Monday, June 11, 2007
New Blog at http://meetkendall.com
Check out my new blog on http://meetkendall.com. You'll find all the latest happenings and ideas over there...
Monday, February 26, 2007
Commoditization of Starbucks?
As reported in the Wall Street Journal article on February 24, Starbucks' Chairman Howard Schultz sent a recent 800 word memo to executives at the company entitled "The Commoditization of the Starbucks Experience."
Howard, you are being too hard on yourself and the company. Starbucks is creating a world-recognized brand in a segment that has seen little innovation. Though your shops may have lost some of their atmosphere, consumers still depend on Starbucks for the perfect cup of coffee everytime.
While travelling, I seek out Starbucks and on my Lexus' GPS system, it is the only coffee company that I think may have stores in every city I visit. Try searching for a Tullys in Florida! Starbucks should continue to focus on product innovation and expansion, not necessarily on bringing the stores back to an earlier time when local grinding spreads the aroma in the stores.
Store designs, too, aren't bad. Though some people in the Seattle area are rebuking the Starbucks experience, in most other locations it continues to be the best brand around. The "romance and theatre" you so passionately write about is all good and well but we need Starbucks and we want to explore new products. Look to innovate but don't be so hard on yourself...it isn't all or nothing.
Howard, you are being too hard on yourself and the company. Starbucks is creating a world-recognized brand in a segment that has seen little innovation. Though your shops may have lost some of their atmosphere, consumers still depend on Starbucks for the perfect cup of coffee everytime.
While travelling, I seek out Starbucks and on my Lexus' GPS system, it is the only coffee company that I think may have stores in every city I visit. Try searching for a Tullys in Florida! Starbucks should continue to focus on product innovation and expansion, not necessarily on bringing the stores back to an earlier time when local grinding spreads the aroma in the stores.
Store designs, too, aren't bad. Though some people in the Seattle area are rebuking the Starbucks experience, in most other locations it continues to be the best brand around. The "romance and theatre" you so passionately write about is all good and well but we need Starbucks and we want to explore new products. Look to innovate but don't be so hard on yourself...it isn't all or nothing.
Friday, December 22, 2006
A Reagan Strategy for Iran and Syria
The title for this opinion appeared on page A18 in the Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, December 20, 2006. The opinion is one of the best I've read on what to do currently in our volitile world. However, I believe the strategies opined in this article are not only good for Iran and Syria but they are fundamentally good foreign policy.
The article describes four policies adopted by Reagan during the cold war and aptly points out that the same can be used today. They include:
Regime acceptance. The U.S. refrained from activities aimed at destroying the Soviet regime it was seeking to influence, while vigorously denouncing its political and moral legitimacy. Let's allow Iran to choose their leadership and deal with it accordingly.
Limited linkage. Negotiations on human rights, arms control, regional issues and bilateral relations were pursued without linkage to Soviet conduct, enabling negotiations to proceed while the U.S. responded firmly through deeds. Can you imagine doing this with China or North Korea?
Rhetorical restraint. Reagan vigorously criticized the Soviet system and its behavior, but promised to never "crow" when the Soviets agreed to U.S. proposals, enabling Soviet leaders to aoid being seen as captulating to U.S. demands. How about Lebanon here?
Self-interest. U.S. negotiating policy was based on convincing the Soviets to act in their own best interests. Free democracies are the best known models to date. Let's continue to convince others that these strategies are good for them.
If these policies were adopted as our standard for foreign policy during netotiations with the only other super-power during the cold war, surely they can work during our crisis of world terror.
The article describes four policies adopted by Reagan during the cold war and aptly points out that the same can be used today. They include:
Regime acceptance. The U.S. refrained from activities aimed at destroying the Soviet regime it was seeking to influence, while vigorously denouncing its political and moral legitimacy. Let's allow Iran to choose their leadership and deal with it accordingly.
Limited linkage. Negotiations on human rights, arms control, regional issues and bilateral relations were pursued without linkage to Soviet conduct, enabling negotiations to proceed while the U.S. responded firmly through deeds. Can you imagine doing this with China or North Korea?
