new dog old trick:

September 12, 2005

Big Tech Deals: Oracle/Siebel and eBay/Skype

Two big tech acquisitions got announced today. One I understand; the other not so much.

Oracle took out Siebel in a deal that has been rumoured several times over the past months. This may well be the last big acquisition in the wave of consolidation that has been underway in the enterprise application software market for a couple of years now. There will be more deals before this wave of consolidation ends, but they will likely be smaller, more vertically-focused extensions and add-ons to the product lines of the remaining major players. All two or three of them. This must be bittersweet for Tom Siebel. Larry Ellison has just added to an already massive multi-dimensional integration project: integrating organizations and integrating product lines and technology from Peoplesoft, Retek, ProfitLogix, and I-Flex with Oracle. Still, this transaction takes out the largest single player in the high-end enterprise CRM application market and continues Oracle's drive to best SAP as the leader in applications. They are not there yet but they are clearly on a mission.

The other transaction, and the one I must admit I don't grok the logic of, is eBay's acquisition of Skype. People who have thought about it include Om Malik, James Enck, and Ross Mayfield. Ross says the logic is simple - I still don't quite see it. One thing does seem clear to me though. I've read some things indicating that the Skype management team and investors had a choice of a totally up-front buyout or a deal structure with up-front cash plus a performance-based earn-out. They took the earn-out, with $2.6B up-front and the potential to earn another $1.5B over the next 3 years. If it's true that they had a choice and settled for the earn-out, then it's clear that at least those folks see the logic and potential in the combination of companies. It will be interesting to track the performance of this combination over the next couple of years.

Posted on September 12, 2005 at 03:52 PM in Business/Economics, software industry, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1)

Carnival of the Capitalists: 12 Sept 2005

After two weeks watching the Hurricane Katrina train wreck unfold it is past time to get back to work. What better way to kick off the work week than with the umpetty-eleventh installment of the Carnival of the Capitalists...good job this week by Evelyn Rodriguez, who has her own personal experience with natural disasters.

Link: Crossroads Dispatches: Carnival of the Capitalists - Hosted by Evelyn Rodriguez.

Posted on September 12, 2005 at 02:34 PM in Business/Economics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Seven Deadly Founder's Sins: A VC's View

Interesting perspective from venture capitalist David Beisel of the seven deadly sins that distract entrepreneurs from the true path to success: inauthenticity, sloth, extravagance, taciturnity, greed, arogance, indecisiveness. A couple of these probably only get elevated to the level of "deadly sin" for investor-backed (esp. VC-backed) businesses, e.g. taciturnity and greed (at least greed in the sense Beisel identifies) but the others make the hit parade for any type of start-up.

Link: Genuine VC: Seven Founding Sins.

Posted on September 12, 2005 at 02:20 PM in Entrepreneurship | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Recent Reading

