Postcards from the Edge : Philosophy

Reasons to be cheerful

claireoh — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:38:00 GMT

I may be the anti-geek but even I am excited to see Win7 RTM made available on MSDN to BizSpark member companies. Check out the latest BizSpark news on Twitter. I finally joined the 21st century and signed up to Twitter myself a few weeks ago. Fascinating. It was down for a few hours today though (hit by DoS attack apparently).

My new-found technological embrace knows no bounds, as I do meetings on Office Communicator and talk to family currently working in Qatar and China, and friends in all corners on Skype. Now I just need a webcam.

Today I met another star at Cisco, Yann de Vries, their head of Venture/Corp Dev in EMEA. We talked about how we might work together to find and support great tech start-ups. I am really encouraged by these kind of conversations - it reinforces the art of possibility. Times might be less than ideal at the moment but we are still inspired daily by great innovation and tales of resilience, growth and prosperity for entrepreneurs and enterprises, against the odds. Plenty of companies are raising capital too.

Some places easier to do business than others, according to this index.

HSBC announced a decent profit for the first calendar half year but a significant decline year-on-year. While some of their business streams may have suffered, we saw great demand for the BizSpark program among their customers - in a few months more than 100 of them signed up in the UK and there's growth in Turkey, India, France, Mexico, Gulf and SE Asia.

Yesterday, Cisco Systems reported results: net income for its fiscal fourth quarter dropped 46% to $1.1 billion and revenue fell 18% to $8.54 billion. Results, though, topped Wall Street's expectations, and shares rose in after-hours trading. Chambers was bullish: saying there are signs the economy has reached a 'tipping point' last qtr and Cisco will return to double-digit growth. Read more on WSJ (ironically a story about WSJ subsciber-only content on BBC News as I write this).

WSJ also published a piece recently saying the 'Tide is Turning' for Microsoft. Yes!

So... 'unsummery' weather in England aside, plenty of reasons to be cheerful. Perhaps I can use the services of one of these nice travel start-ups to find the yellow ball in the sky.

Quelle Surprise!

claireoh — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:21:31 GMT

For me, the last few weeks have been delivered quite a few unexpected or unwelcome events; and a few nice surprises. The weather for one. Snow forced Heathrow (and CDG) to close down, leading to transport chaos across the UK and disruption for thousands. I arrived back from the US two days after I set out and got to Brussels a week later than planned.

When I did make it to Brussels on Tuesday, I ended up at an impromptu late dinner with two gents (one from Cisco) and the triumvirate went on to come up with the new Lisbon Strategy (a simple ten-point plan to get Europe out of the financial crisis) over Sancerre and carpaccio. Fuel for the soul. We are now starting a movement that is reminiscent of student activism. Watch this space.

Given the news of record decline in the Eurozone I guess something radical is required. Today’s Telegraph also had an interesting analysis.

Being fiscally responsible myself, I flew to Brussels again today [Sunday – missing the rugby] as the flights on Monday were extortionate (same fare would get me to San Fran).

On Monday we meet EBAN folks, Tuesday morning an early session with MEPs at the European Parliament (with SME Union) followed by a meeting with EVCA and on Wednesday a workshop with some cool [Web 3.0] start-ups seeking investment, organised by Europe Unlimited. Should be fun. If I can understand all that semantic web stuff.

My colleague heads off to Minsk to launch BizSpark in Belarus. I send him to all the best places. Others are busy planning the next Innovation Day here in a few weeks.

Last Saturday, I watched Ireland beat France in the Six Nations championship. Who would have forecast that after six years humiliating defeat? Well, not me for one. I heard the French team were kept on the plane on the tarmac for hours at Dublin airport before they could disembark for training at Croke Park. Perhaps this aided our victory.

I have learned to hope but not expect where our national side is concerned (and the male of the species). Ireland went on to notch up a great score against Italy today (after what must have been a telling off in the dressing room at half time).….my uncle keeping me up to date by text from Rome.

