A convenience store group with 150 locations has just selected Tower Systems as an IT supplier for its retail outlets.

Tower Systems Point of Sale software will go into more convenience store locations and further strengthen our position in this marketplace as a result of this new deal.

The synergy between convenience store and our newsagency marketplace is considerable and each will benefit from our work with the other.

We are grateful for the opportunity to help another group strengthen the independent businesses which make up their network.

I was interviewed yesterday for a business magazine feature on our software. This was the third interview of the week, each involving different aspects of our business. Two were for trade journals and one for a business magazine. The business magazine interview was the most interesting since the journalist came to the interview with a view which was contradicted during the interview.

Interviews are an excellent opportunity to check in with what you really think - beyond the politically correct or corporately focused answers, it is good to be challenged and to have to dig deep inside to speak to a vision for the future of your business and the markets in which you operate. The business journalist and I had a good chat about politicians and how they manipulate interviews - this was a preamble to his interview of me. Damn, he didn’t let me get away with anything!

Jessica Livingston has written an excellent book based around interviews with founders of famous technology companies. Founders At Work documents what happened in the very earliest days. It takes us back to the challenges of startup life in an accessible way. Every company story has learning – certainly I found that to be the case.

For those of us who have been in our IT businesses long enough the interviews are fascinating because we recall being around at the time and watching companies like Apple grow from nothing.

Some interviews are personally revealing and wonderfully motivating. Reading the decisions people made and why they made them will help any business owner and especially tech startup owners.

Founders At Work is not your traditional business book in that it is primarily stories from tech people – in their own words. No froth and bubble. No rev-up motivation.

I highly recommend this book.