Tag Archives: technology

A Tip Of The Hat To New Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, Tech Veteran

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz

Former Autodesk Chief Executive Carol Bartz, 60, will be the new CEO at Yahoo. And that’s a Yahoo! for a woman playing with the big boys in the hallowed tech preserve. And another kudo for not backing down when the pundits start sharpening their knives for her.

Bartz has a long string of successes so she is well equipped for the job:

Executive chairman of the board, Autodesk
CEO, Autodesk, 1992-2006
VP of worldwide field operations, at Sun Microsystems, 1983-1992
Product Line and Sales Management positions at Digital Equipment and 3M
Director on boards of Cisco Systems, Intel, NetApp

Tons of awards, but who’s counting? The point is Bartz has smarts, experience and moxy.

Some of the pundits have quibbled that she’s a manager and operating person not a Mergers and Acquisition guy. Did anyone here see Wall Street?

We thought the goal was to run a company, not necessarily sell it or break it up and sell the pieces.

In an online conference call today, Bartz confronted the pundits head on and came out swinging:

“Let’s not put ourselves in some crazy timeline. Let’s give this company some frigging breathing room. Everybody on the outside deciding what Yahoo should or shouldn’t do–that’s going to stop,” she said. Her first meeting with Yahoo’s managers was set for 10 minutes later, she also said. Another moment came when asked about how her background at a company selling software to companies would serve her at an Internet company selling ads and serving a large consumer audience. Bartz was quick to slap down the doubts about her expertise as nonsense.”
“I didn’t know CAD (computer-aided design) when I joined Autodesk, I didn’t know hardware when I joined Sun,” she said. “I have brain power to understand what it takes.”

Now there’s a woman who knows who she is and is about to show us all. A tip of the hat to Bartz and our hearty congratulations

Green Business Opportunities

I thought you might be interested in a new umbrella of business sites I’m starting.

Green business.

I mention this because the new business landscape seems to present unusually favorable opportunities in several sectors. One such sector is in green businesses. Environmentally friendly businesses. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to get in early, before the field gets too crowded.

Two posts where I’ve discussed these opportunities, with the help of green future experts and gurus like Tom Friedman, are Bootstrapping A Green Business and Clean Energy Will Be Big – Just Look Who’s There

New Energy Research is the first of these sites. It deals with conversions you can make very simply to conserve energy for yourself. But it has a dual purpose, in that any of these methods suggest a business you may consider starting to help others take advantage of these new conservation techniques.

If you get a chance, take a look and let me know if you have something to add.

Clean Energy Will Be Big – Just Look Who’s There

Image via Wikipedia

Who’s there is President Elect Barack Obama with the policy and government money. Visionary and author Tom Friedman is there with public vision. And iconic VC John is there with private investment. What’s not to like about that group of movers and shakers?

Once again, Tim Berry nails it when it comes to being forward looking and prescient about which way the winds of business are blowing.

In 1+1+1 = More than Three on Clean Energy Tim Berry discusses the what the tea leaves are telling us about the business environment for clean energy in the near future: “Sometimes things come together and mean more together than they would separately. Looking forward, clean energy is going to be very big.

I don’t want to get into one of those “this-is-a-good-business-to-start” suggestions, because you don’t just decide to do a new business, look at what’s hot, and end up with clean energy. Obviously you have to be operating in that area already, with interests and outlook and probably education and skill set, to be building a business. Still, there are the come-along clean energy businesses, the websites, the information sites, distribution, and so on. I think this is worth special attention.

Consider these three things which happened this week and last:

1. Barack Obama and Energy Policy

Most of us have seen it in the news coverage, or the debates, or on his websites. One of Barack Obama’s most important points is the need for a huge push in clean energy. He’s talked about finding ways to invest $15 billion per year. This looks and feels like it could be the equivalent of John Kennedy’s national call to action in 1962 when he challenged the nation to have a man walking on the moon before the end of the decade.

2. Thomas Friedman’s Public Vision

His new book is called Hot, Flat, and Crowded and I’ve posted about it before on this blog. Tuesday night he offered a quick summary on The Daily Show. I think he’s on the right track. (If you don’t see the video here, try the source video on Comedy Central.)

