Why the VC model works in the Silicon Valley chaos

From NetService Ventures -

Venture backed companies live to push discontinuous change into the world. This is "10X" stuff, and is how their backers make a living. Large firms face serious threats from discontinuous change. It is hard to see coming.

The culture of the large firm is optimized around managing continuous change, but can't manage discontinuous change. Actually, nothing can. It isn’t a rational outcome of a rational process. It comes out of the venture investing process. And that process is chaotic, not deterministic.
Outcomes are clear only after the fact. Wisdom resides in no one company, no one entrepreneur, no one venture firm. Wisdom emerges from the process. Like the strange attractor. Everyone has to ride with it. No one can manage it.

Adopting chaos feels strange to the large firm. But success requires it. Before adoption, the firm must see both threat and opportunity. We help there. With sufficient insight, the firm can then successfully interact with "Silicon Valley Wisdom." "Wisdom" is the emergent reality of all the strange change processes being run at great expense by the venture community. We help our clients interact with that reality.

It is being comfortable with strange that lets us bring new visions down to earth for our clients.

Presentation Zen - Simplicity and Complexity

How to make a presentation simple yet powerful in message?

Kindness & Competitiveness

Another contradiction - It is just too tough to be competitive and kind - both at the same time.

From David Copperfield -

I believe in kindness.
But it's hard to be kind. We're not trained for it. Kindness is for sissies; we learn that early. "Nice guys finish last." If they even get invited to the race. Kindness is taken for weakness, rube-ishness, stupidity. No one seems to respect the kind. They respect the killer. We're taught to value competitiveness, strength, cunning, Darwin.
I work in the entertainment business, where kindness just never seems to be "in." It's not macho. It doesn't sell tickets. In the movies, the hero never kills the bad guy with kindness. But I believe Economics 101 is right. The value of a thing is determined by its scarcity. Which makes kindness spiritual gold.
I am writing these words a few weeks after my father's death. […]
For my father, being kind was natural. He had a gift for it. I have to really work at it. I love competing and winning, conquest -- not words you usually associate with kindness.
As I became successful -- famous, even -- my father wasn't jealous. He basked in it. He and my mom came with me everywhere I toured. I'd always stop and introduce him to the audience, and he'd stand and bow. Afterwards, he'd sign autographs. I knew he loved getting the attention.
Only recently did I understand that he loved giving attention as well. He loved the chance to be kind to the thousands of people who came up to him. He drew strength and vitality from that chance to be nice. The chance to learn that gift was, more than anything, his legacy to me. He showed me that kindness doesn't have to be dramatic. It can be very small. It's something that's not expected and that's offered absolutely gratis, no strings -- like an act of friendship. Now, the memories that hold the most peace for me are of kindness, of my dad offering it to strangers.
With my dad's passing, I've resolved to make life more about those moments. My dad taught me that what you do counts. For me, that has to be about being kind, despite the odds. I believe in kindness, plain and simple.
-- David Copperfield

Contradiction between simplicity and more features

How to keep feature rich products but still keep them simple.

From FastCompany -

http://pf.fastcompany.com/magazine/100/beauty-of-simplicity.html

Next Big Idea

A blog that looks at the VC trends.

http://www.nextbigidea.org

How to start a startup

• If you're the sort of person who would like to solve the money problem once and for all instead of working for a salary for 40 years, then a startup makes sense.
• It would be hard to find a place where things suck more than in corporate IT departments. You would not believe the amount of money companies spend on software, and the crap they get in return. This imbalance equals opportunity.
• http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html
• Start by writing software for smaller companies, because it's easier to sell to them.
• For the angel to have someone to make the check out to, you're going to have to have some kind of company. Merely incorporating yourselves isn't hard. The problem is, for the company to exist, you have to decide who the founders are, and how much stock they each have. If there are two founders with the same qualifications who are both equally committed to the business, that's easy. But if you have a number of people who are expected to contribute in varying degrees, arranging the proportions of stock can be hard. And once you've done it, it tends to be set in stone.
• There is more to setting up a company than incorporating it, of course: insurance, business license, unemployment compensation, various things with the IRS.
• It can be dangerous to delay turning yourself into a company, because one or more of the founders might decide to split off and start another company doing the same thing. This does happen. So when you set up the company, as well as as apportioning the stock, you should get all the founders to sign something agreeing that everyone's ideas belong to this company, and that this company is going to be everyone's only job.
• Before you consummate a startup, ask everyone about their previous IP history.
• Build something users love, and spend less than you make.

