Business Model Generation – Review

Business Model Generation turned out to be a great book even though it started a little slow and I found it a challenge to read on my Kindle. In fact, I think it is the first book I have read on kindle that I would have preferred to read in hard copy. Business Model Generation is full of images, diagrams, and what they call the business model canvas, which was very hard to decipher on the kindle.

The deeper I got into the Business Model Generation the more I enjoyed it. They offer a very structured approach to strategize about a business model. The business model canvas, which they explain in great detail, force you to explain and write down the ideas one often have inside your own head about how your business works.

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The authors refer to a business model design space, by analysing four areas of the business environment: 1) market forces 2) industry forces 3) key trends and 4) macroeconomic forces. I found the contrast that they point out between design attitude and decision attitude fascinating.

The authors reference an article “Design Matters” by Fred Collopy and Richard Boland, in explaining the two concepts. Decision attitude works from the assumption that it is easy to come up with alternatives but challenging to pick the best one, while design attitude assumes that it is difficult to envisage an outstanding alternative. In design attitude the clearly superior alternative then makes the decision very easy.

In The Business Model Generation the authors place a lot of emphasis on being patient in the following a process to get the best alternatives, and making sure you don’t jump ahead or ‘fall in love’ with a solution to early. I think I have been guilty of doing just that in the past.

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There are opportunities for business model innovation everywhere. The Business Model Generation offers a fantastic structured approach to help anybody from a small startup to multinationals come find and explore these opportunities.

I am going to The Starter League!

I have read and pondered allot since I left Private Property more than a year ago, about what my next serious career will be. Being a ski instructor is too much fun to be considered a serious career! I wrote a post in January entitled: ‘Do I want to be a hacker?’ My thoughts are still that I am not sure if I want to make a 10 year commitment, but I am very keen to go to the next level, and learn more. As they say, so far so good.

While we were in Fernie, I did as much research as I could about development/ programming boot camps. There is a bunch of boot camps opening up all over the place. I initially liked devbootcamp.com, but when I found The Starter League it felt like I hit the jackpot! It looked like the perfect fit for what I wanted to learn.

The whole approach that they will help you start in the direction you want to go, really hit home. I know I will struggle, I mean it must be impossible, to become a world class developer in 10 weeks. But this will be a wonderful first step in that direction.

I am really looking forward to spend the summer in Chicago at The Starter League!

So on the day we left Canada, I applied to the Starter League. A few days later I had a Skype interview with them, everything went well. So I was excited and nervous all at the same time. A few days later I got an email saying – I am in! Man, this is going to be awesome!

37signals.com is also involved in The Starter League, they are the ones who started Ruby on Rails. This is what I will be learning in Chicago. It will also be the first time that I will be in the USA in summer, so I will watch as much baseball as possible!

I hope to see many games at Wrigley Field this summer!

TechStars Chicago is also in the same building as The Starter League, so hopefully I will get to meet some great startups and learn as much as I can about the eco system. This is going to be an amazing three months.

The biggest challenge is going to be away from home and my family for so long. I have travelled more than most in the past, but this will be the longest I have been away from home at one time. I hope the sacrifices we make for this will pay of big time in the future.

Backcountry Trip

One of the great things about the NonStop course is that they don’t only help you to become a much better skier but the help you to really experience life in the mountains. They offered a wide variety of other activities for us to do, including Cat Skiing, Cross country, Winter Camping, day and weekend trips, and many more.

I was really keen to try and do a backcountry trip, so when I saw that on the list of activities, I was in! For those of you who don’t know what a backcountry trip is let me explain. In search of some awesome snow and a great experience you can venture into the mountains in winter outside of the ski resort boundaries.

Since you are now in the vast wilderness, there is no avalanche control like in a ski resort. Therefor you need to carry extra equipment to rescue each other in case of an avalanche. There is also no lifts to take you up the mountain again, so instead you have to attach ‘skins’ to the bottom of your skies, which allows you to walk up the mountain. You also have special bindings that allow you to lift your heal.

Our guide Steve, explaining how the special bindings work

We had a fun day! It began with our guide, Steve, meeting us at the rental shop at Fernie Alpine Resort. We then took the Timber Chair lift to the top and crossed over the resort boundary. We were now in the backcountry. We stopped to play with the equipment first, by learning to put the skins on our skies and how to walk with them.

Now it was time to walk a little way so we can have our first run down. It was more challenging than I thought to zigzag up the mountain, I even had one nice fall doing it. The snow pack is obviously deep and not compacted at all, so you can disappear deep into the snow if you fall. After about 30 minutes of walking up, we took the skins off and had a fantastic run down a nice bowl.

