The World is going insane. Guy Kawasaki releases How to Remain Sane. Perfect timing. 
Archives for 2006
The Art of (Market) Timing
Posted on April 1, 2006 ·
M&A Turmoil and Executive Shakeup
Posted on April 1, 2006 ·
The World has turned upside down in an unusual (for a Saturday!) flurry of M&A activity and Executive moves.
- Google acquired the World
- China acquiredGoogle
- Yahoo acquired Web 2.0
- Nobody acquired Zoli 3.0
- Microsoft acquired the Catholic Church
- Oracle also acquired the Catholic Church (go figure…)
- Google acquired Sprint
- The Scobleizer became the SGoogleizer
- Microsoft got re-privatized
- New PR Powerhouse PepperRubel was created
- Jeremy Zawodny and Matt Cutts are trading places
- The Proletariat of Venture Capital gets Unionized
.. the list goes on. I’m lost.. who owns who and who works for who? Anybody? Heeeeeeeelp! 
Tags: M&A, mergers, acquisitions, shakeup, management shakeup, executive moves, buyout, Google, Microsoft, China, Yahoo, Oracle, Sprint, ORCL, MSFT, YHOO, GOOG, Web 2.0, Web 3.0, Zoli 3.0, Scoble, Scobleizer, PR, Marketing, VC, Venture Capital, Unions, April Fools, Humor
Optimizing your Participation at Software 2006
Posted on April 1, 2006 ·
Software 2006 hasn’t even started yet, but I already like it. Software Connections powered by BDMetrics is a cool web-based service that allows you to optimize your participation at the two-day conference.
After creating a profile, Connections will make personalized recommendations for your event plan, companies to see, people to meet. Of course it’s not just a recommendation system, you can actively serach for all the above, propose meetings with other attendees while preserving their privacy.
If you ever wondered around an expo floor with a list of people you want to meet, yet have no way of finding them, you’ll appreciate this service – especially if there will be workstations throughout the conference site to access the system. The one item I’d like to see added: mobile alerts on networking requests or responses to one’s own requests.
Tags: Software2006, Software Connections, BDMetrics, Conference Efficiency, Event Networking
They Come in Peace …
Posted on April 1, 2006 ·
If you have Google Earth, don’t click the story link, check it out yourself: search for Area 51, then zoom in.
Otherwise: read more | digg story
Tags: Google, Google Earth, Area 51, April Fools
Free Speech Costs $100
Posted on March 31, 2006 ·
A nurse in Athens, Georgia was pulled over on her way home by a local police officer, who disliked that her bumper sticker “I’m Tired Of All The BUSHIT.” The officer considered it lewd, and gave her a $100 ticket for violating a state law prohibiting lewd or profane stickers and decals on vehicles.
The driver defended the sticker as a political statement that’s protected under the First Amendment. By the way, the Georgia Supreme Court struck down the “lewd bumper sticker” statute as unconstitutional in 1991, in a case involving a defendant who had a “Shit Happens” bumper sticker.
Here’s the detailed account of the incident. (hat tip: Eszter). My readers know where I stand on Freedom of Speech, so I’ll just list a few other related posts:
- Bush-bashing bumper sticker lands motorist in free-speech fight
- Bush Thought Police Alive & Well In Georgia
- Georgia Woman Gets Fined For “Bushit” Bumper Sticker
- $100 Ticket for “BUSHIT” Sticker
- Freedom of expression (Part 8,312)
- ….etc…etc…
Tags: Freedom of Speech, Free Speech, Bush, BUSHIT, politics, censorship
Patent Ransom – Take #2
Posted on March 31, 2006 ·
Auren Hoffman got the patent on the business model of suing others who violate patents. Or something like that. But he may be late, since Chris Yeh got the patent on patenting the business model patent business model. Or maybe it’s just too late and I should go to sleep.
See also: Patent Ransom.
ajaxWrite and ajaxSketch are Not True WebOffice Applications
Posted on March 30, 2006 ·
(Updated)
I was one of the first bloggers to welcome ajaxSketch, released only a week after ajaxWrite, as part of my growing collection of FireFox bookmarks in the WebOffice folder. Well, I just deleted them. What’s the point of using Web-based applications if I can only save my work on the local harddrive? If I have access to my own PC, I also have the desktop applications, and if the purpose is work/create anywhere I am, I need not only Web-based applications, but web-based storage too.
Well, at least I don’t have to worry about my WebOffice folder filling up too fast …
Update (3/30): Apparently I’m not the only one disappointed: “Whats the point in a Web application storing its files on your pc? None!”
Update (4/10): Now we have the answer, thanks to the Seattle PI via Paul Thurrott. “Currently, ajaxWrite saves documents on the computer hard drive, but
Robertson says the plan is to offer online file storage and other
advanced features for a subscription fee. That’s how the company will
seek to make money.” OK, I just wonder if the initially disappointed users will bother to check back later.
