of thing. Never know what they might find.
Actually it's pretty easy to know what they might find: nothing. Why? because the only actual examination the nurse (not doctor) did was to take my blood pressure, which I can do at home with a kit. She asked me if I had brought a urine sample. Sure, I put that in a coffee cup here it is. No listening to the heart, lungs, no looking in the throat, ears, no asking you to cough and not a latex glove in sight!
Tick the box. New person, new healthcheck. This is stealing my taxes. The fortune that I pay to the useless system that employs business managers instead of nurses, is a waste.
I want out. The only way out however is straight through the middle. I hereby vow to make so much money that I don't care about the NHS or any other state organization that wastes my money, my time and my energy.
The NHS is not a business. It is a service. Its employees have the vocation of helping the nation to stay healthy, and therefore to enable people to live well and business to run.
Maybe that's why they have business managers - is that a new name for doctor? I doubt it.
We recently moved and I was summoned to an NHS health check. Great! Kick the tyres and change the oil type of thing. Never know what they might find.
Actually it's pretty easy to know what they might find: nothing. Why? because the only actual examination the nurse (not doctor) did was to take my blood pressure, which I can do at home with a kit. She asked me if I had brought a urine sample. Sure, I put that in a coffee cup here it is. No listening to the heart, lungs, no looking in the throat, ears, no asking you to cough and not a latex glove in sight!
Tick the box. New person, new healthcheck. This is stealing my taxes. The fortune that I pay to the useless system that employs business managers instead of nurses, is a waste.
I want out. The only way out however is straight through the middle. I hereby vow to make so much money that I don't care about the NHS or any other state organization that wastes my money, my time and my energy.
Friday, 13 June 2008
iTunes
iTunes is the perfect product for the age of Bloat.
iTunes, like many software products available via the web, is free to use. Granted you have to buy the content - but the machine is free. Was your iPod free? No.
iTunes enables you to buy a track for 79p. You can't get a coffee or any drink for less than £1. 25. years ago, a single was £1. 25 years ago - that's 20 plus 5 years ago. Think about the relativity of that.
There's more. iTunes sells only electronic data to millions of people. It does not sell a single physical thing. No recycling, no waste, no packaging, no delivery (other than the electricity required to power up your computer and modem, and to charge your iPod).
Also, you can buy a track - any track - just one track. You do not have to buy a whole album. Cool! Typically albums contain junk that you don't want. In some cases it's all junk bar maybe one track (Madonna's Hard Candy would be the perfect example of that).
In our house, we have a strict system for putting CDs back in their case. CDs that go in the car in a wallet have a different system (their cases go in a stack at the back of a drawer). I just hated that "I want to listen to Madeleine Peyroux and ... it's actually in the Sex Pistols case but how the hell would I know that?" syndrome. It caused stress.
With iTunes, however, no problem! I don't know and neither do I care why my wife bought a Jimmy Buffett track but it's on her "cool after work music" playlist (AKA "do not bother" - sorry) while OK I admit I snuck a Girls Aloud song into my "workout" playlist the other day.
When I need a change of train of thought at work, I buy a track or two then mix them up. On the way home on the train, I remember that I have new tunes. I have not encumbered myself in any way. The way the music loads from computer to iPod is so fast, so slick, so easy, it's slimline, thrifty AND cool.
iTunes is the ZeitGeist. When I was at an interview at Google (my 8th of 9) they asked "What is the coolest product around?" to which I was of course meant to say "the iPhone". I did not. I garbled a crap response about iTunes. Wish I had blogged it first. It might have meant I moved to Zurich.
iTunes is also collaboration. It's "share my songs and mix them up". It's old records and something you just heard on the radio for fun like the Ting Tings, you probably don't want it forever but for 79p who cares?
Economics topic of today: How are Primark and iTunes similar and different? My answer tomorrow.
iTunes, like many software products available via the web, is free to use. Granted you have to buy the content - but the machine is free. Was your iPod free? No.
iTunes enables you to buy a track for 79p. You can't get a coffee or any drink for less than £1. 25. years ago, a single was £1. 25 years ago - that's 20 plus 5 years ago. Think about the relativity of that.
