Pete's December 2024 update

A rainbow, a nerdy graph, and 3 fun facts about Nutmeg (with pictures)

It feels like 2024 has been a challenge, though if I’m honest it’s mostly the first half that was rough. The back half was ‘normal’ hard stuff plus regret and cleaning up the mess. Which is almost done. Getting into NZ took us a year; getting out looks like it will take just as long. And cost a lot more.

Anyway, it’s an arbitrary marker—1 Jan 2025—but I’ll be glad to part ways with 2024.

A lot happened in December! Visited family in NSW, had a bunch of job interviews, built* a shed, fixed** a leaking air conditioner, hosted a networking event for Scalable Leaders, edited another episode of Before the Pitch, wrote another column for ODT.

Damn, writing this newsletter and reflecting on the month is actually quite beneficial! (He says after 4 years of writing… 🤣)

* the shed was a flat pack

** it hasn’t leaked again yet

Last month I wrote this update early and forgot to send it. So I’m gonna send this one out now. See you in 2025!

(And if you hear of any great jobs in startups, strategy, operations, or just-plain-awesomeness let me know!)

Startups update

I arranged a meetup for 3 of the B2B startups in the Distiller Incubator, and it was a great conversation about sales processes, customer segmentation, product, and raising capital.

I edited another episode of Before the Pitch, again around B2B sales. That will come out in January.

It’s a tough time for startups. December, specifically, because customers and investors are shutting down for a while which leaves things hanging. And 2024 because the economy sucks, and there is so much macro-level uncertainty about where things are headed. Some really good founders are struggling. It’s hard not being able to do more to help; though just listening and acknowledging the struggle is often helpful in the moment.

Startup Dunedin received some money to give out some microgrants, which is going to be very impactful for a small handful of startups. I suspect it will be very competitive!

Work update

I had hoped to close out 2024 with a job offer, but alas timing is against me. I’m in the pipeline at a couple of places and will have to wait until January. In the meantime there are a bunch of other jobs that look interesting.

One thing I’ve changed recently is pitching myself more clearly as a specialist in various aspects of a role. Rather than leading with the “generalist” tag, that’s the cherry on top of being super awesome at the core capabilities. I probably need to shift my mindset in the interview stage, too — I suspect I’m a bit too casual and slip into “coach” mode rather than hitting the STAR format or whatever. (“Show, don’t tell”, right? I want to leave them feeling like they had a great discussion, and got value out of the interaction, rather than ticking boxes. BUY THE COW!)

I haven’t tracked my job applications with as much diligence as I’ve tracked my short story submissions, but it’s gotta be close in terms of how many of each I’ve racked up in 2024.

Fiction update

I started submitting my longest story — at 9600 words it’s considered a novelette. It’s modelled on a Ted Chiang story which won awards and some people hate, so y’know: I’m swinging for the fences.

• My first original story to be published came out on 1 Jan 2024.

• I wrote four good stories this year: 3 original and 1 rewrite.

• I made 66* submissions in 2024. (* as of the time of writing this, though I’ll submit at least one more story before the year closes.)

• One story was a finalist for a significant award.

• No new stories accepted for publication, but I received a handful of holds and personal rejections.

It’s nerdy graph time, to help illustrate my mid-year plateau.

I didn’t write or submit as much as I’d hoped, but I can see that I’m making progress as a writer and self-editor. I think my stories are getting longer because I’m adding the things I’d usually skip: establishing the setting and environment, and making intentions and subtext more explicit. (Soon, no doubt, I’ll learn what I could be cutting to make the stories tighter.)

Also, I think I’m pretty good at critiquing stories and giving feedback. I can see a future where I’m an editor in some capacity.

Nutmeg update

Meggie travels very well. She adapts to new accommodation easily, and is happy snoozing on the back seat while we drive. She used to hate being in the car, back when she was just thrust into a slippery crate. Now she has a fuzzy mat to lie on and gets to share Lucy’s chips.

Fun facts about Nutmeg.

• Nutmeg loves having her head higher or lower than her body.

• The best seat is wherever one of us was just sitting.

• Nutmeg is part Lakeland Terrier, part frog.

Read / Watch / Listen

• [Watch: 4:33] Cool animation in 8-bit style, which triggered a lot of nostalgia for the old computer games of my youth.

• [Watch: 4 minutes] This is a very creative Rube Goldberg machine.

• [Watch: 11:30] Chinese, Japanese, Korean Chopsticks difference. I get some weird things in my YouTube feed. This one was a fun comparison. They look like they’re really interested and learning from each other. No food is ingested in the making of this video.

• [Read: 20 minutes] Better Living Through Algorithms is a science fiction short story. The premise—something makes us do the things we all know should be doing—is one I’ve seen a lot lately. This story executes it well.

“I think it’s a cult,” Margo said the following week as we were waiting for a table.

“You said the same thing about Pokemon Go,” I said.

“Okay, but I was joking about Pokemon Go,” she said. “Abelique really is a cult. People sign up for this thing and then just do whatever it tells them to do.”

“It can’t make you do anything,” June said, coming up behind us and overhearing.

“So what did it definitely not make you do in the last day?” Margo asked. “Just give us a rundown, June.”

“Last night it had me try a new recipe, which was really good, and then it had me watch a movie I hadn’t heard of, which was also really good, and then I got my bedtime phone call—”

“Your what.”

“I mean, no one’s going to go to bed just because an app reminder comes up so there’s a phone tree. You get a call, and you make a call.”

“You have to use your phone as a phone? I’m out,” I said.

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“But the one thing I utterly failed to foresee was how that little story was going to change my life.” — Bruce Bethke, author of the 1980 short story Cyberpunk