Lauren Anderson

Without user adoption, your great idea remains just that: @smartermag column

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:21:00 +1000

My first column for Smarter Business Ideas was published yesterday:

“So often I hear about great Aussie start-ups that promise to change the way people X, Y or Z… if only they can get enough users to make the magic happen.”

Read the full article here and leave a comment to start the discussion!

What Rachel did next: Wherever you go, there you are.

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 09:12:56 +1000

What Rachel did next: Wherever you go, there you are.:

I have often played this out as an imaginary scenario in my head, wondering if I really would be any different if I lived anywhere else in the world. But Rachel has pretty convincingly demonstrated that, nope, it would still be me.. ah well.

whatracheldidnext:

I had hoped that New York would make me different, and at first it seemed to. But it turns out that Manhattan Rachel (TM) was really just me in holiday mode.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love the city. And I still find the people warm and open and inviting; the possibilities for fun and…

Quantum Time: Go fetch and stop working like a dog.

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 16:29:09 +1000

Quantum Time: Go fetch and stop working like a dog. :

quantumstartups:

I just got back from vacation in NYC last week and it was the longest I went without turning on my laptop, or replying to email in years. Sure, I came back to a ton of emails, and it’s taken about a week to catch up. But I had a few days to think about bigger picture stuff (cofounders, startups,…

Korea's Emerging Sharing Economy: My recent trip to Seoul

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 16:19:24 +1000

Korea's Emerging Sharing Economy: My recent trip to Seoul:

I was recently invited to speak at Chosun Biz Smart Cloud Show on the topic of the growing Collaborative Consumption economy - here are some thoughts on my visit!

The sharing revolution | The Courier-Mail

Mon, 21 May 2012 15:02:18 +1000

The sharing revolution | The Courier-Mail:

Making news in the home town! Collaborative Consumption in Courier Mail’s Sunday Mail magazine

Thoughts on Seth Godin's 'Tribes' #personalmba

Sun, 13 May 2012 14:08:52 +1000

Over the last few years I have toyed with the idea of doing, and not doing, an MBA. In one of my ‘not doing’ phases last year, I bought a book called ‘The Personal MBA’ by Josh Kaufman. At the time I probably made the mistake of trying to read it like a novel, chapter by chapter, and only got a quarter of the way in before getting distracted, and leaving behind a lot of the gold embedded in the later chapters.

This week I happened to pick it up again because I’m back in an MBA phase, but thought it couldn’t hurt to fast track some of the concepts I am wanting to learn more about. This time I went straight to the section of the book that was most relevant to me right now, and suddenly I stumbled upon the real value of the book. It is amazingly cross-referenced so you can find yourself jumping back and forth to read about different concepts and how they relate to each other, and how it’s relevant to you right now. I’m now convinced this is the only way to truly get the benefit out of a fantastic book like this - it was written to be a practical alternative to formal study and therefore must be used in practice.

Drilling further into the book sent me back to the Personal MBA website, where the author has compiled a list of 99 of the best business books across every category imaginable from sales to creativity and innovation to leadership. Just reading the titles made me feel smarter and I got that little heart thump of possibility that comes from the excitement of new learning. So I’ve decided to tackle the list and work my way through the titles in no particular order other than the way they become available to me. The first one I found was Tribes, by Seth Godin, Josh’s copy which now sits on the pallet bookshelf at Home/work. I thought to really get the most out of this reading, I should write a quick post summarizing what I got out of each book. So here goes:

While I have been aware of Godin’s work and thinking for a while, this is actually the first book of his I have read (other than dabbling in Linchpin a little while ago). I typically like something a bit more meaty and thought his books were a bit light on, so have never gone any further.

Having said that, Tribes has come to me at the perfect time, especially in relation to my current work with Collaborative Consumption and the power of this tribe to grow the movement. The central idea is around the power of individuals to break away from traditional ideas of what work is and to create something meaningful that connects to our passions. I feel lucky enough to already be on a path that’s not traditional, and avoiding the notion of ‘sheepwalking’ and following the status quo, but even still it’s important to be reminded as often as possible that this is a choice, and that it needs fostering and nurturing lest even this choice become stale.

There were some nice little takeaways in the book that got me thinking, specifically around leadership and making a commitment to be different. The notion that the art of leadership being an understanding of what you can’t compromise on - as good a start as any when figuring out where you want to make a difference. Also remembering that an organization or idea that requires success before commitment will generally get neither. Finally, something that resonated with me was the difference between reacting, responding and initiating - while responding is generally good and more challenging than just reacting without thinking strategically, initiating action is really what sets leaders apart.

The book also contains some good bullet point lists that create a sort of model for building a movement - on pages 23-24 and 88 - which could easily be read on their own as a quick reference guide. The rest of the book is really a series of little vignettes and examples that support Godin’s thesis, but the name dropping is a little frustrating where there is an assumption that the example is well-known and needs no further explanation and come across more like something that’s written about friends than a well-researched anecdote - but I gather that is Godin’s style and it certainly makes for a quick, easy read which is probably the appeal.

