The Family Unit

As part of my continuing series of posts about entrepreneurship I’m going to talk about something which is very close to my heart: family.

The family unit is incredibly robust. No entrepreneur should be without his/her family, and should strive as much as possible to bring some of the solidarity of the family unit into his/her working relationships. There’s clear parallels between what I consider to be an effective team, and a family. Firstly, I think that effective teams should be small and personable. Secondly, there should be a ‘mother figure’ who people can go and talk to. In the design office of my last employer there was a clear mother figure who had gained his status largely from the length of time that he’d worked there (and yes, mother figures can be male!). Even the managers went to him with problems. He had a soothing influence, and an easy familiarity with the work, and life in general, which made him the ultimate problem solver. Everyone felt dejected when he retired . But remarkably, another person assumed the role as ‘mother’ and all was well again. It may sound strange to someone who’s never observed such a relationship, and maybe its more likely to occur in a creative, or generally intimate environment, but all I can say is the team was much stronger because of these individuals.

Was there a father figure as well? I’m not sure; there was plenty of stick wavers, but I don’t think they qualified as dutiful father figures.

So next time you’re constructing a team, or considering a new employee, don’t grab a book on management theory, but think ‘how can I make this team more like a family?’ You’ll end up with a stronger, harder working, and healthier team as a result.

Push it out to gain some perspective

Are ideas the currency of the 21st century? I don’t think so. You see, an idea is worth nothing; at least, not until somebody’s done something with that idea. A trap that people can easily fall in to is becoming too precious about their ideas, and not telling anybody else about them. It may sound counter intuitive, but this is the worst possible thing that a person can do.

If I think about an idea for too long it becomes stagnant. An idea needs air, and it needs to meet other people. Otherwise your handsome prince will turn in to a gruesome ogre. It’s quite possible that your idea contains a kernel of promise, but it takes skill to tease it out. Almost every idea I’ve ever worked on has gone through countless iterations before its ‘complete’. This is because those eureka moments where it appears as if an idea has popped in to your head fully formed, often don’t stand up to scrutiny. The best thing to do is talk to somebody as quickly as possible; whether it’s your partner, your Mum, or a man on the street, it doesn’t matter. By talking to someone you’ll soon gauge whether or not it’s a good idea. But a word of warning: men are often much more enthusiastic about ideas than women, so listen to women; they’re much more sensible beings!

Once you’ve decided that your idea is a fantastic one, make sure that you don’t closet it up again as you work on it. It’s possible to get too close to an idea, and to get too concerned about the minutiae when it’s the ‘big picture’ that really matters. What’s needed is perspective! I rarely, if ever, work on an idea solely by myself, and there are a few less-than-obvious reasons for me doing this. Firstly, the day-to-day feedback is invaluable. Secondly, it’s not possible to know everything. And lastly, it’s a great relief to send off a finished drawing/piece of code/model/whatever at the end of the day. It allows your brain to rest, and when you come back to it, you’ll be able to be more subjective about its positives and negatives. It also provides distinction to your working life. If you’re working on the same idea for months at a time, being able to send it away for others to look at provides mile stones to work to, where otherwise, you could be going further and further down the rabbit hole into the unknown.

Where does the rabbit hole lead? I’m not sure, but by getting advice you’ll be much more likely to reach a better place at the end of it.

A final word about competitors; Microsoft, Apple et al will not steal your idea! These massive companies have lengthy development pipelines, and by the time they’ve noticed your idea, and responded to it, you’ll be two years ahead of the game and gaining market share by the day.

Good luck with your idea, and don’t forget: ‘Get some perspective!’

Look for a great team, not a great audience

My current preoccupation with ‘bootstrapping’ has led me to a rather counter intuitive conclusion. When starting a business, you don’t necessarily have to go into the hottest area. What really matters for the frugal entrepreneur are the people that are available. If you already know a great group of people with experience in an area, then surely this is the sensible place to start. This is especially true in the early days, where the business may have limited or no spare capital, and paying for expensive consultants or free lancers is out of the question. It’s an interesting exercise for oneself. Just think “what amazing things could I do with my existing networks of people?” I’m willing to bet that there’s at least one great venture waiting to happen.

The Open Source Philosophy

I’ve been working on a few projects recently, and they’re all bootstrapped, requiring huge amounts of input from the community. When I explain to people what I am trying to do, I’m often met with a wry look, as if to say “good luck with that mate.” But the philosophy that I espouse is open source, and the power of groups, and while it may sound insane to traditional business types, I whole heartedly believe that it’s the best way for a start-up to get things done.

