A Formulated Technology Column
“We didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost.” Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop Over the last few years, as the lean startup methodology gained traction amongst the Silicon Valley and startup types, an interesting idea that runs contrary to how things have been done in the past took root — because the lean startup methodology encourages […]
Earlier this week, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported on Apple’s plans to overhaul the retina MacBook Pro lineup for the first time in four years – which, understandably, sent the rest of the press into a frenzy. However, in the course of his reporting, Gurman (who’s widely regarded to be the go-to source for Apple rumors and […]
TL;DR: Spend enough time in Silicon Valley and you will hear the phrase (or some variation thereof) “ideas are cheap, execution is the only thing that matters” hundreds, if not thousands, of times. It’s one of those phrases easy enough to throw around while still sounding somewhat sophisticated and intelligent. Most of the time, the person […]
One thing is no longer arguable among Silicon Valley observers: a time of reckoning has arrived for startups. Many startups, whose growth has been fueled not by profits, but by venture capital dollars, will fail – not because they don’t provide good services or because their platforms don’t fundamentally make our lives better, but because […]
Today, in China, Tencent functions as a door to the Internet: it often is the very first app people download when they get a smartphone. It connects them to banking services, games, e-commerce sites, taxis/ride-sharing services, hotel and flight booking services, and much more. This metaphorical door manifests itself in real life in the form of a messaging […]
Steve Jobs treated every Apple event like an Apple product: masterful, deliberate, and often times, surprisingly delightful. Every act in a Steve Jobs presentation was calculated to maximize the audience’s attention and joy. No one doubted that the products Jobs was going to unveil in each event was going to be anything less than great… but they […]
Analysts on Wall Street have declared: 2015 is the year the iPhone peaked! Top analysts from Morgan Stanley (led by ultra-bull Katy Huberty), Stifel, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, Baird, Pacific Crest and other investment firms have released reports over the last few days stating their belief that because of a weak demand for the iPhone 6S/6S […]
News just came in minutes ago that Yahoo! has declined to move forward with the Alibaba spinoff, and will instead examine a spinoff of its core Internet business, CNBC reported citing anonymous sources. Such a move could mean several things… Marissa Mayer has realized that she can’t effectively turn Yahoo! around. Mayer is prepared to […]
The Financial Times is usually a terrific source for financial news. It’s straightforward, unbiased and most of the time, accurate. Unfortunately, the paper fails to live up to that standard on occasions, such as when it published an article by Dan McCrum yesterday titled “Bitcoin’s place in the long history of pyramid schemes“. Being an alarmist […]
Is Silicon Valley currently in a bubble? Is the party over? Some very smart people are arguing yes. Others are saying no. But what’s clear is this: we’re at the peak of this ~10 year cycle, and every boom comes with a bust. The players in the game (mainly, VCs and startups) have already began bracing for this cycle’s […]