Strategy Talk

Submitted by tony on Mon, 09/23/2013 - 01:49

 

Time to Ring the REIT Register?

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – September 9, 2016

Summary

  • The recent launch of the new S&P 500 real-estate sector comes with increased visibility and scrutiny regarding investors’ real-estate holdings.
  • My analysis reveals that investors who own homes may be over allocated to real-estate and may be due for a reallocation away from the sector.
  • Given the REITs year-to-date performance and in light of possible selling pressure on the S&P 500 real-estate sector, investors could be justified in locking in their REIT profits.

Read more ... 

The Emotive Internet

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – March 21, 2016

The world-wide smart wearable device market is projected to grow to US $53 Billion by 2019, according to Juniper Research.  2-Dooz Inc. expects that this explosive growth will, in part, be fueled by the emergence of the Emotive Internet. Read more ... 

And The Beats Go On

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – October 12, 2014

Colin Kaepernick, the 26 year old star quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers was fined $10,000 last week by the NFL for wearing Beats by Dre headphones to a post game news conference.  A simple act of defiance, as seen by some against what’s become known as the No Fun League, is in fact a brilliant piece of public relations on the part of Apple’s largest acquisition to date. Read more to find out why ... 

Cisco Kids Battle Disruption

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – August 26, 2014

Technology disruption is like a game of musical chairs.  The beginning of each new upset is akin to a song which forces all of the affected suppliers to rise from their seats and circle the now empty chairs.  In theory, every player in musical chairs has an equal chance to secure one of the seats while the music plays.  But in practice, the bigger and faster kids always seem to prevail.  They muscle, out-quick and exploit other advantages to ensure themselves a seat when the music ends.  Cisco is now facing the Cloud and Software Define Networking (SDN) music, but in all likelihood they will not be the one left without a seat.  At least in the enterprise, they’ve seemingly managed to highjack the cue to play the music.  Read more to find out how... 

Google Reveals Diversity Gap

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – June 2, 2014

Last week in a seminal blog posting titled, “Getting to work on diversity at Google,” the company disclosed its 2013 EEO Employer Information Report and in doing so reinforced its reputation as a champion of transparency.   Moreover, by removing this veil, the company created and took advantage of the opportunity to publicize its objective to “recruit and develop the world’s most talented and diverse people;” and, in the process, established itself as a leading advocate for diversity. 

Google’s actions demonstrate that it clearly understands that attracting the best and brightest, regardless of sex and ethnicity, is not only socially responsible, it's a strategic imperative as well.  The company notes on its website, “[h]aving a diversity of perspectives leads to better decision-making, more relevant products …” However, knowing something and achieving something are two different things.  Google admits that it is falling short of its own goals.  In the blog, Laszlo Block, Senior Vice President of People Operations, wrote, “we’re the first to admit that Google is miles from where we want to be—and that being totally clear about the extent of the problem is a really important part of the solution.”

Google is unquestionably one of Silicon Valley’s brightest lights.  Its commitment to diversity comes as no surprise.  After all, this is the same company that once had the corporate mission: “Do no evil.”  However, what is surprising is that a company, which can seemingly do whatever it sets out to do (think driverless cars and Google Street View for example), can’t figure out how to better close the gap between where it is and where it wants to be regarding diversity. This admitted achievement gap is particularly puzzling to me in light of my chance encounter with the two most famous Googlers. Read more ...

Heartbleed SDN

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – April 30, 2014

By now everyone has heard of Heartbleed, a previously overlooked (and some suspect purposely undisclosed) software bug in the widely used OpenSSL implementation.  Heartbleed is a serious flaw.  However, it is hardly unique.  Coding errors, which create hard to detect security holes, have been around for as long as software has been.  What the Heartbleed bug reminds us of is that threats to cyber systems are not limited to software virus exploits.  Additionally, it signals an alarm that such errors will accompany and will present important challenges to efforts to secure next generation programmable networks such as SDN. Read more ...

2014 Strategy Talk Predictions

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – January 13, 2014

The beginning of the New Year means it’s prediction time.  And, fresh off a successful round of 2013 predictions, this year’s first Strategy Talk article reveals three new prognostications. Read more to find out what the crystal ball is revealing for 2014.

Cheap iPhone Advocates Got It Wrong

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – October 17, 2013

Readers of this blog know that I often look at strategic debates from the least advocated perspective.  An example is a posting that I made in February of this year regarding expert calls for a cheap iPhone.  Contradicting their calls, I concluded the entry by stating that Apple can afford to be deliberate about the introduction of a low cost model and by opining that any negative impact on the company’s margins due to such a device would be negligible.  Meanwhile, the other side argued (and continues to argue) that a cheap iPhone is necessary for Apple to better compete with Samsung and that Apple has no choice but to provide the device in response to carrier partners’ desires to reduce subsidies.  Fast forward eight months to today and several recent developments confirm that the advocates for a cheap iPhone got it all wrong. Read more to find out why ...

