Josh Anstey’s Blog

Last night I attended a talk organised by the ACS featuring Stephen Kowal, CIO and Director of Business Excellence of CSC and employer of 87 000. Overall the talk was brilliant with lots of really useful information, ideas, motivation and inspiration. It has given me a fortune of food for thought and ideas to pass along on my blog.

Stephen talked about IT careers, what employers look for, and how best to achieve your goals and position yourself in a way that will enable you to reach great heights. The talk was really great from so many aspects, and had lots of information and ideas that can be implemented for entrepreneurs.

‘A straight line career path doesn’t exist’

As entrepreneurs, it is important to take this fact on board with you. In the modern world, a straight line career path doesn’t exist, and it is vital that you allow yourself to explore different avenues and options so that you are not narrowed into one avenue. Don’t feel pressured about following what was the traditional path, but rather embrace the fact that the straight line career path doesn’t exist, and utilize the opportunities that it presents.

Key success factors

• Foundation Skills – it is important to have the basic foundations of what you are doing. There is such a wide variety of ways to attain this and learn these skills. So do what you can to get the foundation and basics in so that you can build on them and succeed at what you are doing.
• Attitude - do every job passionately regardless of what you think or desire. Skill, knowledge and ability are important, but there is nothing that can compare to that of attitude. A positive attitude not only makes what you do enjoyable, but it puts you in a league of your own and lets you stand above the crowd. Be positive about your ventures, your businesses, and where you are heading. Having the right attitude is what overcomes obstacles and achieves success!
• Know your business, learn your industry – know what you do and have the knowledge to develop your business, who and what you are. Make sure you have a good understanding of what your business is, and where you come from. This will benefit you in moving forward. Continually learn your industry. This is not a once off process, but an ever evolving and continually changing activity. So keep informed about your industry. Knowledge is power!
• Personal growth and learning – you are what drives your success and don’t forget that. You are the one that makes and creates your opportunities. Remember to always work on your personal growth and learning so that it can assist you in your endeavours and your success.
• Communication, communication and communication – this is everything that you are and where you are going. If you can’t tell someone who you are, and communicate where you are going, then there will always be that invisible barrier. Make sure you can smoothly and effectively communicate with someone, whether it is in pitching an idea, networking, socialising and discussing business. Communication is another vital key to success. It will make you or break you. You can get some tips from my post on ‘The art of the elevator pitch’.
• Everybody is a customer; every position is a leadership position – as an entrepreneur, it is important to recognise that anyone, anything and everything is an opportunity, a customer, or a potential business partner. Keep this in mind and you will never be caught off guard, and you will make the most of every opportunity that comes your way. Remember that regardless of what your role is, from coffee boy, to CEO, to Entrepreneur, every position is a leadership position. No matter what you do, there is room for leadership and an opportunity for your to showcase your skills, and lead.

I hope you enjoyed the summary of this amazing talk, and my comments and additions to the bullet points. This is a starting point for all of this. I will follow this up with a second post to discuss the other half of the talk that covered your ‘Goals’, so keep your eyes out for that one. Hope you were able to take something away from this and implement it straight away. I would love to know your thoughts.

Remember to subscribe to my blog so that you don’t miss a thing!

Click here to read my previous post about this ACS event, “ACS Young IT Talk”, or if you would like some tips for events like these, read my post on “Networking with business cards”.

I am a member of the Australian Computer Society, and tonight I am attending a talk by Stephen Kowal, the CIO for CSC. This talk is part of the NSW Young IT Career Pathways initiative and is set to be a great one.

Look out for my post tomorrow, where I will recap on what we heard, and I will explain the benefits to entrepreneurs, and networkers.

Wondering how to network at events such as these? Keen for some tips? Read my post: “Networking with Business Cards” to find out how.

Yes, that’s right, you are reading correctly. As Entrepreneurs, and specifically Internet Entrepreneurs, there is often the misconception, that to make an online venture work, and to succeed in this web world of Web 2.0, you need to be in Silicon Valley, USA or somewhere else in the country.

