Pre-Seed +V3 + Lockdown = Brutal — “We’ll send equity agreements at the start of next year. We’re going to invest”. Yesterday in Melbourne, Streamplate effectively achieved its primary goal of 2021: complete pre-seed financing. The strategy for 2021 was: Use 100% of our cash to build as much of Version 3 (V3) of the app as…

Amongst the jurors, I was the youngest, but during 4 days of deliberations, I became a senior voice. After we delivered our verdict, what stuck with me — is how scared I’d be to face a jury. — Author’s note: My understanding is that it’s legal to recount my jury experience as there were no confidential materials shared during the proceedings. However, in the interest of protecting the parties and jurors involved, I have obfuscated some details.

Building Streamplate for the finish line tomorrow. — Apparently 90% of startups fail and I think this is generally due to operational insensibility. “Co-founder infighting”, “running out of money”, “poor market penetrance” and “weak product market fit” are some of the commonly listed reasons but I think these describe symptoms and not causes. The average age of a…

Why are most smaller tech companies most likely to use better technology than far larger, more financed competitors? — This is one of my favourite charts. Note — it’s quite long.

After speaking at a panel, I was asked by a lecturer at USYD to share my thoughts on how computer science could be better taught at the university. — Context I’m studying electrical engineering with a major in computer engineering and neuroscience at the University of Sydney. I’m a subject away from completing my neuroscience degree and I’ve completed about 60% of my engineering degree, with the remaining subjects being electives in computer engineering. I’ve deferred the past 3 semesters…

After receiving feedback about Streamplate’s pitch, we’ve realised a change in sentence structure has unblocked a lot. — Last week we pitched Streamplate at Fishburners and learnt how unattractive the term “food-ordering” was to some people. They think it’s a crowded market, a space unable to change because of how well capitalised the incumbents are, and effectively a “dead” market. So when a venture-capitalist (VC) heard the words…

The conscious mind adheres to a sense of understanding that’s designed by the subconscious and this has precipitated a magnetism in religions showing a universal demand for spirituality. — I’m not religious, but I do think there’s value in how religion is a vehicle for a lot of people to become spiritual. And the value of mindfulness that arises from spirituality seems to have been valued across most civilisations. …

The brain normalises itself over time, meaning as we age, the mind settles into a self-reinforcing cycle that can only be described as making us run in circles throughout our life. — This is an observation I keep noting and I’m going to briefly describe it here. I’ve always believed that for the majority of the Western world, the two most life-defining events for anyone, excluding birth are; Getting married,