Tony McDonald
Built innovative IT services in a HE Medical Faculty in the UK. I want to use technology to help people get more out of their lives - on their terms.
http://tonemcd.com @tonemcd
Location Launceston, Tasmania
Activity
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Tony McDonald made a comment
Hi everyone, just letting you know that the Facebook group, consisting of shedders from this and previous runs of the course, has crossed the 200 member threshold!
Feel free to join the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/844643088986360/
I thought I'd share a success story with you, two shedders from last year have built up a relationship online...
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Tony McDonald made a comment
Well done you winners! And also well done to all those people who have shared their ideas, thoughts and comments over the last few weeks, it's been great fun!
Katie mentions the Facebook group in her podcast. You can join it here, it's a closed group to maintain a culture of sharing, but everyone will be...
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See you on Facebook then? :)
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Tony McDonald made a comment
It's been very encouraging to communicate with such as diverse group of people with some very different ideas. I've tried to comment on as many as possible in the assignments; some have been amazing!
There is a Facebook group, where the shed has a presence where entrepreneurs from previous runnings of the shed have congregated to talk over their ideas in a...
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Tony McDonald made a comment
One network you've all heard of is Facebook, and the shed has a presence there where entrepreneurs from previous runnings of the shed have congregated to talk over their ideas in a bit more detail.
The link for the Facebook group, along with other social media links and other ways of interacting with us is available at 4.11 -...
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Tony McDonald replied to Helen Harrison
Makes sense to me! :)
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Tony McDonald replied to Teresa Holmes
Your pinboard entry talks about publicising ebooks and videos. Isn't that something similar to selling? Does that help you in terms of making it more straightforward?
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As Teresa says Bevereley, it's totally fine to put some text up there - not everyone is a visual thinker!
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Excellent to see some of your ideas starting to popup on the pinboard!
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A lot less to go wrong, for one thing!
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Tony McDonald replied to Velia Duncan
Very astute observation, it makes an awful lot of sense to revisit older ideas.
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Tony McDonald replied to Thom Poole
Good to hear its been tested elsewhere, I found the videos extremely helpful.
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Tony McDonald replied to Bruce Williams
Got any links Bruce? Would be interesting to get another perspective (of course!)
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That's a ringing endorsement! I do think the videos are extremely well done, and pack a lot of very useful information into each one..
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Tony McDonald replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
Watch the videos a few times - they really are very good. Nice article by the way, it shows how mentors can be invaluable, as many of the shedders here have been!
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Tony McDonald replied to FEBSON MWANGUKU
It is. The videos are very well done and the document itself is exceptionally good at capturing issues around your idea/business.
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Tony McDonald replied to Kazzy B Knits
It is very good. The videos are short and to the point, and explain the concepts well. The downloadable PDF is also extremely helpful in laying out the core of your business idea and allowing you to 'dry-run' some issues beforehand.
Highly recommended.
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Tony McDonald made a comment
I thought I'd share a success story with you, two shedders from last year have built up a relationship online over at the Facebook group, and over a period of months, have built a business together and have a website selling their designs! The Facebook post is https://www.facebook.com/groups/844643088986360/permalink/1134215436695789/ and their website is...
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I think that although the one one one mentoring will be really helpful, we shouldn't lose track of the mentoring that shedders have been giving to each other - and you've been pretty good at that Kazzy!
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Just reiterating what Tom said Penelope, it's been great to have your contributions here!
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Tony McDonald made a comment
I thought I'd share a success story with you, two shedders from last year have built up a relationship online over at the Facebook group, and over a period of months, have built a business together and have a website selling their designs! The Facebook post is https://www.facebook.com/groups/844643088986360/permalink/1134215436695789/ and their website is...
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Is this a three musketeers thing? :) I shall drop a line to the admin team saying you're available, but only as a set :) But, sadly, as there's only a week left of this course I doubt they'll be able to get you all sorted out... :(
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Yes, it's terrible when people are in other time zones and keep the pressure on, isn't it? :D
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I think your idea is pretty sound Roger, and doesn't need too much in startup capital. The risk is manageable too. Do some more research, and branch out from where you are now - at your own pace!
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Erica, interesting you mention odds. The exams we've all taken are designed to show that you've learnt the material presented, so 90% is really good and 60% is not so good. But James Altucher (http://www.jamesaltucher.com) has mentioned a lot of times that if you get something right in business 50% of the time you're going to be very successful indeed.
In...