There's more. iTunes sells only electronic data to millions of people. It does not sell a single physical thing. No recycling, no waste, no packaging, no delivery (other than the electricity required to power up your computer and modem, and to charge your iPod).
Also, you can buy a track - any track - just one track. You do not have to buy a whole album. Cool! Typically albums contain junk that you don't want. In some cases it's all junk bar maybe one track (Madonna's Hard Candy would be the perfect example of that).
In our house, we have a strict system for putting CDs back in their case. CDs that go in the car in a wallet have a different system (their cases go in a stack at the back of a drawer). I just hated that "I want to listen to Madeleine Peyroux and ... it's actually in the Sex Pistols case but how the hell would I know that?" syndrome. It caused stress.
With iTunes, however, no problem! I don't know and neither do I care why my wife bought a Jimmy Buffett track but it's on her "cool after work music" playlist (AKA "do not bother" - sorry) while OK I admit I snuck a Girls Aloud song into my "workout" playlist the other day.
When I need a change of train of thought at work, I buy a track or two then mix them up. On the way home on the train, I remember that I have new tunes. I have not encumbered myself in any way. The way the music loads from computer to iPod is so fast, so slick, so easy, it's slimline, thrifty AND cool.
iTunes is the ZeitGeist. When I was at an interview at Google (my 8th of 9) they asked "What is the coolest product around?" to which I was of course meant to say "the iPhone". I did not. I garbled a crap response about iTunes. Wish I had blogged it first. It might have meant I moved to Zurich.
iTunes is also collaboration. It's "share my songs and mix them up". It's old records and something you just heard on the radio for fun like the Ting Tings, you probably don't want it forever but for 79p who cares?
Economics topic of today: How are Primark and iTunes similar and different? My answer tomorrow.
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Bloat
Critical things in the world are shrinking away. Food is short. Fuel is short (in Scotland at least). Credit is tight. Housing sales are down. So that's gas, food and lodging - and the money needed to pay for them - on the way down.
Remember or ever see Dad's Army? While writing this I can hear the Scottish guy "we're doomed! we're doomed!". I'm sure we're not. We're cleverer than that. The home guard jokes are good even now.
"Bloat" refers to everything that is done to even slight excess, which has been the norm in the last 10-15 years. Even before that, we had the 80s, with its pints of champagne, shoulder pads and Gordon Gekko. I am no great economist but since the 70s, we have largely, in the West, been in Bloat.
Personally, I hate Bloat. I hate its opposite - dearth - just as much. But just below Bloat there is Adequacy and just below that, Thrift. Float somewhere between thrift and adequacy and everything will go swimmingly.
Think about your day today. Where have you seen bloat? That's easy if you've been to any supermarket. Petrol station shops are my favourite - every type of crap you never needed plus vastly overpriced muffins matched only by their calorific value. Retail outlets of any kind especially low cost ones like Primark - brilliant business models but why do people need to load up on cheap t-shirts that often?
I recently realized that I needed to shed some pounds. (My excuse: it goes on all over and i can wear all my clothes so it takes a while to notice. Say what you like). I realized that another very lame excuse - not even an excuse, more of an observation - is that fat is the new normal. In the UK, look around. How many people over 40 are not also overweight? Bloat.
Debt is a form of bloat. It represents the inches on your waistline, the food in your vast "American fridge", your Caribbean cruise, your car. Our car is so old that my wife has to park it far away from business events in case anyone should realize its hers. We could bloat up on an Aston Martin today.
What stops me from doing so? Is it better to live for now or be thrifty? Does it matter that you have too much stuff - just stuff - everywhere? Clothes, books, houses, cars, bottles of wine, credit cards, direct debits, holidays, ideas even?
I think the answer is that Bloat equals Stress. Think about it. Are we more stressed now than say 10 years ago? I challenge anyone - unless they have retired on a nice income from employment or cool deals or luck - who says that they are less stressed now than in the past. Why? BLOAT! Why does a dog....? Because it can. Why do I (a) rack up activities for my kids all the time? (b) endlessly analyze financial management options (c) consider buying property abroad obsessively (d) sometimes shop at Asda but also at Waitrose .... Because I am a Bloat baby.
