{"id":5582,"date":"2026-01-23T09:22:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/?p=5582"},"modified":"2026-03-17T17:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T07:28:11","slug":"the-road-ahead-for-strawman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/the-road-ahead-for-strawman\/","title":{"rendered":"The Road Ahead For Strawman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">I hope you had the chance to&nbsp;switch off for a bit over the holiday break. We&#8217;re a bit like computers in that we tend to work a little better after the occasional reset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or as da Vinci put it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cEvery now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The truth in that idea became very apparent to me over the last few weeks. Having stepped back a little I gained some much needed clarity on the future direction of Strawman. Something I have struggled with for a while now. If you\u2019ll indulge me, I\u2019d like to elaborate on that and lay out my thoughts for 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a bit of context, it\u2019s been almost 10 years since Strawman first started to take shape. The core idea was to create a space where investors could not just share and discuss stock ideas (there were already loads of stock forums), but do so in a manner that was more&nbsp;accountable. I wanted a place where reputation was built on the quality of posts and the performance of portfolios and, importantly, where you could easily draw valuable and actionable insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, a general concept&nbsp;is one thing, but actually delivering on it is quite another. I\u2019ll let you decide how well the idea has been realised so far, but I can tell you that all manner of dumb (and costly) mistakes were made, with plenty of self-doubt, frustration, and outright terror along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ll spare you the details, but the journey has made me far more circumspect in how I contemplate further investment and growth. Not that I\u2019m reluctant to deploy capital when it makes sense to do so, but if a new feature or offering can&#8217;t confidently promise a materially better outcome for members, it\u2019s just a distraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And while you\u2019re expected to invest for growth as a business, I\u2019ve not been able to find anything that would give us a decent, risk-adjusted return on investment without somehow forcing an unnecessary (and often detrimental) financial product or partnership down your throat.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other option, and the one most commonly pursued in this space, is to try and engineer things for a lucrative exit down the track. You grind away chasing a bunch of stupid vanity metrics so you can sell out to some soulless bucket shop, and then let them squeeze you for fees. Everyone has their price, of course, and we&#8217;ve had more than a few offers over the&nbsp;years, but in most cases all you do is trade independence and integrity for uncertain and distant earn-outs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No thanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under different circumstances, a more mercenary mindset might prevail. But Strawman has long passed the point where it can stand on its own feet and I have little appetite to risk that&nbsp;in pursuit of some ego-fuelled growth agenda. Besides, although it&#8217;s seen as a somewhat antiquated notion these days, my strong conviction is that the best way to maximise returns&nbsp;is to focus on genuine value creation for your customers and optimise for resilience and longevity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of which is to say that my plans for Strawman going forward are actually rather modest.&nbsp;Rather than chasing the next shiny thing, we\u2019re focused on refining the foundation we\u2019ve already built and leaning into what makes Strawman so special in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This starts with sharpening the layout and logic of our forums to make them more intuitive and productive. Many of you have already provided invaluable feedback via our recent survey, and those insights are directly shaping a cleaner, more streamlined user experience. (If you haven&#8217;t already done so, and would like to share your thoughts, please do so <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSfsOZ_MsBButq_ZxGvDEMdlwWsY-OfbBY_WvQgMD87SPks_Kg\/viewform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are also exploring the integration of AI tools. Not because of some hype-fuelled compulsion, but to make it easier for you to extract and condense the immense wealth of knowledge buried within our archives. Even though our first steps here will be measured, I\u2019m excited about how this will enhance the value of the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, technology is only a multiplier for the quality of the community itself. To help coordinate our efforts, we\u2019re introducing a regular &#8220;stock spotlight&#8221; to inspire deeper collaborative research and provide more opportunities to learn from the diverse skills of our members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ll share more specifics as these initiatives roll out. For now, I simply wanted to begin the year by reaffirming exactly what Strawman stands for and providing some context for the path we&#8217;ve chosen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is a profound honour to be part of this community and I look forward to uncovering more great investment ideas together in 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-very-dark-gray-color has-very-light-gray-background-color has-text-color has-background has-normal-font-size\"><em>Strawman is Australia\u2019s premier online investment club. <br>Members share research &amp; recommendations on ASX-listed stocks by managing Virtual Portfolios and building Company Reports. By ranking content according to performance and community endorsement, Strawman provides accountable and peer-reviewed investment insights. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-very-light-gray-color has-tertiary-background-color has-text-color has-background has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/member\/landing\/signup\"> Create your FREE Strawman account<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color\"><em><strong>Disclaimer\u2013<\/strong> Strawman is not a broker and you cannot purchase shares through the platform. All trades on Strawman use play money and are intended only as a tool to gain experience and have fun. No content on Strawman should be considered an inducement to buy or sell real world financial securities, and you should seek professional advice before making any investment decisions<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color\">\u00a9 2025 Strawman Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">| <a href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/member\/landing\/privacy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/member\/landing\/terms\">Terms of Service<\/a> |<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I hope you had the chance to&nbsp;switch off for a bit over the holiday break. We&#8217;re a bit like computers in that we tend to work a little better after the occasional reset. Or as da Vinci put it: \u201cEvery now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Road Ahead For Strawman - Strawman Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/the-road-ahead-for-strawman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Road Ahead For Strawman - Strawman Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I hope you had the chance to&nbsp;switch off for a bit over the holiday break. 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