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Ah, not surprising I'd get the wrong end of the stick - it's not easy keeping up with the three of you! :)
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Sure you want to be a MOOC mentor?, the hours are terrible! :) (not really...)
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Penelope, Penny's profile is here, https://www.futurelearn.com/profiles/2390490. If you make a comment in a thread she's commented on, she'll get a notification that you've replied. Not the best option, but it should work!
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Tony McDonald replied to Russ Spollin
Russ, the App is called "Mindfulness Daily" (iOS - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/mindfulness-daily/id701112447?mt=8). I use it regularly and it's been pretty good, but I'm not at 100% just yet...
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I agree Penelope. I've provided feedback on quite a few ideas from week 2 and I think they could all benefit from having another set of eyes look over them, and provide a different perspective. Some of them were quite excellent and I would love to see them exposed to a wider audience!
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Tony McDonald made a comment
It's very encouraging to see all the positive responses on the questionnaire. Yes, it is asking some hard questions, but better they come relatively early on in the process when you can modify your idea more easily!
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Tony McDonald replied to Russ Spollin
Thumbs up for mindfulness! I use an App to remind me to be aware of what I'm doing and where I am. I'm not using it perfectly or 100% of the time, but it is pretty effective (I shall do some now...)
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Are you aware of other groups and people doing similar things Margaret? If so, you could ask them to 'share' your Facebook page to get more exposure for your questionnaire. If you're not aware of those groups, you could search Facebook for them, and drop the organiser/owner a line. If you aim for the crafting arts, it seems unlikely you would have someone...
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Yes, I think that's also the nature of groups too - there are always 'outliers' (or outsiders...)
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That Follow the Frog video is *excellent*! :)
By the way, this is a pretty comprehensive list of 'persuasion' based books and resources from Scott Adams (Dilbert, a real hypnotist) http://blog.dilbert.com/post/129784168866/the-persuasion-reading-list
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Profit is only one way of measuring 'success', but it's also a good indicator of how healthy/sustainable the enterprise is. If there's no profit (sometimes surplus is a more apt term) from an enterprise it will be much harder to sustain.
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I can see this being an excellent and fun event! Maybe you could get some local TV station interested too for more coverage?
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I agree with Teresa Daniel. Better for you to get some feedback that allows you to make some (hopefully minor) changes early on than find yourself further down the line and committed to something that may have some big problems...
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Great to hear about the weekly tutorials there Margaret, and I do agree that it could develop into skill-sharing workshops. There is Facebook live which allows people to watch a video stream of an event (say a workshop) in case they can't make it there in person. Lots of possibilities here!
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That's a very neat idea, and the site is pretty informative (and good to look at). I like how she is talking about women hosting jewelry parties too!
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Interesting, I always thought it was fear that won out over positive messages. I can certainly see how 'bad news fatigue' can wear people down, so I would say there is a space there for good guy approaches.
Robert Cialdini has some books 'Influence' and his new one 'Pre-suasion' which goes into how to persuade people which might be useful...
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Tony McDonald replied to Penelope W
There's a lot of resources out there that are inexpensive/free. I'd recommend looking at James Altucher's and Seth Godin's sites to begin with, Seth's for some really interesting and pithy insights into business and entrepreneurship in general and James' for some advice which is based on his own life experience (including several businesses he has owned/run)....
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You wily entrepreneurs you! :)
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Yes, some level of brainstorming where 'anything goes' can be very effective. Some people, do see that as a waste of time though, preferring to 'get something done' right away. I'm not sure I agree with that, it seems a good idea to think expansively early on.
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That's a good idea Vyvyan. I think something like that helps those people who are somewhat introverted to contribute effectively too.
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Totally agree with the balancing of personalities there Velia. I'm a bit extroverted, so sometimes found it difficult to adapt to introverts, that is until I learnt that introverts can be just as effective in contributing if their way of working is recognised!
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Good observation there George.
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Good point Amanda, "the objects are only symbols of something that might work".
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Yes, SCAMPER is very good at rustling up some thought processes, and indeed anything that helps that can be very useful, such as mindmaps and inspiration boards as you say.
One scheme I've found very useful is to think 'inside' a box, but this box is much smaller than before, so you reduce the amount of resources available by say 90% and say you want 10x...
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Penelope, SCAMPER can most definitely be used for social enterprises.
If words like "product" and "materials" are causing mental blocks, try replacing them with process, event, initiative and experience.
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Exactly Theresa, use the parts that work for you and discard the others.
