Showing posts with label technology_strategy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology_strategy. Show all posts

May 4, 2015

Sometimes sales are inevitable

Sometimes sales are inevitable.

In an old HBR magazine, I read about Kiva and its disruptive logistic robots. The technology was good but the price tag was high and they finally had to give away a free trial worth of $ 38 millions.

In the same vein, the story of the University of Phoenix revealed that American schools showed interest in change, in new technology, or in new business models only when they are about to be bankrupt!

On such times, Sun Tzu predicted thousands of years ago that sales are inevitable.

Let us each prepare for that.





August 19, 2013

Facebook and Google Plus Rants --- Profitable Software Business --- Part 3

Great skills can still lead to weak or nearly useless products.


How ?

When you don't understand your domain properly, or if you don't plan ahead for changes.

I don't make money teaching design. But developers, software business owners should listen to Hoare, David Parnas, Dijskstra (small head), Eric Evans, Peter Coad, Richard Feynman, Rasmus Lerdof, Linus Torvald, Charles Simonyi (MS Word, Intentional software). Scott Bain, Kent Beck etc.

If they don't know them or won't listen, they should not be in software business, right? Can anyone claim to be wiser( streetwise or worldly wise or whatever) than their collective wisdom?

On bitbucket, google code repository, GitHub, I find a lot of django/GoogleAppEnginePython codes for almost anything: social network, forum, message board, LMS(learning mgmt system), ERP, CMS(content mgmt system), wiki, quizz, collaborative writing, shared whiteboard, mobile app etc.

Shouldn't we extract some value from them?

As we all know, Python is not Perl/PHP or even Java. It's very good-natured language.

Log-in, log-out from App1, quiz from App2, friendship invite from App3 etc are there for us to mix and match as our kids play with Lego.

If some of us can find a business model to go with that Lego-style app, we may make some money for us.

Does anyone have some guide/advice for that kind of not-cut-and-paste but rip-off-and-rebuild development? HAPPY NEW YEAR!


I asked a Singaporean programmers group this:




"Ok. Find me something that looks like this. (1) It's free and online. (2) I type main question, then choices, including if necessary, images too. And the answer. (3) I can add as many question I like. (4) I can print it out, and it comes out nicely. (5) I can let my students practice there. (6) There can be tip/hints for students. (7) Answers are graded. (8) I can edit them. (9) I can download my question sets. They work offline too! (10) I can go on, but this should be enough. This is 1 of 1000 things we can do for education/training etc. So I have no need to protect this. ... Please don't mention SCORM, IMS, Moodle, Atutor, Coursera, hot potatoes, whatever. If a nice thing is there, why would I code or ask others to code."



They cannot find. Mine is world's first and very good. Still they don't want to work for me for 8 hrs * 15 days for free. They cannot see the benefits.

Facebook and Google Plus Rants --- Profitable Software Business --- Part 2


Recurring Revenue Streams


What are we going to do about education?

Every newborn fish can swim. But every newborn Myanmar doesn't read or like Nat Shin Naung/Nawaday right away. Every newborn Singaporean doesn't read or like Water Margins, Han Fei Tzu etc.

Education is an ongoing business for every new generation. A lot like tax-prep software business.

Every new year is a new business.

Little Knowledge and Sophisticated Goals


The title is a phrase from Peter Small's writings.

I could not and did not bother to pronounce English correctly. I ignored phonetics and phonology because I lacked ability. But that has not prevented me ( so far, at least)to do anything I want with English.

Now I want to get big in software business. I cannot do phonology-like coding.

Will that prevent me from expressing my self?

Do I need phonemes /a/ vs /o/ vs /u/ to express my romantic love in sonnets? my patriotic love in dramas? my sense of humor in Seinfeld-like, Keaton-like, Bean-like acts? my observations in Lamb-like, Thurber-like essays?

What You Admire You already Have


Lightning-fast swoops and cloud-splitting soars inspire young eagles ... because they get it, have it already, at least in small measures

Product Development: Sum is More Than the Parts


Are you thirsty?

I have a bottle of H and another bottle of O and a kit with which you can combine that H and that O?

Will you be quenched and satisfied?

Or would you like just a bottle of high quality water at the cheapest price in town from me?

Education is a bit more complex than H2O. Yet many pieces are there, almost free. Who will mix them into A drinkable, usable form? Why not us?

Magic in Software


I read lots of silly stuff and had/have strange role models. One favorite theme : a kid was surrounded by real or rival-witch-created snakes/or some other obstacles. The kid took out a piece of paper, tore it into pieces, threw them onto the ground, OR fanned some leaves on the ground with that paper, and they turned into fierce birds etc , snatched away all those snakes etc. .... Silly? ...

