Posted on 3/6/2016, 4:10 pm, by Colin Charles, under
Business.
Sidney Toledano (a student of math & engineering, now boss of Dior Couture), via Lunch with the FT:
‘If business is not good, don’t stay in the office’. Some people try to find out what’s wrong through the numbers. But if you stay in the office, nothing will change.”
For a mathematician, Toledano is casually dismissive of too much financial analysis. “My father taught me it’s better to have no explanation for success than a lot of explanations for a failure. Success is intuition, action, decision and take some risks. Frankly, numbers; I see them every day when I get the worldwide update. I can see every single figure for every single piece. But I don’t spend more than 10 to 15 minutes on it because I follow them every day.
“It’s like a good doctor. They see the numbers very quickly – temperature, whatever – but they talk to the patient. I’ve never seen a doctor fixing a problem with a thermometer. And you never fix a problem with the numbers. Don’t look and you miss everything.”
Posted on 7/1/2016, 6:09 pm, by Colin Charles, under
General.
A phrase I have often liked comes from a French poet, Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian. In order to live happily, live hidden.
Pour vivre heureux, vivons cachés
So when I read about Li Younghi, in the FT (paywall, Li Yonghui, Chinese self-made ‘everyman’), it resonated well with me to see the Chinese saying men sheng da fa cai, which translates to “keep quiet and prosper”.
Posted on 9/8/2015, 5:34 am, by Colin Charles, under
Business.
Via Bloomberg Businessweek (July 20-26 2015, page 63):
“I always say no one ever got fired for asking for more. And you manage your boss, not the other way around. (I am going to regret this.) – Mike Sheldon, CEO, Deutsch North America
Posted on 26/10/2014, 4:44 pm, by Colin Charles, under
General.
What is the market share of BMW? Maybe 1 or 1.5%. But when one drives by, you either have one, or you wish you had one. Build products that people lust after; if you can do that, you don’t have to worry about market share.
Paraphrasing Steve Jobs, via an episode of This Week in Startups.
Posted on 22/2/2014, 11:00 am, by Colin Charles, under
Business.
How WhatsApp’s Arora Sealed Facebook Deal – Digits – WSJ: Time spent on PR is time not spent ‘making your users happy,’ Arora said. ‘The users you get from press and hype are not the best users.’
Posted on 4/2/2014, 6:48 pm, by Colin Charles, under
General.
Microsoft has its third CEO in its entire history (started 1975), Satya Nadella. Some choice quotes & thoughts…
Via WSJ:
What drives me every morning and what keeps me up every night is one thing: this business is not about longevity, it’s about relevance.
Via his letter to his employees:
Our industry does not respect tradition – it only respects innovation.
Many who know me say I am also defined by my curiosity and thirst for learning. I buy more books than I can finish. I sign up for more online courses than I can complete. I fundamentally believe that if you are not learning new things, you stop doing great and useful things.
This starts with clarity of purpose and sense of mission that will lead us to imagine the impossible and deliver it. We need to prioritize innovation that is centered on our core value of empowering users and organizations to “do more.”
I truly believe that each of us must find meaning in our work. The best work happens when you know that it’s not just work, but something that will improve other people’s lives.
Not sure about this “one microsoft” idea (I hear too much of 1Malaysia), but the elements required to aspire to change the world stand strong: talent, resources, and perseverance.
Definitely an exciting time to see what Microsoft can bring to the table. Not to mention that opensource and cloud computing is pretty much everywhere these days…
