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Welcome to the Mesh

Brad Feld recently mentioned in a post Microsoft's new product called, "Live Mesh".  I thought it looked interesting enough to sign up for the private beta, and just in time for the weekend, my invitation arrived to try it out.  If you are currently using Foldershare from Microsoft as a way to sync folders easily across multiple computers, you're going to want to try out the mesh.  In addition to syncing folders, you can also do remote desktop sharing.

I just used it and saved enough time to write this post.  :-)  I was trying to find a website that I looked at this morning at home, but I had not saved the URL.  (All of my Favorite URLs are synced between my machines, including the FJ Car Computer using Foldershare, so if I had saved the URL I would have had it at work this morning.)  Then I remembered the mesh - I clicked on the little blue icon    and was able to connect to my home machine in seconds.  I'm at work, but it is as if I'm sitting at my machine at home.  The web browser was still sitting there on the page where I left it this morning.  I got what I needed and then saved the page to my Favorites.  Before I could log off, Foldershare had synced that new Favorite to all four of my machines - two at home, and two at work.  With the Mesh, I should be able to do the same thing.  Also there is "storage in the cloud" so I can have a bunch of disk space that is accessible from any web browser, even if none of my machines are running.

The Mesh is being called a platform, and this is just the demo app according to the team blog that I read.  They already are saying they will sync to Apple and to mobile devices in the near future, but they talk about a lot more.  Should be interesting.  At the very least, I'll be able to move everything from Foldershare and have remote login capability.  When the car computer goes back into the FJ, I'll be able to work on it from anywhere without having to sit in the garage with a little keyboard on my lap.  That alone is worth the upgrade.

Continue reading "Welcome to the Mesh"

Strategic Thinking Simplified

The last time I posted an article by my friend Todd Ordal, he didn't have an RSS feed.  Now he does, so if you'd like to subscribe, here is the feed:  http://community.icontact.com/p/appliedstrategy

I particularly liked his latest post, which he's given me permission to reproduce here.  You can also read more from Todd at http://www.appliedstrategy.info

Strategic Thinking Simplified - By Todd Ordal

I snuck out for a mid-week ski day late in the season this year. It is a luxury to ski during the week because the crowds are minimal. I also enjoy skiing by myself on occasion as I can quickly cover a lot of ground and there is no debate about which part of the mountain to ski on.

 

After lunch I rode a lift with a middle-aged couple who looked like they were out-of-towners on vacation. (Those of you who ski a lot understand ‘the look”.) I asked them where they were from and they responded “the Detroit area”. As I had taken many business trips to Detroit, we had something to talk about.

Because much of the workforce in Michigan is part of the auto industry, I asked the gentleman if he was employed in the car business. “No”, he replied, “I was for about 20 years but now I have a construction business remodeling homes”. As I asked him a few more questions, it occurred to me that this guy—with no apparent formal business education—was a great strategic thinker.

When I asked how and why he made the transition, he said, “Well it was pretty clear to me that we were heading downhill fast. The Japanese were doing a better job with quality and building cars a whole lot cheaper. Most folks just dug in and put their heads in the sand. I didn’t see this changing so thought that I better change.” In strategic thinking terms, he had clearly identified current reality, thought about the future business environment and realized that a different strategy would be necessary for him to succeed.

I asked how he had picked home remodeling and he responded from a perspective of core competency and industry attractiveness. Those are my words; his were, “I liked building things and worked with tools in the car business, so I thought; where else could I use those skills? Homebuilding seemed the most logical choice, but I didn’t want to be on the hook financially for a large project and have all of my eggs in one basket. I’d rather have several smaller projects going at once.” In strategic terms, he thought about his funding requirements, cash flow needs and the issue of customer concentration.

He went on to say that he worked primarily on high end homes with a niche for kitchens. He liked kitchens because he noted that when socializing, everyone always ends up in the kitchen. “This looks great! Who did the work?”, they ask. More good thinking—specific customer attributes (wealthy—which allowed him to use good materials and hire good subcontractors), branding (a niche in kitchens), and a referral-based marketing plan.

So here is a blue collar guy who clearly understood the key elements of strategic thinking. He thought about the future, identified current reality, thought about his core competencies and used them to connect the dots.

Darn; this guy was smart! “So, how is it going?” I asked. “Pretty good” he said. “We’re out here in Colorado looking at different ski areas for a second home”. I think that next ski season; I’ll get out more during the week…

It's lonely at the top! Todd Ordal serves as a thought-partner to CEOs and other business leaders who are challenged to identify and manage strategy. You can contact Todd at todd@appliedstrategy.info or call 303-527-0417.

