And some adjusted their sails – episode two

Change has always triumphed. So did the realists who adjusted their sails acknowledging change as the only constant in our world. While the pessimists who was whining and the optimist who expected things to revert back both perished. Continuing with my mini-series about the “Ones who didn’t lose”, this is the inspiring story about PayPal that was developed by Confinity Inc. in 1998. Their story of embracing change and redirecting the sails to stay relevant is another inspiring story.

Jessica Livingston shared an interview with PayPal founder, Max Levchin, in her book “Founders at Work”  where it was revealed that the company was initially envisioned as a cryptography company. Later on they developed a service that would allow the transfer of funds between two palm pilots.

The vision was to enable the consumers to pay their bills and make purchases digitally via their PDAs and eventually eliminate the purpose for carrying a wallet. The transition wasn’t effortless, and the company, at various points in time, deliberated the merits of the staying the course or changing business models. Market maturity for such service did not exist then and frauds almost forced them out of business.

In 2000 they decided to enable eBay payments via PayPal and this was the game changer. Within a very short period of time the revenue streams from online transactions surpassed that from Palm Pilot transfers. By the end of the year, PayPal had discontinued its Palm Pilot service entirely.

By 2001, PayPal accumulated more than a million users. They went public on the NASDAQ. In 2002, the company was purchased by eBay for $1.5 billion and continue to operate as a trusted payment gateway for eBay and other online transactions.

The flexibility proved to be the ultimate strength and despite being founded in 1998, PayPal was swift enough to change course and ride the high and lows of the digital economy.

Recession and Job Interview

Stressful Job Interview 

Last time when I started with the cliché “one thing that is certain in life is death”, I forgot to mention “recession”.

The theory behind recession is complicated, although we all can figure out few of the events that makes it happen. I am told that the economists can bring in recession by repeatedly warning the population about the onset of one.  The possibility of losing income frightens the daylight out of the population's spending habit. Evaporation of liquidity from the market creates a dominoes effect on the greater economy and actual recession soon sets in. Some argue the phenomenon is visible in US economy as consumers are increasingly losing confidence despite economic KPIs looking good otherwise.

After the global economic crash of 2008, the world economy has remained largely uncertain, as social and political unpredictability added to their already troubled economic counterpart. The psychological impact of too many wars coupled with political turmoil, Brexit propaganda, trade wars, political sanctions etc. are creating havoc.

The job loses has been rampant forcing many face frequent  job interviews during the past decade. The reason could have been varied such as disruptive technologies, cost cutting, internal restructuring, and lack of projects among others but the impact on an individual's moral has been the same, nevertheless.

The most stressful subject to answer while sitting at the interview table is justifying frequent job losses. These are some of the expert advice that I put together for reference:

• It is important to establish that the reason was not your capability.
• The safest argument maybe due to the position being eliminated during a consolidation or downsizing.
• It could be due to change in higher management
• Falling out of bosses favor due to personal ego.
• A definite No-No is bad-mouthing the earlier bosses.
• Using same reason too many times will not be convincing.
• While it is safer to stay within the vicinity of the truth but do not feel compelled to tell the full truth.
• People tend to explain a lot but this seldom works favorably. In a situation like this the mantra is “less is more”.

The core job knowledge will remain a determining criteria and so will the attitude. Therefore the brain has to be programmed with a positive mindset well in advance. This will have positive impact on the nonverbal communication too.

Remember, the best interview can only be given with the "yes I can” mindset!

And some adjusted their sails – episode one

The winds of change have been prevalent since the beginning of human civilization. Perhaps at the beginning of the “Bronze Age”, the stone-crafters were super upset at the fear of losing their livelihood. Similar scenario must played out as the use of iron started to gain momentum and the bronze expert dudes must have put up great resistance!

But the change triumphed.

Today the wind of change is blowing faster & stronger or that our present perception. The only businesses that remained afloat are those who adjusted their sails in time. 

I contemplating to post a mini-series about The Ones who didn’t lose and start with the fantastic story about Netflix.

In 1997, American entrepreneurs Reed Hastings and March Rudolph founded Netflix as a video-rental company. The “dot com” revolution was then reaching its peak while a much bigger digital storm was brewing in the backdrop.  As the internet continued to grow more relevant, Netflix did not get into a denial mode and bury their head in the sand. Instead that faced the challenge and adjusted their sails.

By 2007 Netflix took advantage of the speed of the internet and began offering subscribers, the option to stream some movies and television shows directly to their homes. The popularity grew at a phenomenal speed and in 2016, their service streamed directly to  homes in more than 190 countries. By the end of 2018, the number of subscribers exceeded 130 million and generated bulk of their revenue.

Netflix decided to create variety of contents to satisfy the taste and need of their subscribers and developed complicated algorithm for predicting an individual’s movie preferences based on past choices. This further cemented the bond with their customers and made them what they are today.

Compare the Netflix story with the stories of hundreds video libraries & parlors that used to provide similar services in almost every neighborhood.