Rhetorical restraint. Reagan vigorously criticized the Soviet system and its behavior, but promised to never "crow" when the Soviets agreed to U.S. proposals, enabling Soviet leaders to aoid being seen as captulating to U.S. demands. How about Lebanon here?
Self-interest. U.S. negotiating policy was based on convincing the Soviets to act in their own best interests. Free democracies are the best known models to date. Let's continue to convince others that these strategies are good for them.
If these policies were adopted as our standard for foreign policy during netotiations with the only other super-power during the cold war, surely they can work during our crisis of world terror.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
We Nabbed a Term Sheet!
I use the word "we" loosely here but one of the companies where I serve as an advisor nabbed a term sheet last week. The company has invented a brilliant software application in the compliance space (you know, Sarbanes-Oxley stuff!), it's been in business for about a year and a half, and although it has only brought in $100k in revenue, it has a terrific pipeline of business with some of the biggest names in business today. The company is poised to close a $5 million series A preferred financing round with one venture capital firm for a 50% share of the company in early November. It ain't no YouTube but if they were all that easy, none of us would be writing blogs!
There was so much information available via the internet in gaining advice on current "market terms" that by the time the term sheet arrived, we knew pretty much what to expect and what to ask for without talking to any attorneys. Raising capital is a delightfully enjoyable process. More on this deal as we move towards the close and any news of Company 4.0 nabbing a term sheet will be posted when it arrives!
There was so much information available via the internet in gaining advice on current "market terms" that by the time the term sheet arrived, we knew pretty much what to expect and what to ask for without talking to any attorneys. Raising capital is a delightfully enjoyable process. More on this deal as we move towards the close and any news of Company 4.0 nabbing a term sheet will be posted when it arrives!
Google to buy YouTube for $1.6 Billion - GOOG a $2,000 stock?
The WSJ Reports that Google is in talks to buy YouTube for $1.6 Billion. YouTube is one of the best things to happen on the internet in years. I suspect a bidding war will ensue and the founders of YouTube deserve every penny. However, I believe the internet potential is just beginning...
Rich Karlgaard reports that Mark Stahlman believes Google can be a $100 billion revenue company with a $2,000 per share stock price. If Google follows the "free software applications for everyone" model, open their API's to the world and begin chipping away at the perpetual software license business, they just might get there. See my previous post for a complete description on this software revolution.
Rich Karlgaard reports that Mark Stahlman believes Google can be a $100 billion revenue company with a $2,000 per share stock price. If Google follows the "free software applications for everyone" model, open their API's to the world and begin chipping away at the perpetual software license business, they just might get there. See my previous post for a complete description on this software revolution.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
The YouTube* Revolution**
*or Google or {insert favorite site here}
**FREE SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS
Over the last several months, my wife and I have been spending an enormous amount of time on YouTube.com. As 40-somethings, this may seem like both a tremendous waste of time and also a juvenile event. However, the world is changing fast and many of the latest internet sites such as MySpace and YouTube are just the beginning of what I believe will be a huge shift in the direction of the internet, and specifically for YouTube, in video entertainment.
Forbes' October 16 issue features on its cover a picture of Chad Hurley, YouTube.com's Chief Executive and co-founder. The article inside describes the YouTube revolution, something my wife and I have been pondering for months. (see my channel on YouTube at www.youtube.com/cafevideo and specifically look for my video titled "The YouTube Revolution"). Perhaps more compelling is the follow-on article in the same Forbes issue called, "The Google Industrial Complex", a terrific piece about the integration of Google's free software into many, many web sites.
Internet tools and software applications, such as Google Maps, Spreadsheets, Calendars, etc. are given away for free to drive traffic to Google, supported by advertising. Social sites, such as YouTube, are in and of themselves free software applications requiring complex storage, retrieval and database design and again, are all supported by advertising. Software widgets and small applications available on Google, though somewhat trivial today, will gain complexity and value, further trumping Microsoft's proprietary approach to software sales and distribution. I believe in the future your company's CIO will be contemplating freeware for your ERP applications (like accounting, distribution and manufacturing), all supported by advertising. Just imagine your CFO running a Profit & Loss report on a system hosted by Google, paid for by Coca-cola, and placed next to Solitaire on his home portal page.
