The Starfish story

You’ve probably come across this story at one point or another, the story goes..

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

“Well, I made a difference for that one!”

From The Tale of the Starfish.

What a great mantra. No you can’t change everything but you can have an impact for that one person right there, or with that one client, or with that one friend. And for that person, it makes a world of difference.

You can’t help everyone but you can help this person right here right now. It’s refreshing.

I really like this as a mode of thinking, when I meet new people, I try to do what I can to help. No I can’t do everything but maybe 1-2 things will help make all the difference.

March 2nd, 2024

How founders can self insure

The life of a founder & entrepreneur has its ups and downs. Its times of surplus and as a friend said being skint. It just comes with the job.

Ideally you have more of the former than the latter! But the longer you’re in the game, the more likely you’ll have time periods of both.

The good (or bad news) is that after good times, comes bad times. And after bad times comes good times. The challenge is you don’t know how long either will last!

And life happens, just because you are a founder, it doesn’t mean you’re immune from the regular swings and roundabouts of life 😉

Here’s some thoughts on how you can self insure as you go. You can build things to insulate yourself from these shocks, a few I’ve found:

  • When times are good, save & save & save as much as you can. Have at times saved as much as 80% of income.
  • At all times, keep your living costs in line. Keep fixed costs low. Keep a focus on value, am I getting a good deal from this.
  • Get smart & savvy at investing. Not the kind of investing you do at work, but the safe, patient kind. Remember this is to counter balance. This is a common mistake, to take the same risk profile as you do at work. Know where you earn the money, and where you invest it. Intelligent Investor, Bogle. Become an index fund maven.
  • Do all the tax deductions you can, be smart with retirement accounts, health savings accounts, college funds. The more boring the better.
  • Get life insurance, or other insurances to look after you and your loved ones.
  • Take cash off the table at regular events or as opportunities arise. Taking some cash to give future you a buffer is a good thing.
  • Get better at talking with friends (founders and non-founders alike) at how they’re investing, what they’re investing in, be a sponge to learn.

The more resiliency you have built up, the more enduring and durable you can be as a founder.

Which is a great super power to add. And the lessons/muscle memory & habits learnt from building up your insurance, you can apply to continuing to build your company.

Best case you don’t ever need to tap into your self insurance. In which case you can always donate it down the track!

February 27th, 2024

The perfect year

After my wife and I got married, we did an exercise that had been suggested to me. And that was to sit and writing down, your perfectly average day, week, month and year.

You get your spouse to do it too, then you compare notes. And this helps uncover what’s the same, what’s different but it also gives you a language. This is what we’re working towards as a couple (amongst other things) and when things get hard, or when you achieve that, it brings you together.

And of course, what you do on a day, is what your life is. So it’s also a fantastic way to define how you want to live or aspire to live like.

BUT only recently have I clicked, that doing the same exercise professionally is probably a good idea. We all set new year goals, have KPIs or OKRs or objectives we are trying to achieve. But spending the time to jot down what the perfect year looks like.

  • What happens and when?
  • How would you balance work and play? Friends and family?
  • Learning? New connections?
  • Conferences? Events?

For me, more conferences or getting better at repeating the same events each year, to build up that rhythm through the year and habit.

February 21st, 2024

Using AI as a writing coach

I’ve been using AI as a writing coach.

For example, I would describe a style of writing (or what I want the reader to feel) and ask for tactics on how to do that.

Then I can edit my post, or write it, and compare. Then revise.

I guess you could also drop your piece in and ask, how could I adjust this to do recreate that. But the former way teaches me, versus just modifies the writing.

Other methods I’ve been using are, check this piece for me, does this make sense? If you were this audience, what would you think of this piece.

Around this topic I really enjoyed this chat from Derek Thompson on how ChatGPT can change the future of jobs, including your own. In it, they talk about how the tools can take say a B player to an A player. I’m hoping it can help me do the with writing!

But I like that lens, doing it for you is great, but teaching and improving is better.

