Thoughts on Technology, Apple and M&A
The Warrior! In the last BGT in Australia, Siraj took 20-wickets. No one celebrates this; we think he flopped. He returned from that tour doubting himself. He couldn’t take wickets and his radar seemed broken => batters were feasting on him down the leg-side. His IPL was good not great (16-wickets, 15-games, #13 overall). He couldn’t recognize the man in the mirror. Was Siraj cooked? Cooked or…
Welcome to everyone working from home who wants to reuse their old iPhone (iPhone 6 owners like me) as a webcam vs. buying a USB camera that needs a USB-A port that my MacBook Air/Pro just doesn't have (even with a dongle, these are premium ports). Here's how I set myself up (all product links are direct, not affiliate): 1. Bought a gooseneck webcam mount from Amazon . Only paid item here: $9.49…
Likeable people are both charismatic and memorable. They also happen to be highly successful. But, being likeable is difficult. You want to be seen as an agile decision maker, someone with a clear point of view even in contentious situations, someone who is not a "pushover" or too keen to please, and someone who can debate the merits of their proposal. How do you accomplish these objectives while…
In response to Spectre and Meltdown , Microsoft released a January Security Update for vulnerable machines. Unfortunately , they didn't get all the details right . Microsoft points a finger at AMD for the screw-up: “After investigating, Microsoft has determined that some AMD chipsets do not conform to the documentation previously provided to Microsoft to develop the Windows operating system…
tl;dr : The X is great hardware, but iOS 11 is a kludgey mess that is holding the platform back. A month in, I am strapped in for the ride. Don’t upgrade if you, a) have a 7-Plus or Samsung Galaxy 8; or b) wear Ray-Ban Aviators because FaceID won’t work. Score : 9/10. A month ago, November 3 2017 to be precise, I drove to the Apple Store at One Infinite Loop to get my first ever pre-ordered…
Great piece on QZ on how Walmart is working to reduce the income inequality gap: read more here . The author starts with the fact that income inequality is the greatest in the USA among developed world countries. While most politicians are speaking about either taxing the rich or the government raising the minimum wage and increasing funding to welfare programs. There is a third way, one I have…
tl; dr : As an M&A Integration Leader, you will have to make the hard decision to lay some acquired employees off. Layoffs hit where it hurts most, people's self esteem. If you must, be deliberate with employee analysis and organizational fit, own the message, relay it with empathy, and push for an exit package that allows impacted employees to land on their feet. As children, our immediate family…
McKinsey Research recently published their findings from a survey on M&A leading practices. If you are either an M&A integration leader, aspire to run an M&A IMO, or lead the commercial function for an acquisition, I highly recommend that you read the article until you have internalized the details. The writing is crisp and the findings align very closely with considerations that I have found are…
Our intrepid leader, Mr. Donald Trump, is as wise as a concrete block. He barely reads, doesn't quite appreciate nuance in an argument, has a strong revisionist take on history, and gets his news from Cable TV. Therefore, I wasn't surprised when I read this piece on Steel tariffs being imposed by our President (emphasis, mine): As part of his “America First” principles, president Donald Trump and…
It's fast approaching the manic time of the year again; the next iPhone is going to be announced soon! This, the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone's launch, is supposed to be a blockbuster year for the groundbreaking device, and rumor sites and technology blogs, twitter feeds, podcasts, etc. have been abuzz with iPhone chatter. @gruber started a controversy this past week (he opined that the…
Building and managing teams is equal parts challenging, rewarding and frustrating. It does get better with time and practice, and if you work at the skill, which it surely is, your maturity and depth will increase. A great book I have found to help me improve is, " FYI: For Your Improvement ". The practical advice in this book has helped me navigate new situations as a people manager. One of the…
God, give me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to understand the difference Today's US edition of Quartz has been spectacular. I happened upon this article on how to find peace given everything going on around us: Happiness through an understanding of what you can control . The author, a practitioner of Stoicism , writes this as his…