Tags: WebOffice, Web 2.0, AJAX, AJAX Office, ajaxWrite, ajaxLaunch, AjaxSketch, box.net
Ellison’s Double Dip: a Conflict of Interest? No.
Posted on March 30, 2006 ·
Matt Marshall at SiliconBeat is wondering whether Oracle CEO Larry Ellisons 60% ownership (*) in NetSuite, preparing for a $2B IPO represents a conflict of interest.
I don’t think so. Oracle dipped into the On-Demand market before, it did not quite work, so Ellison decided to tackle it differently, through his investments. He is a Warlord battling in different theaters and maintaining two separate, not directly interchangeable armies. This is still true, even though Oracle’s second attempt in the SaaS space will likely be successful, especially after absorbing Siebel.
The issue isn’t so much On-Premise vs. On-Demand anymore, but the market segment they go after: NetSuite is still mostly an SMB player, although more the “M” than the “S” piece. The SMB market requires a totally different Sales and Marketing approach, amongst others, and Oracle with it’s current “legacy” salesforce can’t reach this market profitably. It’s the Business Model, not only the technology, that requires a separate “army”.
For the above reasons I’ve long been advocating that SAP also should invest in it’s own NetSuite-equivalent (or better, and I happen to know who 
) to tackle the SMB market.
Back to the Ellison factor, Jason still contends that “NetSuite could get scooped up by Oracle before it ever sees the light of the public markets.”
* (I think it’s actually less than 60%, but more than 50% – but that’s irrelevant here.)
Update (4/2): Vinnie agrees: “I have always believed if Larry had invested in every one of Oracle’s alums, he would be a far richer man than Bill Gates…. Maybe Larry should similarly invest in Open Source, Third Party
Maintenance, BPO, Search, Web services start-ups. They represent the
growth and the innovation in the market, not the company he founded.”
Sramana Mitra‘s post is also worth reading.
Tags: NetSuite, IPO, NetSuite IPO, investing, software, SaaS, On-Demand, CRM, ERP, Oracle, ORCL, Ellison, Larry Ellison, SAP, SMB, SME, Enterprise Software
Why Preaching the “Art of …” is Easier than Doing It
Posted on March 30, 2006 ·
(Updated)
I enjoy reading Guy Kawasaki’s blog, the “Art of..” series as well as other posts. I find myself agreeing with him most of the time, including his most recent post, The Art of Driving Your Competition Crazy. That said, let’s look at some of his examples:
- Apple coolness factor vs. CIO safe bet
- Turning enemies into allies: The Knight and the dragon are “mashingly unsuccessful at doing battle and eventually decide to go into business together. Using the dragon’s firebreathing ability and the knight’s salesmanship, they create the K & D Bar-B-Q.”
- Mindgames, or “size matters”: “During the Korean War, the U. S. Army Office of Strategic Services left a supply of condoms for the Communist Chinese to find. The condoms were specially manufactured in an extra-large size. The label on the boxes, however, said, “Made in the USA Size Medium.”
- Mindgames, a’la Hannibal: make the enemy believe the hords of cattle are all soldiers… etc…etc.
Update: some more examples from Guy’s post, see our comment exchange below:
- Small hardware store offering refill service of the gas tanks that new behemoth Home Depot sells
- The even wiser hardware store owner who displays “Main Entrance” on his portal, right next to Home Depot
- Pizza company incentivising customers to tear out competitor ads..etc.
These illustrations make it a fascinating piece to read…and that’s exactly my issue with so many management books: the author has the freedom to quote the most interesting stories from the entire world to make their point.
Business reality is not that fascinating, if you are an Executive or business owner, you live within the confines of your own everyday business, you can’t perform the condom– or cattle-trick. You have a more limited set of options, no matter how creative you are. The stories belong in books, or – if yo can afford – motivational, skill-development training sessions, but most of them are hard to map to your business reality. I guess that’s also the difference between celebrity story tellers and management consultants, who have to recharge and boost real businesses every day.
P.S. Guy, I still love reading your blog.
Tags: Art of series, Guy Kawasaki, competition, creativity, coaching, celebrity authors, management consulting, consulting, business training, evangelism
Software 2006
Posted on March 30, 2006 ·
I’ll be attending “The must-attend software event of the year”, Software 2006, organized by the Sand Hill Group.
The 2,500 participants meet industry leaders on April 4-5th in Santa Clara, CA.
I hope to blog from there, although it’s more likely that I only get to do it after the event. I also hope to meet many of my readers. If you’ll be there and would like to meet, drop me a note.
Tags: software2006, Sandhill.com, Sand Hill Group
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