February 21st, 2024

West Village

Or another title for this post, can you live in the city and have a good lifestyle with a family?

Being from New Zealand, this is almost incomprehensible. Typically when kids come along, you go back to NZ. Because it’s so good!

And like any parents, as kids come along and grow you, you feel those pressures to the suburbs. For more of the outdoors. More space for less money. I wanted to share, what I share with friends, about living in the West Village or in the city with a family, in New York. I really love it. I love the feel, and the energy about it.

The first couple of things, schools are very close, sub 4 minutes if I speed walk. Within 10 minutes, there are at least 8 different playgrounds. And – so is the social group for their friends, you don’t need to organise get togethers with friends, because you’re going to bump into them. You still do but the bumping into friends factor is high.

And then there’s lots of events through the year:

  • The school organizes a Halloween Monster Mash. Bleecker Park (yay!) hosts a Halloween event, an Easter event and others through the year. With activities, magician, horse carriage rides (?!). And an organized trick or treat route.
  • Halloween itself is a buzz of activity, with a warmth and generosity around the neighborhood. Something foreign, compared to the idea or image of Halloween.
  • At Christmas there are tree lighting ceremonies, multiple. There are ice rinks, Chelsea Piers, Brookfield and last hear The Standard had one at the base.
  • Apple picking upstate! Or stomping the grapes. Skiing in winter (we don’t do enough of!)

New York (and the US) has a massive summer break, spanning 10 or so weeks. Which gives fantastic opportunity for travel, or these days, travel + remote work. To see friends & family.

Socially, I can catch up with friends all times/places.

  • Jump up early and we go for a run together, with a coffee afterwards. Go do a gym session.
  • Or even go out after the kids are asleep for a couple of drinks. Go to an event late, for work. And within 5 minutes you can be catching up with a friend, you might even only go out for an hour. It’s the ease of doing it, which means you end up doing it more.

That’s quite different to New Zealand where social events have to be more organized and any get together is a big one! In New York it’s more frequent smaller catch ups.

Food wise

  • There are lots of restaurants & bars nearby. All highly rated. And you easily find the ones you enjoy. Friends who have left said it’s the diversity of food that they miss.
  • But then, there is also a Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Target at USQ. In summer, the USQ food markets are on (but can be pricey). So you can shop high end organic, value and fresh from the farm.
  • There is a great local butcher, Pinos Prime Meats (cash only), Raffettos for fresh pasta, Puerto Rico Coffee company for wonderful coffee. Each a joy to stock up on. And that’s without even considering the coffee/cafes, Buvette, Elk, Merriweather (and almost anywhere else).
  • Joes Pizza for a slice, or pop into Murrays Cheese for a charcuterie top up. Recently I discovered Di’Paolos in Little Italy, for meats & cheeses. Also a delight.
  • The local wine shop, Seagrape, remember your name & make recommendations for whatever the occasion.
  • If you’re tired, or had a long day, or no sleep, food delivery is available. As well as groceries. This is a big level up, especially when the kids are younger.

The walking distance availability of food, at a mixture of prices/quality, so you can pick to suit is so good. You don’t feel stuck with just one place.

The geography also contributes to the energy, you are 2-4 blocks from the westside park i.e. the waterfront. Which only gets better year in year out. Last summer we even got our own beach?! But summer before was Little Island. And Pier 57. It’s a playground down on the water. Lovely for an evening (or morning) run with the sun. The Westside Hudson Park really is a gem.

On top of the low rise buildings, the streets where the trees overhang. Pre-covid riding down 7th, turning off onto 11th, you feel like the world has just got a bit slower, easing into the weekend.

Physically the houses & apartments are smaller in size and footprint, you will get more square footage elsewhere. But you will find it hard to get the same amenities just around the corner. At least I’ve struggled to beat it! I guess it has that European feeling but with access to New York (and US) benefits. Which is pretty hard to bottle or replicate elsewhere.

