It's good to have a War Chest

It must be fun to be Google and have money to purchase companies. Their mode right now it to pick up companies that enhance their current (or future) offerings - but sometimes it appears they have a "eye for cool". Now, I don't know anyone at Google, have no idea what their long-term plan is or will be - and there are plenty of pundits that are beginning to march to the "Google and world domination" tune - but I really have no idea.

I'm going to put some of my ideas on my other blog {blurred} Visionary - so this entry is more about who they've purchase recently...

3/06 - @Last software - SketchUp - 3D CAD type design software
3/06 - Writely - Online word processing document / collaboration
2/06 – Measure - Map Blog Analytics
1/06 – dMarc - Broadcasting Automated Advertising Delivery Platform to Radio Stations
1/06 - Android Mobile Software – Mapping and messaging
7/05 - Akwan Information Technologies Software Development – Latin America R&D hub
5/05 - Dodgeball Mobile Software – Communication features
3/05 - Zipdash Mobile Software – Traffic reports with aid of GPS technology
3/05 - Where2 - Mapping Technology
3/05 - Urchin Software Corporation - Web Analytics
10/04 - Keyhole - Corporation 3D Maps and Satellite Imagery
7/04 - Picasa - Digital Photo Management
4/04 - Ignite Logic - Web Design
9/03 - Katlix Corporation - Personalized and Context Sensitive Search Technology
4/03 - Applied Semantics - Advertising/Enterprise/DNS Solutions
2/03 - Pyra Labs - Blogger

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Good Article about Smart People

OK, there are plenty of people that believe if you have a Wharton or Harvard MBA you are among the smartest people in the world - that may be true, it may not be. There are lots of different ways to evaluate "smart" - I just wanted to point people to another view.

http://www.gladwell.com/2002/2002_07_22_a_talent.htm

Here's another view of the same subject...

http://www.careerjournal.com/hrcenter/weddlesguide/20020812-weddle145.html

Basically, smart is no guarantee of success, riches, happiness, rising to the top, getting published, securing financing for you business, whatever. And getting a bunch of smart people to work on your project (or within your business) may be the worst thing you could do.

I'm going to assume you are smart (you're reading blogs, that's some indication of intelligence), so that takes care of the left side of your brain - but don't forget the left side. Also, don't forget that you need to have people around you that want to help; Don't forget leadership; Don't forget about teamwork; Don't forget about all the big (and little) things that need to get done.

Smart is not the end all to be all - well rounded, will probably take you further.

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Big is Better (part two)

This may have a several parts - but the concept of Big-is-Better is a true "critical assumption" - AT&T has decided that the only way to compete is to be BIGGER than everyone else - that is merely an assumption, not the truth. Here's another assumption - smaller organizations are more nimble and can react quicker to customer/market demands - is it true, or merely an assumption.

It may be easier for AT&T (or any Meglacorp) to try to use their size as an advatage - in fact, if I'm another meglacorp, I may assume that AT&T will understand me better than a smaller company - or if my phone bill is bigger than the company that is trying to supply my telephone service, that may give me pause.

Big is not better than Small or medium or large, or extra large or extra small or micro or any other definition of size. That is a ME putting VALUE on size. And it is my assumption - it is not necesarrily the truth. Enough for right now... more later.

BTW, I love the fact that I can listen to my most favorite radio station KBCO while I'm sitting her blogging -- and the fact that I no longer live in Denver/Boulder area. It is the single best radio station in the entire world - that is not an assumption, it is the truth - and if I was a inclined to do so, I could probably prove it scientifically (or with mathmatics) - but just like my beliefs, I don't have to prove it, to know it's true.

I'll tell you why it's great, right now, I'm listening to Robert Cray (the thrill is gone), but just a few minutes ago, I was listening to the Verve, and before that Elton John. Now, that's great!!

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Big is Better! (really??)

I've been asleep at the wheel for the last couple days and didn't notice that AT&T (the SBC boys) have decided to buy up another company, BellSouth - coming close to recreating the monopoly of pre-1987. Well once I noticed this event, it was really something of a shocker (not from the standpoint of AT&T wanting to grab more telecom real estate, but from a standpoint of "didn't we already settle this issue??)

