Ian Whitworth

This column is about how a plucky local iced coffee beat the biggest beverage brand in the world. We’ll come back to that shortly, but fir…

"Mailchimp had a friendly, nice-monkey vibe since it was founded in 2001. No VC equity, the two founders bootstrapped it all the way. Accounting software outfit Intuit paid US$12 billion for Mailchimp in 2021. Big number. Someone has to pay for it. You know how this goes: it’s you..." Ian Whitworth shares his tale.

You visit a village that looks lovely at first glance. But almost every house is a holiday house, and there’s not enough year-round demand to sustain anything other than the convenience store at the local servo.

You will not have the big idea if you’re busy with lists all the time, writes Ian Whitworth.

Milkrun left enough money in the tank for an orderly shutdown. Its 400 staff got severance pay and creditors were paid what was owed.

I recognise most of you don’t want to hear this, but I have a tip on how to lead a happier and more productive life. Be happy about paying taxes.

A simple approach has helped a business owner not only survive but do well, in an area that has experienced total carnage in recent years.

In business, the charm of individual human character is on borrowed time.

Lots of people still prefer remote work for a bunch of perfectly good reasons. So it’s up to you to get them together in some way to create personal links and re-establish ones lost in recent times.

How often do you deal with a company and think: can I really be the first to experience stupidity at a world-class level?

This year, when you’re deep in the business trenches, the game really has changed, writes Ian Whitworth. Rules that have operated forever have been turned upside down, at least for a while.

Ian Whitworth's experience with American beer highlights what can happen when you get too close to your product, or put product-obsessives in charge.