Innovation & Me Being Judgmental

I was once told that “the science of knowing what conventional logic is wrong about” is a great marketing strategy. But now I know that non-conventional logic is not necessarily always astounding.
  

Can a new Samsung TV idea which can turn from vertical to horizontal and back again be classified as an innovation? 

Haven’t we seen this happen before in our iPad and all other tablets! Agreed that millennial and gen z love their tablets but is that a good enough logic to assume that they will love to have their TV doing the same.

But why sweat about a TV after all? How many of the young people watch the box these days. TV does not provide the privacy of space and contents that is so dear to them.

I am certain that no theory of innovation can justify launching this creation of Samsung. We know that time will deliver the final verdict and rest assured that the wait will not be that long.

While this vertical TV doesn't excite me, I have seen a fantastic use for a vertical screen elsewhere that shakes the very foundation of innovation of use.

These are the the Smart mirrors, which are also called smart displays or MemoMi Labs Digital Mirrors that Neiman Marcus installed in 34 locations in 2017. 

This emerging technology which combines Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will definitely change of future of retail and makes the virtual shopping  experience I have been waiting for not so distant affair.Check here

The luxury retailer also installed MemoMi sun-glass mirrors in partnership with Luxottica, the eye-wear company.

Uberization is the new buzz word

A quick illustration created to support the post

Soon enough our lives and everything that we do are going to be uberized, but are we going to be ready when that happens. Let’s start at the beginning by asking what this new word is.

Uberization is the new buzz word, maybe not as new anymore.

I remember the day in New Delhi when the term “Uber” was introduced to the younger me for the first time during the early nineties. Back then it was not a complete word by itself but came as the first part of the phrase “uber-sexual” men. It was defined as a male who has traits similar to that of a “metrosexual” but also possessed the traditional manly qualities such as confidence, strength, and class.

A person who loves grooming but unlike metrosexual doesn’t leave a doubt as to his sexual orientation, an image so flaunt worthy for young men in those days!

Fast forward a couple of decades and we have a new buzz. Thanks to the disruptive nature of the mobile app that have changed the taxi industry forever. Uberization evolved as the act or process of changing the market for a service by introducing a different way especially using mobile technology.

Uber in the business world must be one of the striking examples of “Disruptive Innovation”, a term coined by Clayton Christensen. It describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves up market, eventually displacing established competitors.

As we read this researchers are carrying out studies on the uberization phenomenon, while entrepreneurs are looking how even their restaurant reservations could be uberized.

We don’t have to worry about that the conversion of existing jobs and services into discrete tasks that can be requested on-demand via a mobile App. 

We need to be prepared for it, because the ball has already started to roll!

Are you willing to jump in the FIRE?

It’s not about getting annihilated. On the contrary this fire is about setting ourselves free.

FIRE as a movement has increasingly grown in popularity among the millennial of the west. FIRE is the abbreviation for “Financial Independence, Retire Early”.

This trend is gaining further traction because freedom from the shackles of “work for living” existence allows an individual to chase his/her passion. Who wouldn't agree that creativity and innovation blossoms where the mind is without fear and the time is our own.

But how to reach there?

The proponent of the FIRE movement suggest the “4% rule” as a guide. It is another name for “ Trinity study”, an influential 1998 paper submitted by three professors for finance at the Trinity University. The study was to determine the “safe withdrawal rates” from the retirement portfolios containing a mix of stocks and bonds.

The 4% refers to the portion of the portfolio that is withdrawn during the first year. If that amount cover the yearly expense of the retiree, it is assumed that the person has sufficient assets to last for 25 to 30 years. The market volatility and increase of the consumer price index (CPI) to keep pace with the cost of living has been factored in a reasonable way.

This was back-tested by the authors and several other researchers and found to be workable. However, we need to note that the tests has been conducted based on historical data and no one know how the markets are going to perform in the future.

Are you willing to take the plunge?

Metrics for life

 “Only thing certain about life is death” is undoubtedly a cliché that everyone has used one time or the other. As the departure date never gets added to our Google calendar, reminders are not generated and most do not consider it to be a serious reality. 

But life is different once the true meaning is understood and this reality sinks within our souls.

Human being makes circumstantial decisions in life based on that moment and at times makes a wrong choice. Not everyone can see the big picture all the time and I believe it’s perfectly normal. But once we realize that what we did was not appropriate, there should be no reason for not making up for it one way or the other.

Given the choice, how many would be willing to regret about their life during before the final adieu. Nobody ask this question to a dying person but researchers has been collecting this data about their regrets in life from old people.  I have shortlisted 10 diverse regrets for this post as a start.

• I wish I had worried less
• I wish I had expressed love more frequently
• I wish I had taken chances with my career
• I wish I had cared more about my body
• I wish I had spent more time with people I love
• I wish I had forgiven more
• I wish I cared less for what other people think
• I wish I had lived more in the moment
• I wish I had faced my fears
• I wish I was more honest

We have a choice here. Either forget about all these and keep going on with life or we take a pledge to execute a “no regret” plan. First we “Select & Prioritize”, then we “Measure & Review” our progress regularly to attain a life without regrets.