3. Venture Capital and Clean Energy

John Doerr has been a venture capital industry leader for 25 years (or so). Click on this video (or, if you can see it below, watch it here) of an interview-style presentation he did last week at the Web 2.0 conference. Notice what he’s saying about venture investment and clean energy.

This conversation goes over a lot of important ground about financial crisis and venture capital, so it’s worth listening to the full 32 minutes. But in this context of clean energy, notice how clear John Doerr is talking about the investor interest.”

At last week’s Web 2.0 Summit a journalist asked “if green technology was here to stay, or if it is just another fad that would die at the hands of dropping gas prices and a recession. “I think it’s one of the world’s biggest opportunities,” the participant responded

Of course you have to have the interest and skill set to find a niche in the clean energy area. But there seem to be more paths opening up all the time. Think about it. Write and tell us if you have ideas to share.

Isaac Newton Could Have Predicted Our Technology Attitudes

Isaac Newton Could Have Predicted Our Technology Attitudes | Small Business Trends.

Anita Campbell at Small Business Trends could have been talking to many of us…. well, certainly she could have been talking to me, when she points out that inertia takes over when it comes to updating our technology to be more productive and profitable.

Inertia” a law of nature can shape our attitudes toward technology and get in the way of growing our businesses and becoming wildly profitable — the way we know we were meant to be.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “yeah, but I love technology. I get a thrill every time I get a shiny new laptop or the latest Blackberry model in a sleek color or some other exciting new gadget.”

And that’s great. But some technology lacks the instant gratification of an enticing new gadget.

Instead, we are more likely to be afflicted by a principle identified by Sir Issac Newton centuries ago — the law of inertia:

“A body in motion tends to remain in motion, a body at rest tends to remain at rest.”

Inertia is a force that can hold us back in all kinds of things and especially when it comes to technology — if we let it. If you’ve ever had thoughts like the following, chances are the law of inertia is affecting your decision making:

We feel like slaves to email, but we just “accept” the status quo and don’t bother to investigate whether there are time saving solutions.
We plan to get to growth initiatives, but we never seem to reach the point of automating the repetitive daily work that keeps our staff from tackling those new initiatives.
We don’t take steps to protect our business data with backups and disaster recovery plans, because it requires a couple of extra steps.

Attitudes and behaviors like these can prevent us from growing our businesses; from becoming more profitable; and from protecting our businesses from harm.

Implementing new technology usually requires us to step a bit out of our comfort zones. It requires us to do extra things — usually not much, but it feels like something extra.

So it becomes easier to just muddle along with the status quo. Making no decision and taking no action involves less effort, than taking steps to learn about technology ourselves or to put together project teams to implement productivity solutions, or to do something that deep down inside, you really know you should be doing (like disaster recovery planning).”

Anita goes on to say be smart and confront those attitudes. Be proactive. Get moving. Fix all the little things to add up to big results.

For the entire post go to Isaac Newton Could Have Predicted Our Technology Attitudes

Outsourcing Small Business IT-eg. inexpensive service to handle your simple (but not to you) tech tasks

Tech Support 360 for Small Business | Duct Tape Marketing.

Wow… I’m impressed. Since many of the high level professional women I know aren’t completely techie.. this could be a live saver for many of them. Plus, AdvancingWomen believes all of us, whether career professionals or small business owners should be looking all the time for simple, expensive ways to multiply ourselves, thus expand our time and ability to get work done. This looks like one good way:

“With a subscription to TechSupport360 small business owners pay a per seat monthly fee ( $19-$28 per computer) to get access to all kinds of tech support. The basics, such as configuring software, removing spyware and tuning up a computer can be handled by giving the tech access to your machine, but the part I absolutely love about this offering is the ability to get help with PowerPoint or Word files or adding a new email signature to an Outlook account.

With online services from AT&T Tech Support 360SM, businesses save valuable time by receiving the technical support you need, when you need it. We cover everything from spyware and virus removal to software installation, network and security setup, maintaining your mobile devices, and increasing your PC’s performance.

Rumor has it that Mac support will be available before the end of the year!

For the complete post go to Tech Support 360 for Small Business | Duct Tape Marketing.