Looking forward to the next book on the list - perhaps finishing the Lean Startup by Eric Ries!

Yes

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:58:22 +1000

Yes

this is me: I do things quietly.

Tue, 08 May 2012 18:53:28 +1000

this is me: I do things quietly.:

Nice thoughts from my boy on the evolution of a coworking space (and perhaps proof that some of my nagging is useful…?).

Home/work is a great place to work, not least because of Josh’s energy and the people he drew to it as foundational members - I for one am broken from the spell of ‘working’ from ‘home’ - and this place is starting to feel more cosy than my living room. Please stop by some time for a ‘cuppa’ :)

joshcapelin:

It’s 5:42pm and it’s Tuesday. Light inside, dark out.

3 months ago I opened a coworking space called Homework. It’s on Oxford St in Darlinghurst.

I’ve spent some money and some weekends, but it’s great to be here. About 9 people now call it work, with capacity up to 14. There’s…

creativemornings: Companies don’t do business with companies....

Wed, 02 May 2012 15:08:56 +1000

creativemornings:

Companies don’t do business with companies. People do business with people.

Simon Sinek speaking at CreativeMornings/NewYork. (*watch the talk)

Yoga/life parallels

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:18:22 +1000

Last night I went to yoga for the first time in a while. I needed it in more ways than one, but primarily to remember there are many different parts of my life that need value and priority placed on them. Over the last few months I have kind of forgotten this.

The last few days have not been good. I am feeling a lot of things right now. And last night in going to yoga I was reminded of why I do what I do.

‘If you’re not feeling anything, then nothing is happening.’

I have chosen a path that is always going to be less stable than other options might be. I’m experiencing things both good and bad that I might not otherwise get to. But as long as I’m feeling them I know ‘something is happening’ and I am extending myself constantly, not stagnating in safety. It’s a choice. And right now it’s the right one for me.

Focus on building 10x teams, not on hiring 10x developers « Avichal's Blog

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:55:36 +1000

Focus on building 10x teams, not on hiring 10x developers « Avichal's Blog:

So much great insight to be gleaned from this post on building great teams based on a balance of the most important qualities, rather than extreme talent in any given area.

The team diagram showing strengths from 1 to 10 across Technical Ability, Charisma, Work Ethic, Honesty/Sincerity, Grit/Determination, Hustle Ability and Teaching Ability is a fantastic litmus test for a well-performing team, as well as identifying strength gaps.

Quantum Time: On Time and Money.

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:48:54 +1000

Quantum Time: On Time and Money.:

One of the great conundrums of life…what is worth more, and can you really decide on one or the other?

quantumstartups:

I’m not some enlightened philosopher or ‘visionary thought-leader’. I’m just a guy who likes to think about things, simply. I think a lot about why people work. Mostly about why I work. But it’s my job, I’m a Recruiter. I waste a lot of time on Twitter, something I justify as ‘doing my job’ - but…

Starting the day as a producer

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:31:00 +1000

A little while ago I read an article about starting the day as a ‘producer’, not a ‘consumer’. The argument was that we often wake up and shift into default consumption mode, whether that is watching the news, reading our emails or other information sites, and before we know it we have set the pattern for our entire day as one of reactionary thinking and back-foot activity in response to things incoming.

At the time I tried to change this for myself a bit, realising how hard it is to stay away from incoming information from the moment you wake up. Even as I write this post, I am resisting the urge to go back and read the original article so I can reference it properly…instead relying on what I in fact got out of it, my own interpretation, whether that was the author’s intention or not.

For the last few days I have actively been trying to take advantage of jetlag to make me a producer from the moment I wake up. While I am a certified zombie by 6pm, I have been waking at 4, 5, 6am for the last few mornings, so much awake that there is absolutely no enjoyment in lying in for longer, while I see the sky lighten outside.

Day one, exactly 24 hrs after landing back in the country, we got up at 6.30 and went for a walk down to Rushcutter’s Bay on what was going to be a fantastic day. We were at a new cafe by quarter to 8, both ordering Americanos by default after a month away from cappuccinos and lattes (everyone should mix up their coffee order every once in a while), and back at home before 10.30 to get our lives back in order.

Same trick yesterday morning, up at 6 thinking about how we could spend our day, deciding to go grocery shopping and cook a home breakfast emulating my fave dish from Trio at Bondi, Boss Eggs, for a lot less than their $21 price (even with the investment in truffle oil thank you very much). I also baked some cookies, and did some stretching to my poor travel-tight body (hello hamstrings) while Josh investigated some home handyman solutions, and all this before midday. I couldn’t believe how long a day could stretch!

This morning was our first day back in the routine of having a workplace, heading to Home/Work by 9am. But before that, I got up at 6.30 and attempted to stretch my now-sore-from-yesterday’s-stretching body, make hommus and falafels for lunch, and have a nice leisurely breakfast and coffee with Josh.

My point is that until now these same hours have crept by time and time again without me making the most of them, in fact clinging to the bedsheets as long as possible (though not as long as Josh). So many of the people I know are big proponents of getting up early and doing shit, but I have never been able to permanently get into that routine (I’ve even tried to make the most of jetlag before, but eventually something tips me back to the other end of the scale of up late/sleep late).

