Roger James Hamilton's Blog, page 7
November 8, 2016
How to Make $20 billion in One Day
This Friday, 11/11, is the biggest shopping day in the world. And it was created by one man, Jack Ma, just 7 years ago.
Last year, Alibaba’s Single’s Day set a Guinness World Record for the most sales made by a single company in 24 hours – $14.3 billion. This wasn’t just in China – but across 200 countries that bought Alibaba products for up to 50% off during 11/11.
How did it start? When Jack Ma looked at the largest tech companies in the west, he saw companies like Amazon and Apple profitin...
November 7, 2016
The World’s Most Secretive Startup
Imagine a mixed reality that is so real, you can’t tell if the animal in front of you or the person you are speaking to is real, or a hologram beamed in from somewhere else in the world.
Sound like a distant future? It already exists. Rony Abovitz created his company, Magic Leap, in 2010 to create 3D glasses that would project a digital light field over your eye, so your experience of real and virtual objects would merge into one.
After four years of development, Rony raised $50m from investo...
October 23, 2016
What were you doing during the US Elections?
If you’re looking for the silver lining in the US elections, I wrote this post for you: In every doorway of distraction there’s always a key to positive action. That’s what Brian Chesky found out in the 2008 US elections with an election idea that led to a $30 billion business.
In the midst of the US election campaign, Brian and his co-founders, Joe and Nathan, were working on their startup – renting out air beds and breakfast. But their company,Airbnb, was seriously struggling. They had maxe...
October 22, 2016
Where will your company be 130 years from now?
If Alexander Bell was alive today, he would be hearing that the company he started 130 years ago, AT&T, had become the largest telecom company in the world. He would also be hearing that this week it agreed to buy one of the world’s largest media companies, Time Warner, for $85.4 billion.
The irony? Alexander invented the telephone as an accident and started AT&T as an afterthought…
Born and brought up in Scotland, Alexander watched as his mother lost her hearing when he was 12. As a young t...
October 17, 2016
The Secret Sauce of Viral Videos
Are viral videos more of an art or a science?
Discovery is betting $100 million on it being a science. And they have bet it not on one person, but on the Lerer Family: BFather Kenneth Lerer (who created NowThisMedia), his son, Ben (who created Thrillist) and his daughter, Izzie (who created The Dodo).
After the investment from Discovery this week, the new Group Nine Media company they own (run by Ben) is worth $550 million. What’s the secret to their viral success?
1) Learn the Secret Sauce
...October 14, 2016
Why I applied for citizenship to the World’s first Space Nation
I just applied for citizenship of Asgardia – The world’s first space nation.
Igor Ashurbeyli, Chairman of UNESCO’s Science of Space Committee is leading a group of scientists and entrepreneurs in creating the first nation in space. This week they applied for approval from the United Nations to be recognized by the UN as a nation.
With the growth in space technologies and exploration, Igor explains the rationale for a nation in space:
“The existing state agencies represent interests of their...
Why i applied for citizenship to the World’s first Space Nation
I just applied for citizenship of Asgardia – The world’s first space nation.
Igor Ashurbeyli, Chairman of UNESCO’s Science of Space Committee is leading a group of scientists and entrepreneurs in creating the first nation in space. This week they applied for approval from the United Nations to be recognized by the UN as a nation.
With the growth in space technologies and exploration, Igor explains the rationale for a nation in space:
“The existing state agencies represent interests of their...
October 12, 2016
A lesson from “The Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894″
If the crises we face in our environment, the state of our medical, education and economic systems, or the discord in our governments keep you up at night, I hope you find optimism in the following story:
It’s the story of the first big global urban crisis that the world’s largest cities faced in modern times: The Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894 (Yes, this was a real thing and that was the name of it).
By the late 1800’s London had over 50,000 horses moving cabs and buses every day. Each on...
October 9, 2016
How to build a Minimum Viable Product
If you’re working on your startup, this image is for you. The wrong way to launch is to spend too much time planning and building your product without any customers. The right way to launch is to get out a Minimum Viable Product so you can earn and learn as soon as possible.
As Eric Reis says: “A Minimum Viable Product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”
How to createan MVP in the fast...
September 30, 2016
What would the world look like if governments were more entrepreneurial?
I’m in Johannesburg today, where self-made millionaire, Herman Mashaba was elected Major last month. In his first month, he’s already shaken up the system…
Herman grew up poor in a village 30km from Pretoria. He worked his way up to get into university and study politics in the 1970s but during Apartheid was thrown out in his second year. Herman remembers “We were given six hours to leave the institution and that was the end of my political dream. I had to go back now to the townships with no...
