Inquirious

Blogging Inspiration: Horace Dediu

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:19:00 -0700

Horace Dediu

If the internet makes me smarter, it is people like Horace Dediu that help make the internet smarter.

Among other things, Horace Dediu is a blogger and financial analyst. I discovered his work in the spring or summer of 2010. He had been mentioned in a Fortune Online article as one of the top independent analysts critiquing Apple Inc.’s performance. As I followed him through the ensuing months and years, I realized that his ideas held much more value to me than just for determining whether to buy or sell shares of Apple stock.

His Work

He blogs at Asymco.com. His posts are the product of meticulous research, presented using well written prose and amazingly informative charts. He then follows those up with informative and constructive discussions with his readership. His twitter account is used to further refine thoughts and engage people in nimbler, shorter, conversations. He also has a regular podcast on the 5by5 network. Sometimes, he interviews people for their thoughts on disparate topics. Most other times, he has extemporaneous conversations with network host Dan Benjamin, a welcome contrast to his diligently prepared blog postings.

Using these techniques, he is able to let ideas grow and mature. Frequently, they develop into larger themes that are then fodder for later discussion. The corpus is a really rich environment that lets one think and learn how to think.

Asymco and the related work is the direct inspiration for this blog. Although I follow many bloggers, the results Horace Dediue achieves with his approach is what I aspire to with my writing.

You should follow him and his work:

Blog: Asymco
Twitter: Asymco
Podcast: The Critical Path

Pando Daily thinks Oracle is Doomed

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:36:00 -0800

Pando Daily thinks Oracle is Doomed:

Whether or not Oracle is doomed, the tech landscape is opening up for smaller, independent software companies and consultancies.

On "The Innovator's Dilemma"

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:11:00 -0800

Giants

By way of extended self-introduction, I plan on posting about those I consider positive influences. If I have seen any distance at all, it is by standing on the shoulders of these giants. This first post is about a book I consider essential reading. It is also about its author, whom I consider brilliant.

The Book

I read “The Innovator’s Dilemma” (by Clayton Christensen) towards the end of 2009. Although it was first published in 1997, it felt like a history of the ten years just passed. It has since helped me set a course for my career. I wish I had known of it earlier.

The book describes what happens to companies that encounter innovative technologies that disrupt their business model (“disruptive innovations”). Frequently, these innovations are expected, yet they are unable to take advantage of them or defeat them. The dilemma lies in the fact that embracing disruptive innovations usually means sacrificing existing revenue streams. Most companies are unwilling to do this. Furthermore, the core competencies that allow a company to efficiently execute their existing business models are unsuited to developing and exploiting the new. Those willing often find themselves unable.

Examples

In the book, studies of the steel and disk drive industries are used to describe the theory of disruptive innovation. The theory has since proven applicable to many more. In the past decade, companies like Kodak and Research in Motion have fallen prey while companies like Apple and Netflix have taken advantage.

Apple itself is a shining example of what one can achieve if cognizant of the theory. Steve Jobs was discovered to have been a fan of the book in his recently published biography.

I think that any businessman or entrepreneur owes it to herself to read this book. The knowledge that was once a significant advantage is today simply the price of entry. Those equipped with it will keep pace. They may get ahead. Those ignorant of it are destined to fall behind.

The Professor

Clayton Christensen is a professor at the Harvard Business School with many accolades. I follow him on Twitter to keep up with his updates. He wrote “The Innovator’s Solution” (which I am currently reading) as a sequel. He has also written a number of other books applying his ideas to specific industries. Watching a video of him presenting to the 2011 Gartner Symposium is one of the best hours I’ve ever spent staring at my computer.

I try to apply what I’ve learned from Professor Christensen in every way I can. My aspirations for building a business rely on his theories. At the same time, I have also been using his ideas to develop my career as a software developer and computer scientist.

If you are likewise a fan of his work, please keep in touch!

A Budgeting Crisis

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:26:00 -0800

The Story

This happened a long time ago.

I was trying to get out of the office. It was Christmas season, my first with my company. I was on my first big project, at our company’s biggest client. However, my project task list was pretty much cleared. I was ready to take a week or so of downtime before the new year began. I had just a little bit of work left cleaning up and testing a program before moving it into production. It was early afternoon mid-week and I was looking forward to an upcoming, long, relaxing weekend. That was when my manager came up to me. He had that look on his face. You know the look.

