What a weekend

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

Unlike the rest of the United States, I have learned that Summer arrives in Seattle somewhere around July 4th.  This is especially odd to someone who always looked forward to Memorial Day as the official start of Summer with increasingly warm days starting in April.  That is the South…not the Northwest.

That said, the past couple days have been phenomenal out here.  I started on Thursday meeting a good friend at a really cool place over on Mercer Island – the Roanoke Inn.  It is one of those classic gems that, in this case, traces it history back to when ferry service ran from Mercer Island.  Outdoor seating and a good beer selection make this place worth a visit.

Warm weather makes Kirkland come alive with folks strolling through town, hanging out down by the lake, and no shortage of sun worshipers come out of the woodwork and descend upon the handful of lake front parks. 

I’m flying solo this weekend with the little one and we had a great day yesterday with a couple trips down through town.  First a morning jaunt that took us to Caffe Ladro and then to the lake to watch the boats followed by a later (and much warmer) afternoon run down to Carillon Point and back.

Unfortunately, I think it is just a glimpse of what is to come as true "Summer" is still a ways off for us.

Failure to e-volve

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This is a great post by Chris Wand over at Foundry Group about email and its painfully slow, even nonexistent evolution since it burst on the scene and has since become THE corporate communications and collaboration tool.  I agree and echo most of these points and this is a pretty succinct summary of both the obstacles as well as some of the innovation going on to address it.  About a year ago, I posted some thoughts on email being the original and ranking social network.

"…the email infrastructure is now being used for more than just
email—it’s a collaboration tool, a document exchange mechanism, and
even a de facto file storage system (to many this is a huge problem in
itself). Email is the core, and without doubt knowledge workers need a
new generation of tools to manage it effectively and get the most out
of it."

However, email is just part of the equation.  What’s missing here (I believe) is a broader discussion of how we engage, communicate, and share beyond email.  No doubt email is the common denominator that we all return and the "core" of what defines our day’s activities in the workplace but what about webex presentations, time spent in tools like salesforce, blog posts and comments, phone calls, IM exchanges, text messages, etc.? (see post below on hyperconnectivity).

Hyperconnectivity

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New study out from IDC points to something many of us know well – we are connected via an increasing number of devices and applications to communicate, learn, and collaborate.  Interestingly China and the US are at the top of the hyperconnected stack.  Building on a theme for today, I am sure China will continue to surge ahead as its population gains greater and greater access.  A couple of interesting quotes:

"Almost two in 10 workers in 17 industrialized countries use a minimum of seven devices for work and personal access to communication networks."

"People in this category also use at least nine applications, such as instant messaging, text messaging, Web conferencing, and social networks, analysts found."

Sage advice from Jim Rogers

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I finished reading "A Bull in China" by Jim Rogers as I traveled a bit the past couple weeks (also my excuse for more slow posting).  I enjoy Rogers’ perspective and as stated previously have read his books and appreciate his commentary.

The book is a good read and covers a lot of ground in 200 pages including profiles of Chinese companies in various sectors.

I am still trying to find the actual excerpt that both struck me and sums up Rogers’ current investment thesis.  In the meantime, here is my recollection:

1. Buy commodities
2. Invest in Chinese stocks
3. Get out of the US dollar

Or something to that effect.  My national pride and general optimism about the US keeps me from abandoning the dollar, but there are ways to play all of these angles even for a hobbyist investor such as myself including DJP for commodities, FXI for Chinese stocks, and even a couple of new funds from Wisdomtree/Dreyfus that act as foreign currency money markets (CYB is the one for the Chinese Yuan).  These are new like just listed this week new and as on-line financial voice and portfolio manager "Random" Roger Nusbaum points out, give them some time before jumping in.

Disclosure:  I have owned DJP since reading Jim Rogers’ last book Hot Commodities. 

Hiatus

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Apologies for the shortage of new posts.  Have been busy with some travel, a great visit from my parents, and in a general writing rut. Back on-line and will resume posting shortly.

Don’t overlook the data on your way to SaaSland

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Interesting post from VentureBeat that includes an audio interview with Gordon Ritter of Emergence Capital on the future of SaaS.  Emergence has solidified its position at the center of the SaaS universe with an exclusive focus on this model of software delivery.

Gordon speaks about the importance of data going forward and the unique perspective SaaS companies have to provide not just software services but information services.  Not just being a steward of the data but helping customers understand usage, patterns, and insights from HOW they use the software tools.  A basic (and early) example is how Salesforce currently does this with periodic emails on my usage of their product. 

The opportunity is for software companies to help their customers understand how to better use their products (ie, get more value) as well as learn in about as real-time way as possible what customers/prospects want and need.

A company I like – Leucadia National (LUK)

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It is clear that I am not one to dole out stock recommendations (reference my call on Bear Stearns) but I did want to serve up a company worthy of your review if you are so inclined.  I read an article about Leucadia National (LUK) many years ago and was intrigued for several reasons.  First and foremost, the story of Ian Cumming and Joseph Steinberg and how they have taken a distressed company and over the past 30 some odd years built an enormous amount of shareholder value by making (mostly) smart investments is a fascinating story.

Leucadia is sometimes called the "next Berkshire Hathaway."  Let’s be clear – the "next" of anything rarely pans out so don’t be lured by the promise of finding the next Warren Buffet.  Do, however, check out Leucadia and the really entertaining (and informative) annual letter to shareholders here.  The website is not flashy but this company owns some really interesting things from iron ore mining in Australia to Pine Ridge Winery (one of my favorites) to a recent investment in investment bank Jefferies.  I have owned it for a while and enjoy learning a thing or two from the smart folks leading the company.