If you're tired of watching television, check out YouTube or try integrating Google maps to your blog. You'll be amazed at how quickly you will find something you like...and you may just start your own channel!
**FREE SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS
Over the last several months, my wife and I have been spending an enormous amount of time on YouTube.com. As 40-somethings, this may seem like both a tremendous waste of time and also a juvenile event. However, the world is changing fast and many of the latest internet sites such as MySpace and YouTube are just the beginning of what I believe will be a huge shift in the direction of the internet, and specifically for YouTube, in video entertainment.
Forbes' October 16 issue features on its cover a picture of Chad Hurley, YouTube.com's Chief Executive and co-founder. The article inside describes the YouTube revolution, something my wife and I have been pondering for months. (see my channel on YouTube at www.youtube.com/cafevideo and specifically look for my video titled "The YouTube Revolution"). Perhaps more compelling is the follow-on article in the same Forbes issue called, "The Google Industrial Complex", a terrific piece about the integration of Google's free software into many, many web sites.
Internet tools and software applications, such as Google Maps, Spreadsheets, Calendars, etc. are given away for free to drive traffic to Google, supported by advertising. Social sites, such as YouTube, are in and of themselves free software applications requiring complex storage, retrieval and database design and again, are all supported by advertising. Software widgets and small applications available on Google, though somewhat trivial today, will gain complexity and value, further trumping Microsoft's proprietary approach to software sales and distribution. I believe in the future your company's CIO will be contemplating freeware for your ERP applications (like accounting, distribution and manufacturing), all supported by advertising. Just imagine your CFO running a Profit & Loss report on a system hosted by Google, paid for by Coca-cola, and placed next to Solitaire on his home portal page.
If you're tired of watching television, check out YouTube or try integrating Google maps to your blog. You'll be amazed at how quickly you will find something you like...and you may just start your own channel!
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Democrats can win in 2008!
You won't usually find me writing about politics. You won't find me writing humour. You also won't find me writing about how the market is going to move this way or that. Thanks to Steve Forbes, I invented a little morsel this morning, (it is so choice!) that even Democrats should not ignore it. In fact, I believe the Dems should use my morsel (I'm offrering it free! - "extra, extra, read all about it") as their primary campaign platform in 2008, sure to give them a historical landslide victory!
As I provide the morsel, will the Dems bite? Probably not. It's too simple. It's too good! It makes too much sense, and the fight would be over before it starts. The Dems would have so many Republicans for them that you'd think the world went mad! The idea makes people so angry that they say, "why didn't I think of that?" (because silly, I thought of it first!) But remember, the experts don't get paid to find something easy. "What about the polls?", asks the expert.
These so-called "experts" research, analyze, poll, write and pontificate about what one candidate did right and what another did wrong. Recognize the past tense? Predicting the future is so difficult. Yet my morsel is so simple, so stunning, the Republicans will be screaming for the Dems to get into office.
My idea rests on the same premise as the art of Judo, where success depends upon the skill of using an opponent's own weight and strength against him, thus enabling a weak or light individual to overcome a physically superior opponent.
The day after the election in November, I flew on a 7 AM flight from Seattle to San Francisco. Never in my life had I seen so many grim faces...not since 9/11. Several people who conversed with me threatened their impending departure to another country. Others were in a funk - depressed - blue - whatever you want to call it, they were in outright disbelief.
Happy faces were nowhere to be found because the conservative voters hid their joy. (On the West coast, being conservative ain't popular). In fact on that day, in the eyes of certain of the depressed, it was considered downright anti-American to have been for President Bush. Yet he won the election, even the popular vote! Why? I don't know but it worked and the numbers clearly speak for themselves.
A friend of mine in Los Angeles said that the reason Bush won is because the American people are stupid. The American people stupid? Doubtful. Pursuadable? Absolutely! A simple idea sells, it persuades. Selling is usually about one or two main ideas. The salesperson who grapples for that one other little thing isn't looking in the right direction to win. My idea can do that for the Dems. But if the Republicans try to use it, it'll fail. You Dems wanna win? Listen up!