The Eagle's Chip Kelley's Strategic Blunder

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – September 30, 2013

We are at the end of September—four weeks into the new football season.  At 1 win and 3 losses, it’s abundantly clear that my beloved Philadelphia Eagles will fall short of their goal to win the Super Bowl.  Still with new head coach Chip Kelly at the controls, there is plenty, beyond the fantasy football intrigue of the trio quarterback Michael Vick, running back LeSean McCoy, and receiver DeSean Jackson, to keep fans interested in the season.  While most of the focus has been on the Eagle’s new up-tempo offense, my attention has been drawn to the team’s apparent failure to do a proper self assessment before embarking upon this year’s campaign. Read more to find out the implications of Kelly's blunder.

Chinese Business Strategy

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – July 29, 2013

The Wall Street Journal recently examined the topic of why Chinese companies lack homegrown luxury brand power.  Though the focus was on brand development, the wide-ranging article highlighted several factors in current Chinese business strategy, which are believed to be contributing to, but go way beyond brand building.  Three of these, which incidentally are not unique to China, caught my attention. Read more to find out which ones ...

Retro Microsoft Re-org

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – July 16, 2013

Microsoft is going retro—moving from a business unit oriented organizational structure to a functional unit organizational structure.  The stated goal of the reorganization is to rally “behind a single strategy as one company.”  This is a laudable objective.  Microsoft desires to improve focus, internal alignment, and collaboration.  The unfortunate reality is that the company is merely replacing business unit silos with functional group silos.  And, the outcome is likely to be little to no impact on their stated intention. Read more to find out why ...

Adaptive Cyber Security

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – June 25, 2013

We can build tiny computers that make phone calls and that sit in the palm of a hand.  We can send digital information and have it be received nearly instantaneously anywhere on the planet.  Moreover, we can even send robotic rovers to explore the surface of Mars.  But, one thing we still can’t do is cure the common cold. 

The reason for this is because the rhinovirus—the germ that causes the common cold—changes so quickly.  As soon as antibodies are created to thwart an existing version, a new variant comes into being. 

The same is true for today’s malicious software, or malware.  It is constantly evolving; seemingly faster than cyber defenses can keep up.  Fortunately, highly adaptive cyber security solutions, which employ algorithms inspired by nature, have emerged. Read more ...

Bacon Is Strategic

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – June 3, 2013

Two proposed acquisitions from last week suggest the unthinkable: bacon isn’t considered to be a strategic national resource. Read more ...

Intel CEO Pick Supportive of “Tri-Gate Inside” Strategy

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – May 16, 2013

Brian Krzanich assumes the role of CEO, succeeding Paul Otellini, at Intel’s annual stockholders’ meeting today.  The choice of Krzanich is noteworthy in that it puts in place a leader at the helm who is capable of driving what I’ve come to call the “Tri-Gate Inside” strategy. Read more ...

The Future of Medical Diagnostics

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – May 1, 2013

One of my predictions from the beginning of this year calls for the accelerated development of nanotechnology based biosensors.   I foresee these devices ushering in an era comprising more proactive, less invasive and potentially more cost effective medical testing and treatment.  The combination of nanotech biosensors, smart phones and cloud technology will enable a number of new applications, including the remote (e.g., in-home) collection of real time medical data that can be used to facilitate diagnosis and treatment. 

The April 16, 2013 VLAB panel discussion, led by Dr. Daniel Kraft, on the future of diagnostics, provided a status update on where we currently stand regarding the realization of the above prediction and, perhaps more importantly, identified key headwinds that are inhibiting progress. Read more ...

Did Intel miss out on the Apple A7?

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – April 15, 2013

EE Times Asia recently reported that Apple is ditching Samsung as the manufacturer of its A7 processor—the next generation system on a chip to be broadly used in Apple’s consumer electronics products.  It appears that Samsung’s loss is TSMC’s gain.  Understandably, especially given their ongoing battle, the focus of most articles discussing this rumor has been on the deteriorating Apple and Samsung business relationship. I have a different take: if the rumor is true, then this is a big missed opportunity for Intel. Read more ...

Business Lessons from the New Pope

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – April 2, 2013

Purportedly the recent papal Conclave desired a new pontiff who could restructure and lead the church beyond the recent legal troubles and scandals that have now dogged it for more than a decade.  The Conclave is also reported to have been looking for a leader who could better connect with the masses.  Overall, the Conclave was said to be looking for “Jesus with an MBA.”  This past Sunday, the Conclave’s choice, Pope Francis, presided over his first Easter Mass.  In his short term as pontiff, Francis has already demonstrated that he is up to the challenge of leading the church in a new direction.  Any CEO looking to turn-around a troubled enterprise can learn from Pope Francis’s early steps. Read more ...