  _____ 

You can also subscribe to an email distribution of Todd’s writing.  I get a fair number of email blasts, but I’ve found that I always read Todd’s no matter how many emails are sitting in my inbox.   Todd, thanks again for letting me republish one of your articles.  Speaking of the auto industry, it was nice to see that Ford has turned a profit again.  I wonder how much their Sync initiative has contributed to the turnaround?  It certainly shows to me that they get that customers want more than just reliable transportation.  -- Terry

Computer versus human

I think I tend to take my brain for granted.  And I don't really mean my brain in particular, but brains in general. 

My business develops speech recognition applications.  We're not the speech scientists figuring out how to recognize sounds as words, but we take their engines and then build applications on top of them.  Given a limited domain, we can build applications that really do an amazing job of interpreting what a person is saying.  When you encounter a "bad" application, it's usually the result of a designer who's tried to push the technology too far, hasn't given enough consideration to what we call "human factors" or they haven't done a good enough job integrating the speech recognition with the back end systems that retrieve whatever information you are looking for at the moment.

My big sister sent me an email that had the following passage in it, and it reminded me just how amazing our brains are at pattern matching.  I guess software could be written that would be able to interpret the text accurately (it almost makes me want to go download Visual Studio and take a shot at it) but to think that our brains can do this without much effort is pretty cool.  I believe we're still a long way away from a computer being as "smart" as a human.

Can you read this?

I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty  uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig  to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in what oredr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the first and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed this psas it on  !!

Now sometimes this pattern matching ability gets us in trouble.  In the same email was this little test . . .

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...

Now go back and count how many times the letter 'F' appears.  (Go on, I'll wait for you to count.)

The answer is six.  I'm sure I've seen this before, but it still took a couple of tries to get it right, thanks I imagine to the amazing pattern matcher in my brain.

Mark Twain quote

I received an email today with this quote in the signature:

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.

-- Mark Twain

I like it!

Flying, Rocks and Entrepreneurs

A new friend of mine, Todd Ordal, sent me the story below.  He doesn't have an RSS feed yet, so he's given me permission to publish it here.  Check out his website at www.appliedstrategy.info for more.

Todd knows that I'm an aviation enthusiast, and while I'm not current, one day I'll get back up in the air.  Until then I log a fair amount of hours on Flight Simulator.  Todd's story is a great one, and it applies to being an entrepreneur.  He makes the point that "You need to assess the situation, use what tools you have, calm yourself and those around you—or in my case, feign confidence—and take action."

I can relate to that!  Unfortunately, I've done my share of losing my cool and making my passengers nervous if not down right scared.  (I'm talking about my life as an entrepreneur - only a handful of brave souls ever flew with me, and I only scared one or two that I know of.)  As a leader, I sometimes have to remind myself to stay cool.  Lately business has been great, but during the tough times I know I looked more scared than I would have liked.  I also know I took it out on people who were looking to me for leadership - not cool.  Not only is it not cool, it doesn't help! 

I guess it made me feel better, for a moment, but acting like a jackass doesn't motivate people.  I used to say, "My head is going to explode!"  I would physically hold my head too, just to make the point to the person who I was trying to get to help me, or worse, who I hoped would give me sympathy.  (Usually it was the Person Who Prefers Not To Be Blogged About, but occasionally it was my co-founder, my assistant or someone who just  happened to be in the room.)  I'm embarrassed right now to think about the times when I didn't keep my cool.

Read Todd's story below, and then next time one of us is about to lose our cool, we'll think about using our best airline captain voice and calming the hell down!  If you talk like you're calm, you'll actually start to feel calm, and at the very least the people around you won't think you've lost your mind.

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Ice, Rocks and Airplanes

I had a conversation with someone last week about the value of being prepared and was reminded of something that happened to me a few years ago. I used to travel every week and also was a pilot so flew many business trips myself. I was headed to Montana with a colleague and our first stop was to be Missoula. We had a clear day in Colorado and most of Wyoming and had a great view of the Grand Tetons as we approached Jackson Hole. While my colleague admired the view on the east side of the mountains, I was focused on the wall of clouds to the west and north, where we were headed.

One of the significant problems with winter flying is picking up ice in the clouds. The plane I was flying was certified to fly in known-ice conditions, but trust me you don’t want to spend much time there. Ice can bring down even large aircraft when enough accumulates.

As we chugged along in the clouds and picked up a bit of ice, I noticed that the radio had been particularly quite, so I tried a radio check with air traffic control with no results. “Center, Baron 2059Papa, radio check”… No response. In my best airline captain voice, I tried again. Nothing. This is not terribly unusual in mountainous terrain so I went back to my conversation with my companion. After about 15 minutes, I tried again, “Hello Center, Baron 2059Papa, radio check”. No response. This was heading downhill rather rapidly as we had continued to encounter ice and now turbulence.

