Ashesh Badani's Weblog..: Past, present and future

...let's ask Barack if he needs a pillow! Hillary Clinton bringing up the reference is evidence that Saturday Night Live (and scripted television content) still has relevance for our conversation today - take that social networking/user generated video/citizen journalism...and that's after being off air for so many weeks. I wonder what Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert think of that!

Is Obama the antidote for what ails this nation today? Or is the desire for a JFK 2.0 so overwhelming?

Looking back almost 30 years later, Mr. Goodwin summed it up this way: “He had to touch the secret fears and ambivalent longings of the American heart, divine and speak to the desires of a swiftly changing nation — his message grounded on his own intuition of some vague and spreading desire for national renewal.” Link

Super Tuesday beckons...

 

Last week, we snuck out on a weekday evening to see a deeply moving film - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. It got some outstanding reviews from credible sources like this and this. Don't let the fact that its in French and you've got to read the sub-titles deter you - its an incredible tale (true?) of a French fashion magazine editor who is unexpectedly struck by the "locked in syndrome" and is paralyzed from head to toe but with a functioning brain and a working eyelid. And the film is from his perspective of communicating with that one functioning eyelid...

There are a few spellbinding scenes like when the other eyelid is sewn shut to prevent infection and learning to converse by blinking (1 blink for yes and 2 for no).

If you can only see one movie this month, make it this one...you won't regret it.

Last week, I went to a fascinating event featuring Diane Green (CEO VMware) and Evan Goldberg (Cofounder and CTO, NetSuite). Both their companies went public fairly recently and doing extremely well (except one that just had a bit of a hiccup today). It was also remarkable because they are at the vanguard of two of the biggest trends in technology today - virtualization and SaaS (software as a service). Diane and Evan both had brief presentations and then settled into a moderated discussion that wasnt very formal - Diane struck me as a humble person that doesnt seem to have let her incredible success affect her too much and Evan came across as level-headed and pragmatice about the decisions he had to make. Some interesting things I learnt:

•  VMware was founded by 5 people (including Diane and her husband) and they all shared equity equally so that they all felt equally responsible for the success. They didn't raise funds from traditional VCs but did get corporate equity investments (and Diane remarked that they didnt actually need to use that capital).
• Andy Bechtolsheim (cofounder of Sun Microsystems) was a seed investor. Feels like Andy absoutely has the Midas touch - investor in VMware, Google; cofounded Sun, Granite (acquired by Cisco), Kealia (acquired by Sun) and more...
• Diane got Larry Sonsini on her Board by sending via Fedex a letter explaining why he should be on VMware's board (pre-funding). As she tells it, he met with her and accepted a seat on the Board. Something tells me you need Diane's track record to get Larry to even read your letter so I don't think strategy is going to work for all!
• Evan cofounded NetSuite with Larry Ellison. Evan said it was very helpful to have somebody like Larry to back the company through some lean times in the post-dotcom era and suggests getting a billionaire on the founding team!

Both presenters talked of the importance of culture and people and getting the hiring right - Diane recommended overhiring (their first office manager was a PhD!) and Evan discussed the lengths that NetSuite goes to make sure they have the right person on the team.

While browsing the web, I came across an article on a new company that struck me as a cross between PBS and YouTube called BigThink. So the big idea is to ask thought provoking questions to leaders in a variety of fields like politics, finance, philosophy, business, etc and throw in some social networking. Sort of what you would expect if Charlie Rose or Teri Gross embraced web 2.0 A thinking person's YouTube. Sounds extremely interesting.

I live on the West Coast of the USA and the site seems to be designed to appeal to a self-identified intellectual bicoastal audience. But I always thought the new web was about democratization and the (awfully named) "user generated content". Blogging was about taking away the power and control of the so-called mainstream media elites and have everyday folks participate in and influence the conversation. The Q&A style on BigThink leads to a one-way dispersal of information similar to what old media is so good at doing. I guess this is where the "long tail" appeal for this content shows up.

Just in time for the new year, Tata (a venerable business group in India) has launched the Tata Nano - a veritable people's car. The magic selling price that Tata Motors was shooting for was 1 lakh (Rs. 100,000 or approx US$ 2,500) but with delivery charges and taxes, the price rises by about 20% for the base model. To my untrained eye, it looks much like the Smart car that I saw in Europe a few years ago.

In any case, I have no doubt that this will address at least one disconcerting issue from when I grew up in India. I would often see a family (man, woman and 1-3 little children) riding on a 2 wheeler - scooter and motorcycle! I always wondered how they would survive even the slightest bump on the road or the rains - both of which we had in plentiful supply in Calcutta (aka Kolkata). Now they have a true alternative.