Everybody busy putting the skins back on the skies

The skiing was awesome. At the bottom it was time to put the skins on again and walk back up, we got two more great runs in before it was time to head home. Understanding the avalanche risk factors are key when you leave the resort boundaries, and Steve gave a great intro in understanding this complex subject.

It was great fun! Steve was an awesome guide, and I would love to do a backcountry trip again! Thanks Steve and thanks NonStop for arranging it!

Fernie Alpine Resort

As the ski season progressed, I found it increasingly difficult to remember what skiing was like before we landed in Fernie. Fernie Alpine Resort is known for its legendary powder, and we had an amazing time experiencing the powder first hand.

Fernie Alpine Resort provided the perfect place for us to spend our first ski season in a ski resort. To be honest I can’t remember how I decided on Fernie as our destination for this trip, except that an average of 52 cm of fresh snow per week sounded like a lot. Whatever the reason was, it turned into the most amazing holiday we could have ever dreamed of. This season Fernie Alpine Resort got 1110cm of snow, and we got to ski in almost all of it.

Fernie Alpine Resort has a vertical of 1082 meters. The top elevation is at the top of the polar peak lift, which offers some of the most amazing views over the Lizard mountain range and the valleys on both sides including the city of Fernie.

Stunning view from the top of Polar Peak lift in Fernie Alpine Resort

Fernie Alpine Resort has some really steep and challenging terrain in 5 awesome bowls. My best day in the resort was towards the end of our Nonstop instructor’s course one remarkable Thursday. It snowed about 20 cm over night, but continued to come down as we drove to the ski hill. At this stage we had learned how to ski and have fun in powder and the Griz was giving us a chance to try out our new skills. The Griz is the local legend that points his musket at the clouds to bring the astonishing amount of fresh dry powder snow down on Fernie Alpine Resort.

On this incredible Thursday it felt like we were skiing fresh tracks all day. Every time we would get to the top of the mountain, we were unable to see even our own tracks left only 30 minutes ago, it was snowing that hard. On this glorious day we got to ski Anaconda Glades, a very steep double black with very tight trees not once but twice. Something I would never have done before the Nonstop course. It was the best day ever!

At the start of the season I thought that RCR (the resort owner) should replace some of the older lifts and infrastructure. But after almost never having to queue to get onto a lift, get food or drinks, I am happy for them to leave everything as it is. Anything to keep the crowds away!

The city of Fernie has a long history and started as a mining town, and predominately is still a mining town. It does not offer all the tourist bells and whistles you will find in a place like Whistler, but is a very authentic BC ski town. Our kids loved the Fernie Aquatic Centre and the multiple parks.

We had some great snow in Fernie Alpine Resort, this week was over 2 meters!

Local knowledge is a great asset when skiing in Fernie Alpine Resort; it will help you have some of the best skiing in your life on any given day. So if you ever find yourself in Fernie Alpine Resort, make sure to get a guide or an instructor to help you see the best the resort has to offer.

We would love to get back to Fernie next season! All I have to do know is get a job as an instructor!

There is a book full of amazing picture taken at one of the Cat Skiing operations in Fernie, Island Lake Lodge. It was done by some local legends. It is called Bears Above the Valley.

Sunshine Village Resort

Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort, Lake Louise and Norquay are often referred to as the big 3. All three resorts are located in the Banff National Park. Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort is about 20 km from Banff. There is a big parking lot once you get to the resort, but I suspect that parking can be quite a problem in peak season.

One of the great things about Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort is that it is located very high. The base parking lot is at 1660m, the day lodge at 2160m and the top of Lookout Mountain 2730m. This all translates to a super long season, starting in November and ending in late May.

Three great Ski Resorts in Banff National Park

The lifts are mostly express quads, one thing we found interesting is that we did not ride a single quad with footrests. Not that we minded, but it almost seemed like they took a decision not to install footrests. I wonder why? The high speed gondola from the parking lot in over 4 km long, and takes a while.

The ‘base’ area at the top of the gondola is huge, and there is everything you need. From shops, day-care, sit down restaurant, hotel and a big day lodge. This also where we say a big Ford that was adapted to be able to drive on snow…what a ride!

Ford snow mobile – What a ride!

The ski area at Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort is gigantic; it has a beginner area with a carpet lift, as well as an express quad servicing green and blue runs. The rest of the resort has numerous blacks and double blacks. Some of them completely in the alpine and other through trees. There is also a big free ride zone, which you can access through the lift system. You just need the normal backcountry gear.

There is also a skier cross course at Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort, while we were there the Canadian team was using it to train.

Overall Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort is great resort, and the very long season must help them generate more income. Which probably allow the Scurfield family, who has owned the resort for 30 years, to invest more in infrastructure.

I could definitely spend a season at Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort. It will be awesome to get to know every detail of the vast terrain.