However, as we got closer to Missoula, the radios seemed to kick back in and I was told by the controller to turn off course as there was a United jet departing ahead. Now I need to explain what the approach into Missoula looks like. The airport has mountains all around it. We would be landing to the west but there were mountains to the north and south. When the controller turned me off course, he had me fly south and start to descend for the approach. The altitude that he asked me to descend to was below the peaks of the mountains to the south and we were in the clouds, but he would vector me back on course quickly. After about 30 seconds, I had this awful thought and tried a radio check. No response. Now I was descending towards a mountain I couldn’t see, I was still picking up ice and I had a very nervous guy sitting next to me—not to mention the guy in my seat! My best airline captain voice now sounded more like Pee Wee Herman!

As I don’t have a ghost writer, I was obviously able to find my way to the runway without hitting anything hard. Without some situational awareness and a backup plan, we’d probably be impaled into the side of a peak in Montana right now. It is not much different in a tough business situation. You need to assess the situation, use what tools you have, calm yourself and those around you—or in my case, feign confidence—and take action.

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Please feel free to pass this newsletter along to others. A sign up form is below. If you do not wish to receive this publication, please use the link at the bottom of the page to unsubscribe. Previous issues are available at www.appliedstrategy.info.

Todd Ordal helps CEOs and senior leaders connect the dots between current reality and a compelling vision of the future. He consults on strategy and serves as a thought partner for CEOs because he understands from his days as a CEO that it is lonely at the top. You can contact Todd at todd@appliedstrategy.info or call 303-527-0417.

Kyocera KR2 EVDO Router & FJ Car Computer Update

The good guys at evdoinfo.com just left a comment on my blog about the availability of the new Kyocera KR2 EVDO Router.  I've used the Kyocera KR1 in my FJ Cruiser to provide high-speed wireless Internet access to the car computer and anyone else who happens to be in or around the FJ when it's running.  I even used it to take a Microsoft Tanjay VoIP telephone up into the mountains of Colorado to prove that it would work wirelessly.  If you need wireless Internet access where it isn't practical to connect to DSL or Cable, this is a pretty good solution.  I use a Verizon EVDO card, so when I'm traveling I pop the card out of the KR1 and drop it in my backpack so I can have EVDO anywhere.  I usually don't bother connecting to WiFi anymore unless it is free, and even then EVDO is just easier for a quick connection between planes.

So you wonder, how's the FJ Car Computer project going?  Not so good I'm afraid.  I reported back in June that the Infill T3 that I bought from mp3car.com had died on the road.  Since it was in warranty, we called MP3car.com and after a little back and forth, they agreed to replace it with a brand new dual core machine with a transflective screen.  The Infill T3 wasn't in stock, plus I liked the idea of a faster machine even though it meant I was going to have to modify the FJ's dash to install the new screen.

After months of waiting, I got the new computer, screen and a box of parts.  After unpacking everything and setting it up in my office, I realized that there was no radio module.  I'm not quite ready to have a car computer that replaces my radio, but doesn't actually have to ability to BE a radio.  Usually I listen to music via my Zune software, but I'm not ready to give up on local AM/FM radio.  I was supposed to get a new product that mp3car was working on that would provide AM/FM plus HD radio, but I keep hearing that the product has been delayed.

Now it seems from the forums at mp3car.com that the product won't be available until late summer.  (Update - I didn't read it right - they were reporting that it would be available LAST summer.  Now they report it is "in certification" where it has been since at least January.)  If that's true, I might have the car computer back in the dash a YEAR after the Infill T3 from mp3car.com died.  Everyone from mp3car.com has been nice to talk to, from the CEO on down, and they did ship me a computer that may even be worth more than the original Infill T3, but here I am nine months later, and the car computer is still sitting on a desk in my office.

I'm bummed out about it and tired of waiting.  Any suggestions?

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Alexander!

The Auditors are here!

It's that time of year again - the Auditors are here! If you aren't involved with a public company, or a private company that produces audited financial statements, you probably think auditors are people who come from the IRS randomly to make sure you are paying your fair share of keeping the country running. Different kind of auditor. The kind I'm talking about work for big and little accounting companies and they are generally either people just getting into the world of accounting or they are career auditors.  Company's like mine pay them to come in and review the books.

Most companies don't get their financials audited unless they have to, but many years ago I decided that my company would "act like the company we want to become" so we paid to have our financials audited. A misconception is that the auditors are going through the financials with a fine-toothed comb looking for fraud. You'd think that, but no, they are really there just to see if a company is keeping its books in accordance with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and an ever-increasing library of regulations, guidelines and opinion letters.

