Blame Rod Drury and Tapio Sorsa for this. I started reading blogs to see how our name change at Fronde had gone, and I found myself joining in all sorts of discussions. Rod was too polite to call me a blog-hog to my face, but I know what he was saying when I wasn’t there. Tapio thought it was great profile. Anyway, the consensus was that I should start a blog of my own, so blame them.

I intend this to be a business-oriented site, touching on topics like:

• General business thinking (strategy, marketing, leadership, operations, etc);
• Industry, trade and the economy;
• Technology business (rather than technology itself);
• Comments on my companies (that are relevant in a personal blog);
• People, places and practices I think worth noting (for better or worse);
• Articles, speeches, etc. that I want to share.
• Reviews and events in which I think you might be interested;
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel (you’ll have to read my posts for that one);
• Education (a particular interest of mine);
• Thoughts and ravings on concepts and issues that catch my fancy;
• Other stuff that might be relevant to a business blog.

This blogsite is titled after Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s personal motto ‘En Avant’ - which means “Get Going’. Anyone who knows my leadership style knows that I want to get things going, get started, start delivering value.

Thanks to Tapio, Mike and Andrew for getting this built for me. I don’t have a clue how it all works - but I don’t need to. Hey, I’m a ‘big picture’ guy! Isn’t technology great? Also, thanks to Unlimited magazine and Matt Grace for the flattering photo.

Again, welcome, and I hope you find it worth visiting and joining in the conversation.

Some background information on me

I’m the CEO of Fronde Systems Group Ltd, a leading NZ-based IT services business. We design, build and operate industrial-strength business transaction and payment systems which connect the world to your business and your business to the world. With around 200 professionals in Wellington, Auckland, London and Singapore, we plan to expand into Australia and North America.

Other current activities include:

• Owner and director of Isambard Ltd and Isambard Investments Ltd, my private companies. Venture investments include Surveylab and Compudigm.
• Non-executive member of the NZ Tertiary Education Commission, which is the principal funding agency for post-school education, training and related research.
• Talking on business strategy and related matters - which led me to starting this blog.

Previous activities include:

• CEO and co-owner of telecommunications equipment maker Deltec Communications Group (HiTech Company of the Year 2000, sold to Andrew Corporation in 2001).
• CEO of mid-size electricity company Electra.
• Strategy consulting partner at Ernst & Young.
• Several boards associated with the above companies plus economic development agencies and government taskforces.

Later on, I’ll post my CV and other background information.