Allez les vertes! While there no certainties in this life (and this week has certainly proved the notion) there are also some pleasant surprises and – despite the widespread doom and gloom - we continue to make great headway. Professionally and on the rugby pitch at least. Let’s hope the forecast is for more sunshine and temperate days as we approach Spring. Forever the optimist. I’m off for more Sancerre and carpaccio. Salut.

Silicon Valley to South Africa

claireoh — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:38:00 GMT

It's been a while since I had time to reflect and update my blog. Where did May go? After my US trip in April, things have been a little hectic.

I spent the first week of May in SA meeting Partners, Govt officials, seeing our facilities and programs and discussing our plans with the local Microsoft team - who are really something. We made some good connections while on the ground: HPV-A and Enablis both finance start-ups and are keen to work with us. Several partners are looking to grow export revenues and target markets outside SA, or raise VC funding for growth.

I was hugely impressed at what David and team have achieved thus far and in a relatively short time, with e.g. SmartXchange in Durban, JCSE in Joburg, Citi in Cape Town.

SA is a vibrant economy but, like many emerging markets, it can still be a challenging environment. The Reconstruction and Development program in 1994 set out an ambitious course for economic improvement, redressing the imbalance that existed post Apartheid, when so many were excluded, lacking access to skills and employment. SA recorded 10 years of strong economic growth since and in January 2004 the President signed the BEE Act. Actually the BEE strategy doc provides good bedtime reading. Investment in BEE is massive: in 2002 the Govt allocated R2.2bn and a further R1.3bn in loans was provided by Khula - 79% to BEE's and 56% to women-owned businesses. Enablis are funding entrepreneurs in conjunction with Khula: two funds of R50m and R100m and 300+ member entrepreneurs in their network.

Mmabatho Matiwane who leads the DTI's Gender and Women's Empowerment Unit is an impressive creature. In 2006 the Govt decided to focus on this as a jobs/wealth creation strategy. They set up SAWEN to get more women into enterprise and they now have a network of 5,000 women entrepreneurs in 9 provinces with 4 offices in the main centres already and more planned, providing walk-in centres for business advice and mentorship. They also launched a fund to support women-led companies which, from memory, is around R500m. We're discussing how to support the TWIB program which helps women-led companies embrace technology and become more successful. I'm also working on a very cool project with Trestle co-funded by VFI focused on finding more 'girl geeks'.

While presenting on a panel at the INSEAD Alumni re-union event in Paris last Friday, I pointed out how SA has such a large proportion of women in senior policy-making roles in Govt and how European country cabinets and boardrooms are not so representative. This rather lively debate was moderated beautifully by Frank Brown who tabled the notion of quotas like they have applied in SA (30% of Govt positions will be held by women) and in Norway (women should comprise 40% of public-listed companies boards). Sitting in a room on the Fountainbleu campus it really didn't seem that much of an issue - smart, successful women (and men) were everywhere. It's enough to give you an inferiority complex. Not only is Ninie Wang an INSEAD MBA grad, she's young, driven, attractive, dynamic, fun, and running her own company in Beijing which is launching a new website and platform to connect and empower senior citizens in China.

Another event, this time organised by CIDA at the British Embassy in Brussels, addressed the issue of "improving the lingua franca in Creative Industries financing" and I found myself on a panel - a rather ecclectic mix - including Wendy Malem (Centre for Fashion Enterprise), Mark Fenwick (NStar Finance) and Leon Hill (Universal Music). I thought I was out of my depth when I realised a penchant for Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin did not in fact qualify me to talk about investment in fashion but nevertheless it proved a fascinating event and I made some great connections. One of which was an introduction via Sydney Levinson to Kaospilot. A business school with a difference, n'est pas?

While in Brussels I also had the opportunity to meet Javier Echarri who heads up EVCA. Georges Noel is one of the panelists at the event I am busy organising in Brussels on 11/12 June. We should have 100+ investors and start-ups attending day one. From there I took off to Dublin to check in with the MS team there on proposed start-up engagement plans and meet up with Enterprise Ireland, IDA and Science Foundation Ireland. Great meeting. Much to do. Managed to squeeze in a visit to MSR in Cambridge and witness a day of awesome future technology. Then back to London to meet with PERA, NESTA and EBAN, UKIBC and TiE - with whom we are teeing up some very cool joint activities for the coming year.