What about Gmail, Hotmail, Filckr, Facebook, Salesforce.com? ....

They all started on a piece of paper, they are still a roll of characters/words and lines. Modern abracadabra, right? ....

My heart sings with software. Software is my heart. I live or die with it. One day, you just whisper into a screen and my Abracadabra will come out to serve you like the Genie of Aladdin's Lamp.

Inciting Google Plus Communities


Hi Everyone,

I want to reinvent Moodle. I want to retain about one-fifth of its features and do it in Django.

The problem is I am weak in coding. Is there anyone who wants to do this as an open source project? I can promise only 2 things :
  1. It will be better than Moodle 
  2. It will be better than Khan Academy on Google App Engine! Cheers!


August 17, 2013

Facebook and Google Plus Rants --- Profitable Software Business


Recruitment on Facebook


When our team grows, of course, our receptionists and canteen staff will have PhD's and know Hadoop, Cassandra, MapReduce, R and lots of Big Data statistical packages.

But for the time being, others have been making good money with Excel!!! Yes, Excel!!! In Myanmar, in Singapore, and in New York (and in Wall Street ) !!!

From Hadoop to Excel, the space is a bit very wide. Our team hope to score some nice goals.

Any one, who has learned Excel or Hadoop or WHATEVER for 2 or 3 days, are encourage to join us! For the time being, we accept candidates without PhD, so hurry.

Adaptability, Flexibility or even Luck, but not the Ability to Predict


One of my friends gave university tuition while he was still a university student. Only very good students could do that. And I also did that. But then, since he has far better social skills than me, I sometimes asked him for advice. On one occasion, I said, "Some of my students do not like my best works/essays at all. What do I do?" He replied, "That happens to me too. What is good for me, they may not like it. Some shoddy works, they liked them a lot."

That lesson still stays with me. So, for my software business, I rely more on my adaptability, flexibility or even luck than on my ability to predict. So, though I have 20,000 features in mind, I intend to fight with 2 or 3 features first. ;-)

Software Development Business


Ancient China: population--> training to be soldiers --> forming into corps--> launching wars

Modern software follow similar steps.
  1.  You create commodity software or use them for free. 
  2. You turn them into building blocks(Lego-like pieces) of your application.
  3. You weave. mesh, gel  the Lego pieces into useful apps. 
  4. Then you sell these apps.

Easy Winning , as in TOEFL, IELTS


In 1995, I checked 7 TOEFL/IELTS brands, not books, and knew right away it is easy to do World Best classes there.

Last 3 days, we checked 5 world best online education sites' database schemas and became relieved and happy. Data models, domain models are heart and brains of web software. Our team is happy in this area.

How High-tech do you want to go?


I am starting a "very-very-very-hi tech" software company. And I am recruiting ordinary programmers (though I won't reject anyone as "over-qualified.") These 2 facts are not contradictory.

A CFO of Dell once asked, "How much techno do you need to own to compete? "

As students, you yourself might have asked, How many books do I need to read to compete well in the exams?

Even in high-tech business, you can compete well without relying on technology. Let's see.

Recruitment on Facebook


I predict 100 Instagram's from Myanmar and Singapore each. And when you predict something, you must also know when/how it can go wrong.    

Instagram came from another bigger app by Kevin Systrom, called Burbn, according to this month Fast Company magazine. Burbn is a clone of all popular app features at that time.

Singapore programmer Chang Sau Sheong, in "Cloning Internet Applications with Ruby" book, has done a Burbn like app already. There are many equally capable developers in Myanmar and Singapore.

But will they reduce their bigger clone app into a smaller, more useful app like Instagram? If they do, my predictions will be true. If not, well we will get 200 clone apps, including 2 of mine ;-(

Recruitment on Facebook


You can pay for 6-dollars-per-hour staff with 3 or 4 days of training. But to become a McDonald, you need a system.

Do I have a system to play in big league of software with ordinary programmers?

I think so. I'm recruiting. Let everyone know. No experience required. No commitment required. Only these requirements - you live in Singapore, you can read and type. You can work about 4 hours per week at home and 1 hour per week at our place. If you are over-qualified, that's better. We are not afraid of any talent

Recruitment on Facebook


I admire the source code of Django, Tornado, NLTK, boto, etc. As many of world greatest coders in history advise, their logic/code is "dumb" and therefore good. When I coded shopping cart, CRUD etc, my logic/code stayed "dumb" and good.

But when I moved even a bit farther, e.g. FSM with Pygame, an expert system etc, my logic/code became "clever," complex and unstable. I've thought about and studied this for years.