Bush handily won. And since that time, we've heard of new potential candidates for 2008 on both sides, including Hillary Clinton. Several pundits have said Hillary has begun to tone down her liberal message to become more center (here come those few *little* things that she *thinks* she needs to win an election). But with my idea, she can be herself because what I'm offering is a one-time opportunity for the Dems to bridge the gap; a one time opportunity for conservative Americans to compromise; a one time opportunity that even if the Republicans try to use it as a campaign platform, it won't work. Listen up, here it comes.
Sometimes ideas are difficult, and other times, they just come to you. As I said, I was reading Forbes magazine (April 18, 2005 issue) as I do every month, and Steve Forbes' "Fact and Comment" is a column where Mr. Forbes rants about mostly the politico. This month, he rants about how the U.S. economy is doing far better than many people perceive. He of course goes on to say what we can do to improve and one in particular is his comment that our "...federal income tax code remains a national disgrace..." This is the catch for Dems! Fix the system, it's a mess, and Republicans will love you for it!
It's "that time of the season" and I am once again completing my countless forms and backup information. (Hey I've been blessed by this country, and as an entreprenuer with three businesses last year, there were a few more forms than the average individual. But I'm also a little smarter than the average bear...and with my wife's help, who has her MBA!, I can usually get the taxes complete.) But this year was a complete mess. Each year for the past five or six years, the tax code has gotten worse and worse. Yes, I like paying less taxes but I also like a system that makes sense, and ours doesn't. We need to make it make sense. I cannot imagine what the average American goes through to complete their taxes. Our founding Fathers would be appalled at the lack of productivity toward good things instead of paying the Government money. Hey, I think the Government does some good things, and I'm all for paying *some* taxes but 35%??? Let's get real! I voted for only one Democratic president in my life. I tend to vote more conservative, not being a registered *anything*. Dems, want my vote back? Listen up!
Back to Forbes. A few years ago, Steve Forbes campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination and his big platform was what? THE FLAT TAX!!! I began to day-dream about the possibility of a flat tax. A flat tax would clean up our disgraceful system. A flat tax would save so much time. A flat tax would allow lawyers and accountants to focus on Sarbanes-Oxley, which none of the corporate gurus can do without the enormous help from lawyers and accountants. In short, a flat tax would be heaven. It seems but a dream. I thought, "we could never get something like that passed. The Democrats hated the idea when Forbes campaigned."
Then SNAP! Like a bird who finds out my sliding door is a window, I realized that it couldn't be passed under a Republican idea. But it could be if the Dems began it and got behind it. The Democratic party's message seems to be getting farther and farther from what average Americans want. But taxes hit right smack in the middle of the conservatives' "must haves". If the Dems ran with the flat tax as their main campaign message, and to eliminate the special interest, to eliminate the use of our tax code to incentivize this or that behavior but to allow the free market to regulate those things, it could be a landslide victory. A flat tax could also reduce the size of the IRS and our government. Republican voters will be climbing over themselves to press the "D" button!
Hey Dems, want my vote as a "no brainer" in 2008? Bring me the flat tax. Make it your MAIN campaign message. As soon as you say it, the Republican party leadership will head for the door. They will be against you. But, their people will be for you. Ah, perhaps that's how Bush won in 04'!
-Blog Editor-in-Chief
As I provide the morsel, will the Dems bite? Probably not. It's too simple. It's too good! It makes too much sense, and the fight would be over before it starts. The Dems would have so many Republicans for them that you'd think the world went mad! The idea makes people so angry that they say, "why didn't I think of that?" (because silly, I thought of it first!) But remember, the experts don't get paid to find something easy. "What about the polls?", asks the expert.
These so-called "experts" research, analyze, poll, write and pontificate about what one candidate did right and what another did wrong. Recognize the past tense? Predicting the future is so difficult. Yet my morsel is so simple, so stunning, the Republicans will be screaming for the Dems to get into office.
My idea rests on the same premise as the art of Judo, where success depends upon the skill of using an opponent's own weight and strength against him, thus enabling a weak or light individual to overcome a physically superior opponent.
