The Tache is Back - Still Time to Donate

There is still time to donate to the Movember cause and how could you say no to a face like this?  I have to say I like the 80s porn star aesthetic quality it gives me... and am considering keeping it until Christmas.  According to the Guardian, the Tache is Back so not only will you be giving to a geat cause (raising awareness of men's health issues) but you will be helping to promote a better more fashionable Steve.  Click the link at the top of the page to donate and remember that any money I raise from advertising on this blog during November will also be donated to event.  Finally, big thanks to all of you who have already donated!  If you want to find out where your money will go and how it will be used check out this video and here also check out the promotion video (the'y obviously been taking some marketing advice from Seth Godin and his purple cow -the CowTache?), still not convinced? Check out all the famous people with a Mo below!

Statistics are boring?

The Swedes are an intelligent bunch, as you all know Sweden is the home of the Nobel Prize, it is interesting (and somewhat gratifying) to note then that statistically both Swedish university students and professors know less about the world than chimpanzees.  However, what is even more interesting is this fascinating speech, given by Hans Rosling at the TED conference in 2006, showing the power of visual statisitics in action.  For mine, any statistical representation that warrants an 'instant replay' is well worth a watch - but I'll stop writing now and let the professor talk.  Oh, just one final point - everyone should do themselves a favour and check out Gapminder.org and Ted.com, very inspirational!

A Great Lecture - More Please

On Friday we had a lecture from Jörgen Adolfsson founder of Aspiro a Swedish Telecoms company which specialises in mobile phone applications, was listed publicly in 2001 at a value of around $US1 billion, soon after which Jörgen sold his share and got out of the company.  This was an inspiring and frank discussion painting a picture of the highs and low of what it takes to become an entrepreneur.  What made this lecture great was the wealth of practical information presented in an intellectually stimulating way.  To me, this is the way business should be taught, theory certainly has a place but its place is in textbooks as a precursor to a lecture that use's case studies and real life examples to stimulate your thought processes and enable the student to challenge the theory they have been learning.  Here are some of the highlights from the lecture for me:

• The amount of change a company goes through from initial idea to launch and the continued evolution after launch.
• Aspiro launched in 1998 when there was a lot of VC funding available for this sort of technology - the three founders retained only a 30% ownership of the company.  The share in ownership however did not directly translate to a loss of control over the company, Jörgen estimated that the founders retained a 90% say in the strategy and direction of the company due to the fact that none of the investors had the technical knowledge to challenge them.  However, financial decisions were very much in the hands of the investors and a lot of time was spent by Jörgen  preparing and answering to rigorous questioning on finances "when things are going well its all limosines and champagne but when its not going so well its a lot more standing in a board room answering a barrage of questions.
• The only reason to take your company public is to cash out your shares.  Once a company goes public it almost always starts to perform worse.

Finally, something I found particularly fascinating was his 'back of the napkin' drawing of the initial idea for his company and the way the technology would work.  Unfortuneately I do not have the slides to share with you but some further research on 'back of the napkin' business plans elicited some fascinating finds.  The video embeded below is an interesting lecture from Dan Roam, the author of "The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures." D taking part in an excellent series of videos called authors@google from @google talks which I highly recommend you check out.

Some Great Free Education Online

This is a great lecture from Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, being 2006, it is slightly old but still well worth watching. I found this on MIT OpenCourseWare which is a great site full of readings, lectures and other materials from one of the worlds leading universities. Courtesy of Chris Spagnuolo's excellent Edgehopper blog and its regular feature friday freebies, I have found a number of other excellent online educational resources that are well worth checking out.

The Do Lectures - lectures from inspirational people who get things done!

The Oxford University Podcasts - podcasts from some of the world's greatest minds

All well worth checking out.

Brief Update on Movember

Ok, so the polls are closed, the ballots have been counted and an historic decision has been reached... I will be spending the rest of 'Movember' with a 'Sanchez' styled moustache.  There is only one slight problem at the moment which is that I managed to completely blunt my razor getting rid of my straggley summer festival beard.  But don't worry, tomorrow I am going to get out of my nice warm room, braving the icy Swedish winter and buy a razor blade, Sombrero and some beans so I can really do the Sanchez justice.  Thanks to all those who have made a donation to support research in to prostate cancer and depressin.  If you would still like to make a donation please click here.