Ah, so that's where May went.....

Monday Musings

claireoh — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:32:36 GMT

It's been a while since I stopped long enough to read some of the wisdom that John shares with me and other friends and associates. Thankfully the Exchange server ran out of space and forced me to delete email before I could send anymore (NOTE: this is a rare statement and is unlikely to be repeated in the coming decade. Normal reaction to technology challenges resumes now). Anyway, I'm glad - as I found John's emails with snippets and gems. Here are a few samples. Hope it brightens up your Monday.....as it did mine.

“Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity.” Karl Marx

"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.” - Oscar Wilde

“Knowledge comes from the past so it’s safe. It is also out of date. It’s the opposite of originality.” - Paul Arden

“Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.” - Douglas MacArthur

“An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.” - William Bernbach

“For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons.” - Douglas Adams

“The greatest power is often simple patience.” - E. Joseph Cossma

“Every morning I awaken torn between the desire to save the world and the inclination to savour it.” - EB White

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” - J.K. Rowling

“A man is not as big as his belief in himself; he is as big as the number of persons who believe in him.” - Woodrow Wilson

“The last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitudes.” - Victor Frankl

“Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with them.” - Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

“Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.” - Sir Winston Churchill

“What do we live for; if it is not to make life less difficult for each other? ” - Mary Ann Evans

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” - George Orwell

“Sails” - Jorn Utzon’s one word value proposition on pitching his un-buildable (at the time) design for the Sydney Opera House

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions. Their lives a mimicry. Their passions a quotation.” - Oscar Wilde

“Fail, fail again, fail better.” - Samuel Beckett

“If we don't get lost we'll never find a new route.” - Joan Littlewood

“Man is so made that when anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish.” - Jean De La Fontaine

“Everything has been figured out, except how to live.” - Jean-Paul Sartre

“Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.” - Peter F. Drucker

“It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.” - Irish Proverb

“Energy, it's 75 percent of the job. If you haven't got it be nice.” - Paul Arden

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” - Confucius

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm". - Sir Winston Churchill

“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito” - Unknown Author

Perspectives

claireoh — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 01:41:19 GMT

Sitting next to an interesting chap on a flight back from Prague who runs a film production company, I found myself moaning about the cold Bordeaux and the delayed departure of the flight. I came across two emails in my burgeoning Inbox this week that I wanted to share as I guess we all benefit from seeing a broader picture. These two messages make me feel incredibly humble, appreciative of my lot and less likely to moan about cold Bordeaux. It's also worth noting that Luna manages to run a successful IT business in these circumstances.

From: Ms. Constantine Obuya, Executive Director, The African Centre for Women, Information & Communications Technology (ACWICT)

Hello Dana,

Thank you for your email. It is good to know of your concern for us. My family and the ACWICT team are okay. The situation in the country is not very stable but there is hope considering the Kofi Annan led negotiations. Our program activities have been hampered to a great extent especially those located in the western and Rift Valley Regions.

These regions have had spates of violence as they the stronghold of the popular party, ODM.

Our Nairobi Centre was however not affected and is slowly beginning to pick up although restricted movement and displacements still make it difficult for our beneficiaries to attend classes.

We are now working out ways of getting back to work on a program that had just begun changing lives of women and girls in many ways. In the light of the post election crisis, ACWICT is involved in the peace building initiatives within a consortium of humanitarian NGOs in Kenya.

ACWICT was identified as a key partner in the Media and Public Communication cluster of the "Heal the Nation" campaign. Within this cluster, ACWICT will work alongside the mainstream media as well as media focussed NGOs.

The Media and Public Communication cluster is charged with generating and disseminating peace messages in an effort to heal the rifts caused by post election violence in Kenya. ACWICT will use its e-governance for gender equality strategy to disseminate the peace messages.

Key components of this strategy include the GGP website-www.gendergovernancekenya.org, USAWA electronic news bulletin, the Short Message Services (SMS) and online discussion forums.