Some commentators have questioned the car's safety features and lack of amenities. I bet that family on the scooter isn't as concerned. Increasing traffic...now that's a different problem!

 

The holidays always lift my spirits. Festivities everywhere, celebration, happy faces, time with family and friends - just makes me happy. So I figured what better time than now to restart my blog...and given the tradition of lists at the end of the year conclude with a list of my own. So here goes

Ashesh's List of Top Holiday Activities

1) I dont want to be a Scrooge but do we really need extravagant displays of lights and multiple blinking species of animals and snowmen every night for many hours? I am all about spreading joy and cheer but we are all trying to deal with global warming and reduce ecologically wasteful activities so maybe start by reducing the number of hours the lights are on, cutting down the number of lawn ornaments, maybe keeping them on every other evening, taking turns with the neighbors so every year alternate the houses that have lots of lights...there's got to be something we can all do.

2) Check out the One Laptop Per Child initiative driven by Nicholas Negroponte. The foundation is working to provide the famed $100 laptop (its not quite at that price point yet) to children in less developed countries. Better still - get your child/nephew/niece a great gift for the holidays by participating in the Give One Get One program by Dec 31 and help get more of these devices out to kids in countries like Afghanistan, Rwanda and Cambodia. These machines have been cleverly designed for the conditions and usage in those environments.

3)  Go places you don't normally go or wish you could go to but just never have the time. Every year we try and take the kids to San Francisco so they can see the giant tree in the middle of Union Square and enjoy the lights and celebration. We did that again this year and it was a lot of fun - took us almost an hour and a half to get there because there was just so much traffic but it was well worth it. I am also planning on taking my 3 year old to a museum (MOMA?) so he can get exposed to it and maybe...just maybe...he will find something that grabs his interest. If nothing, he'll enjoy the train ride on BART and hot chocolate in the city...and we'll get some time together.

4) Find the time to catch up on reading books and essays that will provide new and different perspectives even if you dont agree with all of them.  Some examples: Ishmael Beah's harrowing narrative of children fighting a war, Richard Dawkins questioning belief and faith, CK Prahlad analyzing business opportunities amidst seeming poverty, Suketu Mehta interweaving the glamour and dark underside of life in Bombay...

That's it...enjoy the holidays with family and friends and be thankful for the peace and merriment we can enjoy here. Many parts of the world are struggling with so much conflict today.

I look forward to recharging and engaging afresh in the New Year!

 

A few weeks ago, I attended a talk hosted by TiE featuring Ed Luce, the author of In Spite of the Gods. While I havent read the book, my impression is that it describes how India got to where it is today through a mix of research and interviews and travel around the country. Ed has lived in India for several years as the former New Delhi bureau chief for the Financial Times and is married to an Indian. He is in a position to have a good perspective - not too close yet not too far.  He spoke very eloquently and he is clearly a believer in the long-term growth prospects for India.

What struck me was his contrast of the physical infrastructure in China versus the social infrastructure of India. China clearly has superior roads, airports, power, manufacturing facilities and the like that we expect as a pre-condition for an economy to progress into the first world. In contrast, India is lacking in those areas but does have a thriving democracy, property rights and an independent judiciary which Ed Luce calls social infrastructure. And he contends that in the long run, the benefits of the social outweigh the advantages of the physical.

If you've ever been to India, I doubt you would describe the country as anything but chaotic. Investments in infrastructure would go a long way in accelerating the country's growth. At the same time, it is fairly obvious that people do not want to trade away the freedoms of democracy. But I wonder if some planning and investment needs to be imposed to provide more order? Or is that a slippery slope to tread?

Its been a while since my last blog entry - Rich said the second entry was the hardest but in my case its been the third...

I was traveling recently so brought along a book I had read halfway through to pick up where I had left off. The book - Wisdom of the Crowds - is a fascinating read but I found it hard to start reading at the page earmarked and had to go back to get context. I am realizing it is not the best idea to have long gaps when you are trying to follow a narrative.

The ideas that fascinate me in the book are around the notion that large groups are more effective/accurate decision makers or predictors than smaller teams. The Iowa Electronic Markets is a great example of a group of inviduals being able to collectively better predict the outcome of elections than experienced pollsters. The book's author describes how small groups in NASA made poor decisions that resulted in awful outcomes. But we've also all been in situations where decisions by large committees take too long and ultimately go in directions that nobody really wants and takes into account so many perspectives that nobody is completely satisfied.

