In the late 70's, when Apple was created, Silicon Valley and Route-128 were full of innovative, engineering driven companies, trying to improve the world with better products, including DEC, Data General, Fairchild, Varian, Lockheed Martin, Nat Semi, Intel and many others.
They all stood pitted against IBM, the company that didn't so much represent evil, as banal conformity, corporate blandness and a company that dictated how the world would work in its image. A company run by salesmen, with their blue suits, crisp white shirts and company songs.
Leading the rebellion was HP, who at the time made a lot of things, including computers and test equipment, but were famous for their calculators, and the quality of their products. Corporate, to a degree, but this was the one company, with its mythical HP Way, and ethical spirit, that everyone wanted to emulate.
These companies, and their smaller brethren, often built products because they were simply cool, and that impulse led to the creation of the PC and the modern computer industry.
But times have changed. In 2011, as Steve Jobs's health forces him to give up the reins at the company he founded, it's clear that Apple is the only company left that embodies the original Silicon Valley spirit. Dec, Sun, SGI are gone or a shadow of their former selves, and HP makes most of it's money by selling ink in small plastic boxes.
And it's clear what happened. Companies started to employ people without the engineering gene, MBAs without a sense of history or wonder about what the companies they worked for did. Without a sense of mission.
As these people focused on activities that would improve their bonuses, they became marketing and finance oriented, saving pennies in a constant race to do things more cheaply, outsource work until eventually they outsourced their core competencies, focusing on emphemeral things like branding, mindshare and "leadership", losing their attention on the things that got them there, until these companies died from parasitic invasion.
And even Apple got sucked up by this, during Jobs's exile, seemingly on a collision course with oblivion. Until he returned.
Now. some people might say that companies like Google and Facebook are the modern Fairchild and HP, but it's clear these companies don't actually make anything, or at least for the sake of making the thing. Android phones and tablets are simply vehicles for Google's advertising business, no more, no less.
Apple is different. It builds products for the sake of building them, for people to use them, so that they in turn can do great things. Let's be clear, they're no saints, and some of their recent business practices have left a sour taste in the mouth.
But ultimately, Apple brooks no short cuts, no facile compromises, in a crusade to follow a clear philosophy about how the world should look, and to make that world. Religious fanatics? Perhaps, but it's clear they're committed to the joy of creation.
And it should be noted, that Tim Cook, the man Jobs anointed to succeed him, rose through the ranks of the industry via operations, and not through sales or marketing. Someone with hands-on experience of the creation process..
Will Apple continue to kick ass with its products? While Jobs is still alive, I'd have to say yes. But when he's truly unable to engage with the company he created, one only needs to look north to a company in Redmond to see a possible outcome, and that one isn't pretty. Then again, Gates was only ever really interested in making money., and the man who succeeded him was originally in charge of sales.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
A proposal to Derek Fisher and the NBPA (part iii, player compensation)
Let's assume:
From a salary perspective, salaries are graded according to which round the player is selected in:
Also we need to take pooling into account. let's say Kobe, Nash and Garnett wanted to play on the same team, then they would pool the salaries of the 1st 3 picks ($3.0 million + $2.8 million + $2.6 million), and split it 3 ways so that each player got $2.8 million. These 3 players would also count as the team's first three selection, so their first pick, in this case, would be a 4th round pick, depending on how Kobe and Garnett are designated, their team would have to select to fill the 1/2/2 criterion described above.
So the total salaries before tournament compensation would be $192 million.
Now for the tournament, lets take the salaries of two teams as the total prize money, which in this case would be $48 million. Split the money into 12 shares, and allocate it to the teams in winning order 6/3/2/1. So if a team won the whole thing, they'd double their salaries. 2nd place would increase their salaries by 50%, etc...
For individual players, there some interesting ramifications. Players will be paid according to how highly their fellow players rate them, and superstars who win, will reap the rewards of their play.
Take LeBron, for example. Let's say he teams up with Wade and Chris Bosh, and they win one tournament and come second in another. Then, using the numbers above, he'd make $9.8 million for around 6 months work. Not his NBA salary, but not chump change either, and certainly enough to keep the light running, while keeping his public profile high. Bear in mind, this doesn't include royalty compensation from jersey sales, which could greatly increase that number.
Another aspect is that teams are able to reset at the start of each tournament, so you will see the most competitive players join forces to give themselves the best chance to win. This is the kind of thing that sports writers love, since they get to speculate ad nauseam and generate a huge amount of content.
- non-merchandising based revenue (i.e everything except jersey sales). This includes tv & video game rights, sponsorship, etc...
- 80 man roster
- up to 3 players can team up, before the selection process. these players must pool and split their salaries. If there are more than 8 groups of players, the commissioner will arbitrate, with preference given to players with the greatest number of NBA all star appearances. Once this is done, the 8 captains will be selected by the commissioner. The order in which teams select will be done by lottery, two hours before team selection commences.
- Each team will have 1 head coach and 1 assistant coach
- $24 million regular season compensation/team
From a salary perspective, salaries are graded according to which round the player is selected in:
- $3,000,000
- $2,800,000
- $2,600,000
- $2,400,000
- $2,200,000
- $2,000,000
- $1,800,000
- $1,600,000
- $1,400,000
- $1,200,000
Also we need to take pooling into account. let's say Kobe, Nash and Garnett wanted to play on the same team, then they would pool the salaries of the 1st 3 picks ($3.0 million + $2.8 million + $2.6 million), and split it 3 ways so that each player got $2.8 million. These 3 players would also count as the team's first three selection, so their first pick, in this case, would be a 4th round pick, depending on how Kobe and Garnett are designated, their team would have to select to fill the 1/2/2 criterion described above.