Mobility, most of my movements these days are jumping on a Citibike, to get around the city. Since I’ve been here, I’ve cycled over 6,000km! You can fallback to train, which is reliable (but admittedly not as good as pre covid). Commuting is fast for work, 15 minutes to the office, or 20 minutes to most meetings. Can’t complain there.

Car ownership wise, the cost to park (and insurance) does make owning a car a bit cost prohibitive. Or put another way I don’t really want to pay that premium, for the convenience. SilverCar used to be good but scaled back in New York, so do use Turo when need to. Owning a car would be a level up though.

Then airports, it’s not long to Newark, JFK and Laguardia are a bit further, but you do have three options.

And then of course, you have the playground that is New York! If anything interesting is happening anywhere, chances are it will come through New York. Music, arts, business, sports. You name it. When there’s a big trend happening, or field opening up, like AI is right now. You can be in the room and be part of the change. Which is wonderful.

That is all to say, living in the city ain’t bad, yep it’s not the same. But it is pretty good if you ask me.

February 8th, 2024

Experiments with Helium, the P2P cell network

I’ve had on my todo list for a while, to try using a second sim on my phone for data. Most modern phones let you have two sims, to either swap between. Or you can use one for calls and the other for data.

But first let me rewind, I use Google Fi, Google’s cell network. Service wise its fantastic. Google hasn’t built their own physical cell network, it sits on cell phone networks called a MVNO. But unlike cheaper providers they usually have negotiated top priority on the other networks, so your connectivity is fast.

Then when you travel, it seamlessly swaps to the local networks, and your cost stays the same. This was the main drawcard, as when traveling before on TMobile, you were on a slow network or they didn’t have a local partner.

Compounding this, with Google Fi, you have the extra security layer protecting your account, your Google account. This helps diminish the risk of someone stealing your sim or accessing your account.

BUT, the data is expensive, $10/gig. They do have an unlimited plan, which is more reasonable but I’ve kept hearing that this isn’t so good whilst abroad, often being cut off.

So I wanted to explore, why not add a cheaper sim, and set that one to ‘data only’ for domestic use, then Google Fi data when abroad.

In effect:

  • Keep Google Fi as primary phone number, and data whilst abroad.
  • Use a secondary provider, for data.

And it is a low risk thing to try, because if it doesn’t work, just turn off the other sim. And resume your current plan.

Enter Helium, I happened to see the launch early December, $20/month for unlimited calls/text/data, and 5gb tethered.

It has a history, of wanting to make a peer to peer network, where instead of a centralized network, it’s a network of individual participants powering the network. You yourself can get a hotspot and contribute network coverage. Pretty neat. Subscribers can also earn tokens for helping map the network and indicate where data is most needed. This is called Mapping Rewards.

Whilst they continue to build out the network, to stop gap coverage, they have T Mobile as a back haul provider. This provides continuous service where their participants don’t yet have coverage (which to be fair looks fairly nascent).

So I got set up early December and thought would share how the experiment is going. So how is it going? Nearly two months in:

  • I have found I haven’t had to pay yet, as the mobile mapping rewards cover the account fee. Which is a bonus I didn’t expect.
  • The data seems fast, not as fast as Google Fi in the same spot but still it is 5G.
  • I haven’t had any major connectivity issues, a couple of minor ones except ones indoors and then when I popped to NJ, there were a couple whilst it reconnected.

I haven’t tried calling on it, so can’t comment on that.

So far so good, I have reduced my overall mobile bill to circa $18/month (Google FI) plus taxes/international calls. Which is impressive.

A notable downside of Helium, if you enable mapping (which is optional) it does impact your battery. But so you can decide if the trade offs are worth it. I could turn it off and lift my bill to $38/month and it is still pretty reasonable for the set up.

I imagine some of that battery drain is the fact that the phone is running two sims. If you didn’t want to do Google Fi, you could use Helium & Airalo, to grab data when aboard. As Helium is domestic only, at least today.