Last week, Mary Meeker, managing Director of Morgan Stanley’s Global Technology Research Team, said that the US was becoming less relevant in this web world.

Meeker’s presentation shows that the fastest growth was outside the US.

• Germany is winning the E-Commerce market
• China is winning the online gaming market
• South Korea is winning in broadband
• Japan in winning mobile payments
• United Kingdom is winning in online advertising
• Brazil and South Korea are winning social networking
• Philippines are winning in micro-transactions via SMS

So for all internet entrepreneurs out there, don’t be de-motivated or disheartened if you are not in the US. You can still succeed. If your country is in this list, there are great opportunities is some markets, and if your country isn’t in this list, challenge yourself to create a technology that will put it there.

If you want to read the original article, click here.

An elevator pitch is carefully planned, concise and brief overview of a product, service or business. It is called an elevator pitch, because it should be no longer than an elevator ride (a 30 second elevator ride, not a ride up 150 floors).

Elevator pitches are especially useful for entrepreneurs, when pitching ideas to potential partners, venture capitalists, or future customers. You need to be able to convey all the relevant information in a way that is likeable, and will entice a person to want to hear more. Elevator pitches need to be well rehearsed, and smooth when presented. After all, you never know when you will have to do your elevator pitch in an actual elevator. Elevator pitches are not sales pitches, but rather a way of marketing yourself, networking yourself, and showing that as an entrepreneur or businessman, you have credibility, an idea, product or service that can solve a need and be beneficial for the person you are talking to.

Some important elements of an elevator pitch include:

• What’s the idea?
• What market does the product address?
• Why it was created?
• What need it satisfies / what does it do for the buyer?
• What is your competitive advantage
• Who you are
• Your revenue model?
• A long term plan

Your elevator pitch needs to contain a ‘hook’ or something that will make people want to hear more and you need to effectively convey your passion for the idea.

Dan Schawbel’s ‘Personal Branding Blog’, has a video on how to construct and deliver an elevator pitch. Click here to watch it.

Remember to have your elevator pitch well prepared, rehearsed and ready to go. After all, mastering the ‘Art of the Elevator Pitch’ can take you to places you never imagined. Always be ready, because you never know when you will have to deliver it.

Good luck elevator pitching!

The popular online world Second Life is hosting a Virtual Career Fair.

Check it out. It’s amazing how Web 2.0 has been extended and what it has evolved into.

Click here to read the article about it

Technorati Profile

Welcome to my ‘Diary of a start-up’ series. This will be a series that will span over a period of time, and give you some insight into the business that I have started up till now. Each edition will share some information. Enjoy.

The spark and motivation
Often, an entrepreneurial spark can come from the desire or need for something else. This is what motivated my first business. Two friends and I wanted to buy a boat at the age of 13. After much discussion, and pooling our skills, knowledge, interests and passion, we founded a web design company. This was back in the late 90’s, and young entrepreneurs were still few and hard to find.

The execution
Establishing roles and positions was an incredible learning experience at such a young age. At first, we all contributed to everything. This included all attending meetings, working on projects, developing websites and creating graphics. It took a bit of time, but we eventually established that this was not the most efficient way to run our business. We then split up areas and departments that were each of our strengths. As a result, I was in charge of project management and sales. This gave me a hands-o experience of meeting people, networking, and managing the projects. Often when people contacted us, they didn’t quite know or realise our age until we arrived at meetings. Image much older executives seeing young teenagers arrive to a meeting… was always an entertaining experience at first. These first impressions were overcome when we impressed them with our knowledge, enthusiasm, commitment and dedication to provide great websites for our clients.

More to come on this in future ‘Diary of a start-up’ posts…

Lessons learnt

• Keep motivated – you don’t necessarily need something material or monetary to motivate you, but having a goal in mind is a great place to start.
• Age doesn’t matter – don’t let your age stop you from starting a business, thinking big, and achieving your goals. Don’t get intimidated by older people when meeting them. They may have more experience than you, and may at first try to put you down, but use that as motivation to impress them, show them your knowledge, passion, dedication and entrepreneurial spirit. Do this, and the tables will turn.
• Execute effectively – when establishing and building the business, make sure you execute your procedures effectively, and delegate. Trust your partners and allow them to look after a different aspect of the business. This will ensure you are more productive and efficient.

