July 4, 2016 / by Ashley Porter / Blog / 0 comments
“In the meantime, whether it is Brussels, Washington or Canberra, expect a lot of fireworks as the process of transitioning away from the current paradigm gathers pace.” Mclowd Newsletter, March 2015 Introduction The thing about going on a journey is that once you understand what the destination looks like, it becomes much easier to describe […]
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The Choice Between A Controlled and Uncontrolled Descent
July 4, 2016 / by Ashley Porter / Blog / 0 comments
“In the meantime, whether it is Brussels, Washington or Canberra, expect a lot of fireworks as the process of transitioning away from the current paradigm gathers pace.” Mclowd Newsletter, March 2015 Introduction The thing about going on a journey is that once you understand what the destination looks like, it becomes much easier to describe […]
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50 Years of Artificial Intelligence
December 13, 2015 / by Ashley Porter / Blog / 0 comments
1965 “Let an ultraintelligent machine be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man however clever. Since the design of machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultra intelligent machine could design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an ‘intelligence explosion’, and the intelligence of […]
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The Sugar Hit of Balance Sheet Funding – Dick Smith and the Macroeconomic Implications for Australia
December 7, 2015 / by Ashley Porter / Blog / 0 comments
“Come the end of 2015 financial year, however, it really comes home to roost. Operating cash flow was negative $4m, as inventory increases further and suppliers demand payment, decreasing accounts payable. The business is required to take on $71m in debt to fund a more sustainable amount of working capital. As the benefit of prior […]
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Disruption and Diffusion in the Energy Sector: The Role Played by Zero Marginal Cost (Part 2)
September 3, 2015 / by Ashley Porter / Blog / 0 comments
“In rural areas individuals and communities may find it economic to disconnect from the grid.” Op ed, Australian Financial Review, May 25th 2015, p39 Introduction In Part 1 of this blog I described how incumbents in the Australian electricity sector have inadvertantly created a scenario where the $$ required to fund their displacement offers the […]
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Disruption and Diffusion in the Energy Sector: The Role Played by Zero Marginal Cost (Part 1)
June 15, 2015 / by Ashley Porter / Blog / 0 comments
“In rural areas individuals and communities may find it economic to disconnect from the grid.” Op ed, Australian Financial Review, May 25th 2015, p39 Introduction In early May Tesla announced its long-awaited move into electricity storage. While it is not the only player looking to grow this market, lending the weight of the Tesla brand […]
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Superpartners: A House of Cards?
April 30, 2015 / by Ashley Porter / Blog / 0 comments
Background Anyone who has watched the series House of Cards would know that it is a compelling example of high quality content designed specifically for television (and even smaller screens). Fewer would be aware that it was developed by and for Netflix, and that it represented part of our inexorable journey towards a Zero Marginal […]
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Capital Efficiency, Marketing and the Journey Towards Zero Marginal Cost
February 3, 2015 / by Ashley Porter / Blog / 0 comments
Introduction From inception Mclowd has been run along the strictest of Lean Start Up principles, and as a consequence of being capital constrained traditional marketing activity has been largely absent, both as to capabilities and execution. Interestingly however, the Community has continued to grow, which has got me thinking about what the implications of Lean […]
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Why Context Matters: Class Super and The Journey Towards Zero Marginal Cost
October 31, 2014 / by Ashley Porter / Blog / 0 comments
“Summers and DeLong found themselves hopelessly trapped. Although economists and entrepreneurs never intended for the capitalist system to self-destruct (they expected it to reign forever), a careful look at its operating logic reveals the inevitability of a future of near zero marginal cost. A near zero marginal cost society is the optimally efficient state for […]
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Energising Your Practice: Structural Shifts in the Professional Services Sector and Implications for SMSF Practitioners
September 22, 2014 / by Ashley Porter / Blog / 0 comments
Energy retailers are faced with a slide in profitability and declining relevance unless they succeed in broadening their market offering especially with the steady increase in the number of households installing solar photovoltaic systems. In a blunt warning, the outgoing head of Momentum Energy, who lifted annual revenue of the retailer to $1 billion in […]
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Cloud Computing and Market Definition: Implications for Incumbents
July 1, 2014 / by Ashley Porter / Blog / 0 comments
Introduction I recently received an email from our hosting provider AWS describing a number of new functions that have been enabled as part of its infrastructure offering (as usual at no cost). While the email may seem innocuous enough, it should strike fear into the hearts of any application software developer, because it signifies a […]
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