The day after the election in November, I flew on a 7 AM flight from Seattle to San Francisco. Never in my life had I seen so many grim faces...not since 9/11. Several people who conversed with me threatened their impending departure to another country. Others were in a funk - depressed - blue - whatever you want to call it, they were in outright disbelief.
Happy faces were nowhere to be found because the conservative voters hid their joy. (On the West coast, being conservative ain't popular). In fact on that day, in the eyes of certain of the depressed, it was considered downright anti-American to have been for President Bush. Yet he won the election, even the popular vote! Why? I don't know but it worked and the numbers clearly speak for themselves.
A friend of mine in Los Angeles said that the reason Bush won is because the American people are stupid. The American people stupid? Doubtful. Pursuadable? Absolutely! A simple idea sells, it persuades. Selling is usually about one or two main ideas. The salesperson who grapples for that one other little thing isn't looking in the right direction to win. My idea can do that for the Dems. But if the Republicans try to use it, it'll fail. You Dems wanna win? Listen up!
Bush handily won. And since that time, we've heard of new potential candidates for 2008 on both sides, including Hillary Clinton. Several pundits have said Hillary has begun to tone down her liberal message to become more center (here come those few *little* things that she *thinks* she needs to win an election). But with my idea, she can be herself because what I'm offering is a one-time opportunity for the Dems to bridge the gap; a one time opportunity for conservative Americans to compromise; a one time opportunity that even if the Republicans try to use it as a campaign platform, it won't work. Listen up, here it comes.
Sometimes ideas are difficult, and other times, they just come to you. As I said, I was reading Forbes magazine (April 18, 2005 issue) as I do every month, and Steve Forbes' "Fact and Comment" is a column where Mr. Forbes rants about mostly the politico. This month, he rants about how the U.S. economy is doing far better than many people perceive. He of course goes on to say what we can do to improve and one in particular is his comment that our "...federal income tax code remains a national disgrace..." This is the catch for Dems! Fix the system, it's a mess, and Republicans will love you for it!
It's "that time of the season" and I am once again completing my countless forms and backup information. (Hey I've been blessed by this country, and as an entreprenuer with three businesses last year, there were a few more forms than the average individual. But I'm also a little smarter than the average bear...and with my wife's help, who has her MBA!, I can usually get the taxes complete.) But this year was a complete mess. Each year for the past five or six years, the tax code has gotten worse and worse. Yes, I like paying less taxes but I also like a system that makes sense, and ours doesn't. We need to make it make sense. I cannot imagine what the average American goes through to complete their taxes. Our founding Fathers would be appalled at the lack of productivity toward good things instead of paying the Government money. Hey, I think the Government does some good things, and I'm all for paying *some* taxes but 35%??? Let's get real! I voted for only one Democratic president in my life. I tend to vote more conservative, not being a registered *anything*. Dems, want my vote back? Listen up!
Back to Forbes. A few years ago, Steve Forbes campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination and his big platform was what? THE FLAT TAX!!! I began to day-dream about the possibility of a flat tax. A flat tax would clean up our disgraceful system. A flat tax would save so much time. A flat tax would allow lawyers and accountants to focus on Sarbanes-Oxley, which none of the corporate gurus can do without the enormous help from lawyers and accountants. In short, a flat tax would be heaven. It seems but a dream. I thought, "we could never get something like that passed. The Democrats hated the idea when Forbes campaigned."
Then SNAP! Like a bird who finds out my sliding door is a window, I realized that it couldn't be passed under a Republican idea. But it could be if the Dems began it and got behind it. The Democratic party's message seems to be getting farther and farther from what average Americans want. But taxes hit right smack in the middle of the conservatives' "must haves". If the Dems ran with the flat tax as their main campaign message, and to eliminate the special interest, to eliminate the use of our tax code to incentivize this or that behavior but to allow the free market to regulate those things, it could be a landslide victory. A flat tax could also reduce the size of the IRS and our government. Republican voters will be climbing over themselves to press the "D" button!
Hey Dems, want my vote as a "no brainer" in 2008? Bring me the flat tax. Make it your MAIN campaign message. As soon as you say it, the Republican party leadership will head for the door. They will be against you. But, their people will be for you. Ah, perhaps that's how Bush won in 04'!
-Blog Editor-in-Chief
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