In the same vein is a book about too many choices in our world today. While I havent read it, I can certainly see the point - the other day I was in a pharmacy and was blown away by the number of choices I have to pick something up for a cold or flu - several brands, flavors, day/night relief, dosage strength. Not sure it was productive for me to spend about 10 mts trying to figure out what exactly matched my need.

So are we much smarter and more effective when large groups of people are involved? Or do we get confused and paralyzed into inaction because we are attempting to digest too many voices and opinions?

For the hundreds of people keeping track, I mentioned in my initial blog entry that the next one would be a little more about me. As things would have it, I got tagged (blog tagged? blagged? b-tagged?) by b-school and work alum Ken Oestreich who now works at an interesting startup. So now I guess I have to come up with 5 things about me...here goes...

1. When I was 2 or 3 years old, I think I almost died from drinking kerosene. I am told I woke up from my nap, crawled out of my crib and down a flight of stairs in search of water. Then I happened across a plastic tumbler which had kerosene in it (somebody was using it to oil the hinges of the refrigerator) and thinking it was water, gulped down a few sips - as you can tell, I was clearly a bright child. I immediately fell over and turned green/blue and had to be rushed to a hospital where they pumped most of it out of my system. Growing up, I often used this as an excuse for aversion to a variety of foods!

2. When I was little (under the age of 10), one year my parents suggested we not have a big party for my birthday and instead give the money to charity. Being a child, I was very resistant to the idea but ultimately agreed. I went to the charity and gave some food and clothes and the administrator of the charity agreed (after much pleading) to come to our house just for a couple of minutes to thank us for this gesture as she said too many kids didnt give up their birthday parties. Little did I realize at that time, the lady who came to my house was Mother Teresa and had no idea until much later what a big deal this was. She sat with us and wrote me a note that I still have after all these years.  

3. The first time I truly encountered snow was when I went to college in upstate New York which was also my first time in the USA. I was born in and grew up in Calcutta (now Kolkata) which is hot and humid for much of the year with a robust monsoon and a pleasant though brief "winter". No snow. Ever. My holidays in India were never too far up north where the Himalayas lie. The first weeks of snow were fun and exciting but the fact that it just kept piliing up and stayed on the ground for months was tiresome.

4. Although I work in Sun's software marketing group now, I started my career as an investment banker for Merrill Lynch in Manhattan. M&A, equity and debt offerings, valuation, etc. It was an intense and gruelling experience where I learned a lot from the 80 hr weeks we sometimes had to put in.

5. If it werent for the weather, I would love to live in London. I spent a year there (junior year abroad) when I was in college and found an incredible mix of international influences and culture. I adore cities (though I am suburban now!) and have had the good fortune of living in some of the world's greatest cities - New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and San Francisco. Energy. Grit. Drama. Beauty. Diversity. Cities just have so much to offer and the resurgence of downtowns in many cities around the globe is a very welcome sign.

The way this game works is that I now have to tag my people in turn (sort of like the spam mail where you are required to forward to 5 other people only in this case none of your loved ones will suffer a fatal accident if you dont) - so I am tagging the following: Nicholas Carr, Aisling MacRunnels, Neil Ward Dutton, Jennifer Lee, Rahul Roy Chowdhury, Dev Khare. Not all of these people blog so I am hoping this is the nudge they need to join the conversation.

So I enter the blogosphere with some trepidation. I am a fairly avid reader of blogs and am amazed by both the incredible wisdom and the utter inanity I find out there. One thread I found common among a lot of the more popular blogs was the ability to be controversial, intentional or otherwise.

I consider myself opinionated but not controversial. Hence, I thought there was really no point writing a blog since nobody would be interested in reading it anyway. So what changed? An entry on Seth Godin's blog where he says that even if nobody reads your blog, the very act of writing it forces you to be clear in your thoughts and makes you "approach writing with humility". Clarity and respect. If blogging can do that, I figure I ought to give it a shot.

I wonder if the so-called A list bloggers feel like Jim Carrey's character in the film "The Truman Show" when he finally manages to escape from his make-believe world in a boat and bumps into a wall and stares right into the camera realizing that it is beaming a close-up of his face to millions of viewers. Since I am so far away from that phenomenon, I feel more like a little goldfish in a glass bowl looking out at the family that brought him home from the petstore...hello world, please be gentle and remember to feed me regularly!

My next blog entry will be a little more about me and what I find interesting...the things that I am curious about and make me ask why...