So on Friday, I met up and had a chat with one of my closest entrepreneurial friends, Tango. We met up in Brisbane and headed down to the Gold Coast together. During the ride, we had plenty of time to chat. Every time we meet up to chat, we both gain so much. What we each learn on our own journey as entrepreneurs is so relevant to each other. The coolest part of our discussion is where Tango talked about this thing called a "Webina", which is the combination of the words "web" and "seminar". It's where a person give a live presentation via a online stream and there's a IRC-type chatbox on the right side. Now for you guys that have been keeping up with online gaming in the recent years, this exactly like a online game stream such as Twitch.TV. I had thought this online stream format was reasonably new and was hardly used outside of gaming. I was so surprised at this.
That was just one of the many things that we had gained from our conversation. Eventually during the discussion, I thought back to a question from one of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad audio books. It was the million dollar question as he called it, how does one take what they do and do it for more people while doing it for less? Simplistically this question is, how can you take your skill/profession/trade and scale it to provide more value and/or reduce per-unit cost.
So with this, the penny dropped (a connection of ideas). I had recently been playing around with Youtube and Internet Streams and realized this was one way we could scale-up what we were doing here. Tango and I basically meet up to bounce ideas and to share entrepreneurial insights. These discussions always turned out well, because this was one of our core skills, to think like entrepreneurs. So what if we leveraged some of our entrepreneurial networks to have 3-person chats like this one and combined with a stream/youtube to get the ideas out there. Fleshing out this idea a bit more, we thought this could be something with potential. So we decided to keep this idea noted and do a bit of research on this.
So right now, this is another small project that I'm really looking forward to working on. But it's funny how something like this began. Basically I just observed what we enjoyed doing and what we did best and thought of a way that might be able to share or create that value for others. I think this might be a good thought to have when working on my other projects.
So that's it for now. Thanks for reading, and all the best until next time.
TL;DR
- Do what you enjoy / Do what you are good at
- observe how it provides value/enjoyment to others
- think of some way (potentially using technology) to scale up what you do
???
> Profit ( I hope you guys got the reference)
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Indicators and Measures
Ahh... One of my favorite classes in university was cost management systems. It was fundamentally a business management subject focused around the quantitative planning of business. One of the focuses of the class is to determine relevant measures to measure the success of the business. For you skeptics out there, it's more than just profits and the bottom line. Measures such as market share and customer retention amongst many others are equally or potentially more important.
One of the most important lessons about measures is what they represent. Fundamentally, they are used as indicators to affect business decisions. If things are going well, try to replicate the results, if things are going bad, then try a different strategy.
From a theoretical perspective, this is all pretty straight forward. But how is it relevant for you and me. You'd be surprised that there are many qualitative and quantitative measurements that we use on a regular basis, measures such as weight, academic marks and income are all examples. But you'd be surprised that there are now measures for almost everything you do online. One useful example that I've recently found is a site called Klout. Klout is a site that takes into account your social media accounts to give an aggregated score to your online social influence.
Logging into the site, I saw that my klout score was a low 37 or so. I linked in my other social media and it boosted it up to a below average 49. Because I wanted to get some context and comparison for my score, I invited some of my other friends to try out Klout. I also had the secondary intention of using it as a way of motivating them to be more active with their online presence, but that's a story for another time.
After looking into how the score is calculated and noticing that my score was actually a fair bit lower than my colleagues, Jeeno at 52, Connie at 59 and Vyse at 61, I realized I needed to do some work here. It's interesting to note that this score doesn't tell me a lot about why my score is low, but it's an indicator that some things need to change if I want to be more successful here. This led me to think about what I've been doing recently and what life was like when I was at uni. I realized that I was no longer involved with as many projects or people as when I was at uni. Of course my social influence would drop. So this highlighted to me that I had a potential social influence problem. With this data in mind, I can now change what I'm doing to better influence what I'm doing. I'll make sure that I get out and meet more people from now.
