Matthew Lang

Rode to work on the fixie this morning. I would have preferred drier roads this morning, but the Scottish weather gods demand that our country gets rain for most of the year.

I am looking forward to more autumn mornings like this where I can walk the boy to school and then jump on the bike to the office, taking the back roads for a leisurely cycle. It won't last long though, winter is just round the corner, and with it comes a new set of riding challenges.

It's been good getting back on the bike, just riding about.

Nicholas Bate's Instant MBA is now free on Amazon.

Read it.

... with Nicholas Bate.

The trick, I think, is to make a better shared space for a remote/local team than the physically shared space they already have. A space that is just as fluid, fun, and useful as a physical space and
available anytime, everywhere is more compelling because it affords its occupants (aka team members)
more hours in their day (no commuting, flexible hours) and permits all sorts of non-traditional work locations (coffee shops, trains, sofas at home, a summer trip to Europe).

— A Better Shared Space by Adam Keys

Locking in your team to a particular time and place is a real constrain on getting the most from them. And it's not just about location and time. The way your team communicates over different locations and timezones is just as important.

Given the vast number of SaaS products on the market that allow teams to manage projects, clients and meetings, why do teams and companies find it so difficult to let go of the traditional "everyone in the office between 9 and 5"?

The complete story of cycling legend Eddy Merckx. Who can say no to that?

... a Blog Readership. Hats off to Dan Shipper for a great post on blogging. Definitely today's required reading.

Essential reading for today. Make sure to set aside some time for this. And Happy Birthday Patrick!

... is coming fast and freelancing is on the rise as a result. Interesting.

So the real business opportunities are in enterprise solutions we’re told but no one is building for enterprise. Why is that you ask? Well the title gives it away, it’s not sexy.

— Of Cours People Aren't Building for the Enterprise, It's not Sexy by Curtis McHale

Of course no-one finds the enterprise sexy, exciting, cutting edge or anything like that. Also the vast sums of money needed to build enterprise products is also a road block. Attracting new developers and businesses to build enterprise products is quite a challenge. I've always wondered what a ERP product built using Rails would perform like.

Anyone need an ERP product built using Rails? I've got the time, if you have the money.