Over many years, I have developed a simple Microsoft Excel template to support a transaction process. Transaction types included a merger or aquisition, IPO's or private equity capital raising. This template is a starting point and needs to be customised to meet the unique requirements of each company and the specific transaction being pursued. To download the template, click on Transaction process template .This template is part of a series of templates used in a transaction process. It complements my previous post Financial forecast model: A Microsoft Excel template could become an Open Source project I will contribute the other templates as time permits. The business plan template and Investor presentation ... Read More
Archive for ‘Central Brain assembly’
The global economy is 70% services based. Broadband penetration is growing. The opportunities for open source technology to change the status quo are staggering. LAMP is the technology which underpins most of the major web sites in the world today. It will be a key tool for the social and commercial entrepreneurs of tomorrow and underpin the the .NET boom.
Read MoreThe Isle of Man is a world class financial centre. I recommend the Isle of Man Finance web site for more information. It is a very competitive offshore offering, but may have been less flexible and more expensive than other “offshore” jurisdictions. Amongst other requirements, an Isle of Man company had to have at least one resident director and a resident company secretary. This is about to change. The Isle of Man is about to introduce the “New Manx Vehicle” (“NMV”) company structure. The NMV has many of the attributes of the International Business Companies of the BVI and other offshore jurisdictions. With the NMV, the Isle of Man is a compelling offshore proposition (particularly for European E-Business). The opportunity to use “meeting rooms earmarked for use by Manx companies” in the Isle of Man’s London office is an innovative marketing tactic.
Read More“The Semantic Web (or Web 3.0) promises to organize the world’s information in a dramatically more logical way than Google can ever achieve with their current engine design.” The lack of metadata around information and closed information systems ensure financial markets remain a highly profitable industry. In Web 2.0, the information could be organised into structured databases from a single location made available over the internet. Web 3.0 must still be organised, but intelligent distributed agents could answer your question – “Which corporate adviser should I use to list my Web 3.0 company in Bermuda?” and “What are my chances of getting liquidity?”. It will be very interesting to see what type of answers Web 3.0 gives us?
Read More5 July 2006 Category: Boom then depression by 2012, Capital allocation and remote services, Central Brain assembly, Central Brain building blocks, Economic development, Equity Market 3.0, Industry collaboration (Central Brain), Private equity and venture capital, Specialist financial centres, Stock exchanges 1.0, Web 1.0 proprietary hierarchies vs. Web 3.0 community networks No Comments 
An online social network which trades in information with high instrinsic value will have a lower break-even point, less technology risk, a clearer value proposition and less investment risk. There is nothing remarkable about this statement. I am intrigued that there is not a greater proportion of online social networks which trade in high instrinsic value information. I am surprised at the amount of funding that some low intrinsic value online social networks have received.
Read MoreThe “battle for search” users is likely to move very quicky to a battle of online social networks in key market verticals. These verticals will be based around information with intrinsic value in existing industries.
Read More23 June 2006 Category: Central Brain assembly, Central Brain building blocks, Democracy 3.0 and global governance 4.0, Digital Ecosystems, Economic development, Health 3.0 National industry and patient medical record collaboration, Web 1.0 Intellectual property vs. Web 3.0 Community knowledge, Web 1.0 proprietary hierarchies vs. Web 3.0 community networks No Comments
I found a great blog for startups – onstartups.com . It contains some interesting perspectives from an experienced entrepreneur. I have extracted the key points from two of his articles below and then provided brief comments of how I have applied similar principles to my current startup. I encourage you to read the original articles and subscribe to the RSS feed.
Read More15 June 2006 Category: Central Brain assembly, Central Brain building blocks, Private equity and venture capital No Comments
The BVI has incorporated over 700,000 companies, which by some estimates represents approximately 40% of companies registered in “offshore” jurisdictions. It has achieved its leading position by offering a specific mix of corporate law, investor protection, simplicity and privacy that others have since copied. The BVI has unique attributes that mean it is always considered as a place to incorporate. It has a cost-effective regime that has been recognised by the British government, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as being compliant with the relevant international standards. Although, these same organisations also demonise offshore jurisdictions to discourage their use and protect domestic tax bases. Eleven BVI companies are listed on the the AIM stock exchange including an E-Gaming company.
Read More14 June 2006 Category: Central Brain assembly, Economic development, Equity Market 3.0, Specialist financial centres No Comments
Financial modelling is highly specialised. A template is useless unless the skills are available to customise it for a specific need. The skills required include Microsoft Excel, a knowledge of accounting standards and being able to communicate the business model by using a financial model. I was reluctant to provide this model, but it does represent a “start” for many people. If you improve the spreadsheet, I would also welcome the opportunity to include those improvements here. Perhaps, we will create an “Open source” financial forecast model for the world. Maybe, the world only needs one and this can be our contribution to the world.
Read More12 June 2006 Category: A Personal Central Brain, Central Brain assembly, Private equity and venture capital, Templates (business planning) No Comments
It is possible to store your “life” on your IPod, but you would need to use open source software and lose the ability to integrate with devices soch as mobile phones and PDA’s. The “portable applications” include email, web browsing, office software and many others. It may even be possible to run a virtual computer. The recent release of Palm’s Lifedrive seems to suggest people want to be even more portable. A recently announced partnership amongst mobile phone manufacturers to develop a common version of Linux for mobile devices is important. It extends open source to devices and makes it easier to integrate the desktop with these phones, PDA’s, IPod’s and other devices. This would remove a significant hurdle to the adoption of Linux on the desktop. Is this an opportunity for entrepreneurs to package open source into a “portable” offering?
