Lord Mayor's Social Enterprise Business Forum

I joined many of my cohort mates from the Impact Boom Elevate+ last Wednesday at the Lord Mayor's Social Enterprise Business Forum. I have heard about these, but this was the first one I attended. It was perfect timing too because my new business cards as the CTO of Abide had just arrived! So my co-founder, Andy and I, used the event as a massive opportunity to pitch Abide so that we get inputs and have the opportunity to explore collaborations.

The forum was also a learning opportunity boasting the speakers Alex Hannant, Co-Director, Yunus Social Business Centre, Griffith University who spoke about the "Ingredients for success and failure - 10 things I've learnt about social enterprise". It was a great talk that highlighted the realities facing social enterprises. I especially liked the tip about "letting zombies dies". He was saying that as social entrepreneurs, we are often driven by passion and belief. So we might often keep ventures going that are in realities zombies. I think this is a good tip for everyone who are passionate about what they do. It's not just about business but also jobs, creative endeavours etc., etc.

The second speaker was Emma-Kate Rose, General Manager, Food Connect, who spoke about "Running a business with heart and purpose: why social enterprises are on the rise". But unfortunately, I was not able to stay for that talk. Overall, I had a good time, and I am going to see if I can't make more of these forums!

Pitching Abide.Space at River City Labs Friday Open House Drinks and Pitches

With the Elevate+ Social Enterprise Pitch Night getting closer, it’s on the 6th of June, I decided to drum up support for Abide and the Elevate+ Pitch Night by pitching at the River City Labs Friday Open House Drinks and Pitches! The tickets are on sale now, for the Elevate+ pitch night so Brisbane folks, get your today!

I also spent the day working at River City Labs with JOSARI. We are getting very close to launching the iOS app. So watch this space for more information. But for now, enjoy the video of my pitch, the beginning is missing but you still get the gist of it! To here the full 3 minutes pitch, come see Abide at The Triffid!

Bad Blood

I finished listening to the Audiable version of Bad Blood, and it was stunning! I cannot believe that this company did not raise red flags left, right and centre. The truth, of course, was that it had. But because of NDAs, information silos, FOMO among executives and the inner circle culture of super wealthy, Silicon Valley etc., the flags weren’t picked up. More than that, all you have to do is look at the two public whistle-blowers to know why the scam went on for so long!

The whistle-blowers were young, and one of them was Tyler Shultz. Yeah, Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos still managed to make his life a hellish nightmare in the short run, but he’s was still Tyler Shultz, and he was going to land on his feet long term. The same wouldn’t have been true of the Indian employees on skilled migration visas.

I think Theranos is a cautionary tale that goes beyond entrepreneurial culture. Be optimistic but don’t be blind to reality. Also, we need to stop worshipping the dropouts. I mean, yes, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg dropped out, when they dropped out they 1) had their respective business ideas, 2) had the necessary skills or could teach themselves the skills they needed to make Microsoft and Facebook a success.

Steve Jobs spent a lot of time auditing classes after he couldn’t continue with the university. I understand it was a money issue in his case. Also, Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak as his partner and Wozniak was a brilliant engineer. Finally, Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin dropped out of PhD programs!

You can’t teach yourself medical science. Elizabeth Holmes also didn’t have a Steve Wozniak character by her side. Besides which, what she wanted to do needed scientific and technological breakthrough to become a reality. I read a few comments that suggested that Holmes’s fixation on the bells and whistles. Stuff like the font on the website or the look and feel of the Edison Machine was her channelling her boundless energy into tasks that she could do because she didn’t have the technical know-how to work in the lab.

She wasn’t a Steve Jobs, but she might have been an Elon Musk if, like him, she stayed in school and got a technical education. The saddest part is that many still believe Elizabeth Holmes was unfairly treated. They think she did nothing wrong. She’s blindly defended by many women, but her defenders are wrong! She hurt people.

I am not going to speculate whether she set out with good intentions and then went down the wrong path. That’s not important. What is important is how she went about doing business was not a good way to achieve anything. She hurt patients, she hurt her employees, including Ian Gibbons who committed suicide. Indeed, Ian Gibbons’s story made me the saddest because he stayed with Theranos because his work defined his life. So he couldn’t walk away, even when he was suffering, because, without his work, he felt he was nothing.

I have no doubt that sooner or later, people will forget about Theranos. People are already forgetting the GFC and many people do not know about Enron or understand the Dot com clash. Theranos was not as big as GFC or Dot com clash, nor was it an Enron. But I think entrepreneurs and businesses owners of all shapes and sizes have a lot to learn from this saga.

Blink

I finished this book in March, but life kept me busy, and I didn’t have a chance to sit down and reflect on it. I enjoyed the book very much. It certainly helped me understand why some of the people around me work the way they do. I especially liked how the book took the time to highlight the negative side of snap judgements, but also advocated for deciding on the spot when appropriate. The big message for entrepreneurs from the book, I think, is the caution around market research, customer profiling or even getting feedback. Because the book makes it very clear how hard it can be to get people to explain why they think the things they do.

There are also lessons to be gleaned from the book when judging pitches or business concepts. Blink can help with bullshit detection because if you stop to think, a charismatic person can convince you to go against your instincts. In fact, the book I am listing to currently through Audible is Bad Blood. I cannot help thinking that a lot of Bad Blood happened because people simply refused to listen to their instincts. But that’s for the next post!

End of Little Tokyo Two

I am going to keep this short because by now, the background and story of Little Tokyo Two going into voluntary liquidation has become widely known and covered. I am, of course, affected because I joined Little Tokyo Two back in January. Admittedly, I was less interested in the co-working side and more interested in the incubation services, introduction to relevant parties and support with growing my business. It was why I choose Little Tokyo Two over Fishburners and River City Labs.

Jock did get me four leads for customers. But unfortunately, I wasn’t able to convert any of them into sales. The most use I ended-up making of my membership with Little Tokyo Two was through the use of their three boardrooms for meetings. But I was beginning to make plans with Little Tokyo Two support staff to put together a workshop, plus looking to get on relevant podcasts when the news hit. I am disappointed but not surprised because, in hindsight, the writing was on the wall.

So what’s been happening? My membership was transferred to Brisbane Marketing, who are a branch of the Brisbane City Council. The Council has assured me that my membership will continue for the time being as normal. Fishburners has stepped up to provide community support services. Also, Office Hub has contacted me trying to sign me with their service to help with my move away from Little Tokyo Two.

Honestly, I am happy to go with the flow for the time being. I am still using the meeting rooms. So I’ll keep my membership going for now. My initial contract was until the end of June. So let’s see if I get to the end of my contract or if I bail out by May!