We are relatively hungry after all. The baby boomers and young Gen Xers were brought up by parents who had lived through a long world war, rations, poverty and lack. Suddenly, credit cards, the Internet, and cheap travel - just a few examples - landed in our laps. Phwoah! Go for it! We are like kids with rickets in a candy store that will never close. Take a flight from Paris to any UK airport on an airline that does Eurodisney deals. Bet you my house that you will be surrounded by exhausted, overweight parents with exhausted, overweight children, crippled under the burden of retail and experiential bloat from the mere few days they have just spent in that rainy paradise of tack in suburbia somewhere.
The next big thing is thrift, in my view. Mend don't spend. Grow your own. Live smaller. Go by bike. However you translate it, you will have to downbloat, if only temporarily.
Today, alone, a good friend told me of visiting a friend in hospital. Attempted suicide because his property company has collapsed due to no further credit. Another friend called from her car on the way to picking up insolvency papers for a guy who lives in Monaco.
The correction of bloat is upon us. Get on board. It's fun to sew, they say. The only thing that will always be free is information. So if you can't pay, blog.
Remember or ever see Dad's Army? While writing this I can hear the Scottish guy "we're doomed! we're doomed!". I'm sure we're not. We're cleverer than that. The home guard jokes are good even now.
"Bloat" refers to everything that is done to even slight excess, which has been the norm in the last 10-15 years. Even before that, we had the 80s, with its pints of champagne, shoulder pads and Gordon Gekko. I am no great economist but since the 70s, we have largely, in the West, been in Bloat.
Personally, I hate Bloat. I hate its opposite - dearth - just as much. But just below Bloat there is Adequacy and just below that, Thrift. Float somewhere between thrift and adequacy and everything will go swimmingly.
Think about your day today. Where have you seen bloat? That's easy if you've been to any supermarket. Petrol station shops are my favourite - every type of crap you never needed plus vastly overpriced muffins matched only by their calorific value. Retail outlets of any kind especially low cost ones like Primark - brilliant business models but why do people need to load up on cheap t-shirts that often?
I recently realized that I needed to shed some pounds. (My excuse: it goes on all over and i can wear all my clothes so it takes a while to notice. Say what you like). I realized that another very lame excuse - not even an excuse, more of an observation - is that fat is the new normal. In the UK, look around. How many people over 40 are not also overweight? Bloat.
Debt is a form of bloat. It represents the inches on your waistline, the food in your vast "American fridge", your Caribbean cruise, your car. Our car is so old that my wife has to park it far away from business events in case anyone should realize its hers. We could bloat up on an Aston Martin today.
What stops me from doing so? Is it better to live for now or be thrifty? Does it matter that you have too much stuff - just stuff - everywhere? Clothes, books, houses, cars, bottles of wine, credit cards, direct debits, holidays, ideas even?
I think the answer is that Bloat equals Stress. Think about it. Are we more stressed now than say 10 years ago? I challenge anyone - unless they have retired on a nice income from employment or cool deals or luck - who says that they are less stressed now than in the past. Why? BLOAT! Why does a dog....? Because it can. Why do I (a) rack up activities for my kids all the time? (b) endlessly analyze financial management options (c) consider buying property abroad obsessively (d) sometimes shop at Asda but also at Waitrose .... Because I am a Bloat baby.
We are relatively hungry after all. The baby boomers and young Gen Xers were brought up by parents who had lived through a long world war, rations, poverty and lack. Suddenly, credit cards, the Internet, and cheap travel - just a few examples - landed in our laps. Phwoah! Go for it! We are like kids with rickets in a candy store that will never close. Take a flight from Paris to any UK airport on an airline that does Eurodisney deals. Bet you my house that you will be surrounded by exhausted, overweight parents with exhausted, overweight children, crippled under the burden of retail and experiential bloat from the mere few days they have just spent in that rainy paradise of tack in suburbia somewhere.
The next big thing is thrift, in my view. Mend don't spend. Grow your own. Live smaller. Go by bike. However you translate it, you will have to downbloat, if only temporarily.
Today, alone, a good friend told me of visiting a friend in hospital. Attempted suicide because his property company has collapsed due to no further credit. Another friend called from her car on the way to picking up insolvency papers for a guy who lives in Monaco.
The correction of bloat is upon us. Get on board. It's fun to sew, they say. The only thing that will always be free is information. So if you can't pay, blog.
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