https://timschier.com/ Recent content in Home on timschier.com Hugo -- gohugo.io en © Copyright 2022 Tim Schier Tue, 14 Sep 2021 21:04:52 +1000 https://timschier.com/posts/beefs_blood_ii/ Thu, 30 Jun 2022 20:18:00 +1000 https://timschier.com/posts/beefs_blood_ii/ This post summarises some biotech concepts and industry movements I’ve learned as a newcomer to the field. It’s intended to be narrative, notes and references that past-me would have found interesting and useful. It follows on from Part I where we looked into precision fermentation as a means to produce heme proteins - a high value ingredients that give meat its “blood” characteristics. We also touched on the legal battle between heme producers - Impossible Foods with their wide-reaching patent and Motif challenging the patent’s validity. https://timschier.com/posts/beefs_blood_i/ Thu, 02 Jun 2022 05:48:00 +1000 https://timschier.com/posts/beefs_blood_i/ This post summarises some biotech concepts and industry movements I’ve learned as a newcomer to the field. It’s intended to be narrative, notes and references that past-me would have found interesting and useful. Impossible Meat mimetics Impossible Foods' claim to fame is producing a plant-based burger product which has some of the unique characteristics of meat - taste, texture, colour and cooking behaviour. They have a patent which covers a realm of art, and they are particularly well known for their production of heme. https://timschier.com/posts/intel_split_ii/ Sat, 07 May 2022 08:23:00 +1000 https://timschier.com/posts/intel_split_ii/ Continuing the review of Intel’s chip design revolution in the 1980s and how it relates to Intel’s split. In Part I we used a Wardley Mapping lens to describe the evolution that contributed to Intel’s decades of success, and their current position. Here in Part II we will look at it through Clayton Christensen’s lenses of innovation theory and the Law of Conservation of Attractive Profits. Clayton Christensen’s theories Professor Christensen’s innovation theory is a commonly explored phenomenon. https://timschier.com/posts/intel_split_i/ Tue, 15 Feb 2022 06:48:00 +1000 https://timschier.com/posts/intel_split_i/ Intel’s changing its direction in terms of strategic competencies. The decision was to split out the design and manufacturing capabilities as external services, while at the same time continuing down their traditional strategic path of full integration of the two. The ever excellent Stratechery offers a breakdown, including references to a fantastic paper from Intel1. The roots of Intel’s change can be traced back to the 1980s and the revolution described in that paper. https://timschier.com/posts/ana_vidovic/ Sat, 15 Jan 2022 06:48:00 +1000 https://timschier.com/posts/ana_vidovic/ This performance of Bach’s Flute Partita, Corrente movement is my new favourite. I was not previously familiar with the piece, but I haven’t been able to find a better rendition, and I am a new convert to the beauty of Bach on classical guitar. As Ana says the voicing, especially the bass, comes out more clearly on a classical guitar. The plucking initiation of each note is more clean than the muffed hammer of a piano (let alone a flute) while the ability to vary the resonance and dynamics of each note is not possible on a harpsichord. https://timschier.com/posts/largeness_of_spirit/ Wed, 05 Jan 2022 08:10:00 +1000 https://timschier.com/posts/largeness_of_spirit/ Towards the end of the epic Musashi, Hon’ami Kōetsu (an aesthete and cultural icon to this day) is recounting some of the history of the Kongō-ji temple. Centuries earlier the Emperor was driven from his palace and took refuge in the Kongō-ji. Kōetsu reads a poem from that time Though the war goes on, Even for a hundred years, Spring will return. Live with a song in your hearts, https://timschier.com/posts/choose_your_own_talisman/ Wed, 29 Dec 2021 08:07:00 +1000 https://timschier.com/posts/choose_your_own_talisman/ So, what would you do differently if this was a simulation? The question clearly applies to existential concerns such as the simulation argument, the hard problem of consciousness and religion and the afterlife. The answers to these questions can’t be proven to a sufficiently convincing extent, but for many people there are net tangible benefits for behaving “as-if” one side or the other were true. This behaviour can be generalized beyond the existential into a practice of defining our own talisman (or belief). https://timschier.com/posts/mistaking_an_adversarial_environment/ Tue, 28 Dec 2021 08:25:00 +1000 https://timschier.com/posts/mistaking_an_adversarial_environment/ Here’s a small excerpt from an episode of The Tim Ferriss podcast. Tim Ferriss: …what was the subject matter and the intent behind the MOOC that you taught? Balaji Srinivasan: Great question. So the subject matter, the title was Startup Engineering. And the concept was that it was basically the class that I wish I had had before doing my first startup. And so it was kind of like a time capsule back to somebody who was into math or into just technology in general, but was just completely naive about how to actually run a business or anything like that. https://timschier.com/posts/b2b_supply/ Wed, 22 Dec 2021 09:44:00 +1000 https://timschier.com/posts/b2b_supply/ So you want to sell into another business Take a fictional company Baye. They design and manufacture tapware pieces for kitchens and bathrooms. Their products are high quality, they have marketed them well and have won over high rise developers and the architects that serve them. Baye have done a lot right - designed with a great product with strong product market fit and have executed a successful go to market strategy. https://timschier.com/posts/dyn_vis_slack_time/ Wed, 08 Dec 2021 09:00:00 +1000 https://timschier.com/posts/dyn_vis_slack_time/ Bret Victor has some wonderful demonstrations of software for direct manipulation and realtime visualisation of dynamic systems, such as Drawing Dynamic Visualisations and Stop Drawing Dead Fish. There is a familiar language to these and other videos of Bret’s - a way of presenting dynamics without requiring drawing every frame, learning symbolic manipulation or relying on tooling-specific methods. This approach is supposed to unlock creativity, discovery and understanding because there is less of a barrier between raw thoughts and the creation. https://timschier.com/about/principles/ Tue, 14 Sep 2021 20:47:48 +1000 https://timschier.com/about/principles/ Principles of Company Purpose / Vision / Mission Start with a long term view. It should always be clear and well understood, even if it doesn’t remain fixed. “Figuring out our vision” is a valid purpose to start with. People Struggle to find the best. Not always possible, but a compromise on talent carries an outsized opportunity cost, including a detrimental affect on morale. https://timschier.com/about/influences/ Mon, 13 Sep 2021 11:30:48 +1000 https://timschier.com/about/influences/ You are what you eat. Here is a sample of things I have taken to heart. Marginal Revolution and Conversations with Tyler It is difficult to describe the breadth of topics of Tyler Cowen. These sources are curiosity fertilizer, with deep and unique takes; regularly challenging, provoking and fascinating. Any upfront investment in context you choose to make is worthwhile. Stratechery and Exponent Deep analysis about tech giants and how the world is changing. https://timschier.com/about/professional/ Mon, 13 Sep 2021 11:17:07 +1000 https://timschier.com/about/professional/ Here are some simple philosophical approaches that I like. I haven’t identified a unified thread that weaves them together, or a school of thought that they derive from. Rather, they are themes drawn out from reflections on hard and good times over the years, selected for being the most important few. Context Understand the framing of any belief, decision or action. There are many possible perspectives and they each change over time.