We’re very pleased to announce that we’ve completely sold-out of our initial print run of VIP Starter Decks. Many thanks to all our players for making the first edition of the VIP Starter Kit such a success.

Based on feedback from the community we’ve taken this opportunity to improve the original VIP Starter Deck.

Along with being much shinier and easier to read we’ve added more of your favourite missions (”Thanks Someone”, “Make Someone Smile” and “Give Someone a Surprise Gift” and removed a couple of missions that weren’t getting as much love (”Send Drinks to a Couple in Love” and “Give a Compact Florescent Bulb”).

From now on, all orders for Starter Decks at the Akoha Store will be for the newly revised version.

If you run into any problems or would like to share your opinions we’d love to hear from you - just send us an email at “support at akoha dot com”.

Ever wonder what the team is up to when we’re not building Akoha?  We’re solving The World’s Most Challenging Puzzle! Here is a photo of Anthony and Simon on Tie Friday holding the 36 Cube puzzle after they solved it. Just so we don’t spoil the fun we’ve greyed-out most of the towers. There are some smart cookies working here!

I’m very pleased to welcome some new Akohans to our team.

We’re constantly looking for great people who share our vision to help build Akoha. In the past couple of weeks, we had two great friends of the company make the jump to Team Akoha.

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Erik Wright for a decade since he first joined my last startup in 1999. Since then, Erik has worked for a number of Canada’s leading startups, ran a team of developers at my previous company Radialpoint, started his own company, and worked throughout Canada and in Silicon Valley as a coder and engineering manager. We’re really happy to have him join Akoha as our Geek Ringleader.

• Erik Wright

  Geek Ringleader

  Erik joined his first Internet startup at the tender age of 15 and hasn’t looked back. Over the years, he has developed a passion for good software development matched only by his desperate need for an after-lunch espresso. Along the way, for reasons that remain obscure, he has earned the nickname “Doctor”. In his next life, Erik would like to wear the polka dot jersey.

  Find Erik on LinkedIn, via Twitter, or in the mountains.

  

We’re also pleased to welcome Mark Macleod as our Chief Money Guy. Mark is famously known around Canada as StartupCFO. Mark is a veteran of a number of startups, has been instrumental in building and growing venture-backed technology companies. Mark has deep understanding of web business models, startup metrics and business analytics. Since the first public preview of Akoha, which he wrote about the opportunities and challenges Akoha faces as a company, Mark has been one of the advisers I’ve turned to. Mark mentioned working with Akoha on his blog recently and we’re lucky to have him join us.

• Mark Macleod

  Chief Money Guy (CFO)

  Hailing from the Isles of Scotland, Mark’s frugal nature makes him genetically programmed to be a CFO. Since 1998, Mark has been leading finance for venture-backed technology startups. His previous adventures include Silanis Technology (AIM: SNS), Hexago, Terrascale Technologies (bought by Rackable Systems - NASDAQ: RACK) and Mobivox. Currently, he is CFO for Tungle and Akoha. He also advises several other web startups.

  When not chasing term sheets, closing deals or digging into operating stats, Mark likes to pop on his headphones and rock out. A former nightclub DJ (aren’t all CFOs?) Mark’s modeling prowess is enhanced by loud beats.

  Mark combines his dual passions of writing and startups on his StartupCFO blog. He also hosts a social network for tech CFOs and entrepreneurs. You can find him on Twitter.

  Mark is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MBA from McGill. He has also perfected the art of staring coldly over his glasses when people ask to spend money.

  

You can meet the entire group of Akohans on the Akoha Team page.

We also have a number of team members who have left Akoha recently and joined our group of Akoha Alumni.

Sean Power, who worked with our community of Akoha players as Community Gardener, has a new book on Watching Websites being published by O’Reilly Publishing. With a growing career as an author and speaker, Sean is joining our illustrious group of alumni. We wish him success for his new book.

Todd Brown has been watching the Akoha piggy bank as our El Luchador Financiero. In addition to making sure our vendors and team get paid, he was kept busy counting our nickles and dimes, and putting them in nice spreadsheets. Todd is about to go traveling in East Asia where he’ll be spreading the Akoha spirit. He’s part of our advance team for opportunities on the beaches of Thailand. Enjoy your travels, Todd!

Also joining our alumni is Rosalie Zegarelli, who left Akoha late last year to focus on the most important Akoha mission she created: being a mother. Rosalie came by the office to introduce her new baby to us and got more karma points than Akoha currently can track

There’s a new video on TED’s website by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita.

I think one of the interesting lessons to take away from this presentation is that the science of prediction relies on understanding the position of many contributing influencers - not just thought leaders themselves.  Bruce makes the point that leaders can’t possibly keep up with flow of information.  Leaders may be ambiently aware of issues (and sometimes not even that), but are not directly plugged in.  This is because consuming information and making informed decisions is nearly impossible when the information surrounding those issues begin to multiply.  It’s information overload.  So leaders rely on (hopefully) smart people to help them make decisions for them.  And so, the real key is to understand the strata below the key influencer.

And if the strata below the key influencer is so critical, then one good way to have an issue heard or a belief practiced is to hopefully “bring on board” a critical mass.  At the very least, understanding the motivations of those strata will help you better understand where things are going in your environment.

Deep!

Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to randomly be kind.  Sometimes, literally just “being there” is enough to make people happy.  A couple of us Akohans are currently at the Netsquared Montreal presentation, being schooled by a 12 year old on the 2D engine called “Phun”.  It’s not so much the content (which is awesome), but the fact that we’re here, hanging with the local Montreal community that’s making a difference.  Sometimes, just “being there” is “kind” enough.  I guess the point is that we all get super tired at the end of the day, but sometimes, there are tons of local meetups with people doing great things, from not-for-profits to interesting ideas that can change the world.  It’s always good to seek these out and hang out.  You might meet cool people, you might learn something, and you’ll help build a community - which is a great vessel for spreading kindness.

… just sayin’ :).  (I so don’t do this nearly enough!).