Perhaps off the back of developing the habit to blog every day through March (and not being down or being thrown off track after missing a day or two), I can now branch out to include getting up early, stretching every day, and starting as a producer not a consumer. But one thing at a time.

And just like that, 500 words before 9(.30)…

winesburgohio: Walk Your City: a civic-minded project to create...

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:04:22 +1100

winesburgohio:

Walk Your City: a civic-minded project to create an open-sourced, online resource so citizens can create + print their own guerrilla wayfinding signs. Our cities are walkable! Let’s traverse them.

Santa Monica seems so far away #b03

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:46:32 +1100

Just over 3 weeks ago, we spent our last day in LA before heading to Austin for SXSW. That afternoon we rode from Venice Beach to Santa Monica Pier and back again, along the amazing pathway that snakes along the beach the whole way. Santa Monica was a wintry ghost town when we were there, a shadow of its Summery-tourist-haven self, but there was something special about this relative fairground perched above a wild and cold sea below.

Today, arriving back in Sydney after 4 weeks away, that day couldn’t feel further away. It always amazes me how easily we shift from one physical place to the next, ferried in the middle of the night through the sky to land as though you never left. But things do change, if only mentally, spiritually, and we’re never quite the same as we were before. To keep on moving or to stay still? There are merits to both, and different people have different desires.

Me, I look forward to having that next ticket in hand.

7am #b03

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:40:00 +1100

I wrote this on my iPad Tuesday morning, but didn’t get to post to Tumblr…cheating with the back-date.

This morning I was one of those people on the subway. Traveling uptown from Brooklyn on a very chilly Spring morning at 7am. Sitting sandwiched between people wearing down jackets akin to sleeping bags for their warmth and comfort, me in a Marc’s jacket from Australia that was never meant to see this temperature. Desperately scavenging a seat a few stops in to pretend for just a moment longer that I am actually in bed and can close my eyes a little longer. Looking across at people who might actually be asleep, having travelled a lot further than me from the suburbs - even perhaps as far as Coney Island.

The rhythm of the workday has a romanticism, sure. But it’s not hard to get drawn into the fatigue and feeling of having little control over your work and your life, because work is in fact the invisible hand that drags you on to the subway each morning, even if you’d rather be in bed, in the park, anywhere else.

Lucky I’m not really one of these people. And for the most part, perhaps everyone in the carriage actually loves their job and there is no place they would rather be (than on a subway carriage at 7am on a very cold morning…hmm). Every now and then I guess it’s good to realize that while the path you choose may be more challenging or even less enjoyable at times, we make choices about how we want to live our life. And having the freedom to follow your passion, meet people who inspire you and work alongside people who help you achieve your goals is one of the greatest freedoms there is.

Where were you at 7am this morning? I hope you were loving it.

startuporn: WAIT, WHAT DOES YOUR STARTUP DO?

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:29:03 +1100

startuporn:

WAIT, WHAT DOES YOUR STARTUP DO?

To follow up on my last post :)

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:46:38 +1100

To follow up on my last post :)

Feel the fear...and have a drink with friends #b03

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:28:04 +1100

Late last night, after a quiet night in alone, I started having a mini fear attack about things that are going on for me right now, and feeling a little out of my depth, or beyond my capability. Josh said to me this afternoon, you don’t not run a race because you think you’re going to lose, but I realized that is probably the pervasive belief I have carried with me for most of my life. I tend to stay away from things that I don’t have a natural ability for, and gravitate towards those things I can do with little effort.

No doubt it’s a safe place, and you don’t get called out too often (in fact you probably spend more time pointing the finger at those whose efforts are less than perfect), but I have long realized that it’s much more satisfying to take a big leap of faith. Doesn’t make it any less scary or confronting to do so.

Last night I began to stress about all the potential mistakes I could make or wrong turns I could pursue. It started to feel bigger than me and I got into a bit of a slump by this afternoon. But then I found the secret recipe that allows people to keep forging ahead with their dreams - friends.

Tonight a wonderful and varied group of people got together for an afternoon beer. I have met every one of these people under different circumstances and for the most part they had never met each other. But each one is pursuing their own fantastic path and testing their own bravery, meaning suddenly I didn’t feel so isolated, and their support and encouragement and excitement made be remember that at the very least I have to take that leap because nothing bad can come of it.

Sometimes I can be a bit of a solitary person, underestimating the impact of the people around me. But I’m sure that the only way to get out of a pit of fear or stress or panic is to have someone take you by the hand and help you climb out. Just like the Wonder Years theme song :)

Plus Projects: Defining Plus Projects

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:09:27 +1100

Plus Projects: Defining Plus Projects:

plusprojects:

Plus Projects is the name I’ve chosen as the ‘handle’ for what I’m up to these days. I’m always curious to know what people are thinking when they choose a company or initiative name, so here are a few thoughts and reasons behind this one.

plus /pləs/
With the addition of.

pro·ject…