Keep your eye out for future ‘Diary of a start-up’ posts. Make sure you don’t miss them by subscribing to my blog.

Mobile Phones - We can’t go without them, and we expect so much from them. This provides endless opportunity for Entrepreneurs that have an interest in the mobile phone market, or even for those that don’t have an interest, yet have an idea, or can see an opportunity.

Here is an interesting article from Business 2.0 on CNNMoney.com. It provides some great food for thought for all entrepreneurs seeking an idea of endless opportunities, high potential, and even higher demand. Click here to read the article about mobile phones and the tween and teen market, and their hunger for more features and capabilities.

Any ideas of what’s next?

Springwise is a company that provides daily entrepreneurial ideas, trends, and concepts from all over the world.

These ideas come from a trusted network of ‘springspotters’, which are the people who spot trends and alert Springwise of them.

Springwise is required for anyone and everyone, but specifically:

• Entrepreneurs
• Management consultants
• Marketing Managers
• Consumer Insights Experts
• Trend watchers
• Journalists
• Private investors
• Business development directors
• Venture capitalists

It really is a great source of inspiration and motivation.

Springwise is a great informant for all entrepreneurs.

Check it out, before you miss out.

I am busy reading ‘Permission Marketing‘ by Seth Godin, which focuses on Internet Marketing. There was one quote that caught my eye. “Increasingly, there are only two kinds of companies: brave and dead.”  

What a great way to summarize the entrepreneurial mindset.

That entrepreneurial attitude of going out there and giving it all you got. The attitude of not being afraid to take a chance, take a risk and have a go. The attitude of being a leader and exploring unfamiliar territory. The attitude of not being afraid of the consequences. The attitude of daring to make a difference. The attitude that you can either be brave or dead. 

For those entrepreneurs out there, the feeling of taking that chance, of growing an idea and developing it into a reality and making that dream come true is indescribable, and I would say addictive too. I think a lot of people would look at that quote and agree. 

We live in a world where there are a million different businesses, marketing messages, products and services thrown at us all day and night. The competition is stronger than ever before, and the barriers to entry in most markets are small, and non-existent. The market is only going to get more crowded and competitive. 

The idea that there are only two kinds of companies: brave and dead makes sense. After all, the companies that sit back and let the surf push them along the wave; will just get thrown off and left behind. The companies that really ride the wave and try all its tricks up its sleeve plus more are going to be heard. It is this bravery that will give a company the chance. 

Look at companies like Richard Branson’s Virgin, the fruit drink Nudie, the Boost Juice Bars, and Google. These are perfect examples of companies that went out there to take a chance, and look at the success that they received as a result of being brave! 

There are too many companies that just sit back and do nothing. These companies eventually become dead. I won’t give examples, as we don’t need to dwell in the past. 

So what is the main message we can learn from this? 

As the quote says, ‘increasingly, there are only two kinds of companies: brave and dead’. This hits the nail on the head. Take the chance, be risky and brave, or be dead. This is a call out to everyone in business, and a call that I think entrepreneurs exemplify and try to live by. 

So remember; if you are in the position of deciding whether to give it a shot or not, remember the quote. What do you want to be? Brave or dead? 

Have a very brave day!

Josh

Hi there!

Welcome to my blog.

I am Josh Anstey and I am an entrepreneur, marketer, networker, and ideas man.

This blog is going to focus on all the interests in the ‘About Josh’ section, and many more.

This blog aims to be a source of information for all those like minded people out there, and also for anyone who has no idea about any of these topics.

Look at my blog as a canvas, where ideas can be shared, dreams can be created, developed and made into a reality.

I look forward to hearing your comments, and suggestions for topics.

Have a great entrepreneurial day!

Josh