China Balks At Google Android Gift

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – March 15, 2013

Alluded to by Homer in the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey” and chronicled by Virgil in the “Aeneid,” the Trojan Horse was the centerpiece of the decisive strategy used by the Greeks to defeat the Trojans in ancient times.  Fast-forward to today: Google would love to use the same strategy, vis-à-vis Android, to reverse its business fortunes in China, but their Chinese competitors apparently have other ideas. Read more ...

Tri-Gate: The New Intel-Inside Part 2

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – March 4, 2013

Last week, I discussed how the new focus on Tri-Gate in Intel’s growing foundry business can be viewed as a tactical expansion of the Intel-Inside program.  An obvious benefit is the addition of a transistor-level perspective, which could provide the company with an opportunity to move beyond the traditional set of personal computer (PC) microprocessors for which it is best known.  In this article I assume a “what if” scenario in which Intel pursues an even broader strategy: Tri-Gate Inside Everything.  I discuss the possible ramifications of implementing this strategy on the entire semiconductor industry. Read more ...

Is Tri-Gate The New Intel-Inside?

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – February 28, 2013

Earlier this week, Intel and Altera announced that the companies have entered into an agreement calling for Intel to manufacture Altera’s next generation FPGAs using Intel's 14 nm Tri-Gate transistor technology.  The agreement provides additional proof that Intel is serious about its semiconductor foundry business.  Moreover, the business strategy underlying the agreement is likely a blueprint for insuring that Intel remains “inside” for many years to come. Read more ...

A Low Cost iPhone?

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – February 19, 2013

The recent slump in Apple’s stock price has resulted in an onslaught of articles regarding what ails the company.  Prescriptions are plentiful and include the call for Apple to release a lower cost iPhone.  Proponents of this remedy argue the following: (1) Apple will be better able to compete with Samsung in markets outside the U.S. and (2) it will solidify Apple’s appeal to mobile carriers’ who are looking to reduce device subsidies by emphasizing lower cost phones. Read more ...

Is Microsoft The Next Jay-Z?

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – February 11, 2013

In the song “Single Ladies,” Beyonce admonishes a slow on the trigger suitor, “If you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it;” a widely assumed not so subtle “I told you so” to Jay-Z.  

Beyonce is hardly the first to use this approach.  This is a well known, tried and true strategy for getting a reluctant man to finally tie the knot. 

Now, a little more than four years after great speculation regarding a possible marriage between Yahoo! and Microsoft, which resulted in two proposals but no merger, Yahoo! may be telling Microsoft, with the announcement of a new arrangement with Google, that if Microsoft had liked it then they should have put a “bigger” ring on it. Read more ...

In A House Of Cards, Content Is King

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – February 4, 2013

The Netflix new original series, “House of Cards,” was released last week.  While the jury is still out regarding whether or not the strategy underlying the release will be enough to resurrect the company’s longer term prospects, “House of Cards” loudly reaffirms that content is still king. Read more ...

This Is It

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – January 28, 2013

One might expect that 30-plus years in high tech would render me immune to being wowed by a new application or service.  Still, it does happen from time to time; though admittedly with far less frequency than it used to occur.  And, at such times, I find myself thinking, “This is it.”  This is what user experience is all about.  Read more ...

Startups Exit Roulette

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – January 21, 2013

Thoughts of Silicon Valley startup exits typically evoke images of successful IPOs, of the likes of Facebook ($FB) and Palo Alto Networks ($PANW), and yield an impression that it is clear sailing from the funding of a new disruptive idea to a successful exit.  What shouldn’t, but what may be a surprise is that the reality is much different.  As recently reported in the Wall Street Journal, Shikhar Ghosh—senior lecturer at Harvard Business School—found that three-quarters of all venture-backed startups in the U.S. don't return capital to the investors.  In other words, 25% of startup companies exit through the front door, while the remaining 75% quietly slip out the back door.  Read more ...

Tim Cook's Apple-Style Part 2

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – January 14, 2013

In a 2-Dooz Strategy Talk article published a couple of months ago, I discussed how Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, is quietly, but purposefully tweaking the culture at the company to insure that Apple remains relevant for many years to come.  Compliments from the interview, it can be argued that Cook has moved so decisively, during his short tenure, because of the advice he received from Steve Jobs just prior to Jobs’ death.  In a rare interview, of Tim Cook by Brian Williams, late last year, Cook disclosed Jobs’ advice: “Never ask the question what Steve would do? ...  just do what’s right.”  This is but one of the nuggets from the interview.  Read more to find out what else caught my attention.

It's Prediction Time

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – January 7, 2013

The New Year brings with it an opportunity to do a timely consult of my trusty high tech crystal ball.  In this week’s Strategy Talk, I reveal three macro trends that I believe will respectively take center stage in mobile, cloud, and nanotechnology.  Read more …

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