Dave's Next Move

Dave Duffield (PeopleSoft founder) has come back to business world with his next move.

http://www.davesnextmove.com

Rightly said -

Today’s enterprise applications are no longer meeting the needs of their customers.
These applications

• Are too expensive to deploy and maintain.

• Are complicated and difficult to use.

The challenge is to balance the two contradictory facets of enterprise applications - ease of use (ease of deployment) and feature richness.

Stocks That Dwell Below 50-Day Tend To Warn Of Sell-Off Ahead

Stocks That Dwell Below 50-Day Tend To Warn Of Sell-Off Ahead

Friday January 28, 7:00 pm ET David Saito-Chung

When a good stock plunges below its 50-day moving average on huge volume, generally the stock should be sold and profits should be logged.
Not all sell signals are that obvious, though.
You might come across a stock that slips below this key price line, but takes its time doing so. The volume may not be that hefty, either.
But if the stock spends at least three weeks below its 50-day line (or 10-week moving average on a weekly chart), consider locking in at least some gains. IBD's study of past market winners has found that such a stock tends to no longer enjoy brisk demand from pension funds, mutual funds, banks and the like.
During a healthy market, every solid stock pulls back during the course of its long run. A stock may even cross below its 50-day line on a day when the market is feeling the heat of sellers.
But if the stock still has gas in the tank, it won't retreat for long. The stock will cruise back above its 50-day and resume its uptrend. Keep in mind that some stocks swing more wildly than others and hence may bob above and below the trend line throughout the rally.
Always keep a lookout for telltale signs of a top, even before the stock reaches its 50-day line. They include the climax run, jetting above an upper channel, new highs on low volume, and a sharp drop on the heaviest volume since its breakout. (Please go to IBD Archives or the Investor's Corner Archives at investors.com for more on these topics.)
Tiffany (NYSE:TIF - News) broke out of a five-month cup-with-handle base in May 2003, then bounded out of an even longer, deeper cup pattern in August that year (point 1). The fine jewelry retailer didn't keep up with the market's biggest leaders, but its 40% gain over the next three months was nothing to sneeze at. Tiffany also eased to its 10-week moving average on light trade, offering a chance to add shares (point 2).
Trouble signs appeared in November that year. For starters, Tiffany fell 8.2% on the heaviest weekly volume since its breakout (point 3). The 13.3 million shares traded that week was the highest since July 2002. Message: Institutional investors were grabbing profits and leaving.
The next week saw Tiffany sink to its 10-week moving average and stick. But from the week ended Dec. 5, 2003, the stock closed below its 10-week line for three straight weeks (point 4), a sign of flagging demand. This, combined with the big sell-off the prior month, was a message to start raising some cash.
Tiffany sold off again for two weeks in January 2004 (point 5). It tried twice to get back above its 10-week line. But by then, the trend was firmly down. As the market went into slow burn from late January 2004, the retailer eventually gave back all of its gains. Earnings fell in the July and October quarters.

Happy going to doctor

There is a point in life when a husband is happy going to a doctor - when his wife is pregnant :-). One of the most exhilirating moments to visit a doctor.

Like the wind

Keep moving. If I stay here attachment will form.

Keep moving like a river ... impurities and sediments and filth can never settle there.

Task Zones

Have you found yourself in a situation where your "TO-DO" list goes beyond what you can handle? Have you found yourself swamped with things to worry about that go beyond your cerebral limits? You are normal :-)

We get entrenched into our list of things to do and start worrying about them. The "TO-DO" lists are exactly what their names indicate. These are things-to-do and not things-to-worry-about.

It is not efficient to worry about all your worries all the time. Worrying does not help at all. While you are worrying about one job, you are actually taking away resources from what you could have used to perform other task.