Our team is training to be a world leader in software -- both biz-wise and techno-wise.

Anyone interested in becoming better programmers are welcome. We are humble to learn and generous to share. Love and Thanks to all.

Some Unsued Assets

  1. Good reading and note-taking, domain modeling, good and fast understanding of requirements of an industry, good and fast understanding of a user's job/task/process/activity 
  2. Clean, small, flexible code/software.

If salesforec.com is not that combo, what is that?

If Flickr is not that combo, what is that? If Evernote is not that combo, what is that?

I have given you proofs, please join us. Even if with half a man, we will get to our goal. But, still we want you. Join us!

August 16, 2013

Facebook Rants --- Black Strategies and Futility

Black strategies are self-defeating and so we need not study them.

Black Strageties and Futility


Cao Cao, Sima Yi, Sima Yan, Wu Qi, Sun Tzu, Sun Bin,Unrestricted Warfare, Mao Guerrilla warfare and protracted wars,

Bar Me Sayadaw, Maha Thiha Thuya,  Bayint Naung, Bandoola, Alaung Phaya, Sin Byu Shin,

Grant, Sherman, RMA, Network Warfare, General Rdigeway, Geoege Patton,Gen Marshall

Sumerian wars, Biblical wars, Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Scipio, Fabius,

 Machiavelli, Han Fei Tzu, Chanakya the so-called Indian Machiavelli, Clausewitz, Napoleon, Gen Manstein, General Guderian, General Rommel

Georgie Zukov, Prince Kutosov,

Nobugana, Hideyoshi, Admiral Togo,

Duke of Wellington,  Lawrence of Arabia,  Liddell Hart, General William Slim, Gen Montgomery, General Templer,

Moshe Dayan, Vo Nguyen Giap ....

And on business side ... I don't want to carry on.

Don't read them.

Just have love. Just have faith. Even be naive and innocent. You'll be alright.

February 11, 2013

Rip-off and Rebuild Software Development

On bitbucket, google code repository, GitHub, I find a lot of django/GoogleAppEngine-Python codes for almost anything: social network, forum, message board, LMS(learning mgmt system), CMS(content mgmt system), wiki, quizz, collaborative writing, shared whiteboard, mobile app etc.

Shouldn't we extract some value from them?

As we all know, Python is not Perl/PHP or even Java. It's a very good-natured langauge.

Login, logout from App1, quiz from App2, friendship invite from App3 etc are there for us to mix and match as our kids play with Lego kits.

My trainees have lots of experience for this kind of not-cut-and-paste but rip-off-and-rebuild development.

If some of us can find a business model to go with that Lego-style app, we may make some money for us.

January 16, 2013

Characteristic of a Good Software Framework

Code in the Cloud: Programming Google AppEngine by Mark C. Chu-Carroll


These basic ideas make up the heart of Google App Engine. There's not that much to it. But that 's sort of the point to it... There's just this modest set of concepts and libraries built around them --- and that's it. But this simple framework turns out to be a remarkable and elegant tool for building your own cloud applications.
 



CloudBees as described by the official site:


The CloudBees Platform as a Service (PaaS) architecture provides a powerful foundation for cloud development and deployment services.
 

CloudBees as discussed in Linux for You



No special framework is needed for application deployment ...
 

Compare that with Mongrel, Passenger, Capistrano thingies.

Will making things tough, complex, tricky for others enrich me somehow?

January 10, 2013

Patents, Competition, and Securing Your Intellectual Properties

I've been reading Guy Kawasaki's books recently, in particular, Enchantment, Reality Check and Rules for the Revolutionaries. He has only disdain for patents. He believes that entrepreneurs who rely their defence on patents alone are "clueless," and that patents are good only to impress one's parents.

Even before that, I've read that patents is a game only for big corps with deep pockets to fight their litigation wars.

I almost despaired whenever I read such stuffs because I had so many things to patent, to protect ;-)

On the other hand, if you choose to play in stealth mode, holding all your cards close to your chest, all the gurus say you will see a corpse in any mirror. That is, your business is not breathing at all.

In this dilemma, I was relieved to read an interview with the founder of NeuSoft of China.

He said that as soon as he put his software to the market, the rivals copy-catted it in no time.

Gradually, he wised up.

Now he no longer tries to protect a huge idea but produces a multitude of ideas both big and small.

Now he no longer worries about protection but concentrates on monetization of his ideas and faster execution of them.

Since China is one of the most competitive markets in the world, we all may be able to learn from their experience.

January 8, 2013

Information Wants to Be Expensive

Newsweek will be out of print after all these 80 years.

