Subscribe » Issue #39, May-Jun 2012 Mag Cover
Idealog—in the ideas business

  • Xero wins big at IxDA

    2012-02-08 13:55:35 // // The Idealog Blog | 1 comment
    Xero has beaten corporate giants Nike+ and Windows Phone 7 to take out the “best in class for global interaction design” award at the Google-sponsored IxDA Interaction Design Awards.
  • Xero announces acquisition, raises another $20m

    2012-02-03 09:32:32 //
    Cloud-based accounting firm Xero has bought software developer Max Solutions in full, acquiring the 84 percent that it didn't already own.
  • Xero to buy Australian payroll company, triples revenue

    2011-07-22 10:13:30 //
    Xero made a host of revelations at its annual general meeting, but continues to post a multimillion-dollar net loss.
  • The mythical startup [The mythical startup: a guide for entrepreneurs]

    2011-05-06 09:49:12 // // Idealog #33: features | 1 comment
    An online idea that’s snapped up for squillions—it’s the modern fairytale, but tech startups don’t always have a happy ending. Rowan Simpson has been a key part of startups-done-right Trade Me and Xero, and as a tech investor he’s been pitched some great ideas and some real dogs. Along the way, he’s learned a few things about building teams, raising cash, learning from mistakes and getting customers who pay.
  • Vendor mender

    2010-11-11 16:33:26 // // Idealog #30: now | 5 comments
    Vaughan Rowsell is reinventing retail—with the help of Apple and Facebook.
  • Wiggs’ World

    2009-07-03 15:25:08 // // Idealog #22: now | 5 comments
    It seems Lance Wiggs is always on a journey. Even home in Godzone, he’s not standing still: he has companies to mentor, connections to make and, on his blog, clueless corporates to skewer. So just what is Wiggs looking for?
  • Forecast: Cloudy

    2009-05-08 16:00:09 // // Idealog #21: features | 1 comment
    Who would have thought that infrastructure was the most interesting part of the Internet? Welcome to cloud computing, where big pipes and big iron create a second—no, third—generation of Internet entrepreneurs. Matt Cooney asks: could New Zealand become the Land of the Long Net Cloud? Plus cloud concepts and Me 2.0
  • The numbers are up

    2007-02-27 16:41:44 // // Idealog #8: features
    That ‘Big Idea’ can take half a lifetime to arrive, so it deserves a bit of fanfare when it does. Hamish Edwards and Rod Drury planned to launch Xero, a breakthrough software accounting system, five years ago. Then they waited. Now, reports Gena Tuffery, their number is up
  • Repeat offender

    2006-12-13 01:00:00 // // Idealog #7: now | 5 comments
    Rod Drury just doesn’t know when to stop. This year he sold his email management company, AfterMail, to US-based Quest Software for US$45 million, and in November he won the Entrepreneur of the Year title at the 2006 Hi-Tech Awards. Time to relax? No way—Drury is investing in a string of local IT startups and blogging up a storm too. Just what is it that he wants to prove?