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« May 2008 | Main | July 2008 » June 17, 2008 Rara es la semana en que no tenemos noticias de la Comisaria Reding. Cuando no amenaza con regular las tarifas móviles en Europa es porque propone una especie de CMT global, o porque anda ocupada en explicar algo extrañísimo sobre que puede que pronto paguemos por recibir llamadas en los teléfonos móviles. Pero resulta que, yendo por orden, lo primero sería más que discutible, lo segundo se lo rechazaron los ministros del ramo de forma unánime, y que con relación a lo tercero, llevamos pagando por recibir llamadas desde tiempo inmemorial, aunque lo llamemos "cuota de abono". Y mientras la Comisaria ejerce su derecho a innovar, las facturas de los móviles crecen sin parar, guardando poca o ninguna relación con los costes de explotación del servicio, mientras que la telefonía fija cada vez da más capacidad y sale más barata a los ciudadanos. Paradojas de la vida, sin duda. 
June 13, 2008
This is our group at Google's HQ. I just wanted to share with you this picture (thanks Pablo for sharing this with us), because I think it reflects part of the spirit of the experience. Fun, excitement, openness, curiosity... we were just happy, to be there and to have the opportunity to ask and receive answers. What in many places would have been a polite and empty answer, here was an honest point of view, personal, close to the ground and the reality of each company. I was reading the reports that the students prepared based on their experience during this week, and wanted to share some of the ideas with you. They have somewhat been here in the comments I have been doing these weeks. But the fact that I see them coming from the group and sort of emerging from different points of view and even radically different approaches to the experiences... well, reinforces the idea: something interesting is going on in this companies, besides success, which is the easy and fast answer. As always looking at companies that have been successful during a while (EA or Cisco), and comparing them with others like Google or even Linden, is not easy. Different metrics, different approach to people and to the definition of success. But there is something special in how these successful people approach their careers, and the opportunities they see around them. A different approach to risk, a strong financial market and a history of success that sort of infuses or coats every deal, every idea. Those reasons are at the center of what one can see. Of course failure, extremely long hours and people driven to make the American dream a reality are also there. But the key is that you are allowed to fail and try again. Sort of business as usual. But the main lesson is that people is the key asset. And you need to not only talk, but also do the walking. Those companies that invest in freedom, collaboration, and shared decision process will have something to say. It's just a matter of time. I don't think is a fad. They tolerate/create/foster a special passion that leads to strong commitment, innovation, results. Just the opposite that many have done -successfully- during the years. Will see what happens. At least from what we see in this small place on earth, there are alternative ways to make success happen.
June 11, 2008 Esa es más o menos la traducción del último ensayo de Nicholas Carr sobre tecnología y sociedad. El tema central es la evolución que se está produciendo en nuestra forma de pensar por la tremenda cantidad de información disponible de forma inmediata a través de internet y su impacto en cuánto y sobre todo cómo leemos y nos relacionamos con el conocimiento. Seguro que os ha pasado: un post muy largo, un artículo de más de unos párrafos... un libro denso se convierten en retos difíciles de superar. Leemos a toda velocidad y sin prestar atención, como cuando tenemos que hacer un trabajo y buscamos en un libro o estudio un gráfico que nos guste, una idea, sin prestar atención al resto. Lo interesante / preocupante del efecto es que está cambiando por completo la forma que tenemos de comunicarnos y sobre todo de relacionarnos con el conocimiento. Y para las generaciones más jovenes es todavía más extremo, al menos segun dicen las encuestas y las poco científicas observaciones que cada uno hacemos con nuestras familias y amigos. Se está construyendo una sociedad de comunicación instantánea, mejor si es audiovisual, y de poca reflexión. No se si es bueno o malo, pero es la realidad, y si uno lo mira desde el punto de vista por ejemplo de una escuela de negocios el impacto puede ser importante: pensemos por ejemplo en el método del caso tradicional, con casos de 20 páginas para leer... seguramente los textos más largos que algunos alumnos habrán leído en mucho tiempo (perdón por la exageración). En todo caso está claro que hay que construir la comunicación de forma distinta, a todos los niveles. Volviendo al artículo, Carr hace un breve recorrido por los cambios en la forma de transmisión de conocimiento que hemos atravesado, desde el lenguaje oral a la imprenta. En todas las épocas de cambio ha habido críticas centradas en la pérdida de conocimiento. Y sin embargo cada uno de estos cambios ha originado un salto cualitativo en la historia humana, a nivel científico y cultural. Supongo que estamos en medio de uno de esos saltos, pero el vértigo de los que conocemos la fase anterior es poco menos que inevitable. ¿Pesimismo o realidad?
