Year: 2007

  • MBA Update Month 2

    I got my mid-term exam back for Accounting & Financial Management. Despite poor time management in the last third of the exam, I managed to get a Distinction (78%) which is a good result for my first formal study in nearly two decades. Advice to returning students. Your exam technique will be rusty. Two tips.…

  • Entrepreneurs Should be Reading Anthill

    If you are an entrepreneur of any age and any stage you should be reading Australian Anthill magazine. For 24 issues now,  this bi-monthly magazine has covered entrepreneurs, angels, VC’s  and the startup scene in Australia. They’ve grown readership and circulation and are entrepreneurs themselves. Business is a crazy rollercoaster ride and there is a…

  • “Crazy John” Ilhan Dead at 42

    Crazy John’s founder John Ilhan dead at 42. The Aussie mobile phone entrepreneur was estimated by BRW to be worth $310 million. I’m stunned at the moment, the news reports say he died of an apparent heart attack while walking this morning. Looking at his recent philanthropic efforts I think he died too soon. It…

  • MBA Update Month 1

    I’ve just finished my fourth week of my first subject, Accounting & Financial Management. I did Accounting 101 in my undergrad degree so I have an advantage that I have heard of this stuff (when Moses wore short pants). AGSM lectures are pretty fast, you’re expected to have done the work before the lecture. Jack…

  • How to value a business startup

    I met Richard Hayes at the Sydney OpenCoffee Meetup and he’s written an excellent article that he’s allowed me to reproduce below. All people working in the Startup / Early Stage consistently asked the same question, “How do you value business?” The correct answer is there is no correct answer Without trying to be facetious…

  • OpenMoko everything iPhone should have been

    I’m awaiting my iPhone courtesy of working for a multinational. One of my coworkers travelling in the USA will hopefully pick it up. However since lusting for one, Apple has rained on the parade by turning iPhones into iBricks with their latest firmware upgrade. The consensus seems to be Apple didn’t need to be so…

  • Private Company Valuations

    An unreal valuation is a price that a strategic investor pays because they have non financial objectives. – Fred Wilson A VC via twitter That really puts the concept of the Strategic Sale succinctly. When the fit of the vendor’s business to the acquirer is so compelling, that traditional accounting based measures are not sufficient.

  • Sydney OpenCoffee Meetup

    I went to the Sydney OpenCoffee Meetup this morning. I love the tagline: “Place for people who love startups to hang out and meet”. So I met a bunch of startup entrepreneurs, a few advisors and a funder or two. I attended looking for two things: New Product Development ideas/team/products to put through the distribution…

  • Why do an MBA?

    Surely that’s a dumb question to be asking myself right now. I had to answer it on the application. I’ve committed the money and time to it. I’ve even started the first course – Accounting and Financial Management. That first course is looking to be as easy as I thought. Which on one level really…

  • NBL and Singapore Slingers need Import Rule Change

    I was talking to someone with long connections in the NBL – Australia’s National Basketball League. The Singapore Slingers are based in Singapore, but I’ve heard if they put a Singaporean on the floor he must take one of the two import slots that NBL teams are allowed. Normally those spots are for players who…