Google jumps the shark

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

I like to poke a bit of fun at the Google gang here as it comes with the territory when you become the dominant player in so many things.  That said, I use lots of Google services from email to RSS to finance and would even (don't tell them) consider paying for it at some point should that buy me out of their ad driven world.  A topic for another day…

The point of this post is as follows: 

Google stock is experiencing what most stocks are experiencing these days – a steep decline.  Combine that with the fact that they are an "aging" technology company now at the grand old age of ten and the stage is set. 

Seeing this ridiculous feature now available for Gmail convinced me that they had indeed jumped the shark.  It's not April so it can't be a joke unless they paid to have the date moved.  Do some math before you send a late night email you might regret.  For real?

To me it looks like too many people working on too many things that just don't matter which led to this example of software development run amok.  My guess is that cuts are coming to more than just the free food budget and I hope that all that work to build out Googleplex North up the street from me here in Kirkland works out.  Otherwise there is some mighty nice new office space going to be available in short order.

Showing its age and aspirations, Google promotes Gartner MQ placement

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I was perusing the various RSS feeds I work to scan everyday and this one from the Google enterprise blog caught my attention.  It is about Google being recognized as a "leader" by Gartner in their recent Email Security Boundary Magic Quadrant.  This is the product line from the Postini acquisition.

It struck me as a true sign of vying to be an established enterprise technology player when you tout recognition as a market leader by an analyst firm like Gartner Group.  Ten years into its life, Google shows us that it is not immune from having to play by the rules of the enterprise technology landscape. 

Update on the Seattle metro economy

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

We spent today running a few errands and happened to drop into REI in Redmond during their big sale.  We are shopping for dual strollers as we await the newest member of our family to join us and needed to go kick the tires on a few models.  Yes, that is where I am in my life and, yes, I am ok with it.

Judging by the cars in the parking lot, people in the store buying necessary "gear," and overall level of shopping going on, there is no visible slowdown out here among what David Brooks so accurately labels as 'Bobos' (read Bobos in Paradise for full explanation).  Guess I have guilt by association.

We wrapped our day at Red Robin which is a wonderful combination of family friendly, good burgers, and sports bar atmosphere.  Something for everyone and a fitting end to our outing. 

How a hedge fund tells its investors bad news

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

Ok, so this letter isn't nearly as uncomfortable to read as the one that has to go out to those who lost $2 billion when Texas Pacific Group led an investment in now JP Morgan assimilated Washington Mutual but it is still a good read.  Here's the NYTimes DealBook story on it.

It is a letter to shareholders in the TPG-Axon fund covering recent market "activity."

So for 2% mgmt fee plus 20% of any profit, how'd we do?  It can all be summed up in one word, according to fund manager Dinakar Singh – "abysmal."  Here's an article covering the launch of the fund a short four years ago with much fanfare and hype.

Mr. Market takes no prisoners and no matter how smart you are, how much data you have, or how confident you are in you abilities, he will get the best of you.  Just ask Mr. Singh.

Where are the opportunities according to Mr. Singh going forward?  Distressed mortgages, Chinese stocks and transportation. 

Are hedge funds good investments?  Well, think about the word "hedge" for a minute.  If it were a true "hedge" then wouldn't it have protected these investors against recent market craziness?

No thanks, I'll stick to index funds

10 Things That Will Change

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

Kiplinger's Personal Finance
is the only print magazine I subscribe to because I like the absence of
"get rich" stories featured in other money pubs and the focus on
personal investments.  It's not expensive and reading it will do
wonders for your financial security. 

This is a great list of items from them on what we can expect the regulatory and financial climate to look like going forward.  As the article points out, most of this will be familiar as everything old is new again.

"In reality, the change isn't to a new environment. It's a return to
traditional norms of the past, before cheap money inflated asset
values, undermined lending standards and encouraged excess risk. It's
bitter medicine, but it's necessary."


Amen.

My worlds collide at 35,000 feet

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

Today was a bit surreal for me.  Not only did we have a crazy day on the financial markets as well as in the US Congress, but this all came together for me as I was in an airplane. 

Kind of a weird collision of CSPAN and CNBC occurring as I watched the events of the day live via Direct TV on the screen in the seat in front of me while listening to the audio with my iPod earphones.  I believe it is a historic moment when the floor of the NYSE is focused on the outcome of a US House of Representatives' vote and CNBC is bringing both to me via split screen.  I did a bit of digging to see if I could find a screen shot of this around and whether this was the first time the vote feed was featured on the business network, but was unsuccessful in my search however I did come up with this:

House Bailout Vote

I'm not sure where things are headed from here other than that we all need to calm down a bit and understand that this is a serious time but not the end of times. 

The drama of the day was enough to leave your head spinning but as I sat there being shuttled to my destination watching the markets mostly fall…and fall a bit further as the vote tally was totaled, I couldn't help but think how absurd it was that Wall Street had pinned its hopes on Congress and how counter this is to who we are as a country.

Knowing how to win

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

I found myself using this phrase today and thought it was a good point to share.  Simply put "knowing how to win" is an essential character trait of the people you should surround yourself with regardless of what you are working on – start up, product launch, neighborhood picnic, etc. 

People can make or break a venture and surrounding yourself with those that either don't know how to win or are unable to do what it takes to win is the death knell.  Playing to tie or having people that just want to stand on the sidelines and tell you why things won't work can kill your company or project and they should be shown the door quickly. 

Reality check

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

Read this today via Valleywag and it struck me as both sad and absurd at the same time.  Google is finding out that providing free food has become a source of abuse, excessive cost, and distraction.  What a surprise.  Here's a dandy quote from the post:

Some Googlers, we've heard, treated their families to free dinner every night; others took large amounts of food home with them on Friday nights, to last the weekend.

Company provided meals/snacks/beverages are a courtesy not an entitlement.  I am a fan of providing food for meetings, launches, peak work periods or other special occasions but it is not the company's responsibility to feed you, your family, your friends, or anyone else that suits your whim.