“Hey Anthony,” said my manager. (I’ll just call him Bob from now on.) “How’s your workload looking?” “Well,” I said. “I should get this into production by tomorrow, then I’m clear for the year.” I smiled at him. Aside from being my manager, Bob was also (and still is) one of the smartest guys I know. At the same time, I was a cocky kid looking to impress. I figured he would love that I was on top of things.

He acknowledged my feat of efficiency with a barely perceptible nod of the head. “That’s good, that’s good. Now, I just got out of a meeting with Andy.” (Andy - not his real name - was the client’s head of IT. He was the one who approved all expenses paid to my company. For all intents and purposes, he was our boss.) “It looks like we’re coming in under budget for the year.”

Under. Budget. Stop the presses folks. Not only was I getting all my work done ahead of schedule, our team was also coming in under budget. I was playing it cool, so I kept a stoic face. But inside, I was grinning ear-to-ear. Check me out! Good things happen when the new guy is around.

After a few seconds, I paused my internal celebrations and noticed that something was wrong. We were under budget, but he had said this like it was a problem. I didn’t understand, so I asked for an explanation. He began to explain certain facts about life in corporate America. It took me a long while (years, really) to digest the information and its ramifications.

“Here’s the problem,” Bob said. “When the budget committee prepares for next fiscal year, they are going to look at what IT spends this year. If the amount is less then expected, the committee will reduce their budget next year.” “A smaller budget,” he concluded, “is bad for Andy. We need to help him spend more.”

The lesson I learned:

A small budget is a sign of weakness. A big budget is a sign of importance. We needed to help Andy spend more so that he could maintain his importance. And so we did.

For my part, I started a couple of tasks early that had been originally scheduled for the next month. That way, the hours were billed to the current year instead of the next. I guess other folks did the same thing. In the end, it didn’t affect my holiday plans too much. I got out of the office on time that day.

The Unspoken Rule

Although nothing nefarious took place, it’s obvious that there was a conflict. It is generally in a company’s best interest to spend less money. It was in Andy’s interest to spend more. But he really couldn’t be blamed. This was the way the game was designed to be played. He played it well and was rewarded for it.

Protecting one’s position within the company is of primary importance. The company’s success is secondary.

It’s an unspoken rule and applies to more than just budgets and money. Everything, from the cc list on an email to the vendors selected for a project, can be influenced.

It was in force at most of my clients in varying degrees. I’ve worked with people who didn’t get it, and they suffered. Others figured it out, played the game, and prospered. Some knew of it and worked around it just to get their jobs done. Still others knew about it but couldn’t (or wouldn’t) take advantage.

As a consultant, I was usually shielded from its effects. I got used to having it around, but have never been comfortable with it.

Today, I’m enjoying working by myself. I work on my own projects without having to worry about these distractions. I may one day have to go back in there. But maybe I’ll be able to stick it out here alone (or maybe with a small team, if I happen to end up in one).

My Path to Now

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:29:00 -0800

I graduated from UC Irvine with a Computer Science degree over a dozen years ago. I then immediately joined an enterprise software consulting company.

The job was never exciting, but the people were fun and it paid well. Plus, I got to travel. For a while, I was too busy to think about anything else. Eventually, boredom took hold. I was tired of working with archaic, proprietary technology.

About five years ago, I looked up from my cube. I realized that Web 2.0 was in full bloom. I started spending time playing with tech I found online. A couple of years later, Apple released the iOS SDK. Things got even more interesting. I was still working the same job, but I was picking up new skills. I was having fun again.

By last year, I was financially and technically ready. I set a new course. I completed my last client commitment and dedicated my time to my projects.

Today, I’m working on an app. I also have ideas about a web service. That’s all I’ll say about my plans until I ship.

Hello World

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Another year, another blog. I’m keeping things on point:

Code - Objective-C, Python, Javascript, and whatever else I might pick up along the way.
Tech and Work - thoughts on how changes taking place today (mobile devices, cloud technology, etc.) are affecting me as a tech worker.
Projects - progress on my startup and mobile app projects.

These are the topics that interest me. My objective is to learn as much as possible about them via my writing. I’ll be asking questions and exploring facts as opposed to voicing opinions, hence the blog name. Hopefully, I’ll meet other people with the same interests along the way.

If nothing else, I think this is the nicest header design I’ve come up with so far.