Two Clothes Hooks

It has flown by, but one of my highlights in January was attending the Better Business Summit in Manchester.

Inspired by the Better Business Summit

It’s an annual gathering of inspiring people running businesses small and large, all finding ways to do business in a better way. There were conversations on all the topics you might imagine — paying staff fairly, making products with sustainability in mind, and questioning what each of us can do to both sell and shop more thoughtfully.

Rather than relay the whole thing here, go check out the post I wrote on the EcoSend Blog about the Better Business Summit.

Patagonia, clothing, and going back in time

One of the images that has stuck in my mind since the Summit was from the impossible-to-pronounce Patagonia movie about how our habits around buying clothing have changed over the last few hundred years.

There was a time, some years after we evolved from Neanderthals, but some years before today, where we had clothes, but significantly fewer.

There was a time where each of us had just two clothes hooks.

One hook was for our everyday clothes — the ones we wore to work the land and around the house for six days of the week.

The other clothes hook was for our special clothes — the fancier of the two options that would be worn to church on a Sunday — that we kept clean and pristine.

Some years later, supposedly the French aristocracy invented something called “fashion” and it’s all gotten a bit out of hand since then.

In today’s world of fast fashion, things have changed somewhat. Even compared to 1980 (quite recent in the scheme of things), as a percentage of household spending, spend on clothing has halved, while the number of items purchased has more than doubled.

What can I do about it?

It prompted me to ask, not just for my clothes, but for all aspects of my life: do I need as much stuff?

What do I need? What do I want? And what can I give to a better home?

Last weekend I found it therapeutic to clear out over 30 items of clothing, sending them all to the local charity collection.

I now have much more space in my wardrobe. I can see more easily what I have. And I appreciate the clothes I kept.

And I still need a LOT more than just two clothes hooks.

Other things

I never normally catch the Super Bowl, but I always love to see the ads. Nike’s ad was my favourite this year. Incredible marketing, and a great sound track. So Win.
Also Super Bowl related — the Half Time Show is quite something. Here’s a look at how they put on a full-on concert in the space of about 15 minutes. I am such a geek for insider information like this!
The Art of Fauna is my favourite new iOS app / game — it’s a beautifully made puzzle

16 lessons from 16 years of GoSquared

Today marks the 16th (yes, you read that right — sixteenth) birthday of GoSquared.

We were just kids when we started building this thing.

We were meant to be doing homework and getting into trouble, but we were obviously far too cool for that.

To celebrate this milestone, we put together a timeline of our journey from February 2006 to today.

We also took the opportunity to reflect on some of the lessons we've learnt along the way. 16 lessons to be precise. Maybe you've come across many of these before, but it never hurts to reflect...

1. Build something people want.
2. Share early, share often.
3. Constraints breed creativity — embrace them.
4. The details are not the details, they make the product.
5. Use your own product. Be your own customer.
6. Charge the trust battery.
7. Your customers are smart — treat them accordingly.
8. Treat each customer as unique, but scale your process.
9. Never underestimate what a small group of focused, aligned, motivated people can do.
10. Celebrate the small wins. Have fun along the way.
11. Most meetings don’t need to happen.
12. Knowing yourself is a superpower.
13. Simplicity is a war.
14. If you think you’re repeating yourself too much, repeat some more.
15. Focus is impossibly hard, but without it you’re doomed.
16. Just do it.

If you want to dive into any of these lessons further (and have a cup of tea in hand), then please take a look at the complete post over on the GoSquared Blog.

Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us on this journey so far. Friends, family, colleagues, customers, investors, and all the amazing people we've met along the way.

Chair Times

If you’re interested in chairs, or the process of product design, or, ideally if you like both, then this is the documentary for you.

A soothing, fascinating deep-dive into the history of seating, presented by the experts at Vitra.

If you have a spare 90 minutes, grab a cup of coffee, sit back in the best chair you have, and watch the movie for free on the Vitra site.

Watch Chair Times

The Crystal Palace

This weekend I visited Crystal Palace Park – it’s very near to where I live and I used the day to go walking there and “get my steps in”.

The park and area is named Crystal Palace because of the huge glass exhibition building that once stood there. I had been interested in the story of the building for a while but never knew too much about it.

It turns out there are many stories and a fascinating past to the park and the building. I am no expert, but after just a day of visiting, and a few hours of reading around, I felt compelled to distill some of what I found into a short post – because what I learnt inspired me and I hope may inspire other readers too.

Designed and built in less than a year

I’m frequently amazed at how quickly some huge projects have come together – I recently wrote about the importance of moving fast.

For what was arguably the most ambitious building to ever exist at the time, this thing came together fast. Really fast!

As I understand it, Britain was to host “the great exhibition” of everything that was great both in Britain, and across the world – particularly in the British Empire at the time. It was decided that a building was needed to house all of the exhibits and it was to be in Hyde Park, central London, for 6 months from 1st May 1851.

Many architects and elite engineers of the time proposed solutions, but all were too expensive, and would take too long to build. No one could hit the extreme constraints of the project. With less than a year until the doors needed to open – doors that still needed to be created – a chap called Joseph Paxton drew an idea on a scribble of paper. Paxton knew a ton about designing gardens and also about grand conservatories and greenhouses.

After minimal debate, and the realisation that Paxton’s design would cost a fraction of other proposals (as little as 28% of the cost of another option), Paxton was given the go-ahead to turn his sketch into drawings and plans that could be used to start construction. He and his team turned the sketch into a full set of calculations, budgets, and building plans in two weeks. This makes me question my work ethic.

Paxton had 8 months to turn his plans into a finished building ready for the greatest show the world had ever seen. Not just any building – the largest exhibition space in the world at the time, made almost entirely of glass. No pressure.

Public toilets? You have the Crystal Palace to thank

Among many firsts, the Great Exhibition saw the first major installation of public toilets. Hard to believe that at some point public toilets just weren’t a thing. The phrase “spending a penny” was also thought to have originated here – as it cost a penny to use the toilets on site.

History

A 4-post collection