I guess that this blog post is to highlight, that there are many measures and indicators to our successful we are. It's therefore very important to always keep an eye out for these measures and use them as a guideline to make decisions in future.
One of the most important lessons about measures is what they represent. Fundamentally, they are used as indicators to affect business decisions. If things are going well, try to replicate the results, if things are going bad, then try a different strategy.
From a theoretical perspective, this is all pretty straight forward. But how is it relevant for you and me. You'd be surprised that there are many qualitative and quantitative measurements that we use on a regular basis, measures such as weight, academic marks and income are all examples. But you'd be surprised that there are now measures for almost everything you do online. One useful example that I've recently found is a site called Klout. Klout is a site that takes into account your social media accounts to give an aggregated score to your online social influence.
Logging into the site, I saw that my klout score was a low 37 or so. I linked in my other social media and it boosted it up to a below average 49. Because I wanted to get some context and comparison for my score, I invited some of my other friends to try out Klout. I also had the secondary intention of using it as a way of motivating them to be more active with their online presence, but that's a story for another time.
After looking into how the score is calculated and noticing that my score was actually a fair bit lower than my colleagues, Jeeno at 52, Connie at 59 and Vyse at 61, I realized I needed to do some work here. It's interesting to note that this score doesn't tell me a lot about why my score is low, but it's an indicator that some things need to change if I want to be more successful here. This led me to think about what I've been doing recently and what life was like when I was at uni. I realized that I was no longer involved with as many projects or people as when I was at uni. Of course my social influence would drop. So this highlighted to me that I had a potential social influence problem. With this data in mind, I can now change what I'm doing to better influence what I'm doing. I'll make sure that I get out and meet more people from now.
I guess that this blog post is to highlight, that there are many measures and indicators to our successful we are. It's therefore very important to always keep an eye out for these measures and use them as a guideline to make decisions in future.
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Stumbling upon an Answer - Online Streams
So a question that I've been looking at for the last week or two is the idea of online video game streaming. This question stemmed from our working on Gamer's Life Network. We considered an online stream as a possible way to promote and publicize the network. But a question that I couldn't answer is why people watch online streams of game play. I had never really understood how let's play channels such as Yogscast or Tobuscus could receive so many views or subscibers.
I watched through a lot of their videos and they didn't really seem to have huge comedic value. Occasionally they would say something that was kind of funny, but it was definitely nothing compared to watching standup or a comedic skit. This is actually a question I gave up on. I couldn't understand the mentality or value of these videos.
It wasn't until today that I started to see the answer to my own question. My good friend, Anthony Vyse had been experimenting with online streaming recently. He had posted up a link of his stream yesterday, and a couple of us logged in to check it out. Nothing super-amazing, but he had good insight and pretty good commentary of the game. I've had years of card gaming experience, but he still made a couple points I hadn't known. I realized though his stream, that it can be used as a informal way for someone to communicate their personal knowledge on a game in a commentary style manner.
The above point was reasonably obvious. People can be quite interested in a game and therefore want to learn more about it. However this didn't answer the question for streams of games like Minecraft. Today, when Vyse posted on facebook to let us know that he was streaming again, I went over to the stream to check it out. I then realized about 15 minutes into the stream that I decided to watch the stream because of Vyse, not because of his content. The commentary was nice, but I was actually interested in watching Vyse play.
Thinking about this afterwards, maybe part of the reason why people watch streams is because they've grown to connect with the streamer to some level. Viewers have built some relationship with the streamer of the game. They care how the streamer responds, thinks and feels. This all makes sense in hindsight, so many people watch sports just because they feel a connection with a specific player or team. In a way, it's almost a sign of support for that player. I guess it comes down partially to being someone that people can like or connect with.
I have to thank Vyse for helping me stumble upon this answer. I probably wouldn't have worked this out if you didn't play around with streaming. I guess we'll call it even...
... wut?
I watched through a lot of their videos and they didn't really seem to have huge comedic value. Occasionally they would say something that was kind of funny, but it was definitely nothing compared to watching standup or a comedic skit. This is actually a question I gave up on. I couldn't understand the mentality or value of these videos.