So, to be fair, I'll include a quote from an industry analyst that is in favor of this move...

Industry analysts, like Tom Watts, say the deal makes sense. "Big is better. Smaller operators, their costs just aren't competitive and they haven't been able to bring prices down as competition has increased."

Now, Tom is probably a very smart guy, been around telecom all his life and understand all the ins-n-outs of the telecom industry. Me, I just another guy with an opinion. But since this is my blog, I get to share it...

First of all, I don't believe "big is better" - that's a value judgment and there are plenty of small telecom companies in the world (check out how many there actually are in rural America sometime) that provide their customers with local, long distance, wireless, internet access and in many cases wireless. They usually do it for about the same amount as the "big" companies - but on the other hand, they also know your name, your kids go to school with their kids, you probably know someone that works for these companies - big is not necessarily better.

You know what big does, it allows the person sitting on the top of pyramid to make decisions that affect thousands (in many cases 10's of thousands) of employees, and hundreds of thousands of customers - with a single decision. This is a crap merger - the reasons for it is that "big is better", that AT&T can't compete against the cable companies -- well boo hoo. If the merger goes through - AT&T will be bigger than the whole cable industry - and I still don't think they will be able to compete.

Telecos are lumbering giants - and they have never gotten out of the monopoly mindset. If the cable companies are the threat, then AT&T needs to buy Comcast or Cox - not BellSouth. They need to be better at what they do, instead of protecting their aging infrastructure. They need to understand that customers have options and they vote with those options. Change or die it's that simple.

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Microsoft's next big thing....

OK, I've gone to the site...what's MSFT up to, here's one of their "next big things" that they are trying to get some buzz about (that ol viral marketing stuff).

Site: http://www.origamiproject.com/
Now here is a site with a "short video" about this "thingie"...

Now here is a Paul Allen project from a few years ago...

http://www.flipstartpc.com/

starting to see a connection??????

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Where's the money going...

I receive an email newsletter called VentureWire that provides a quick update of VC money and M&A activity. It's a really quick view of where the money is flowing and I've found it interesting at a macro level - just to determine where investment money is flowing.

Two years ago, there was lots of money flowing to medical stuff (meds, diag devices, monitoring, etc.)

Last year was wireless (WLAN, hardware, hotspots, mobile, content, etc.) and all things security related.

This year, so far, there has been lots of activity in web sites (the ubiquitous Web 2.0 variety), along with wireless AND medical - not so much about security (but some) and there is some activity in the development world (mostly around SOA & SaaS).

As far a buying activity, the big boys have been busy - eBay, Cisco, IBM, McAfee, Yahoo, Google, etc. - the trend is to buy "cool" companies before they raise too much money and have too much of an expectation from the people that started them or their investors. That way, the bigges can swoop in and for a few million, get possibly some cool stuff, if not, it's still cheaper than going through an internal business planning process that produces squat.

But, check out VentureWire - BTW, they go purchased by the Dow Jones a couple years back (after the whole bust thing), probably when for nothing and DJ got a steal.

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The Personal MBA

“ You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck fifty in late charges at the public library.”
Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon)
Movie: Good Will Hunting

OK, I have been Hot-n-Cold about having an MBA - there have been several times during my career that it would have come in handy and I have taken the GMAT, submitted grad school apps, and been accepted into programs. So why don't I have an MBA - because I've looked beyond who the VC's have backed in the most recent round of business startups and started looking the who's running companies - and what you find out is that most of the top, fast growth, kick-ass, companies have been started with men & women that sometimes don't have a college degree, let alone a MBA (especially from a TOP school). And I look at some of the biggest flops in Corporate history, and there have been lots of them managed by Top B-school MBAs. I have no idea whether there is a correlation, but I'm biased.

I like the b-people that have knowledge from the school of hard knocks. Those that have first of all risked, then failed, then got up and tried again. I like people that actually make decisions, that don't analyze too much (although I have been accused of analysis paralysis) - I like person that is like a rabbit running across an open field - the run like hell, stop & look around, adjust their course, and run like hell again. The key is being willing to adjust your course appropriately, not getting stuck.

But enough - here are couple of links that you might find interesting...

1. Personal MBA Site
2. Life Hacker Reference
3. ChangeThis Manifesto

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