Fake news, paid content and the enduring appeal of newsprint

Posted by Mike Walsh

May 21, 2017 3:17:18 PM

Juan Senor.jpg

 

Juan Senor is somewhat of an international man of mystery. We met in Guayaquil in Ecuador, but it was in the more salubrious settings of the Oxford and Cambridge Club in London that we re-connected most recently. A former foreign affairs reporter and business program host, conversant in six languages, and a partner in a consulting firm that helps newspapers reinvent themselves, Juan had just returned from an expedition in Antartica to study climate change. An appropriate context, perhaps, for our discussion about what the ailing print media industry might do to also save itself.

 

CATEGORY: Marketing, Media & Entertainment

Competitive advantage, platforms and the power of network effects

Posted by Mike Walsh

May 14, 2017 7:31:07 AM

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Jeremy Philips is the epitome of smart money. He is currently a General Partner of Spark Capital, which is behind disruptive innovators like Slack and Wealthfront, but many would know him from his provocative column in the New York Times. Prior to Spark, Jeremy co-founded ecorp, Australia’s leading, publicly traded Australian internet company, and was also Executive Vice President at News Corporation, focusing on digital strategy and acquisitions. We caught up for a coffee in New York, to talk about the difference between true disruption and great execution, whether we should be frightened about the ‘frightful five’, and what it takes to gain competitive advantage in a networked age.

 

CATEGORY: Leadership, Venture Capital

Gaming and what the rise of professional eSports means for 21st century brands

Posted by Mike Walsh

May 6, 2017 5:09:37 AM

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Nikolaj Nyholm is one of the most prolific European entrepreneurs and investors. When I first met him many years ago, he was on the verge of selling his pioneering image recognition company, Polar Rose, to Apple. Previously, he also founded Speednames/Ascio (acquired by Group NBT) and Imity (acquired by Zyb/Vodafone). Nikolaj’s new passion is gaming. His latest venture is RFRSH, an esports marketing and media rights company working with a growing number of the best player-owned esports teams including Astralis, Godsent, Heroic, and Norse. I caught up with Nikolaj at his brand new elite, training facility in Copenhagen to talk about the future of professional gaming, digital branding and the art of avoiding tilting. 

 

CATEGORY: Marketing, Gaming

Cities, women and the rise of the multi-urban corporation

Posted by Mike Walsh

Apr 30, 2017 8:59:07 AM

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I met Kjell Nordström a number of years ago in Oslo. He and his colleague Jonas Ridderstrale, had together written the international bestselling book, ‘Funky Business’, and were the undisputedly bald, brilliant rockstars of Swedish innovation. Fortunately, I was able to catch Kjell once more, while I was visiting Norway last week. Currently a Professor at the Institute of International Business (IIB) at the Stockholm School of Economics, Kjell is an expert on global markets, big ideas and creativity. We spoke about his latest book, ‘Urban Express’, co-authored with Per Schlingmann, which details why the future belongs to cities, women and new types of global organisations.

 

CATEGORY: Global, Government

Nanosatellites, global networks, and the new race for space

Posted by Mike Walsh

Apr 23, 2017 8:59:49 AM

Matt Pearson.jpg

 

Matt Pearson, along with Fleet’s other two co-founders, saw an opportunity to use nanosatellites to enable the world’s next industrial revolution, the connection of the estimated 75 billion devices set to come online over the next decade. Beginning in 2018, their plan is to launch more than 100 nanosats into space to create a free, global network. Just following a recent fundraising with Niki Scevak at Blackbird Ventures, Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and other investors - I caught up with Matt in Sydney to talk about why the future of global communications is cheap, small and disposable.

 

 

CATEGORY: Innovation, Aerospace & Defense