June 10, 2008 Durante la tarde de ayer, y con la presencia de Alberto Mazagatos, Director de Strategic Development para la región del Mediterraneo todo el grupo del Master de Telecom y Digital Business nos fuimos a la sede de Madrid de Cisco para continuar las conversaciones que habíamos iniciado en San Jose hace unas semanas. La idea de la visita era intentar entender un poco mejor la relación que tienen los proveedores como Cisco con grandes corporaciones no solo desde el punto de vista de proporcionar el hardware, sino también hablar de soluciones y de cómo financiarlas. Gracias a las soluciones de Telepresencia que poseen en la mayoría de sus oficinas pudimos mantener una conversación a tres bandas con una persona del equipo de Capital Finance, encargado de ayudar a las empresas a gestionar de forma eficiente la adquisición y financiación de equipamiento de Cisco. Lo interesante del tema es la función casi de consultoría que realizan para que sus clientes puedan encontrar formas alternativas de adquisición (renting, leasing...) de sus productos. Gracias a Rafael Chacón, que estuvo con nosotros en Madrid, y a Stuart Hall desde Londres, ambos pertenecientes al equipo de Capital Finance. Previamente Donald Witte, Director de TI para la región del Mediterráneo, nos había ayudado a entender cómo Cisco intenta aprender de los límites de la tecnología que postula utilizándola para su propia organización. No hay que olvidar que se trata de una multinacional de casi 70.000 empleados, así que hay mucho trabajo por hacer en colaboración, gestión de la innovación, gestión del talento... todo orientado a la línea que defienden de la Human Network. Un experimento muy interesante y que parece que, al menos por los resultados financieros que mantiene la empresa, está dando un resultado excelente. Finalmente tuvimos la oportunidad de charlar con Pablo Giraldez, Director de Recursos Humanos para España, sobre las políticas que les han hecho acreedores del primer puesto en la competición de la mejor empresa para trabajar en España (justo el primer año en que se presentaban al título, no está nada mal). Colaboración y dialogo, y una orientación total a resultados y a libertad personal. Una combinación difícil para aquellos que no tengan un carácter fuerte y una motivación intrínseca muy alta... o al menos un lugar complicado para esconderse. En resumen, una empresa interesante por su acercamiento al talento, a la gestión totalmente orientada a los resultados y por la libertad que intentan transmitir.
June 06, 2008 As thursday came to an end, we were on the road again (:-)) towards San Francisco, after an exciting morning in Cisco. But not to our hotel, we were headed to Linden Lab headquarters, to visit Claudia L'Amoreaux, who helped with our different initiatives in Second Life, and Chris Collins, in charge of Business Development for the company. As you might expect the company has a great feeling to the people working there, the organization and flexibility, the stuff going on there... everything creative, fast, changing... we met Claudia and Chris in a very open discussion about their future, how they face the new situation of second life for the press, I mean, after being the new big thing las year today everybody wants to bury them... The first answer from Chris was "we are already profitable", and growing from there... So basically the exploration today is what should have been from the beginning: companies trying to understand what they can do in this environment that ADDS VALUE to the experience of their clients. Not being there for the sake of it. A great experience also in terms of how they organize themselves: from an application were you post a "thank you note" to some coworker that has helped you with something, to a democratic approach to decision making... A very interesting approach to organizational innovation, which also fits a visionary group that started to talk about virtual worlds almost ten years ago. This was the final activity of our trip. We went back to the hotel for a wrap-up session, to analyze what we had learned those days and to share our vision of what is the secret sauce for all this innovation that happens in this corner of the world. Again, as almost every time I face this question, people and freedom were at the center of the equation.
June 05, 2008 Our last day in our Silicon Valley Tour 08 started at Ciscois EBC in San Jose. It was a packed agenda, with two tracks organized by Alberto Mazagatos, former CEO of Cisco in Spain and now in Strategic Development for the Mediterranean Region. The day was designed to help the group understand how a clear leader in an industry like Cisco pushes for the next level, to keep innovation and growth at the center of their strategy and, more importantly, at the center of the efforts undertaken by its employees. The first thing to notice when you are there is that high level meetings and demonstrations are at the core of the activity of Cisco. The EBC was a great display of technologies, even with administrative staff serving several positions thanks to telepresence. There was also a feeling of success that was somehow around in anything you could see there.