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It can certainly help to develop additional insights from your idea, and could possibly be used to brainstorm new ideas and insights as well, but as Angela said, it's only a suggestion and won't sit well with everyone.
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In what way Deborah? The SCAMPER tool kit is a set of jump off points for helping you modify your idea or insight to make it more likely to succeed. In a way, it's doing a 'dry run' on your idea before it hits the real world and starts consuming your resources, such as time, energy and money.
It's very easy to be caught up in the rush of your idea and not...
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Tony McDonald replied to Sid Smallman
Exactly! :)
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Yes, value is definitely in the eye of the beholder!
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Everyone interprets value differently, so that makes the exercise very open ended.
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I agree Alice, anyone touting a 'curriculum for the future' is likely (very likely!) to be wrong; things are moving too rapidly for that to work. Better to be taught on how to learn rather than what to learn.
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Tony McDonald replied to Sid Smallman
Good point Kazzy, but mind you, if someone in the audience *does* leave then I reckon I'd have to seriously rethink my presentation skills! :)
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Thanks Carolina, hopefully it will help some of the learners in their marketing efforts!
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Tony McDonald replied to Sid Smallman
I wasn't aware of that Susan (speaking on cruises), you've just lodged a thought in my mind :)
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Tony McDonald replied to Penelope W
LOL! Thanks Bruce! :)
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John, its really about how you want to work with and develop your ides on the course. There's essemtially two main ways of doing that; the analogue world of pen and paper (which is difficult to share with others) or the digital world of google documents, Facebook, blogs and other tools. The latter is easier to share, but does come with a learning curve, as...
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I don't mind at all Carolina!, do you have a link for the course so that others can see it? It sounds like it will help with a lot of the issues people face when thinking about making their idea a reality!
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Great success story there Sally!
I'd agree with robotics, with some AI thrown in as well for good measure. Also, personalised medicine. An excellent thinker on these topics is Peter Diamandis (XPrize, Abundance, Bold) http://diamandis.com. He has a podcast which has a lot of very interesting thoughts on what's happening now and in the future...
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Tony McDonald replied to Evelize Vargas
I've heard it said that we *cannot* multitask (which rather messes up a lot of 'productivity' advice), so we need to focus on one thing at a time. So coming back to your photos later on makes sense to me Francis.
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Tony McDonald replied to Penelope W
No no no Bruce, you, Penelope and Kazzy are definitely not off the MOOC, I for one can't wait to see what you come up with next :)
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Not a problem! Hope it helped.
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Tony McDonald replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
One quick and reasonably easy way of doing some market research is Facebook adverts. They are relatively inexpensive and can be tailored to a particular group (parents of small children, people who identify as teachers, people in the local area etc). Your advert would as something like "are you interested in ..." and lead to a webpage or Facebook page. You'll...
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Tony McDonald replied to Sue Ridsdale
The pain you don't know you have? Perhaps released by your work?
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Tony McDonald replied to Martin Richardson
I *think* it was Damien Hirst that said something like (very paraphrased) "the value of something is whatever someone is willing to pay for it". So, for those people, having lavender/orange/jojoba-smelling dustbins was very much worth it. I guess it means the possibilities are endless... :)
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Tony McDonald replied to Anna Pasechnaya
Have you looked at the 'Value Proposition Canvas' above? It can be help in pointing out the 'pains' your customers are experiencing, and you can then show them the 'gains' they would get by being involved with you and your group.
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Tony McDonald replied to Susanne Hjort
Is it things like 'Value Proposition Canvas'? It's a mouthful, for sure. That said, it is quite a handy tool for helping you to focus on what might be helpful to people who have a problem.
The pains and gains can also be intangible.
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Tony McDonald replied to Russ Spollin
Totally agree, what's the point of working a 6 day week if for 2 of those days you're completely drained and the other 4 are just 'meh'. Far better to scale it back and get 3-4 really good days done, and allow the mind-body to get the rest it needs!
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Tony McDonald replied to Evelize Vargas
Writing can be a very cathartic process, helping to clear mental log-jams. Steven Pressfield (War of Art, Do the Work) says to just write and write and write first of all, with no editing, just keep writing. Then edit later. Keep the two separate and allow your mind to work its magic.
I think this is very similar to 'freewriting' which is something I had...
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Does this exist already? It sounds like a great idea to me.
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That is an excellent way of putting it. You will continue to come up with ideas that are unique to you, whilst the other person (the thief) won't be able to do that.