Michael Barone: Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired America's Founding Fathers
Interesting read on the English Glorious Revolution. This is a period I wasn't really that familiar with other than the broad strokes so lots of new information. Also interesting discussion of how some of the roots of the American revolution can be traced to this period. (****)
Walter Isaacson: Einstein: His Life and Universe
Well written treatment of both the life and science of Einstein. The science is pitched at a level for the general reader - specialists need to look elsewhere. Isaacson has a nice feel for the whole Einstein, warts and all. Isaacon's Benjamin Franklin bio from a couple of years ago was good - this one is better. (*****)
Amity Shlaes: The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
Excellent revisionist history of the Great Depression. Very well written. Also a much more thoughtful treatment of the period without the usual FDR hero worship. Really reinforces how much everyone was a bit out of their depth in dealing with the early stages of the depression as well as how much of the later stages of the depression were really caused by badly flawed policies on the part of FDR's government. (*****)
Doris Kearns Goodwin: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
A great, great read from so many different perspectives. Great addition to Civil War and Lincoln canons. But also as good a book on leadership and management as you will find on the shelves of the business section. Highly readable and insightful. (*****)
Marcus Buckingham: Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance
I'm just one section into this latest book from Marcus Buckingham so I don't have a final rating yet but so far this is a fine addition to the string of books on strength-based management from Buckingham. This volume is all about how each of us can take control of our own work and career by taking advantage of our own individual strengths. Tired of waiting for your manager to recognize and use your strengths? Or intrigued by the idea of strengths-based management but not sure how to put it to work for yourself? Then this book is for you.
Michael S. Malone: Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company
Excellent book. Highly recommended. A little bit company history, a little bit dual biography of William Hewlett and David Packard, and a lot of character study delving into many of the crucial decisions and turning points in the building of one of the greatest companies in the world. Should be required reading for anyone who believes that it is not possible to build a fast growing, profitable, highly competitive company that also has heart and soul. (*****)
Peter F. Drucker: The Daily Drucker : 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done
Drucker is simply indispensable and this is perhaps the most digestible collection of Drucker wisdom available. It makes a great introduction to Drucker for those who don't know of his work (is there such a person?). It makes a great reminder for those of us who read Drucker years ago and have forgotten the depth and breadth of the insight that this first great management thinker possessed (and continues to possess!). (*****)
Verne Harnish: Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Fast-Growth Firm
Somehow I missed this book when it came out almost three years ago. Harnish is a well-known consultant to mid-market high growth businesses and the book is a highly usable collection of tools that the leaders of such businesses can put to work right away. Not a book of theory at all - although Harnish cites some complementary works of a more conceptual nature - but a practical fieldbook of useful and usable tools. (*****)
John Steele Gordon: Empire of Wealth, An : The Epic History of American Economic Power
Solid survey of the business and economic history of America. Lots of material not covered in your typical history books or course work. (****)
Howard Schultz: Pour Your Heart into It : How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time
This is a true classic. You can learn a great deal about entrepreneurship and leadership from Howard Schultz's tale of the starting and growth of Starbucks. One of my personal 10 best business books. (*****)

Now Playing

Solomon Burke: Nashville
Third in a series of very good albums by Solomon Burke. This one was produced by the great Buddy Miller in his home studio. Lots of good Nashville-based supporting artists. Burke can still use that tremendous voice of his to great effect on almost any style of music. You can hear him struggle a bit with one or two of the songs on this album but overall it's a very listenable and enjoyable album. (*****)
Sonny Landreth: Grant Street
Very good live album - good sampler of Landreth's work from a number of his CDs plus a couple of cuts that I don't think he has ever released on a studio CD. The first live CD from the premier slide guitar player. (*****)
Sonny Landreth: The Road We're On
This is one of last year's CDs that somehow got shuffled to the side for a while...now it is in constant rotation on my iPod and on the car CD player. Landreth is the king of slide guitar players (imho) and this is a solid effort. Not his best maybe, but overall quite good. (****)
Roomful of Blues: Standing Room Only
Roomful of Blues' latest really delivers. This is the second CD featuring lead singer Paul Dufresne and he has settled in very nicely indeed to fronting this perpetually hot, perpetually reinvented horn-driven blues band. These last two CDs are among the best in Roomful's long history - and that is saying quite a bit. Highly recommended. (*****)
Rodney Crowell: Fate's Right Hand
The latest from a consistently interesting songwriter. Some pretty dark songs but then that seems to be par for the course with Crowell. (****)
The Dixie Hummingbirds: Diamond Jubilation
Wonderful gospel music. This is the Dixie Hummingbirds 75th Anniversary CD...amazing. As Isaac Hayes says in the liner notes..."in the beginning, after the word, before rock 'n roll, and before there was rap, hip-hop, disco, punk, funk, metal, soul, Motown, rock-a-billy, before bebop, doo-wop, and the big band swing, there was the Dixie Hummingbirds." Long may they sing. (*****)