Hectism

This week has gone like a blur.

I've been absolutely flat out at work the last couple of days. Been pumping out reports constantly for one of the biggest funds managers in this country. My second finger actually hurts from all the mouse clicking I've done! RSI I tell ya!



Had my first project debrief - went really well. It happens after every major project, you have a feedback session. And I was told I being transitioned onto this client and it will be my client !!!!!Woohoo.....my first client!

Also, been sitting at a client site with another team member for two days with a bunch of random contractors from other accounting/consulting firms. I'm not doing the most exciting thing, but I'm learning to work independently, in a team and dealing with the client directly.

Yesterday was fully hectic. Had so many things to do, and was getting mentally challenged with what I thought was a simple question for a investment bank. It involved a mixture of international tax laws, understanding consolidation accounting (a very yucky uni subject), accounting standards. A huge headache.


The GZA - Genius

My highlight of the week? Waking up on two consecutive mornings at 5am in the morning.....as if! No, I woke up at 5.30am because there was a breakfast on at 7.30am and I had the chance to hear a CEO speak. It was optional to go the breakfast, but I really wanted to hear a CEO speak - it's not everyday that you get to hear one.

When i think of CEO's, i think of very big companies. This was different - Dr Robert Dane was CEO of Solar Wind, a small start up company. The business focuses on making boats that utilise solar energy and wind power.

What differentiates his idea is that his solar panels can move. Normally you think of solar panels as flat - attached to the roof of a house or car. His idea was to make them move up and down, twist sideways, to obtain the maximum sun light possible. See the pic below - basically they can move like wings on a butterfly. It's a mad, breakthrough idea based on how insects adjust their wings to gain the maximum sunlight for energy. The boats also have traditional backup fuel generators.

His vision is to create " green ferries for blue highways". I love it, because they are energy efficient vechicles and can be used in 3rd world countries where they don't have access to good road infrastructure and the cost of fuel seems to be rising constantly.

Robert is someone that didn't give up on his dream. He was a medical doctor and loved sailing. He started his company 6 years ago and still hasn't made a profit yet. But it's very promising. The Americans and German venture capitalists have started investing in the company to the tune of $40mills. Bob Hawke (former PM) is the Chairman of the company. He's won tenders to build 10,000 boats that don't require human crews for the US government to man their coast line to stop drug smugglers, etc...Military companies have also been knocking on his door to build solar sea planes.

He talked about a lot of things, the conception to product design, getting funding, the setbacks he had to deal with, and realising the reality of his dream. There were many times that he could have given up, but he stayed focused. How many of us would still have the persistence to run a company that hasn't turned a profit in 6 years?

Breakthrough

What was really interesting was when another presenter got up and spoke about new ideas. The best breakthrough ideas come at intersections - when someone has deep technical expertise in one area and are self taught in a totally different area. In this case, a doctor had a passion for sailing - and looked at it from a different perspective - why don't we use solar panels that move like insect wings? When you look at some of the greatest inventors or even business people, its the intersection between their original training and entering into a new field that creates explosions of ideas. It's then that people start challening the status quo and question why can't we do it this way?

It the same reason that nearly all the greatest mathematical ideas come from people under the age of 30. The untrained mind can be a powerful thing because you have no idea of history, of the past and its failures. See "A beautiful Mind" for more detail.

I'll going to go a lil corporate on your ass so pay attention. Why is my company or other companies working so hard to come up with new ideas. Why invest so much money in R&D? Because it is new ideas that generate growth. If you can come up with something that your competitiors don't, you have what's called a competitive advantage - leading to getting into the market first, or being able to differentiate from your customers, building up a reputation as being innovative, making more sales, generating more profits.

That's why there's such a huge race to take a product or idea to the market first. American start up tech companies focus 90% of their time on marketing their idea and then going back to their tech guys and saying "we need to make this!". Wheras Aussie companies spend 90% of the time making the thing.

Companies grow through several ways. One is organically - hiring more people, generating more sales from existing customers, or through new ideas. The second method is by acquistions - by combining or in very sexy IB talk "mergers and acquisitions", "takeovers", etc. The third method is by financial injection - by listing on the stock exchange, issuing more shares to obtain more capital, getting loans to play with the money. One of the best ways to grow and increase your earnings, is through new ideas.

Because that is a growth advantage that cannot be taken away. It is lasting, well until your competitors catchup, but by then it could be too late. You may have already dominated the market, and or even moved on.

That why the saying goes "your only as good as your last idea".

Thanks for reading my very long post.

I'm out like Urugay from the world cup (oohhh did I just say that?!),

DJ Ho.