I will post pics of my Sanchez within the week.

Everyone's a Winner... (unless you bet on Nom de Jeu)

First of all congratulations to the United states and President Obama - here's to a better world!

Secondly an apology to anyone who followed my link to the 'Telstra Bigpond' Melbourne Cup coverage.  If your experience was anything like mine and the coverage lagged when your horse was winning, cut back in as soon as the race was over and you ran out of your Dorm in your Swedish halls of residence, jumped on the couch and started whooping  'show me the money, show me the money' before realising much to your embarassment (wow a triple Homage to Tom Cruise!), that your horse had come no where near winning... then I am truly sorry.

So it turns out the Melbourne Cup was not as an exact a predictor of the US election as I thought it might have been but I should point out that neither the 'Red Lord' (although this particular horse did make a very eloquent concession speech)  or the 'Prize Lady' came in anywhere near winning but neither did the horse in the blue jersey Nom de Jeu (much to my disappointment).  

However, I was not completely wrong not only did Obama win the US election (You have all probably seen it but in the interest of fair and balanced coverage and because it is a great speech, here is the link), but it also turns out that the Australian media cares more about the winner of the Melbourne Cup.  The heading picture was taken from a great little website called Newseum which catalogues the front pages of Newspapers around the world (for a Wikinomics perspective on this click here). 

If the world could vote?

Here's and interesting little map of the way the world would vote... 

If the world could vote?

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Who Will Win?

As I write this post, millions of people are on the verge of making the most important decision of the year...a decision that will have a profound effect on their lives and the lives of those around them... should they back the older greying gelding running alongside that young buxom Filly or should they back the younger black stallion to lead a nation...to victory in the Melbourne Cup?

As I browse the form guide and Betfair.com, It is interesting to note that in the blue jersey, 'Nom de Jeu' is by far the favourite to win whilst the 'Red Lord' and 'Prize Lady' are well an truly outside running at odds of 0ver 100 - 1. It makes me wonder whether the victor in the Melbourne Cup might be an accurate predictor of that other insignificant event to be decided tomorrow...

Apparently I am not the only one thinking along those lines Keith Thompson, a writer for the Huffington Post a completely online based newspaper which in itself is a fascinating business, wrote a very interesting article showing that 'Hardcore Gamblers' may provide the most accurate election forecasts. Arguing that people are more likely to be truthful and think hard when they let their money do the talking as opposed to when they are merely asked their opinion by a pollster. He gives the example that halfway through 2004 when CNN had John Kerry taking the lead, Betfair had George W at 91% certain to win, not only that but Betfair called all 50 states correctly.

Another blog, Barack by Popular Demand has taken a similar approach to me and yet another similar thought here

With this in mind, I'm going to listen to the bookies and put my money 'Nom de Jeu' and cross my fingers and my toes... if only there was a more effective way for me to influence the race and make sure the good guy wins...

By the way if you are outside Australia and want to watch the Melbourne Cup you should be able to do so via Bigpond at 04:00 GMT.

Movember

'Movember' is probably my favourite charity event of the year, not only is it an excuse to grow a wicked Mo (and what self respecting man doesn't want to do that), but its also a chance to raise some money for a really great cause.

Since its inception three years ago Movember has raised over $8.5 million and has had a significant impact on the state of men's health, prostate cancer and men suffering from depression.

With this in mind I have signed up to be a Mo Bro, clean shaved and handed the figurative razor blade over to all of you to decide what style Mo I should have. Vote on the right hand side for which of the styles below you want me to have (voting closes 08/11/08), make a donation, and I will do my upmost to comply. I will upload a weekly picture of my progress and what is more I will donate any advertising revenue I get from this blog during November to the cause. All you Bro's out there I encourage you to sign up and start growing and raising some money. All you girls out there what could be sexier than your fella with a Mo?