How To Be Gracious
One of my colleagues at work this week tried to buy me a coffee.
I refused.
“No, no!” I waved away her money. “It’s fine!”
“Let me,” she said, pressing it into my hand. “I’d like to say thank you.”
I have an idea about the balance of things - I want to be a motivator in the world, a brightener, an energy source.
3D printing is nothing special
People who read this blog and know me are aware of my obsession with 3D printing - and the fact that I think it will be bigger than the internet. Recently I had an experience with my 3D printer which was most enlightening. Before I share the story let me share a terrific definition of technology:
Technology - Something that was invented after you were born.
Seinfeld Today = Digital Training
I'm totally in love with Modern Seinfeld on Twitter (@seinfeldtoday). Each day I tune into the stream hoping for some more tweets which serve up 140 more characters of Seinfeld goodness. For the uninitiated, Modern Seinfeld is an 'unofficial' tweet stream in which each tweet is the synopsis for a fictional modern day Seinfeld episode. It really is the stuff of genius.
When Hell Froze Over – in the Harvard Business Review
When Hell Froze Over – in the Harvard Business Review. An excellent article from Steve Blank that is a must read.
SydStart Expo Stands Go On Sale
SydStart 2013 Expo Stands for May 28 to 30 inclusive go on sale tomorrow Tue April 2nd.
See below for the stand formats. Price depends on configuration and fitout.
Basic stands are 2m x 2m with a 2.4m back board (1.5m x 1.5m) and three areas for signage (right, left, top).
The first ten stands (east side of the dedicated startup expo in Hall 6 Darling Harbour) are available at an early bird price of $1,500 total price for the three days plus tax, insurance and internet.
The Startup Directory
We are progressively profiling Startups in Asia with stories of the founders, video pitches and interviews. They will be posted here and reblogged from other sites in the Infinicon, SydStart, Cooper & Co, Coinr and AnyDex ecosystem.
If you would like to receive these on an ongoing basis just subscribe in the
Startups 101 – Pete Cooper Speaks At Customs House
I spoke recently to a few hundred people at Customs House in Sydney CBD down near Circular Quay, a gorgeous old sandstone building.
If you know anyone that is learning or just entering the tech startup space in Australia this playlist is a MUST WATCH.
The City Of Sydney (CoS) Lord Mayor Clover Moore introduced the program of professional tech startup industry experts -
- Pete Cooper – SydStart
- Riley Bachelor – GA
- Kim Heras – PushStart
- Melanie Perkins from Canva
The genesis of the night was a startup round table of 20 leaders called by the City of Sydney strategic development unit lead by Andrea and Charnelle after our chats earlier in the year. This unit has the rare skill of planning up to 20 years in advance which is great to see but I wouldn’t want that challenge…
The round table was chaired by City of Sydney CEO Monica Barrone who has been a steady supporter of the program and the ecosystem. They made it happen along with Jo Kelly and Gail Marshall and the CoS even rolled out the green carpet for us. Huge Thanks.
The event was oversubscribed and post event survey made us all very happy -
- 100% satisfaction rate and a
- 99% ‘I’d recommend to a friend’ rate
Both of which are remarkable.
The next one has been scheduled for September. I hope they book the Sydney Town Hall for 500 people cause I think we can fill it, then we can get them all to attend SydStart too.
They rolled out the green carpet for the startups 101 night at customs house in the sydney cbd.
It wasn’t xmas but this was the most recent wide angle view photo I had, awesome no?
Videos
Shared with me by my good friend Amarsh Anand who is currently in China returning to Australia. A wonderful set of insights on how all of us can change the world. I believe Amarsh started this series off, I suspect it will be the first of many once people start to understand the depth of power from these approaches in out modern internet enabled context.
Links
Game Mechanics Are Easy, Here’s How. Watch The Video.
I was super impressed by this video from @amyjokim and had to share my notes taken while watching it. If you know who your customer is you can systematically classify them and create appropriate game mechanics to increase enjoyment, growth and retention. Awesome stuff for tech startup entrepreneurs and the basis for great businesses.
Cheers, Pete.
Amy Jo Kim – Video Summary - Casual connect Seattle – Smart Gamification: Seven Core Concepts for Creating Compelling Experiences
Lifecycle Stages
- Newbie – Oboarding focus, learn the ropes, welcome, goals, progress (not just first visit), what is acheivable
- Regulars – Habit building focus, keep em coming back, fresh content, fresh activities, engagement, challenges
- Enthusiasts – Mastery. Priority one is exclusivity. Recognition. Impact. Create ways to identify, empower and leverage enthusiasts.
User/Player Styles (and preferred verbs)
- Co-operative Verbs – Join, Share, Greet, Gift*, Help, Exchange, Trade, Visit*
- Exploration Verbs – Explore*, View, Read, Curate, Complete, Collect, Search
- Expressive Verbs (game play and purchase behaviour) – Choose/Pick, Customize, Layout, Design, Dress Up, Show Off, Comment
- Competive Verbs (with others or just yourself) – Win, Challenge, Taunt, Compare, Show Off, Beat, Brag, Fight, Pass/Overtake
PERMA – Martin Seligman (Positive Psychology)
- Positive Emotions – trust, security, discovery, delight, fun, visual pleasure, self expression, social serendipity, staying informed, building trust, not having to worry,
- Engagement Loop (Progress/Accomplishment>Positive Emotion>Call To Action>New Engement/Task) Changes over lifecycle of course.
- Relationship
- Meaning
- Accomplishment
Progress Mechanics
- After you have worked out the journey above, ‘light the way’ with progress mechanics.
- Habits, Surprise, Addiction
- Game Aesthetics Evoke Emotion (can be positive or negative)
- Emotion drives action
- Sustained engagement (aka Flow) balanced with increasing challenge/complexity (balance between anxiety and boredom) as skills develop. Great design principle for games and education.
Quotes
As a net is made up of a series of ties, so everything in this world is connected by a series of ties. If anyone thinks that the mesh of a net is an independent, isolated thing, he is mistaken. It is called a net because it is made up of a series of interconnected meshes, and each mesh has its place and responsibility in relation to other meshes. – Buddha
This quote is actually from Buddha but came to me via PK Agarwal the Global CEO of TiE.
TiE is the largest global entrepreneur network and has origins as The Indus Entrepreneur with a focus on the resident and non-resident indian (aka expat or NRI) networks which is a phenomenal starting point for any network.
I am a charter member of the local Sydney branch which has been recently getting some real momentum under the loving care of Dilip Rao an old friend from my investment banking days at Macquarie Bank.
Thanks PK (and Dilip) so much, this quote reminds me of the importance of ecosystems like the rapidly growing professional tech startups around the world and especially my home town of Sydney.
We do need to work together to make the pie bigger and make it the best pie out there because I remain convinced tech and tech enabled startup businesses are unique and are the future of our flexible economy and a better place for Australia and our trading partners in the world.
Photo with thanks to Dr David Martin