Read More12 June 2006 Category: A Personal Central Brain, Central Brain assembly, Free software and Open source No Comments
Approximately, 33-40% of the worlds financial assets and 50% of financial market transactions occur in offshore jurisdictions. In recent years, onshore countries have collaborated to stamp out “harmful tax competition”. The offshore jurisdictions are, and will remain, a critical part of the financial system. The internet and standardisation of offshore “products” has made offshore accessible to all. The onshore economies may continue “enforce” existing laws which seek to tax residents on world wide income. They may engage in “tax competition” or restructure misunderstood and unworkable tax systems. Whatever happens, the internet is likely to play a significant role in facilitating change.
Read MoreLinux will become a viable alternative to the Microsoft Windows desktop software. Over the last few years, there have been many articles that Linux may reach a Tipping Point . The Tipping Point for Linux means it will move from being used by a niche group to being commonly used. I believe the Tipping point will occur in the next two years. Individuals will use Linux on the desktop. Any remaining inhibitors or features required by everyday users should be implemented in Linux in the next year. This includes support for more devices allowing synchronisation with mobile phones. Business will increasingly use Linux for mail and web servers and replace their existing Microsoft Exchange mail servers
Read More15 May 2006 Category: Central Brain assembly, Free software and Open source 3 Comments
On the 1st April 2006, the World Bank released a policy paper titled "Promoting access to primary equity markets : a legal and regulatory approach". The report is available from here. "Abstract: This paper examines legal and regulatory measures that can be taken to promote access to the primary market in emerging market economies. While capital market development depends on many factors including, primarily, a favorable macroeconomic environment, an appropriately designed and effective legal and regulatory framework can help to encourage market growth and to increase access to finance for all companies, including small- and medium-sized enterprises. In this paper we identify the basic necessities that underpin a regulatory regime that ... Read More
With high broadband penetration to empower consumers, open software to empower entrepreneurs, we may be on the verge of the .NET technology boom. The .NET technology boom is likely to be different from the .COM boom. Investment capital is likely to be allocated more efficiently and less investment capital will achieve quality outcomes.
Read MoreOnline social networks will drive a significant lift in productivity over the next decade. The internet will be essential to coordinating these networks. Online social networks are likely to be more efficient at manufacturing and distributing information. Consumers may be offered more convenient means to purchase, at lower cost using open source philosophies that may deliver greater customer satisfaction. Government can allow people to benefit from economic development, although some industries may perish or need to evolve in the short term.
Read More8 April 2006 Category: A Personal Central Brain, Boom then depression by 2012, Central Brain assembly, Central Brain building blocks, Critical path to Web 4.0, Digital Ecosystems, Economic development, Equity Market 3.0, Free software and Open source, Human awareness and development, Industry collaboration (Central Brain), Web 1.0 proprietary hierarchies vs. Web 3.0 community networks 2 Comments
Moore’s Law is forecast to continue. If the rate of improvement continues, technology will be 128 times more powerful in ten years, and over 4,000 times more powerful in 15 years. Will it be possible for a single laptop capture, store, process and transmit information for entire industries? Could a single laptop replace the global music industry, a stock exchange or provide voice calls for the world? There are billions of dollars of historical investment, hundreds of years of history and tens of thousands of people being challenged by new companies. Starbucks may have enough bandwidth to run a bank, but you probably would not want to live there 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Read More25 March 2006 Category: A Personal Central Brain, Capital allocation and remote services, Central Brain assembly, Central Brain building blocks, Economic development, Equity Market 3.0, Free software and Open source, Industry collaboration (Central Brain), Web 1.0 Intellectual property vs. Web 3.0 Community knowledge, Web 1.0 proprietary hierarchies vs. Web 3.0 community networks No Comments
The Linux desktop is important because it empowers the user with the key internet technologies that will transform many industries. The availability of a version of Linux that can work for every person every time will become a reality in the next year. Usability of Linux is no longer an issue – it works just like Windows. At the moment, the best versions of desktop Linux probably install successfully 90% of the time, satisfies the needs of 90% of users and will work with 90% of peripherals that you attach to your computer. These are symbolic and not actual figures.
Read More2 March 2006 Category: Central Brain assembly, Central Brain building blocks, Free software and Open source 2 Comments
Offshore financial centres had a reputation for being havens of criminal activity. The following five year old articles show this reputation is undeserved.They suggest that the “persecution of tax havens is not the fight against money laundering but the fight against low taxes”. The persecution of “tax havens” was simply an instrument of the nation state to protect domestic tax revenues from foreign tax competition.
Today, the majority of financial centres are well regulated and well respected. The also offer companies and investors the opportunity to reduce compliance costs and take advantage of countries dedicated to servicing their needs. Some countries are focussed on attracting a specific type of company. They enact legislation that is necessary to provide a respectable base for specific types of business. For example, the Isle of Man is focussed upon attracting EBusiness. These smaller financial centres are likely to be significant beneficiaries of the globalisation of financial markets. Business owners and entrepreneurs may choose to incorporate in these centres and derive significant benefits. They will need to pay taxes on any foreign income they derive or is attributed to them by their tax laws. The majority of financial centres are havens for business, rather than a means to reduce taxes.
Read More21 January 2006 Category: Capital allocation and remote services, Central Brain assembly, Central Brain building blocks, Climate stability 4.0, Critical path to Web 4.0, Declining markets, Democracy 3.0 and global governance 4.0, Equity Market 3.0, Peak oil water food resources and leadership, Private equity and venture capital, Specialist financial centres, Stock exchanges 1.0, Web 1.0 Intellectual property vs. Web 3.0 Community knowledge No Comments
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