Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Vision/Execution/ Apple and Nike

Vision and Execution:

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Is there a person/company who had both vision and execution? It’s asking to keep water and air together in bottle and trying to mix them. Both will be there and won’t mix with each other. If you insert too much water in the jar air will run out or vice versa. But both are essential to survival.

Every company should try to balance both of them to keep it alive and moving forward. Obsession with one will kill you eventually. Execution is awesome but lacking vision will leave you empty handed to act in future. This process is gradual and not an instant, so realization is waking up on that decline curve and sees how long it has gone. If its worth to get everything right again or not. Companies die or re-invent themselves in these scenarios.

AMD other one after Engineering vision needed Hector Ruiz's execution. Story is still unfolding in front of us.

Vision also has same problems; too much thinking leaves no time to implement it better. If people don't get everyday food to eat, they can not dream of future as daily needs take first priority. The visionary himself is from separate class who can like a rishi go on without food for years to attain his cherished goal of his ultimate salvation.

Technology and Business:

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Carly's vision (she was not good at execution) with Hurd's execution (he disdains vision). HP suffered for a while but now is securely in race to get ahead of its competitor due to perfect Mark Hurd's execution of Carly's long sighted vision's But Mark will need to give HP a vision before he leaves HP and that will be next CEO. Meantime during his tenure he'll drive vision of HP's R&D (consumer, enterprise) and implement it perfectly.

IBM under Lou Gesterner was all about execution in service market, that’s why other divisions suffered as they needed a vision for their future. Sam has vision but lacks execution rigor like IBM's ex-CEO. His vision has brought back Microelectronics back into business, Linux gaining ground on its competitors but services is suffering. I think Lou knew when he left IBM that in coming future IBM wont need execution rigor as it can get someone to get it right later down the lane, but would need a new big market vision and someone who can put them there at the start point and make it run on the initial blast for a while. Sam must have been the guy. Rest is happening in front of us.

Apple and Nike:

Steve Jobs, as always, is master of putting headlines which people dissect for every obvious reason. But then he won’t be marketing genius if people can think about what he is thinking. The genius in him won’t tie up with Nike for that reason.

Let’s look from another angle, which seems more convincing, more revenue generating and more consumers penetrating.

Medical area.

If Nike starts selling shoes with IPOD compatibility, it won’t make any difference to Apple as shoes are sold by Nike. Ipods don’t sell on notion that they'll store my health data from my shoes. IPODs sell as complete package of human indenspibility of technology from his/her everyday life.

If it’s a publicity stunt then it wouldn’t have been done.

Let’s take this one step further. As people are becoming more health conscious, they are exercising more, visiting health clinics and health practitioners more. This trend is growing day by day as obesity and baby boomer phenomenon is coming to light. It'll be hard to track daily what these people do and how their health works. IPOD is supposed to capture all that data with the help of Nike shoes. Nike is no 1 in market share worldwide for shoes. (MARKET LEADER).

So IPOD is for doctors and health practitioners to retrieve data to their system for the health analysis. This means more adoption for ITUNES, which further takes a set number of influential consumer classes into ILIFE. The community targeted here is very rich comparatively and don’t have any issues spending that loads of money on coolest gadgets, which work seamlessly in their personal and professional life. APPLE is simply the coolest product. Today a health practitioner may install Itune on your normal PC, but as compelling complete package offering a doctor/health practitioner may buy MAC mini, MAC book, IPOD. It brings more customers, more revenue to Apple and apple gets more entrenched into people's normal day to day lifestyle, which resonates Steve's ultimate vision “IPOD should be indisnsepble part of every person's life". Hence it completes the circle that Nike sells more shoes and apple sells more of ILIFE offerings.

I THINK THIS IS VISION BEHIND THIS PRESS RELEASE BUT WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR COMPLETE EXECUTION TO PROVE IT TO BE TRUE.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060523/nike_ipod.html?.v=6

EVERYTHING IS MY OPINION AND THOUGHT PROCESS. ITS THE WAY I SEE THINGS.

Technology company DNA difference

Socialism and Capitalism, Apple and Dell's DNA difference

I recently read the Time magazine article about outsourcing. It'll happen at faster rate than expected as health care cost rises here. For medicos, I came up with following line:

“Globalization in the form of socialism where you take money from few elite concentrated at a place via market competition and distributes it among many other in same profession around the world.” (Normalization in a profession)

Just my thinking.

Also,

An year ago I thought about Dell's strategy of Kiosk and thought malls shops were important looking at Apple store its location in mall, place, color, style. And Dell this week announced about opening stores in upscale malls. I am still doubtful about it as what Apple did was entirely different than opening upscale malls. Sometimes to be fast follower is not good. To win the race on car track, you need to know the track (VISION). Sharp turns cause unexpected delays, slowdowns which cause more wear and tear of car ( OPEX increase in Company financials). You expect the last mile of race is straight road ahead and assume to leap frog the cars ahead of you. It wont be the same anymore as the cars ahead are not fools to make that mistake again and as they know the path they may try to get an sharp turn which may create havoc for you and a chance of NO recovery at all.

Its funny that everybody in world today is raving about IPOD success from last 2 years. I saw Steve introducing it on one of news channel in 2001 and saying "this is future, I am holding". No one cared even commentators were laughing at him, thinking of Steve with previous Apple experience guy desperate to get attention. Knowing his history of success and failures in technology, I knew at that moment he is going to spin it for success subject to the condition that there should be no past mistakes of earlier smashit products. He is exactly following the path where he is not committing past errors. Complete authority and move by taking everyone with him in consumer market (content, sellers) for his product rather than alienating them previously in Macintosh. Also, you can say he wasnt in apple when company failed.

IT WONT BE SURPRISING SOME DAY WE MAY SEE A SEARCH FEATURE FROM APPLE IN IPOD. WILL HE PARTNER OR WILL HE DEVELOP IN HOUSE? THATS WHY HE IS TECHNICAL MARKETING GENIUS AS YOU CANT PREDICT.

SO WHAT IS YOUR MOOD TODAY (COMIC, THRILLER, SERIOUS). I'LL PROVIDE YOU OPTIONS FROM DIFFERENT NETWORKS. PICK AND CHOOSE.

Will write my thoughts more later.

- Dhiraj

Predict technology business trends: Socialism and Capitalism, Apple and Dell's DNA difference

Predict technology business trends: Socialism and Capitalism, Apple and Dell's DNA difference

Saturday, May 06, 2006

RESPECT YOURS & OTHERS THOUGHTS EQUALLY

I, Dhiraj Sehgal, today start my blog and give away to my traditional method of writing on papers, diaries, back of bills. It is start of assembling my thoughts at one place.

What has made me always uncomfortable about blogging is sharing my thoughts, motivation and discussion with everyone. I have always welcomed criticism but wary of people who like endless argument without respecting other person's belief, ideas and thoughts.

RESPECT THOUGHTS IDEAS
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There are various types of people in the world who have different opinions. Everyone including me want to be respected for my living, beliefs, view and opinion.
" To be respected you have to respect" and thats makes the process unfold for everyone's growth.