It wasn't until today that I started to see the answer to my own question. My good friend, Anthony Vyse had been experimenting with online streaming recently. He had posted up a link of his stream yesterday, and a couple of us logged in to check it out. Nothing super-amazing, but he had good insight and pretty good commentary of the game. I've had years of card gaming experience, but he still made a couple points I hadn't known. I realized though his stream, that it can be used as a informal way for someone to communicate their personal knowledge on a game in a commentary style manner.
The above point was reasonably obvious. People can be quite interested in a game and therefore want to learn more about it. However this didn't answer the question for streams of games like Minecraft. Today, when Vyse posted on facebook to let us know that he was streaming again, I went over to the stream to check it out. I then realized about 15 minutes into the stream that I decided to watch the stream because of Vyse, not because of his content. The commentary was nice, but I was actually interested in watching Vyse play.
Thinking about this afterwards, maybe part of the reason why people watch streams is because they've grown to connect with the streamer to some level. Viewers have built some relationship with the streamer of the game. They care how the streamer responds, thinks and feels. This all makes sense in hindsight, so many people watch sports just because they feel a connection with a specific player or team. In a way, it's almost a sign of support for that player. I guess it comes down partially to being someone that people can like or connect with.
I have to thank Vyse for helping me stumble upon this answer. I probably wouldn't have worked this out if you didn't play around with streaming. I guess we'll call it even...
... wut?
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Emotions in the Business World
In a very recent conversation I had with friends, I had a pretty interesting realization. Apparently, people perceive me very much like a "cold-hearted, calculating robot". They felt that I have a tendency to rule-out emotions in my calculus of situations. This is not a statement I entirely disagree with. I really do put a lot less emphasis on short term emotional states when it comes to decision making.
I had felt for a long time that outside of being emotionally aware of other people, emotions had no place in business. How does one factor emotions or feelings into decisions? Furthermore emotions can sometimes be counterproductive to the overall goals of the business. When a firm stand needs to be taken, emotions can get in the way of an efficient solution.
But recently I feel my perspective on this topic has changed. I don't believe, we as contributors to a business or project are just a means of labor any more. Gone are the ways of Henry Ford and the human manufacturing line. I feel that in the future, there will be a greater trend of hiring people for not just their skills or labour, but also for their mind space. Their ability to reason, the emotions they inspire in others and their personal beliefs.
I believe this because of what I have been seeing more and more frequently. People from various backgrounds, cultures and social levels spend so much effort, time and money on what they are truly passionate about. For a long time, I couldn't understand it. Why did people go to such lengths for something so valueless, it's not like they were ever going to become famous or get a job for what they were doing. But I have come to understand that it's out of love, passion or a belief, that people exceed what is usually expected of them and achieve something much greater. Just like how Simon Sinek said in his TedTalk speech,
I always feel that when working with my team mates, that I am getting far more than what I deserve. I've been able to promise them nothing as a reward, but they go far above and beyond to help and work with me. Even going as far as improving their own skills to deal with this new, greater challenge. I realize, it's not so much the "what" we are doing that is driving them, but the "why". "Our" goal has meaning to them and feels different to the normal work, contracts and assignment we take daily.
I realize now that what truly inspires people to achieve higher than what is expected of them is emotions. For a long time, I've kept every emotion in check, believing them to be signs of recklessness. But I now know that their existence in business is vital for the future. Of course there needs to be some moderation, but I'd take the passionate over the skilled any day. Furthermore it's my role as a leader to ignite the flames of passion and keep them burning hot, I can't do that if my own heart is unlit.
I had felt for a long time that outside of being emotionally aware of other people, emotions had no place in business. How does one factor emotions or feelings into decisions? Furthermore emotions can sometimes be counterproductive to the overall goals of the business. When a firm stand needs to be taken, emotions can get in the way of an efficient solution.