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If you modify an idea, even just a little bit, it becomes a new idea, so you've added something! Kevin Kelly (Whole Earth Catalog, Wired, Cool Tools) says he's perfectly happy for someone to use his ideas to make something a reality, because it means he doesn't have to do it :)
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Tony McDonald replied to Russ Spollin
And 20 seconds after replying to John, I see you're mentioning Creative Commons!, oh well :)
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Tony McDonald replied to John Riseley
That's a great idea! If the ideas on the site have creative commons licences https://creativecommons.org (there are a variety of them out there, from non-attribution through to more commercial forms) then search engines can pick them up and make them more accessible to other people.
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Tony McDonald replied to Ebile Daudu
Very insightful comment. It's very easy to be caught up in your idea, you can't see anything wrong with it (how can you, it's your 'baby'?) Articulating your idea to others will help to hone it and make it more acceptable to them, and researching your potential markets will also help you find out whether it is viable. Good luck!
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Well done!
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Tony McDonald replied to Shawn Pilgrim
That's an excellent point. You don't have to reinvent everything, you can adapt and change things to make them slightly better than before. Many people think that their idea needs to be utterly, completely novel and new, and that's simply not possible - everything is influenced by something else.
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Tony McDonald replied to Ye Hein Aung
"Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world" -- Joel A Barker.
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Tony McDonald made a comment
Reposting this so it bubbles up.
Luck may have had something to do with it, but he was also actively thinking about it for two years as well. If you're looking at the ground, you may find some coins, is that luck?
There's a quote attributed to Gary Player (the golfer) "I find the harder I practice, the luckier I get". But, like most quotes it's...
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Very good point there, Simon did help to make his own luck.
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Tony McDonald replied to Bruna Ansani
Yup, focus is vital, as is thinking about what you're going to do next (an action plan). Very good point about needing to say "No" to things too!
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Your comment about starting an internet business 20 years ago reminds me of something Kevin Kelly (Whole Earth Catalogue, Wired, Cool Tools) said (paraphrasing) "everyone talks about the good old days when domains like pets.com were free and you could do anything. Now (they say) you can't, but in 15 years time people will be saying 'I can't believe I missed...
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Tony McDonald replied to Jason Savage
Why not start the list off? :)
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I agree with you that all those entrepreneurial attributes you list can be cultivated!
Regarding risk; most entrepreneurs have a healthy respect for risk and want to reduce it. I think a lot of people think entrepreneurs are risking the company every minute of the day, which isn't the case (a lot of companies would go broke if that were the case).
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Plenty of time to do so Benjamin!
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Really good set of suggestions there Nicola!
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John, see my reply to Ywet, you don't need to use online tools, but they can be very effective in sharing your idea or working collaboratively with people.
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Hi Ywet, we're pointing out that it's good practice to make a record of your ideas, before you forget them. Many people will use pen and paper to write down their thoughts and ideas, but that makes it more difficult to share them with people, particularly if they're distant from you. So we're also suggesting that you use online tools such as document sharing...
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Tony McDonald made a comment
Morning everyone, there's a huge selection of ideas and thoughts being shown and shared by people here, which is fantastic!
For those people who are trying to take action, perhaps this video that came up on my newsfeed today might help. I think the woman at 7:00 minutes might resonate with some people...
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Tony McDonald replied to Lisa Roberts
We start to talk about copyright and IPR a little further on in the course (1.14) Lisa.
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Hit the nail on the head there Joy.
Have you read Seth Godin's "Stop Stealing Dreams (What is School for?)"? This page http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/09/the-shameful-fraud-of-sorting-for-youth-meritocracy.html is a summary of it, but it links to PDF's (100+ pages!) and many other resources.
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Tony McDonald replied to Sid Smallman
No problem Sid, at least you had a go! :)
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Tony McDonald replied to Sid Smallman
Sid, it sounds like about 50% of your audience weren't interested in the RPS qualification, so you could argue that you can save effort there by not going for accreditation (which can be a minefield). There are plenty of online platforms for fee-paying and free courses, such as Udemy (I've taken a few courses with them - not too bad!). And of course, you can...
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Tony McDonald replied to Penelope W
This thread has my vote for the most entertaining of the day :)
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This is a very interesting thread. I think that modern IT allows us to apply solutions to very different problems far easier than in the past for example, cloud technologies, data mining, deep learning, social media 'clones' and more are all much easier to set up than in the past, as well as being much cheaper to run. Lots of opportunity to 'solve a problem'...