Some points of the day are good for some tasks and some others are good for some other jobs.

You should divide your day into Task Zones. Work through the constraints of when can you perform certain tasks and then remain in that Task Zone. Try to divide and conquer. It will be much more efficient if you are consciously aware of the constraints of time and task.

More to come ...

Ambidextrous Organization

This is a classic example of the contradiction in the corporate world.

Michael Tushman and Charles O'Reilly describe this strategy in their recent book, "Winning Through Innovation". They define technology life cycles and innovation in terms of "streams" and explain how a selected few large companies have managed to create two different organizations under one roof to manage these streams. One is dedicated to maximizing the value of the traditional technology, the other to commercializing radical innovation. There are difficulties with such dual strategies: "The contradictions inherent in the multiple types of innovation create conflict and dissent between the organizational units - between those historically profitable, large, efficient, older, cash-generating units and the young, entrepreneurial, risky, cash-absorbing units."

Don't you have a mind of your own

We're giving you this exquisite position in this company and we want you to know you'll have a great deal of independent decision-making-power :-)

SURRENDER - What are you giving up? A hollow little trip that is good for another 40 years (at best). You're giving it up for ETERNAL UNION, PURE ENERGY and PURE LIGHT. Because, surrender means you no longer die. It's as simple as that. That's what it means. Because: You that lives and dies is you - Ego - and fear of death only comes through the brittleness of the ego.

Private Corners of the Brain

Once you realize God knows everything, you're free. I had been through many years of psychoanalysis and still I had managed to keep private places in my head - I wouldn't say they were big, labeled categories, but they were certain attitudes or feelings that were still very private. And suddenly I realized that he knew everything that was going on in my head, all the time, and he still loved me. Because who we are is behind all that.

Managing the Bad Boss

Are you in control of a "bad manager"? You need to read http://www.badbossology.com/.

Maharajji's Contradictions about Truth

Maharajji said -

Christ died for truth.

Total truth is necessary. You must live by what you say.

Truth is the most difficult tapasya. Men will hate you for telling the truth. They will call you names. They may even kill you, but must tell the truth. If you live in truth, God will always stand with you.

When asked how the heart could be purified, he said, "always speak the truth."

In contradiction to all of these teachings, however, maharajji frequently lied.

Maharajji would usually agree to any request from a devotee. People frequently invited him to come and bless their homes and to partake of the food prepared by the family. He would inevitably agree to all those requests, yet more often than not he wouldn't go.

When questioned by one of his devotees about his habit of making and breaking promises, Maharajji replied, "I'm just a big liar!"

Maharajji would say something and later, if he contradicted himself and the contradiction was pointed out, he would say, "I didn't say that."

(Excerpts from "Miracle of Love")

Best Buy's Unwanted Customers

Today's Wall Street Journal has this article about Best Buy trying to separate the "angels" among his 1.5 million daily customers from the "devils."

What a contradiction? Do you know that businesses have unwanted customers? Best Buy is trying to shy away the bargain hunters. They will analyze customers and decide who are "not welcome".

Best Buy estimates that as many as 100 million of its 500 million customer visits each year are undesirable. And they want to be rid of these customers. This

campaign against devil customers pits Best Buy against an underground of bargain-hungry shoppers intent on wringing every nickel of savings out of big retailers. At dozens of Web sites like FatWallet.com, SlickDeals.net and TechBargains.com, they trade electronic coupons and tips from former clerks and insiders, hoping to gain extra advantages against the stores.

Thinking outside the box ...

BUT, how do we define the box? It is a cliche to say we should think outside the box. Nobody knows how to limit the box. Remember Einstein's theory of relativity (http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/vvc/theory/relativity.html). I am trying to redefine my box my new frame of reference.

Contra-Dictions

You are happy : You are sad. You are rich : You are poor. You are entertaining : You are boring. Everywhere on earth we see contradictions. Actually, outside earth too. My life is full of many such contradictions too. This is an effort to capture some of them.

Contradictions are a major part of my life. But, that is not everything in my life. This blog records the journey of my life.

I started couple of blogs earlier too. None of them went on for more than few days. I really wish that this will be an exception, a contradiction and will go on forever.