Pete's May 2021 update
Incorporation, Experimentation, Automation, Domain Name Registration
This is my experimental monthly update on me as a “product” in development. Subscribe here or send it to someone who might be interested.
Recap: I just moved to NZ, and I’m writing a book on how to start a business (based on my 12-week course).
Call to action: Show some love to these book-related social media posts: Please RT, tag etc: Tweet | LinkedIn
Highlights and Insights
19 startups supported this month, mostly pitch coaching and 1:1 mentoring sessions. One recurring bit of feedback on pitches was to cut out sections that aren’t relevant to your audience and ask. e.g. If your call to action is “sign up now”, focus on the value prop and experience, and cut out the business model, market size, financials. It was an insight for the founders that they need different pitches for different purposes. Here’s my twitter thread of insights from early-stage pitch coaching
I did a deep dive with one founder to restructure their pitch, cutting it from 11 minutes to a tight 5. And I got to see them pitch in person at a tech week showcase.Metal Monkey Infinity: Started a company in NZ. I’ll still be working for/with BlueChilli but now as a contractor because I’m a foreign resident. Other freelance stuff will be invoiced from here, too. Lots of new tax / accounting / currency exchange research was (and is still being) done to get everything set up sensibly.
Book progress: 500+ words written. Chapter outline: 25% done. Marketing experiment coming up. (Sell first; build later...)
[Update: marketing experiment in progress — see “Requests” section below. Just created a new newsletter to start measuring traction at http://startupbook.xyz/]Local vocabulary: I find it weird that our countries are so close and yet they call them “courgettes” here. Them being zucchinis. Also instead of “full cream or skim” they ask if you want “blue milk or trim”. (Remember when we were kids and got the el cheapo pack of 30 iceblocks from the supermarket and blue meant lemonade flavour?)
Fails: Less than 50% success rate getting a good fire going and staying alight. (Also a metaphor for deep work and my ability to concentrate this month…) Ten-year-old me would be disappointed at how push-button city heating has depleted the skills he developed using dry leaves and a magnifying glass.
Airtable automation: Discovered some cool miniextensions for Airtable to allow users to edit their details and a whole bunch more added functions.
Speakly.co: Came across a new startup that gives feedback on your public speaking (by analysing a recording). Tried it with a pitch I did for StartupU and got this cool report, which pairs nicely with my “Think Texas” presentation skills workshop material.
Requests
Insurance help: I’m after public liability and professional indemnity cover in Australia, for my NZ company. So far the best solution I’ve been offered is worldwide insurance — quote TBA “but it could be expensive”. Any other solutions?
Show some love to these book-related social media posts: Please RT, tag people etc: Tweet | LinkedIn
Those posts ^ are the first marketing experiment for the book, and will feature in my intro chapter where I tell entrepreneurs if they think their idea is so awesome, try to sell it NOW.
So please help me boost those posts above so I can track the stats. Ideally I’ll get lots of impressions and see just how many (few) turn into startupbook.xyz subscribers (free, paid).
I want to speak to freelancers and creatives to understand how they work and the challenges they face. I’d love an intro via pete@metalmonkey.co.nz :)
Coming up
Marketing experiment(s) for the book (as above, these will double as book subject matter). And building an audience and community for the book at my new Substack newsletter — http://startupbook.xyz/
Push-ups! I answered the call from Phil Hayes St-Clair to join Team Drop in the Push-up Challenge, raising funds and awareness for mental health. More than 3000 push-ups coming up, starting tomorrow. Donate here to support Lifeline.
Read / watch / listen
[Read: essays] I love the writing style in this John DeVore piece These 50 Kinky Bedroom Tricks — which is safe for work despite the title. “One of my early jobs at this magazine was to edit jokes. Once, not so long ago, jokes were one of the few Patriarchy-approved means of communication between men — coded value directives wrapped in knee-slapping and gleefully offensive punchlines. Men joke about sex, and virility, and women because laughing in the face of profound fear, or desperate hopes, is far easier than just facing the truth that none of us are princes.” Haha ouch.
[Read/listen/watch: Ted Chiang] “So then as for the third question of… should we make machines that are conscious and that are moral agents, to that, my answer is, no, we should not. Because long before we get to the point where a machine is a moral agent, we will have machines that are capable of suffering.” In this NY Times podcast / transcript Ted Chiang demonstrates his unique perspective on humans and technology that makes his short stories and novellas so interesting. He’s one of the best writers I know of — everything he publishes is incredible, and I don’t know if that’s because he’s selective or just a very good (and slow) writer. If you’re not acquainted with his work, the two that really stuck with me are The Truth of the Fact, the Truth of the Feeling and Story Of Your Life (which was made into the movie Arrival; also highly recommended — but be prepared for a slow, contemplative sci-fi movie).
[Watch] Korean TV on Netflix: We’ve unintentionally been on a bit of a Korean TV streak this month. Signal is a cop drama with a Twilight Zone-esque twist: a radio connects a detective in the present with one in the past, with both investigating the same unsolved crimes and affecting the timeline. Sweet Home takes place in an apartment building under attack from an assortment of monsters, but it’s as much a character drama as it is a comic-style horror. The writing and acting in both series is superb. Note that both protagonists are fairly unlikeable to start, but they grow on you and their quirks are eventually explained. Stick with it.
[Watch: Adorable] (via @bbcearth on instagram) — trust me, click through and watch 20-seconds of hilarious adorability. BYO handkerchief.
“Your phone is getting chocolate on it.” — Lucy, dusting cocoa on her cappuccino, demonstrates an excellent command of passive voice…