I've got probably ten years of experience now with audited financials, and every year I look forward to the "Reps and Warrants" letter to see what new surprises have been tossed in. Given what we pay for this service, you'd think they would be "Representing" and "Warranting" to me, but again no, this is a letter that I'm given to sign by the auditors on behalf of my company. In the early days, it was one or two pages and basically said, "I've given you access to everything you asked for, and as far as I know, we're all doing the best we can to accurately record and report financial transactions, and I'm not aware of anyone trying to steal from the company or cook the books." Ultimately I understood it to mean, "if anything is wrong here, I'm the guy that's ultimately responsible." Clearly not all CEOs see it the same way given some of the bad behavior we've seen, and as a result of these crook's bad behavior, the accounting profession has reacted by creating more, and more, and more rules and regulations.

The problem is, this avalanche of rules and regulations just gives the bad guys more cover to hide behind and makes it even harder for an investor to wade through the volume of reports (I'm talking about public companies now) to figure out what is really going on with their money. I recently read, "The Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America" written by Philip K. Howard, and except for the frustration I felt, I really got a lot out of the book. To sum it up - more laws and more rules will not make the world or your business a better place. Bad people will always find a way around the bureaucracy and good people will just be frustrated by it and less productive.

My latest Reps and Warrants letter is eight pages long and contains some really interesting paragraphs. I've picked three, just so you get a feel for the tone of the letter. The auditors ask me to warrant that:

All derivative instruments and any embedded derivative instruments that require bifurcation, in accordance with FASB Statement No. 133, Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities . . .
 
and that . . .

Significant estimates and material concentrations known to management that are required to be disclosed in accordance with the AICPA's Statement of Position 94­6, Disclosure of Certain Significant Risks and Uncertainties.
 
And let's not forget . . .

Violations or possible violations of laws or regulations (including the failure to file reports required by regulatory bodies (e.g., EPA, OCC, FDIC, DOL, Medicare, U.S. Customs Service, HIPAA, IRS, Dept. of Commerce, state and municipal taxing authorities) when the effects of failing to file could be material to the financial statements) whose effects should be considered for disclosure in the financial statements or as a basis for recording a loss contingency.
 
I don't know what a derivative instrument is, except that I think some people got in trouble with them. I wouldn't know where to begin to bifurcate a derivative. While I'm not positive about the AICPA's Statement of Position 946, I also have admit to not being familiar with their positions 1 through 945, and if I would have to guess, there are probably a few more after Position 946 that I may need to review.

The last paragraph that I've submitted for your review is really the catch-all. I think I'm being asked to warrant that any violations, or possible violations of all laws and regulations, including but not limited to those of the EPA, OCC, FDIC, DOL, Medicare, U.S. Customs Service, HIPAA, IRS, Department of Commerce and state municipal taxing authorities, will not effect our financials in a material way. If I read it right, they don't care if there have been violations, they just want to know if the violations will effect our financials in a material way. (For the record, the answer is No.)

I'm not picking on my auditors, or any auditors for that matter because they aren't the ones making up all the new regulations. At their heart, I think they are trying to do a good thing by holding people accountable to a high standard, it's just that I'm not convinced (and neither are they) that much of this is really making companies more transparent. It's really just making it harder for the good people to comply and easier for the bad people to claim they actually did comply or that they misunderstood the rules.

In the end, nothing has really changed for me. If something is wrong, I should have known about it and I'm going to be held accountable for it.  What can we do to keep the world from becoming a quagmire of ineffective laws, regulations and rules?  Don't assume that a new regulation will fix a problem.  Work to fix the problem.  Don't enact a new rule and say, "there, problem solved" because you only get credit if the problem is actually solved.  Focus energy on good people who will do their damnedest to make the right decision, because it is the right decision, and don't tie their hands with bureaucracy that the bad people will just walk right through without a second thought.

TechStars taking applications

If you are an entrepreneur and you read my blog, but not Brad Feld's blog - please go subscribe to his blog right now.  Wait - before you go - you should also check out the TechStars website too as time is running out to apply for this year.

Here's the deal with TechStars.  You have a great idea, and maybe even the business is up and running, but you don't really have the connections to people who can help you get to the next step.  Whether that's raising money, hiring people, negotiating deals - TechStars knows somebody who can and will help you.  According to Brad's latest blog about TechStars, eight of the ten TechStar companies from last year are either profitable or have received funding beyond TechStar's initial investment.

While TechStars is a for-profit venture, the mentors are volunteers.  You can't buy the kind of talent that is available to help you get going.  If you are an entrepreneur looking for a little bit of seed money and a lot of experienced help, check out www.techstars.org.

Colorado Weather

You've got to love Colorado - it's sunny and 65 degrees (18c) outside now, and it feels even warmer.  The weather service just issued a snow advisory for the area tonight for blowing snow and accumulations of 3 to 7 inches by tomorrow afternoon, with winds of 30 mph and gusting higher still.