Women who are our target have borne the greatest brunt in the violence. As is common in any situation of conflict, men succumb to injuries leaving women as heads of households. Any support, financial or in kind, would help our efforts to reach out to these women and give them hope.

We will keep you posted of any developments

Best Regards, Constantine

****************************************

From: Luna Shamsuddoha, Dohatec New Media, Dhaka

Hi Claire

Thank you for your kind thoughts. I and my family are well. It was one of the worst cyclones that one can remember, the storm width was bigger than that of Bangladesh. Death toll so far is about 1700 but there were massive/colossal damages to crops and properties. Communication system has been very badly hit. It is reported that coastal areas had water surge as high as 20- 30 feet. It is also said that the Sundarbans, the mangrove forest around the southern coast of Bangladesh famous for Royal Bengal Tigers, was able to provide some kind of protection. Dhaka is about 300 miles away but it took its toll, it was battered badly when the storm went by us. There was no power in the country until late last night, only restored in very few places (we were one of the lucky ones), and no water supply either. It is presumed would be weeks before power will be completely restored. We have a some kind of early warning system that works and about 1.6 million people were able to reach high ground concrete storm shelters. But there are still millions out there, we have many islands around the belt that is unaccounted for. I believe it will be days before we know the extent of damage. Bangladesh is in any case going through uncertain times politically and economically, situation is very difficult. Bangladeshis are known for their resilience but this time I have no clue what will happen.

Talking American

claireoh — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:22:20 GMT

Day Seven of my trip to the US and my immersion in all things innovative and emerging. The downside of this is I find myself not annunciating words and rounding them instead with a "waahhhhhh" effect rather than delivering my usual crisp sentences (neutral tones of mostly non-specific European / acquired Brit with a few slight Paddyisms occasionally thrown in).

As if to highlight this, when I got to my 8am meeting with Cliff this morning he had the topics for discussion on the whiteboard with a picture of a shamrock to remind me of my identity. Sometimes it's easy to forget I was born in Ireland, while living in England and working for an American company and feeling like Michael Palin - just without the sense of humour, bohemian experiences and chino's.

The upside of said trip is of course getting to spend time with cool people. And finally getting a good night's sleep in the heavenly bed at the Westin. I feel almost human today.

In the Valley they're are some great market-watchers in the start-up arena like Debbie Landa's Dealmaker Media and Guidewire Group founded by Mike Sigal and Chris Shipley - both of whom are working with Microsoft. I was lucky enough to spend time with Mike in San Francisco at the weekend and also hook up with the lovely Julia French.

While I'm here Macworld is taking place and Apple made many announcements including the very purty Macbook Air - for someone who carries her laptop everywhere something this small and dinky is very attractive. Especially if accompanied by a Louis Vuitton shoulder bag. I was hoping they'd announce a new iPod so I had a valid excuse to go gadget shopping while in Seattle and give my little red nano to my young cousin. Alas I don't have a valid excuse so I just bought new headphones for $29. Not half as satisfying. My retail therapy shall have to continue in Abercrombie & Fitch.

Reading Steve's latest blog I got drawn to this one about working at Microsoft. I've lost count of how many times I have uttered the words "awesome" and "cool" this past week but I just can't help it. This place is cool.

There's an energy here which I can relate to, which feeds the beast and appeals to my belief that anything is possible. Sleep deprivation aside, it's great.

You may have seen the BillG video from CES already but have you seen the BillG exit interview? Cool.

New Year optimism

claireoh — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 20:48:00 GMT

As most of the country goes back to work tomorrow after the festive break, I'm embarking on the first of what will likely be many business trips. Here I am in a (compact and rather bijou) Paris hotel room reflecting on the task ahead - trying to write my objectives and outline biz plan. Tomorrow I'm off to the Brussels office to meet with the teams involved in shaping EU policy, IP protection and our Unlimited Potential initiative.

