Dan forwarded me this:

Silverstripe have gotten some really well deserved coverage of their stunning success.

They sold out the first shipment of iPhones… seems they got their pricing bang on. Well played.

I was reading the latest commentary in the NYT about the iPhone and saw this:

After almost a year of strong sales that have made it one of the dominant smartphones in the United States, the iPhone has settled down to a less-than-spectacular pace: roughly 600,000 units a month, according to the company.

Wow… by what measure is that less than spectacular? This one:

…Nokia, the world’s largest maker of cellphones, sells more phones every week than Apple has sold since the iPhone’s introduction.

Holy crap!

This will be interesting to watch (an potentially a lot more fruitful than the train-wreak which would emerge from a Yahoo! purchase):

BARCELONA, Spain — Feb. 11, 2008 — Taking steps to place its technologies in the hands of an expanding mobile consumer audience, Microsoft Corp. today announced the acquisition of Danger Inc., the company responsible for software and services powering popular consumer handsets. Microsoft also announced that several additional cutting-edge mobility companies worldwide will adopt and deploy Microsoft’s software and services.

…well you could do a lot worse than following Rod’s 6 part series on this topic. It’s good to have one of the experienced serial entrepreneurs share their experiences in an NZ context. Trust me, context matters - I have the grey hair distinguished look to prove it.

UPDATE: A link to the whole series.

We’re a little easier to find these days. It’s funny how hanging your shingle makes you feel all proprietorial (which is not something a feel about a website).

photo.jpg
Originally uploaded by flash5.

A little more coverage.

I was asked this question today:

If NZTE could provide you with one thing, what would it be?

I want the network of DOC huts to expand to key cities around the world. The new generation of exporters travel the world with a backpack (packed 10 mins before leaving home) and a laptop. All we need is a place to:

• sleep
• wifi
• store stuff

This would be as simple and as spartan as a DOC hut, I would even pay for the privilege of staying there (in fact, I should have to pay) and I’d even bring my own sleeping bag. Knowing that as soon as my feet touched the ground in the US I had somewhere to stay is the most invaluable thing I can have.

I can’t afford to burn precious cash on hotels and I don’t need fancy-shmansy meeting rooms (all my meetings overseas have occurred in other people’s offices or in cafes) - I need a secure place to sleep, hook a laptop up, watch the rugby with other kiwis and run my company. It doesn’t have to be about comfort or razza-ma-tazz it only has to be about security, certainty and efficiency. Note that this is NOT a fully serviced office - it is exactly the business equivalent of a DOC hut, hell make it out of a stack of shipping containers if you need to! Bonus tracks if it’s stocked with Macs Gold and Vegemite.

Being a part of a New Zealand company on the West Coast of the US is pretty straight forward. The time difference isn’t a big deal. It’s amazing what another 3 hours does to the equation. Much prefer working from the West Coast… it’s less lonely.