If you want to join Helium, do use my code, I think we both get $5 off. Same with Google Fi. And/or Airalo.

In signing up to Helium you are by virtue supporting innovation in the mobile space. Forward looking, there’s a view where our cell service might be provided by lower satellites, from Starlink (or others). And a token based network might play a role in that future, to provide global connectivity.

February 4th, 2024

Distributed Living

The obvious has been work from home, and working remotely around the world.

The less obvious trend has been when families adopt this, as a distributed family unit. using the technologies to stay connected. 

For example a friend shifted countries for work, wife stayed behind and they alternated going back and forth. Not an ideal set up, but a way to maximize the opportunity and also alternate between two hemispheres. The tools make this more seamless. 

Or, kids out of school and to the other side of the world for a few months. Or sailing around the world on a boat. Using the tools to stay working, connecting and growing. 

Or another, the kids are now at university, around the world, and the family keeps in touch, near constantly. 

This in my mind is a logical step of remote work but maybe an under appreciated one. Beyond education, what new opportunities does the distributed family unit create?

September 5th, 2023

What about a world citizen passport?

I thought I’d blogged on this before, it seems not.

But wouldn’t it be neat, to have a world citizen passport, one that allowed freedom of movement, to live and work.

Passports, naturally, provide freedom of movement with reciprocal agreements between countries. And we can apply for visas to work in different countries.

But what if there was a passport, anyone could apply for, that gave this ‘global citizenship’. With the added distinction of being able to live and work.

It’s not for everyone, but there is a pool of highly capable folks, who can shift and work/live around the world. And if such a pool of passport holders existed, who wouldn’t want to grant them time.

It’s not without quirks, tax structures need to work within it. But it could work. I’m not sure who would govern it, UN? Someone else?

This probably exists in some form already, if you know what it is, please do share.

May 10th, 2023

Grann on ideas

I was listening to the Longform chat with David Grann (thanks for Noah for sharing). I enjoyed it so much, I ended up listening to all four of their interviews!

I like how he describes tackling stories and an idea, to go into a story and see how it unfurls. he talks on the Squidhunter, where he (over) pitched the story. Then reality didn’t match up, to the intended story. Which he was stressed about. But that was ok, the story that unfurled was interesting and that was the story.

With entrepreneurship, it’s the same, staying open minded, agile and seeing how it unfurls is key. Sometimes there are things you can shape and form, but it’s net net it’s better to see how things play out and adjust.

That’s counter, to the stereotype of entrepreneurs, but really is a skill of the best.

May 8th, 2023

What’s your rest ethic?

I particularly enjoyed this snipped of Kevin Kelly’s chat with Tim Ferris:

“I think I had some advice in the book. I put it that I think we over overemphasize our productivity and efficiency, but the most powerful thing you can do for productivity is to — the best thing for your work ethic is to have a rest ethic.” -Kevin Kelly

What a wonderful perspective. If only collectively we put as much work into thinking about rest & rejuvenation, as we do about productivity.

We all have a todo list, goals, bucket list. What about developing our rest ethic, defining our time off, how we want to spend our rest time.

The chat digs into sabbaticals & time off, same thing, taking some time to wander to explore, to tinker. What else is all that hard work for!

May 4th, 2023

Always be growing

Tickling the brain, expanding the mind, building new things. 

March 30th, 2023

58 years of investing

And Warren Buffett synthesizes that most of the success comes from a few good decisions in this years annual letter.

“At this point, a report card from me is appropriate: In 58 years of Berkshire management, most of my capital-allocation decisions have been no better than so-so. In some cases, also, bad moves by me have been rescued by very large doses of luck. (Remember our escapes from near-disasters at USAir and Salomon? I certainly do.)


Our satisfactory results have been the product of about a dozen truly good decisions – that would be about one every five years – and a sometimes-forgotten advantage that favors long-term investors such as Berkshire. Let’s take a peek behind the curtain.”