In the aftermath of James Comey, ex-FBI Director, a number of things are becoming clear about the management style of Donald Trump. We now have evidence, in sworn testimony, that confirms traits the press has been uncovering since the man became POTUS: manipulative, conniving, cowardly. I need to add another to this list: shrewd . This man uses the power of suggestion and "presuasion" to make his…
Update: The Verge did a great comparison of the "Smart" speaker marketplace earlier today. Here's what they found . Apple announced its Siri-based, smart, home speaker today. Dubbed the HomePod , the speaker is supposedly a marvel of engineering - acoustic prowess, AI chops and home automation - in a sleek package. This was supposed to a shot across the bow of Google Home and Amazon Echo. Alas, it…
Based on Apple’s Q1 revenue call and guidance for the rest of 2017, they are looking to India and China as their future growth engines. Unfortunately, the status quo is bleak: iPhone sales are down in China and they never really picked up in India. In my objective estimation, Apple’s forays in these markets needs an infusion of new ideas if they are to turn things around. The problems stem in the…
Update : Thanks to readers from HN and Microsoft; please continue the discussion on HN. To summarize this post, I challenge an intrepid, influential developer from Facebook, Google or Amazon to attempt to replicate their development workflow -- code, build, debug -- on Windows using native Linux tools, and post their findings. If Gabe's (from Penny Arcade) experience is anything to go by, the…
The last 10-days, bookended by Apple's "Hello Again" event and a truly successful Digital acquisition kickoff meeting, have flown by. Immediately post Apple's event, the Internet caught fire. The iPhone launch, specifically the removal of the headphone jack, had already incensed the Apple faithful. The MacBook Pro's launch fanned these flames and whipped everyone into a frenzy. The most vocal of…
Often times, there are real nuggets in the comments section of a story posted on HN . I have, like my cohort who read HN, started reading comments first to determine whether the article is worth reading. While this doesn't give the requisite traffic to the source website and ends up taking up a lot more time than if I read the article, folks chiming in on the discussion have amazed me with their…
Greg Koenig , the creator of Atomic Delights gave me goose bumps in his piece on Apple, Aluminium and whether the next iPhone will be all ceramic : At peak production, Apple is manufacturing roughly 1 million iPhones per day. More importantly, every single one of those phones is sculpted to 10 micron tolerances, from a single block of aluminum, as is every Mac, iPad, Watch and many of the…
Google and Amazon have consistently moved the needle forward when it comes to Cloud-based services. Apple, on the other hand, is a laggard; its services are plagued by outages and poor performance. Microsoft is an after-thought. There was a time when all providers charged for personal file storage -- some did it directly, others not so much. Here are starting options with pricing from the Big-4:…
All this time, I have been a staunch advocate of Yahoo vs. Google when it comes to privacy and security. The last month has shown me how shaky the ground is on which I stand vis-a-vis Yahoo. First there was news that data for 500-million Yahoo accounts was compromised : Yahoo has confirmed that a data breach from 2014 hit 500 million users, allowing hackers access to sensitive information,…
Gwynn Guilford and Annalisa Merelli writing for Quartz : Whatever his logic, we now know more about the Republican candidate’s vision for the country. “Law and order” will wield its power arbitrarily, accountable to neither fact nor law. In Trump’s America, people of color will be kept “safe” by police that are required to be suspicious of them—and they’ll no longer have the Constitution to…
The move to Oakland has been quite an adventure. It has been about a week since Puneet and I found our way to our slice of heaven in the Bay Area. The journey was long and circuitous, meandering through Hampton Boulevard in Norfolk to Brookside Way in University Place, and we lost and found a number of things along the way. New friendships were forged, relationships were mended, and cherished…
Us technology folks (fans, users, critics and developers) are living in a time when there is no dearth of tech news. As you would expect, Apple is covered in great depth and breadth by the Technology Press. As a shareholder and Apple device owner, the feverish (borderline fanatical) coverage of Apple minutiae is a blessing and a curse: Apple stock moves based on Tech press sentiment as opposed to…