A few weeks into my new role - where I am tasked with increasing Microsoft's impact on software economies worldwide - I am getting to grips with the innerworkings of a very sophisticated engine. The guys working with Academia (Imagine Cup being just one of the programs they invest in) are helping bridge the gap between Education and Enterprise; the regional offices have an increasing focus on software economy and innovation, on start-ups and entrepreneurs; and our Emerging Markets team is helping put in place valuable infrastructure in developing economies. By working with Government and Academia, creating innovation programs and physical centres, I'm very encouraged to see what Microsoft has achieved so far in this area. Just look at some of the things happening in Africa for instance or the work that John and team did in Asia to stimulate investment in the high-growth start-up community. Closer to home, Ian Robertson's organisation is doing marvellous stuff assisting graduates into employment and self-employment.

Ultimately our work will increase the value and contribution of the overall ICT industry - and of software in particular - to economic growth; it leads to increased skills and job creation, helps foster more cross border trade and knowledge transfer, and introduces the notion of sustainability alongside profitability. I like the phrase "doing good business" that we coined in our team pow-wow in Paris before Christmas - where we are making money (clearly this a commercial venture) but also making a difference. It never fails to surprise me how many really smart people there are - both within Microsoft and in our wider partner community - who are passionate change agents, and not just turning up for work, governed by mediocrity.

Mike Pegg and Katie Ledger talk about "leaving a legacy" and challenged me last year to think about purpose - what it is we are doing? And why? Big questions for a Sunday night unaided by french wine perhaps (too much consumed over the festive season so alas I'm on Evian instead) but I think a valid gauntlet to throw down nonetheless. Mike also talks about 'good v great'. Mediocrity can be seen in every sphere of business of course but in my line of work I'm lucky enough to witness extraordinary things occuring - or made happen by extraordinary people - every day. I'm not sure what the magic formula is but I think it may be that these people believe in the 'art of the possible' and hence nothing is impossible. They are pushing boundaries and follow a compelling vision. They think big.

While skiing with my family over Christmas I realised the only thing that stands in the way of us being great is ourselves. A novice skiier, decked head to toe in flash Schoeller gear but with little experience on the piste (a weekend with Compaq in Kitzbuhel eight years ago hardly makes me Alberto Tomba), I cut a lonely figure at the top of a steep gradient covered in ice - the thing that stood between me and a vin chaud back at home. There was no other way down off the mountain. It was getting dark. I was alone. My mind said "you can't do this, you're a nutter for being here"...thankfully I changed the record and survived the descent. Just. But it wasn't until the next day I really conquered my fear. I made myself do it again only this time with a "can do" attitude (I confess I did utter those immortal words from the Nike campaign) and enjoyed it. What a buzz. I knew what I was capable of and thought to myself, in 2008, I will scare myself at least once a day. Now I know what Susan Jeffers was on about.

Of course its easy to be negative and defeatist. This week I got very wound up by events in Kenya; I was appaled by some of the tabloid tales regarding a certain premiership football club and there is plenty of evidence on CNN and BBC World that things are not great in many corners. Positively dreadful in some. But rather than let this depress and paralyse me into inaction, and embark on a rant that would earn me the label polemicist while I watch the dinner-party invitations dry up, I feel incredibly optimistic about the task ahead. Soon after watching damning reports from Kenya, and realising we had to postpone the next phase of the project with ACWICT out there, I received an email from Charles Ocici, Executive Director at Enterprise Uganda - urging me to come to Kampala and get stuck in! Goes to show what a few determined folks can achieve.

2007 was a really great year for our group at Microsoft UK - record success with the Software-as-a-Service team meant we celebrated in style - taking in the Rugby World Cup in Paris, a few days decadence in Monte Carlo and numerous other fabulous trips. I met Steve Ballmer in Hanoi on the first ever UK/Vietnam trade mission. I boarded more than 50 flights and visited more than 20 countries. I met some awesome people, worked hard and partied even harder. The highlight for me was joining the DPE International team to take on this new role - it may sound corny but I do feel incredibly priveleged to have this opportunity. With the power of the brand, the people, the partners and the passion we can do great things. A grand remit and a somewhat nebulous title aside, I'm ready to take on the world. Right now I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do but I have written down a bunch of outcomes - thinking this BIG gives me goose bumps. Why exactly wouldn't world peace be on the agenda? Bring it on.