Not many of us get that insight, to look over 58 years of experience in one job (he was investing prior of course). It is astounding to think, that the bulk of success, is going to come down to a few truly good decisions, that come about every five years.

Of course, it’s not obvious when those decisions are made, that they are the ones. But it is humbling to think.

March 1st, 2023

The unconnected

Been thinking about this – connectivity and literacy.

An estimated 37 per cent of the world’s population – or 2.9 billion people – have still never used the Internet.

New data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), also reveal strong global growth in Internet use, with the estimated number of people who have used the Internet surging to 4.9 billion in 2021, from an estimated 4.1 billion in 2019.

From International Telecommunication Union.

Yet, “71 per cent of the world’s population aged 15-24 is using the Internet, compared with 57 per cent of all other age groups.”

Why is this so?

95 per cent of people in the world could theoretically access a 3G or 4G mobile broadband network, billions of them do not connect. Affordability of devices and services remains a major barrier. The widely accepted target for affordable broadband connectivity in developing countries sets the cost of an entry-level mobile broadband package at 2 per cent of gross national income (GNI) per capita. Yet in some of the world’s poorest nations, getting online can cost a staggering 20 per cent or more of per capita GNI. 

Read more in the ITU report.

January 31st, 2023

Reading things that massage your brain

It can be hard to replicate consistently, but being able to read things, which massage your brain – and get you thinking is invaluable.

I notice it, I’ll take a deep breath, whatever I’ve been reading has made me pause for a second. And mentally feel refreshed after reading. It’s a great feeling. But one you can forget.

This post is about not forgetting that, and a reminder to continue to seek things that you enjoy reading and stimulate you.

October 14th, 2022

Travel Activity Packs

I’d mentioned my wife puts together these great activity packs when we travel to keep our kids engaged. Whether its at a restaurant (so we have peace and quiet), in a car, or a train but mostly on planes. I’ve tried to convince her to sell them – but to no avail.

The packs get adjusted based on the mode of transport, and if we’re on a bigger trip, she’ll keep activities back, to keep them fresh and engaged with new things. And everything is washable.

On our recent trip they included things like:

  • Lego dot bracelet, that they put together on the plane. Aldi/Lego.
  • Dinosaur figurine, which they constructed and put stickers on. From FlyingTigerCopenhagen.
  • Happy Meal toys, can source from eBay.
  • Water pen books, you fill a pen with water, and they can paint in the picture. Endless re-use. Or Magic Ink books, but they’re single use. Water Wow by Melissa and Doug. Or FlyingTiger has some.
  • Scratch & reveal books. From FlyingTigerCopenhagen.
  • A small pencil case, with a mini notebook and washable crayola crayons. And usually some stickers, to go in the book.
  • A new book to read.
  • Reusable sticker books.
  • Miniature soft toys, or small plastic animals (like insects, bugs). Matchbox car. A little toy to play with, that’s also quiet.
  • Magnetic dress up like Petite Collage.

When they were smaller:

  • Something can put stuff in/out of, zip ouch, with pom poms, in/out of. Or old wallet, with coffee cards for in/out. Old milk bottle, miniature pegs and colorful rainbow erasers in/out.
  • Threading games.
  • The plane itself yields a few activities, plastic cups, the flight safety manual, sick bags, blanket or headphones.
  • Busy books.

When they’re a bit bigger:

  • Mini pots of play dough.
  • Travel magnet games, like snakes & ladders.
  • Mini pick up sticks.

Initially she used oversized travel document holders (A4 size) that had buttons to close to store these in. Then once they were bigger, a drawstring bag each, with their names sewn on. And we also put their headphones in each of their bags.

Most of these items cost $1-$5 each, so are not terribly expensive. Some of the magnet/reusable stickers can be a bit more pricey but they last for years. Dollar stores are good places to look to fill out the bag – stickers & small toys. Ebay. And then Amazon. Aldi often has little toys as well in their weekly specials if one is nearby.

The bags will also have snacks or treats in them. Something they like and something new.

October 10th, 2022

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