But recently I feel my perspective on this topic has changed. I don't believe, we as contributors to a business or project are just a means of labor any more. Gone are the ways of Henry Ford and the human manufacturing line. I feel that in the future, there will be a greater trend of hiring people for not just their skills or labour, but also for their mind space. Their ability to reason, the emotions they inspire in others and their personal beliefs.
I believe this because of what I have been seeing more and more frequently. People from various backgrounds, cultures and social levels spend so much effort, time and money on what they are truly passionate about. For a long time, I couldn't understand it. Why did people go to such lengths for something so valueless, it's not like they were ever going to become famous or get a job for what they were doing. But I have come to understand that it's out of love, passion or a belief, that people exceed what is usually expected of them and achieve something much greater. Just like how Simon Sinek said in his TedTalk speech,
"If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your
money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll
work for you with blood and sweat and tears."
I always feel that when working with my team mates, that I am getting far more than what I deserve. I've been able to promise them nothing as a reward, but they go far above and beyond to help and work with me. Even going as far as improving their own skills to deal with this new, greater challenge. I realize, it's not so much the "what" we are doing that is driving them, but the "why". "Our" goal has meaning to them and feels different to the normal work, contracts and assignment we take daily.
I realize now that what truly inspires people to achieve higher than what is expected of them is emotions. For a long time, I've kept every emotion in check, believing them to be signs of recklessness. But I now know that their existence in business is vital for the future. Of course there needs to be some moderation, but I'd take the passionate over the skilled any day. Furthermore it's my role as a leader to ignite the flames of passion and keep them burning hot, I can't do that if my own heart is unlit.
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
A Change of Plans
Well, after a long time of no posts on this blog, I decided that something needed to change. There are a ton of reasons why I haven't been posting in this blog. Mainly a lack of time, motivation and value to this blog. So should I continue blogging or not? If I do decide to continue, how can I make the blogging relevant or effective?
Having thought about this, the answer that I have come to is; I need to change the focus of things a little bit. This has actually been a hidden problem for sometime. I've had trouble deciding what to write in this blog. Sometimes I think I should write about lessons, sometimes I think I should write the literal things that happened in day to day business. Furthermore there was also a issue of who to target this blog to? Although I'm honestly not writing this to make money or build a reader-base, I need to think about the reader's perception when writing. For example, if this is a more business orientated blog, writing deep gaming philosophy is irrelevant or will confuse readers.
This is therefore an issue of brand confusion. Where an icon or person is representing multiple things that are unrelated and therefore creates a confusing representation. How can anyone know what this blog is about, when even I don't. So the solution, is just to break up all the different personal brands that I have and publicize them separately.
So I've decided to change the inconsistent focus of this blog from business to a personal record of my journey as an entrepreneur. It will deal less with the what, but more about the why. I've got ideas for how I will work on my other projects. I haven't set them up yet otherwise I would put a link in this post. So keep an eye out for all the other stuff that I'll be getting up to in the near future.
Until next time.
Having thought about this, the answer that I have come to is; I need to change the focus of things a little bit. This has actually been a hidden problem for sometime. I've had trouble deciding what to write in this blog. Sometimes I think I should write about lessons, sometimes I think I should write the literal things that happened in day to day business. Furthermore there was also a issue of who to target this blog to? Although I'm honestly not writing this to make money or build a reader-base, I need to think about the reader's perception when writing. For example, if this is a more business orientated blog, writing deep gaming philosophy is irrelevant or will confuse readers.
This is therefore an issue of brand confusion. Where an icon or person is representing multiple things that are unrelated and therefore creates a confusing representation. How can anyone know what this blog is about, when even I don't. So the solution, is just to break up all the different personal brands that I have and publicize them separately.
So I've decided to change the inconsistent focus of this blog from business to a personal record of my journey as an entrepreneur. It will deal less with the what, but more about the why. I've got ideas for how I will work on my other projects. I haven't set them up yet otherwise I would put a link in this post. So keep an eye out for all the other stuff that I'll be getting up to in the near future.
Until next time.
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