Pete's July 2021 update
Merely this and nothing more.
Right now I’m in the middle of Startup Weekend, mentoring 7 teams and getting to know some other local tech/design/startup mentors. I feel weird that I get to be at a big face-to-face event while Sydney is in lockdown. Someone this morning said their product would serve “this post-COVID world” and, well, no we’re not there yet.
Highlights and Insights
Startups supported this month: 7 x one-on-ones. Plus 7 teams at Startup Weekend, and answered some questions at/after a panel. One was a founder in Brooklyn who reached out to me after reading an article I posted on Medium about standup comedy business models.
I’m still constantly surprised a how revelatory these sessions can be; it feels like I’m asking fairly obvious questions, but they’re not obvious to founders who aren’t used to startup thinking. I’m also learning about new and interesting topics, and it’s quite exciting to be involved in these founders’ journeys.
At Startup Weekend right now. I’ve quite smoothly transitioned into “coach” mode, asking lots of (secretly loaded) questions to help the teams discover their own insights.Book progress: Big fail. Although I’ve done a bit of writing (about 1000 words), I didn’t send anything out on my newsletter. A combo of being busy with other word and not getting out of bed early enough to get started. :(
I added the link to my email signature, though, and that got me a few (free) signups. Plus my mum paid for a subscription. :)Airtable: I’ve spent a lot of the last month in Airtable, building processes and implementing automations. I wrote my first bit of Javascript in a long time, editing some webhook code. It was very satisfying.
I had a dream that BlueChilli hired a replacement Head of Programs and changed my job title to Developer.Innovation Lab: Picked up some freelance work with Matthew Werner, helping to develop and running an internal innovation lab. It all felt like a very corporate environment, and then our ‘proposal’ was approved via a very brief Slack message:
Yes you’re hired :)I finished marking essays. The other lecturer did me a favour by marking very generously, which let me give high marks and not worry about appeals.
Monash Accelerator interviews are next week. It’s interesting reading all the applications from researchers and scientists trying to commercialise. I’m excited to see who gets in.
Waitati Quiz Night! There’s a local, ex-intelligence agent who runs a quiz night at the local art gallery. Once a month the tiny room is filled with quirky local characters drinking mulled wine and cracking each other up.
The last couple of weeks we’ve had tradies installing new windows at home, so I’ve been working from Startup Dunedin. Which means that for the first time in more than a year I’ve had to commute to work. I’ve been listening to music, revisiting classic albums. It’s nice to listen to music, instead of just having it as background while I’m focusing on something else.
Requests
What’s an album I should listen to on my commute?
Coming up
Innovation Lab
Actually(!) writing book content and sending out newsletters
Paying myself for the first time
Read / watch / listen
Curating this section has become my favourite part of writing this newsletter.
[Read: Novel] Wendy, Darling by A.C. Wise. A sequel to Peter Pan, told from a grown-up Wendy’s perspective, in which Peter’s controlling behaviour is brought to the fore. I loved how this book fit all the puzzle pieces together to tell a darker story about the boy who lost his shadow.
[Watch: 3 minutes] Michael Caine name-dropping and sharing acting techniques, with Morgan Freeman.
[Read: BBQ Dad] “BBQ Dad has amazing boundaries. He likes his job at the grill and doesn’t want to share it. He would love to do more, but then the excellent work he’s already doing would be diminished.” I’m not entirely sure if the point of this article is to learn from (be more like) BBQ Dad, or simply point out his techniques for looking important.
[Watch/listen] Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra. Cool idea, though only some snippets were as good as expected from the title. Discovered via Concert Roulette.
[Watch: 6 minutes] Tig Notaro’s impression of a person doing impressions (followed by impressions) is so weird and brilliant. It’s a different pace and style of standup comedy and it’s wonderful.
“Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.” — Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven