I have a dilemma.

Am I a hypocrite protesting against the behaviour of China on one hand and considering doing business with them on the other?

Whilst I don’t pretend to be across the complete facts, and I’m sure there is a fair bit of ‘information management’ going on, but understanding is that my principles are not in line with the way the Chinese Government operates. Particularly around free speech and Tibet.

Again, I don’t proclaim that I, my business or the government of the my country, Australia, are perfect by any stretch of the imagination. We have our faults too.

It’s undoubted that there are great opportunities in China, and also the interaction of ‘western’ people and companies may have a positive, long term impact.

I don’t have an answer. I think I should say no. But it’s not simple and the long answer is more like a book, than a blog post.

Simmer….

News in this week that Australia is canning the CommReady Grant programme. For at least two of our clients this will mean greater risk, less employment and less likelihood of being an export star for Australia.

I totally agree that climate change needs investment, but biasedly but hopefully logically as well, the opportunity cost of the shitty chilling effect this will have on the previously blooming Australian IT industry may be disastrous.

Here’s the media release:

“Senator the Hon Kim Carr

13 May 2008

STREAMLINED PROGRAMS AND NEW PRIORITIES CONTRIBUTE TO FISCAL DISCIPLINE

The Rudd Labor Government has outlined a range of savings measures in tonight’s Budget which demonstrate fiscal responsibility and a clear commitment to modernising Government spending.

Difficult decisions have been taken to secure Australia’s long-term prosperity. These sensible and disciplined savings measures will assist the Government’s goal of putting downward pressure on inflation and interest rates.

The Government is undertaking a root and branch rethink of the nation’s innovation system through the review of the National Innovation System which, along with the Government’s white paper response, will provide a roadmap for the next decade.

The Rudd Government is determined to get the policy settings and programs for innovation right and part of that is making tough decisions where necessary about spending priorities.

Savings have been applied to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). These measures will result in savings of $47 million over four years.

Funding that is no longer required by applicants of the Pharmaceuticals Partnerships Program will also form part of the savings plan.

The Government is establishing a network of Enterprise Connect centres, which will replace the flawed Australian Industry Productivity Centres (AIPC), and the Budget reflects this by formally ceasing AIPC. In addition, the Budget reflects Federal Labor’s election commitment to cease the current National Nanotechnology Strategy from 1 July 2009. These measures will realise combined savings of $169 million over five years.

To reduce duplication in policy and services, the Government will streamline its investment attraction and trade promotion capabilities. The functions of Invest Australia will be folded into Austrade, aligning inward and outward investment functions in the same organisation. Further, a streamlined Global Opportunities program will be transferred to Austrade. As a result, Austrade will deliver a targeted enhanced set of tools to help connect Australian firms to global supply chains. These measures will result in savings of $147 million over five years.

The Intermediary Access Program, announced by the previous Government in the 2007 08 Budget but not yet implemented, will not proceed. Instead, the Government will evaluate the pilot program, which is scheduled to conclude on 30 June 2008, and will consider appropriate support for intermediary services as part of a streamlined national innovation system.

The Howard Government’s Commercial Ready program, including the Renewable Energy Development Initiative, closed to new grants from 28 April 2008, allowing $160 million to be used to offset the cost of the Federal Labor Government’s Clean Business Australia initiatives, and providing savings of $547 million over four years. This will provide the Government with the opportunity to build better support for business research and development, pending the outcomes of the National Innovation System Review.

The former Government’s controversial and cumbersome Research Quality Framework will cease, resulting in a saving of $29 million over four years. The Government will continue to develop the new Excellence in Research for Australia research quality evaluation initiative.

The Rudd Labor Government is committed to building a culture of innovation across the economy and it is time to make significant changes in the way we achieve this.

Media contact: Catriona Jackson, Minister’s Office, 0417 142 238 ”

I’m working with the hard working crew at Getprice Comparison Shopping and working with them on building out their service.

One of the things we’ve been doing is designing a registered customer service, where you can join Getprice and get tools, stuff and things that make your ongoing shopping experience better.

As part of this, I was a good boy and looked at the competitors and saw that none of them are doing this well. There are social shopping sites that have registered users, but the straight comparison shopping sites are straight turnstiles.

Straight Turnstile: Customer finds you (SEM, SEO, Affiliate generally), uses you, leaves you and you take a CPC clip on the way out and maybe some CPM on the way through. Other than a few cookies and a number on the stats pile, you don’t really know anything about them.

Hugging Turnstile: Customer finds you (however), uses you and in the process of using you decide they like you and would like to form a permanent (but light to begin with) connection. They may then leave you by the same means as the straight turnstile, but we know who they are, can talk to them if need be and when they come back, you can start building on the relationship.

Obviously I’m a Hugging kinda guy, so I was struck wondering whether the friction of offering the hug, regardless of how good the value is and how well you place it, is too expensive a cost on the speed of the turnstile?

i.e. Is it better not to have a registration option to keep it simple and just let them flow.

This is sort of like the ‘don’t show any nav options in the shopping cart process’ principle. Keep them moving down the funnel and they’ll go where you want them to.

What do you think?

Wasn’t actually shopping, but was testing and found links just going nowhere as web devs do when they are still working on it.

Makes you realise that with massive budgets you can still make really simple mistakes that make transactions impossible. (Unless they were just blocking me, which is possible since the music industry and I haven’t always gotten on…)

It did make me go “Hmmmm, not good Sony” which always reminds me of Jan Carlzon from Scandinavian Air, who introduced to me (via Phil my uni lecturer) to the concept of Moments of Truth - where every thing you do impacts your brand perception.

Don’t clean the tray tables and customers start wondering if you look after your engines?

Don’t make links work on your home page and maybe your eCommerce isn’t so secure?

What moments of truth are impeding your customers from loving you wholly and passionately?

Just thinking about my music buying habits and the big loop I’ve taken. It’s interesting because research would show that I’m a prime candidate for Internet shopping for music - but I’m not. Why?

Back to the start…

Prior to working at Kazaa I used to buy lots of music in stores. Maybe 2 CD’s a month. Half the time I’d wonder in and find something, half the time I’m hunting.

Then I started using Napster to experiment with music. Find stuff I love. Find stuff I hate. Find stuff that makes me dance. It was a tornado of music. I was going to live gigs, buying 4-5 CD’s a month from stores and loving it.

Then Kazaa. All P2P was strictly by the book. Only legal stuff. And I was working ‘on’ Kazaa too much. But my tornado was still spinning so I needed to fuel it without leaving my desk (it was in my contract). So I found Chaos Music. Why them? They were the underdogs, and their service was good enough. Each week almost, a package of CD’s turned up on my desk.

My post-Kazaa world trip was a whirlwind of shared MP3 players and a musical melting pod. A few CD’s in strange lands (including one in Dar es Salaam just before my scariest 10 minutes of my life) but that was it.

When I got back, Phil gave me an eMusic voucher. I tried it for 3 months, but it didn’t grab hold. It didn’t become a part of my lifestyle. It didn’t fit in and make me happier. So it slipped off.

And so did music really. I was listening to pod casts and audible books. Music became a different genre for each mood. But no experimentation.

Recently I wanted music back in. I went back into stores, turned back on Triple J and loved it again.

Then today, my wife asked for a CD and I just happened to be online, and I thought - wowzers, what happened to Chaos music. I jumped back on and bought 5 CD’s. I’m hooked again.

What’s the point?

Part of the joy and challenges of web applications is that people evolve and revolve. They hate and love change. They are unpredictable.

You’d put me in the iTunes category, but I’m not. You can’t put me anywhere for even a short time. Even naming me as something is just cause for me wanting to bust out and do something different.

Summary of my musical loop;
* Dabbling hand to hand.
* Experimenting with Napster.
* Devouring with Chaos.
* Tasting music around the world.
* Crash and burn with eMusic
* Back into stores.
* Back onto Chaos.

Think about your customers.

What loop are they in?
Where are they in the loop?
How can you let them stay in the loop, mix it up and still be your customer?

Anyway, just thought I’d mention it.

Sydney’s Tech community is starting to pick up pace and we really need to nurture it.

Keep up the events like Web Jam, Bar Camp, WSG, etc!

But we need more.

We need a co-working space where geeks, freaks and nerds a-like can drop in occasionally and ‘be in the space’.

Please make some comments to add your ideas on how it could be done.

I’ll go first!

Just a quick note to say that I’m reminded again today that life is never about single big events. It’s about a trillion tiny choices made every day. You choose based on your priorities and what is important to you. You are guided by your principles as well as your vision.

I think everyone knows that I’m biased about this situation. I’m very close friends and a business partner of Phil Morle who has, from what I understand, been royally screwed by this, and I’m mates with Rachel and Clay Cook who have also been screwed. So it’s pretty clear who’s side I’m on.

But there are other reasons why it pisses me off.

Firstly, startups are to a large degree based on trust, especially in the early days. You get together over coffee about a hundred times, mostly with people you’ve worked with before. But sometimes you need help from someone new and you over another hundred coffees you work each other out as best you can and decide to go for it.

You don’t do police checks. You don’t do credit checks. You might ask a mutual friend if you are lucky enough to have one. Nik was mates with Marty Wells and Mike Arrington, so you’d think there is a bit of goodwill there, which shows it isn’t enough.

I’ve been lucky enough to have met good people. Dai-Kyu Kim from Zapr hired me after 50 coffees and whilst the company moved on, he always operated with integrity. He didn’t have to. He could have screwed me over, but he didn’t. Marty and Alex from Tangler (another 50 coffees) have gone through some big and challenging changes this year and are coming out stronger the other side because of how they have dealt with the situation with staff and investors.

It’s not easy, but that’s what real leadership is about. CEO isn’t something you just call yourself, you have to earn it - I think.

The second reason I’m pissed off is because Nik has been touted as being a model, young Australian entrepreneur making it big in Silicon Valley. His poor behaviour tarnishes the good name of other great Australian startups and those coming up through the ranks now. I would hate to be pitching to a Sandhill Road VC and have someone turn us down because “Australian’s can’t be trusted”.

I’m fiercely proud of my country, and I’m passionate about integrity, and when the two are threatened, I’m not going to sit back idly and just let it happen.

The fact that two of my friends have been hurt by it just makes a bad situation unbearable.

If I’m wrong, if my two friends have been lying to me and the world, if Nik is right and a good guy, I’ll be the first to apologise. Nik, let me know if you want to talk. I’ll certainly take your call.

As Phil said, ‘Sigh‘.

And now back to the great, high integrity startups that I’m proud to be a part of.

To your right is the Tim O’Reilly web 2.0 meme map. I’m helping companies build apps that often align with these principles. Increasingly though, I’m finding that I’m also working with companies in similar ways.

* Small parts, loosely connected.
* Trust the user.
* Perpetual beta.
* Play.

So here is my Collaboration Task for you.

Add comments below to build a meme map for Agile Business 2.0. Tell me how you work today? Do you work from different offices? Do you have lots of specialists? Do you use whiteboards more than word docs? Do you think by blogging? Is Twitter your Bat Phone?

Use the following key;
* Green: [your contribution] (Top bubbles that drive the engine.
* Orange: [your contribution] (Middle rectangle, core engine parts)
* Pink: [your contribution] (Bottom bubbles, of how it plays out in reality)

Then we’ll get someone to throw it into a map.

Unless someone has a visual wiki tool that I don’t know about…

This is not a real blog post, but a test of the cloud, and of the community ears of Audbile.com.

I bought a great book from you but only got part 1 of 2. So I’m left hanging. I don’t know what happened. I just want part 2. Is that too much to ask?

Please contact me. mick liubinskas com