I’ve encountered problems along the way. It isn’t always easy to motivate people and to generate the sorts of informal, yet effective, groups which are required to make open source projects successful. But the law of unexpected circumstances usually intervenes and a fresh voice will speak out and provide fresh motivation. It means that the attempt is often a roller coaster ride, with no clearly defined business plan, no employees, and no money; but the fact that it is possible to do something without any of these things is a miracle in its own right.

Wired Magazine has published an article on this subject, and it’s fascinating. It uses the Arduino development board as an example, which was one of the first pieces of hardware to be made available under a Creative Commons license.

Hopefully the media attention will help to make open source even more popular, and this will encourage more people to become hackers, who will in turn release their own creations as open source. It really is a virtuous circle, and it can only get better.

Low Carbon Future of Motor Sport

It has long been known that motor sport helps to drive innovation in transportation technologies. However, the unfortunate reality is that while technological improvements have been made, they haven’t been in the area that really matters: sustainability.

A medley of motor sporting bosses have decided to buck the trend with new events for low carbon vehicles. The most recent announcement was from an unexpected corner: The Isle of Man TT races. Starting this year, a new category is available for electric and fuel cell powered motor bikes.

Electric motorbikes are already available on the market, so what’s the big deal about them being allowed in the TT races? Well the average speed around the TT course is hovering around the 120mph mark, and the electric bikes currently on the market would just about manage half that speed.

It’s the unique challenges posed by motor sport which will help to close this gap. Every aspect of the motorbike’s control and power electronics will be scrutinised. More sophisticated power management systems will be developed. Demand will rise for high performance battery packs and motors, the likes of which could soon find their way into our own vehicles. And of course, the engineers involved will aim to make the bikes are efficient as possible.

Detractors will point to the lack of noise from these new bikes, and their inferior performance. But this exercise is about just that: sacrificing predictable outcomes, and pushing forward into fresh territory. You never know, something incredible might come out of it.

Official Site
Currently available electric motorbike

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Elephant Collective are a group of engineers, designers and entrepreneurs from London.  Check out the mother ship for details about our latest projects.

Portfolio Workers

I visited the Royal College of Art last week, and picked up a research leaflet which contained the intriguing term ‘portfolio worker’. I hadn’t heard the expression before, but I quickly realised that I wanted to be one.

A portfolio worker is someone who’s income is derived from a variety of sources, such as consultancy work, teaching, and personal business interests. This arguably leads to a more fulfilling life, whereby the person has greater variety, and a more homogeneous work-life blend. The downside is that money comes in fits and starts, and can often give rise to the popular saying “I’m having cash-flow problems.”

It may seem at first that this sort of lifestyle is only suited to young, happy-go-lucky singletons for whom the inconsistent income is not too much of a problem. However, it is equally well suited to those with dependants, and people nearing retirement age.

For instance, a mother with young children at home could take on short term contractual work to supplement her income. The benefit of this is the increased visibility that it gives her amongst the business community for when she returns to work. And all that’s required to set up as a portfolio worker is a laptop, an internet connection, and a propensity for self-promotion.

But if it’s so easy, why isn’t everyone a portfolio worker? Firstly, it won’t suit everyone. Once people are used to a salary, and the trappings of a regular income, they won’t be willing to give it up. But the main problem for prospective portfolio workers is obscurity.

Even though the internet is a fantastic way to publicise oneself, there are so many people out there doing the same thing that you can often be drowned out. And the prospect of setting up a website can be daunting, or cost prohibitive for some people. So what can they do to increase their visibility?

The best way is the old fashioned way. Ring up old contacts, and get the word out there. Present the main strength that you have: your flexibility. And when looking for new contacts, don’t be afraid to pound the streets promoting your services. People are a lot more responsive to someone calling in person that receiving an email. And if you do a good job for these people then they’re likely to recommend you to other people in the community. Just don’t get bogged down with social networks. Look outside, and consider the people who are already in your geographical network.

