A few days late because I had no headspace for this last week. Today is a day to rest and reset.
Highlights and Insights
Startups supported: 11+. “I am getting so much out of the EIR sessions with Pete... He asks the right questions and provides the right information to help support decision making - most go too heavily one way or the other ie too much fluffy coaching questions or just telling you want to do.”
Heist Movies and Startup Pitches: I was invited to run a pitch workshop for Startup Dunedin’s Audacious program. I came up with a new approach which worked really well to get the point across and encourage engagement. Plus I got to try out my “stealth rock paper scissors” Zoom break activity.
Operations: I’ve been creating systems for tracking all my different projects to help with reporting and invoicing etc. (I’ve just added the book as a project to track time spent on that, too.) I’m at the stage where my ad hoc approach is failing and I need to set up more systems to make sure things get done and my head is clear. I’ll need to do that very soon.
Wildlife: Last week we turned a corner at the beach and spotted two young yellow eyed penguins standing on a rock warming themselves (video at the top). This morning we saw a sea lion throwing a fish around in the water. We are very privileged to live here and experience awe several times a day. Spring is here and the weather is warming up. (Except this week, which will be cold. I have the fire going right now.) We’re seeing more birds around our garden — a couple of kaka came to visit the big gum tree outside our kitchen.
Gardening: Months after clearing weeds, putting down cardboard and compost and pea straw, we are starting to fill our raised garden beds with plants! And the fortnightly mowing (whipper-snippering / weed-eating) has started, which is a full body workout that my body is unprepared for. Also cleaning up, taking carloads of stuff to the tip, building more garden beds, and spending way too much money at hardware and garden stores. Coming up: building some rabbit-proofing for the raised garden beds.
Meditation: I’m going to meditate more this month. September was full-on and I didn’t take time out to clear my head. Stopping for a few minutes to breathe makes such a difference but I haven’t been doing it.
Startup Book
Book progress: one chapter published (via newsletter), one experiment run, and an extra “interlude” newsletter.
The experiment invalidated my hypothesis that my ‘free’ subscribers are a viable market. I sent a preview of the chapter which I’d sent to the paid subscribers, with an invitation to reply to the email to get a month of upgraded access. Only 14/21 opened the email, and only one replied. Not very surprising — I assume people joined the list just to keep an eye on what I was up to.
A few decisions I’ve made about the book:
Book first; audience second. I know that I should first be building an audience for my book — mailing list, social following etc. That would make me more attractive to potential publishers/agents, and even if I self-publish it would allow me to sell more books. But writing (and finishing) a book is my main objective. Building an audience and writing a book are both difficult and time-consuming for me. But the thing I’m most passionate about is writing the book, so I’m going to skip to that part. Publication is my North Star.
Short book first; longer book second. A shorter book will let me go through the process faster, and things I learn can be applied to the longer book. So rather than cover the full 12-week course, I’m going to do a Startup Weekend version of the book: the big concepts, tools and mindsets to get you through a 50-odd hour sprint to discover, validate and pitch.
I started reading Obviously Awesome by April Dunford and I was almost angry at how good her writing is. Maybe that should be what I aim for: for my book to be so good it makes people angry. 😆
Coming up
Startup Comedy night (online): Friday 22 October. Drawing on five years of curating Arthur B’s variety show to put on a fun event for the tech and startup-themed Spark Festival. Get your free ticket now.
Pitch coaching for Startup Dunedin
Second half of facilitating an Innovation Lab design sprint with Zip.
Read / watch / listen
[Read or watch: 2 minutes] Read the poem Girls are coming out of the woods or watch the author Tishani Doshi recite it
[Read: 3 minutes] Main Sequence Ventures’ Slam Dunk Financing Tool for structuring your startup milestones from this funding round to the next.
[Read: 8 minutes] Little Billy’s Letters are a funny concept — comedian writes letters posing as a little kid — but the replies are poignant and insightful. Like this reply to a letter asking the National Hobo Association “what should I study to become a good hobo?” (Little Billy’s second choice after working at 7-11).
“[When you’re young] you’re made to feel like that the shininess of yourself — your beauty or your precocity or your intelligence — all the things that make you shiny are a liability. They make you a target. They put a target on your back. I felt like I had to roll with the punches. … I had to shed some of my child self in order to survive or make it. And now I feel like I have a lot more access to that again.” Zoe Kazan on why she feels younger as she gets older