The two tracks where managed by Alberto and Noni Alwood. The first one was oriented towards understanding the position of Cisco in the telecom and media industries, the link between marketing, strategy and a deep understanding of industry trends, and challenges. The second one was centered around the need to manage IT in a different way, more integrated and with a global vision of its role for different industries. We also had the opportunity to visit the solutions center that presents some of Cisco's technologies in context (a retail shop, a business office, a home, a hotel...), which gives you a grasp of how detailed the vision for a specific set of technologies can be articulated. The connection research- our daily lives- products and services was obvious during all our time spent there, and the degree of connection with the reality of corporations, institutions and even professionals working for Ciscso and its partners was really high. Great approach and, again, pride and success all over the place. Thanks again to Alberto Mazagatos for this great opportunity.
June 04, 2008 Our last conference for Wednesday was Michele Libraro, with a long history of success in the industry, he now runs Global Startups, a VC firm in the Valley specialized in telecommunications and technology (he was a top executive at Cisco before). Thanks Michele as always for your help (we were a bit late with traffic from Santa Clara...). He did a great job explaining the basics of the activity and steps for getting funds in the area, and how the relationship financial markets - innovation - startup works. It seems like such a natural process for the area, and so difficult for other countries like Spain. The amount of money, the type of projects, its ambition... the size of everything is just different to the average project you will see in so many places. And it just works. There is something in the approach to risk and failure, and the amount of people -good, very good and skilled people- and ideas that move around that money and some support from the legal system is what you need to close the virtuous circle. In this space the role of VC's is, as I understand it, sort of professionalizing the life cycle of companies and helping them move faster to the place where you get the money and go to the next one. Many efforts will fail in the process. But that is sort of part of the game. And the final goal is to cash out, something that might be odd for the concept of entrepreneur that at least I see around in Europe. Thus comes the serial entrepreneur as a key role in the development of areas like Silicon Valley. Starting again and again is just a way of life.
June 03, 2008 Wednesday afternoon, after our time in Electronic Arts with the Sims team, we moved to Sun EBC in Menlo Park, where we had the opportunity to meet Brian Moriarty, VP of Corporate Development & Alliances and Rick Moss, Senior Director of Corporate Development (they are the ones in the photo). We spent some time talking about the strategies of growth and innovation of Sun, especially in the open source arena. The balance of internal research and external acquisitions was also an issue to discuss. Although they have gone through difficult times, you could see that they have a clear orientation towards creating their own space in the relationship hardware-open software. Will be very interesting to see how it plays out. After this interesting talk we moved to Santa Clara to visit Sun's ECO Data Center. It was great to see imagination, invention and innovation (the one that brings benefits to a company, in this case huge savings), play along in a way that was intended to reduce pollution, consumption of electricity and costs, and that is (at least in my opinion) going to bring revenues and new ideas to Sun. The reasons and description of the project, how it was developed with the intervention of all the stakeholders and oriented to experimentation… how it is bringing new and revolutionary ideas on how to reduce electricity costs or ventilation efforts… all in all a great example of invention then innovation.
June 02, 2008 Una de las cosas que me llamaron la atención de Firefox fue su capacidad de añadir complementos para el navegador. Y uno de los que se han quedado a vivir conmigo es el de Accuweather. Me he acostumbrado a ver cambiar el icono del tiempo en la barra de estado, y me siento extraño cuando no lo tengo activo en el navegador. Como dice el refrán, "algo tendrá el agua cuando la bendicen". Si no, no se entiende que en todos los medios de comunicación haya siempre un espacio dedicado a la meteorología. Otra cosa es que Internet da opciones para contrastar de modo rápido una multiplicidad de opiniones, y que a poco experto que se sea, uno siempre echa un vistazo a un par de fuentes de información. En mi caso, casi siempre son la de Accuweather (que para eso lo tengo activo en el navegador), y www.inm.es (ya sé que ahora el nombre es más complicado, pero me resulta más sencillo teclear el antiguo acrónimo). Ambos lugares utilizan una combinación de modelos de predicción matemáticos junto con el análisis de imágenes captadas por satélites geoestacionarios dedicados a la meteorología. Y si se consultan de modo único, producen una sensación de cientifismo maravillosamente tranquilizadora para quienes los usamos. En su sofisticación, son capaces de anticiparnos hasta dos semanas de predicción, con unos coeficientes de probabilidad asociados, por no mencionar que la predicción "a corto" la llegan a dar para cada hora del día. Eso sí, la sensación de estar accediendo a un nivel de conocimiento superior al del antiguo Mariano Medina dura sólo hasta que uno consulta la siguiente fuente. Porque casi a diario nos encontramos con que las opiniones de cada una de las fuentes son por completo diferentes. Es decir, que al igual que pasaba con el tiempo en su versión 1.0 dependemos de la suerte para ver si hemos salido a la calle con el abrigo en un día de sol, o si nos vamos a poner chorreando vestidos de manga corta. Como dijo el sabio, hay que cambiarlo todo para que todo siga igual.
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