Reader Digest is getting thinner and thinner, both physically and content-wise.

French and Brazilian newspapers want some monetary compensation from Google and other search engines.

John Gapper, in a recent Financial Times article, predicted more and more toll fees to sprout on the Information Superhighway. He cited metered pay walls on news sites like New York Times, Financial Times and even on some blogs.

Most insightfully, Gapper pointed out what we have been missing all along.

  1. Most of us have been seeing this quote all over the web and in print too: "Information wants to be free..." We don't check out the source, just take it at face value as valid, and demand that all content creators and owners give up their rights and let us enjoy their stuffs for free. Why does the information want to be free? ".. because the cost of getting it out is getting lower."

    Yes, distribution costs are coming down, almost free, YouTube, Pinterest, Flickr, Blogger, Wordpress, what else. But what about the creation cost? Can we make another Titanic or Avatar for less than 50 million?
  2. Gapper then pointed us to that infamous quote's corollary maxim to the opposite effect : "information wants to be expensive because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes you life."
I don't believe good codes (software programs) can be free everywhere and for all the time.

I don't believe good teaching, good lessons can be free everywhere and for all the time. Some one who can invent a business model that rewards teachers well, will carry all of the field  in online learning.

January 7, 2013

Daredevil Risk Taking and Tooth Fairies

Throughout our political and business histories, there have been daredevil risk takers. You may believe that they have a devil-may-care attitude to life, and that they had no concern and care for their own lives and safety of their followers. Maybe you also believe there are Tooth Fairies in your bedroom too.

I'll demonstrate only 3 examples.

Hernán Cortés or Pizarro


Hernán Cortés or Pizarro

The myth is : Cortez and his troops were landing at an enemy territory where they were greatly outnumbered and he ordered his troops to burn the ships.

The truth: he merely scuttled them. Even then, in order to prevent mutiny. And he had taken a special care of the ship building crew.

Bayinnaung Kyawhtin Nawrahta


In Myanmar history, Bayint Naung is well known for his over-confident promise to his King. The King had asked him to wait for his arrival before they began a decisive battle. Bayint Naung asked the messengers to tell the King that they had already won the battle. When his staff questioned his over-confident promise,  Bayint Naung replied that any king cannot blame the troops that have already perished! And before they crossed a river, he asked his troops to burn their boats and rafts, a la Cortez / Pizzaro style.

Was he making a point to the mercenaries under his command to fight to win?

He couldn't swim back to this side of the river, of course. But did he know palces where he and his troops re-locate on the other side, like Douglas MacArthur and the Japanese in the Philippines?

Please check out logistic plans in his Thailand campaigns. I just cannot believe Bayint Naung would act cool without some insurance.

Sir Richard Branson


Sir Richard Branson is the founder and head of the Virgin Group of more than 400 companies. He himself has explained on many occasions that before he placed any bet, he ensured that
  1. They are not betting the farm. He even made sure that his employers would not suffer when their bet miscarried.
  2. They decreased their downside.
  3. They increased their upside.
Is that daredevil risk-taking?

January 4, 2013

Attention Economy and Virtual Hurricanes

According to Esther Dyson's Attention Economy,


But many individuals, most of the time, go online without any interest in buying something. They are there to find out about the world, catch up with friends, play games, listen to music, chat, or just hang out – and, increasingly, to get the attention of other people. Thanks to highly productive surplus economies, they can spend a lot more time being economically inactive.
...

Will the world of cognitive surplus make it easier for us to be environmentally responsible, guided also by the inclusion of externalities in the prices of physical goods, so that we end up “consuming” fewer physical things and spend more on virtual value?
 

Please also read Chinese Thriving in Hard-hit Spain


Chinese immigrants to Spain have managed not only to survive the economic crisis; they are thriving, buying distressed properties and starting businesses.
 

Now, spend your time creating amusement for others and consuming amusements created by others, on 1-to-1 or many-to-many style.

Then,
  1. when you go hungry, first go to a Chinese restaurant , like the Spaniards are doing now.
  2. If you cannot even afford that, go to a virtual restaurant to feed on virtual foods.
  3. when you get sick, take some virtual medicines.
  4. when Sandy, Katrina, etc come, get under virtual shelters.
  5. (as my son points out) even to access your virtual world, you need virtual electricity and virtual batteries etc.
Don't think too far ahead. Don't be a visionary. Attention Economy or Virtual Entertainment World is thousands of years away and when it does come it won't last more than a decade. What about decadent empires in the past?

A Tip for Job Search: Gold Rush Skills

  If you need to make some money very quickly, what would you do? Your answer points to the kind of problems you can solve. They give you so...