The challenge is breaking the old habits and the old routines, and making time for the things that matter. What you’ll find is a balanced portfolio of work which guarantees a fixed income, and work which is more forward looking and concept based. The beauty of this is a returning to old values, where each person is only as good as their next idea. And in times of financial turbulence, and economic uncertainty, ideas are the best currency that a person has.
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Elephant Collective whole heartedly believe in this new way of doing business. We don’t have any office space, and we don’t have any fixed costs, but we manage to make innovative products. We’re always on the look out for talented, driven individuals to partner with, no matter what their background. You can find contact details on our website, or alternatively, follow Elephant Collective on Twitter. Thanks.

Creative Commons Ambiguity

I love the guys and gals at Creative Commons. Developing flexible, inclusive copyright licenses for the digital age is unbelievably important. However, they made a huge oversight which makes the use of some of their licenses just as confusing as using traditional copyright licenses. It all boils down to ‘What does non-commercial mean?’

As many others have pointed out, is it OK to use creative commons licensed works which are tagged as non-commercial on a blog which is ad supported? Even this blog has a small number of ads, so am I breaking the law by using those works? It is generally accepted that it is OK, but that sort of argument will not hold up in court if someone was eager enough to pursue it. And what if I want to use a Creative Commons picture on my business website? I’d be walking into a legal mine field.

Fortunately, the Creative Commons people are listening and they’ve initiated a study into popular non-commercial usage so they can more clearly defined what is allowed and what isn’t. I hope they decide that selling copies of a CC work is not allowed, but just displaying it on your website is fine, otherwise it will go against the grain of what CC stands for, which is the more open sharing of creative works to allow others to benefit from them.

But this report is likely to take months. So where does this leave us? I’m really not sure, because until this report is completed I’ll be scared to use CC work, which really is a great shame.

Thank God for Open Source

Sometimes it hits home just how valuable open source is. I’m currently developing a game, and every stage of its development is underpinned by open source. Even at these relatively early stages I’ve used Inkscape and Gimp to do all of the graphics work, Open Office to write all of the documentation, Django and Python to develop the web site, and a zillion other programs will inevitably come in handy sooner or later. If this software wasn’t available, then I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now, and for that I’m eternally grateful.

The UK’s Detrimental Dependence on Gas

Yesterday, UK consumers were hit with the news of further increases to their gas and electricity bills, owing to the spiralling price of wholesale gas. About this there is little debate; this isn’t a case of the energy companies exploiting consumers. All around the world there is a voracious appetite for gas, and while the UK has been cushioned from rising prices for some time, the costs are starting to hit home.

For years the UK was an energy rich country, with extensive untapped oil and gas reserves in the North Sea, but since 1999, when production peaked, output has been falling at a steady rate of ten percent a year. Initially this was not too much of a problem. Energy exports had buoyed the UK economy since the 80’s, and the companies who’d reaped the rewards were now global players, who sourced a sizeable chunk of their supply from far afield. And even though the UK began to import gas in larger and larger quantities, fossil fuel derived energy was still relatively cheap and abundant.

The energy policy of the UK government relied on this. When the UK signed up to the Kyoto Protocol it wasn’t gambling with the affordability of domestic supply because the targets set were eminently achievable. The agreement didn’t stimulate a raft of renewable developments, as some people had hoped, but instead it further increased our dependence on gas.

A gas turbine releases less greenhouse gases per unit of energy than any other fossil fuel derived energy source. Additionally, gas fired power stations are relatively compact, cheap, and reliable. There is no need for fleets of trucks ferrying in fuel; it can all be piped in, and surplus kept in storage. In all respects, gas is a very attractive way to generate electricity.

So it comes as no surprise that the UK Government turned to gas in the face of increasing electricity demand. In most respects it was the perfect solution, particularly for politicians who were able to avoid the tough decisions involved with commissioning the next generation of nuclear power stations. But the increasing demand for gas ensured our dependence on imports, and married with the UK’s meagre gas storage capacity, makes the UK much more vulnerable to disruptions of supply.

But it’s only in the last few weeks where gas has become a real political hot house. Creeping energy prices were blamed on globalisation, but some of the blame lies with our own politicians with their short sighted energy policy. Any increase in the price of wholesale gas has the twin effects of increasing the cost to direct consumers of gas, and to consumers of electricity, due to the huge number of gas turbines which feed the grid.

The focus of energy policy has been to wean the western world off oil. But for the UK in particular, moving away from gas and towards nuclear is much more important. If we fail to do so, huge increases in energy bills may become all too familiar.

The UK’s Detrimental Dependence on Gas can be found on Scribd.