Lift Your Career Using Technology As Your Lever

Meg Whitman, CEO of online auction house eBay became a high tech billionaire without being a techie. Her background was in marketing consumer products. She learned enough about the technology to see how it could satisfy the needs of the consumer and also how she could develop a strategy which would work with the technology. None of this, including running a high tech company, required her to be a technologist.

Aristotle said: “Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I can move the world.” That might be a tad ambitious but moving your career is a definite and immediate goal.

Technology As Your Lever

One of most effective ways to advance in the new digital workplace, is to focus on technology, how it overlays your business and how you can support your company in continuously improving your technology. Your goal is to understand how to interweave smart strategy with cutting edge technology to improve your business processes, to best serve your customers and allow your company to capture increasing profits. Mastering that interplay is what will propel your career success.

Overcoming Stereotypes

The first hurdle many women must get over is thinking of themselves as “non-techies” and therefore, somehow, excluded from the realm of technological exploration. Sometimes this perception even rises to the level of fear of technology itself. “Oh, don’t bother to show me that, I wouldn’t a.) understand it or b.) know how to work it anyway.”

You have but one choice in today’s digitally driven world: get over it. You need to become tech savvy and fast. None of us can afford to be either ignorant, unaware, or caught up in outdated technologies when we are living through a sea-change in the digitalization of the planet. Unless you want to be left as debris in the wake or perceived as the Ms. Rip Van Winkle of your industry, start ramping up your digital IQ to bring yourself up to speed in adopting and using the latest in technology.

You Don’t Have to Be A Tech, You Just Need to Learn How To Use Technology

As mentioned, Meg Whitman, CEO of online auction house eBay became a high tech billionaire without being a techie.

We all make telephone calls without knowing how to assemble a telephone or hook up the lines and networks which enable it to operate. We all know how to get cable or satellite TV without feeling any necessity to become satellite engineers. Learning about the technology which overlays your business is analogous to this, in that, you don’t have to understand how every piece of it works, you just have to grasp the principles behind the technology how they impact the results, and how they could be improved.

“How Digital Is Your Business?”

All businesses need to find ways to reduce costs and provide better service. New means and uses of digitalization are being introduced daily and many of them can have a profound impact on the profitability of your company. Start reading and learning about how the new online paradigm can impact and help your business.

Take a look at what processes can be computerized, how much money could be saved and how to sell that concept to the final decision makers. No need to be a programmer, engineer or technician; simply dig deep enough to understand your company’s processes, what is feasible and which automated processes could result in significant savings and improvements

It’s All About Speed

Technology keeps moving forward at blistering speed, changing daily, sometimes hourly, so it’s vital to keep up, keep tuned in and keep your eye on the high speed ball of the new networked, online world.

You Have To Start Somewhere

If you are seriously behind the power curve in adopting technology or increasing your understanding of it, remember, it will never be earlier than today. Start now and keep leveraging up. Don’t put out anything-card, letter, brochure or ad–without your email address and web page address. You have a web page, right? If you don’t , better start developing one now , not an electronic brochure, which gives only static information, but a dynamic site which delivers your story with eye-catching multiple media – video, graphics, downloadable pdf files; one which puts interaction and exchange of information with your customers at the forefront. Develop a closer relationship with your customers and a deeper understanding of their needs so you can be the first to meet them, or you can learn more ways to serve them.

Clearly, a small business needs a web site. But even as an individual, a web page or web site is an excellent way to facilitate networking and gives you a convenient and appropriate place to post not just your resume but in depth samples of your work like videos of presentations you’ve given. Directing a prospective client or employer to your up to date web page can deepen and sharpen the focus of any conversation about your future collaboration.

If your company has a web site you should make it a major focus of your attention: how to contribute information to it, what the customers say about it, how it might be improved. Your input can be strategic, directly related to your field, so that you are bringing your own expertise to create synergy with the existing technology, as Meg Whitman did at eBay. With time and technology on your side, you might actually be able to do what Aristotle proposed, and that is to move your own professional world, just as Amazon.com changed the way people buy, eBay.com changed the way people traded, Paypal.com changed the way people paid, Google changed the way people searched, and Apple changed the way people listened to music and used their mobile phone. With a little help from your technological lever, you, too, can accomplish change, perhaps not as world shaking, but possibly equally meaningful for your own career goals.

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