Category: #startup

Culture of Innovation

In my humble experience, Innovation is often highlighted as a value, but rarely embedded in a culture. What does a culture of innovation look like? A culture where everyone’s perspective is valued and anyone can be involved in an idea. This thought emerged from a conversation with Louise Jones.
Future kinds of work

How I work has changed massively over the past ten years. Okay, so now I draw pictures, whereas I used to write programs – or lead others to write programs. Probably the biggest change I’ve had is being exposed to Mozilla’s way of working. They corale creative communities using some very clever practices and technologies. And…
Social Purpose

With the genesis of the Wapisasa concept in my head, I was keen to use a different model. A people-first model. A social business. I wanted to pin the social purpose to our foreheads, so that profit never became our top priority. I wanted to run Wapisasa as a business, but never wanted to lose…
Transparent and Open

I’ve been thinking about Cooperative business models recently, thanks to Doug Belshaw and John Bevan. Engaging with different ideas means playing out scenarios, and like splitting light through a prism, you can’t quite imagine how it will be until you shine it through.
Entrepreneurship

It’s the things you don’t know you don’t know that’ll kill you every time…
The long burn

A cracker of an idea. A business idea. I should start a business with this idea right now. Figure it out in my spare time and then just set it up… For me, startup never happens like this. It starts with a hunch, a curiosity, almost an irritation. So much uncertainty. So many unknowns. It’s half-baked…
So… how’s it going? (growing a social business)

I wrote this visual poem in 2014 when the social business I had founded (wapisasa) and its vision were struggling – I had completely forgotten about it until I found it in an old sketchbook, and thought I might turn it into something to encourage others. If it resonates with you, let me know!
Outbreak of Hope

Here’s another thought emerging from a conversation at @dotcomrades – with reference to the vote for Independence in Scotland. I’m fascinated by hope – as its relationship with strong leadership…
Funding Form

Sadly, this tickly thought is my experience of the funding world – which I suppose is understandable – who wouldn’t want maximum bang for buck? Slow-burning ideas are hard to find funding for.
What’s the big idea?

Mr Rocketship-of-an-idea. What’s not to like?
No silver bullet

I was struck by the fact that when applying for funding as a social business, that funders seem to be looking for a silver bullet. Unfortunately, wapisasa is far from a silver bullet, going deep with just a few. However, if there were more wapisasas…
Celebrate your Milestones

This thought was created as part of a collaboration between Doug Belshaw and myself. If you haven’t already its worth having a look at Doug’s “Community Alignment Model” – something Doug’s a bit of a master at…