So the total salaries before tournament compensation would be $192 million.
Now for the tournament, lets take the salaries of two teams as the total prize money, which in this case would be $48 million. Split the money into 12 shares, and allocate it to the teams in winning order 6/3/2/1. So if a team won the whole thing, they'd double their salaries. 2nd place would increase their salaries by 50%, etc...
For individual players, there some interesting ramifications. Players will be paid according to how highly their fellow players rate them, and superstars who win, will reap the rewards of their play.
Take LeBron, for example. Let's say he teams up with Wade and Chris Bosh, and they win one tournament and come second in another. Then, using the numbers above, he'd make $9.8 million for around 6 months work. Not his NBA salary, but not chump change either, and certainly enough to keep the light running, while keeping his public profile high. Bear in mind, this doesn't include royalty compensation from jersey sales, which could greatly increase that number.
Another aspect is that teams are able to reset at the start of each tournament, so you will see the most competitive players join forces to give themselves the best chance to win. This is the kind of thing that sports writers love, since they get to speculate ad nauseam and generate a huge amount of content.
A proposal to Derek Fisher and the NBPA (part ii, arena revenue)
I wanted to explore this proposal a little bit more, this time from the financial side of things. First, let's take a look at arena based revenue sources:
Some assumptions just to illustrate the math:
Now, there's a case to made for more expensive tickets, given that the average seat for a Laker game @ Staples is over $100, but the point of the exercise is to keep the fan-base engaged, providing high quality basketball for a low price, while at the same time putting pressure on NBA ownership.
From a financial point of view, assuming this tournament was set in Vegas, then a fan in the greater Los Angeles area could catch a game for the same total price as a seat in the lower bowl @ Staples. With back to backs and doubleheaders in the same arena, a fan could see 4 high quality basketball games over a weekend. That's got to be an attractive proposition to a hoops fan
If the NBPA were smart, they would make a deal with the hotels to offer package deals, making this easier. Now, it's important that all tickets are sold at full price, so what you offer the hotels is not discounted tickets, but guaranteed preferential seating. If you bought your tickets through the MGM Grand or the Bellagio, for instance, you'd be able to get front row or center court seating. Same thing applies to "season tickets".
Bear in mind, that this revenue doesn't include concessions or local merchandising sales. That could easily push total game-derived revenue to over $100 million.
Also bear in mind, the assumption of 10k seat arenas. Bigger or smaller arenas could change the revenue model substantially. Las Vegas has 3 venues that seat 12k+ (Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Thomas & Mack), Greater LA has the Forum, Coliseum & the Honda Center with Valley View in San Diego. And on the East Coast, there are many in the Boston->Washington corridor.
Some assumptions just to illustrate the math:
- 28 game regular season
- Playing in non-NBA affiliated arenas that hold 10k+
- Playoffs: semis are best of 3; finals are best of 5
- There are a total of 112 games (28 x 4, there are 8 teams)
- Assuming full attendance, that means there are 1.12 million tickets to be sold
- at an average $30 ticket price, total ticket revenue is $33.6 million
- average $50 ticket price: revenue is $56 million
- average $75 ticket price: $84 million dollars
- Best case there are 11 total games, worst case 7 games
- average $100 ticket price, revenue is between $11 million and $7 million
Now, there's a case to made for more expensive tickets, given that the average seat for a Laker game @ Staples is over $100, but the point of the exercise is to keep the fan-base engaged, providing high quality basketball for a low price, while at the same time putting pressure on NBA ownership.
From a financial point of view, assuming this tournament was set in Vegas, then a fan in the greater Los Angeles area could catch a game for the same total price as a seat in the lower bowl @ Staples. With back to backs and doubleheaders in the same arena, a fan could see 4 high quality basketball games over a weekend. That's got to be an attractive proposition to a hoops fan
If the NBPA were smart, they would make a deal with the hotels to offer package deals, making this easier. Now, it's important that all tickets are sold at full price, so what you offer the hotels is not discounted tickets, but guaranteed preferential seating. If you bought your tickets through the MGM Grand or the Bellagio, for instance, you'd be able to get front row or center court seating. Same thing applies to "season tickets".
Bear in mind, that this revenue doesn't include concessions or local merchandising sales. That could easily push total game-derived revenue to over $100 million.
Also bear in mind, the assumption of 10k seat arenas. Bigger or smaller arenas could change the revenue model substantially. Las Vegas has 3 venues that seat 12k+ (Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Thomas & Mack), Greater LA has the Forum, Coliseum & the Honda Center with Valley View in San Diego. And on the East Coast, there are many in the Boston->Washington corridor.
A proposal to Derek Fisher and the NBPA
In the lockout, I find myself firmly on the side of the players. It's clear that this dispute is as much about class, in the American sense, as it is about money, which is to say it's really the same old struggle over the balance of power between employers and employees.
Now, the NBPA has one big stick with which to hit the owners, and that's the stars.
If I were Derek Fisher, I would try to put together a mini league under the following conditions:
The issue with such a league for the players is revenue, and how much such a venture could generate.
In 2010, NBA merchandising sales across the US and Canada alone hit $1.93 billion, and you can easily double that when taking the rest of the world into account. Most jersey sales are for the top 25 or so players in the league, and most if not all those players would participate in a rebel league. It goes without saying, that this revenue stream comes at the expense of the NBA, as people buy the new, more exciting, rebel merchandising over the existing official wares.
So, in my mind, $250 million per tournament is within easy reach when one takes into account all the sources of revenue, and I don't think it's too far fetched to think that it might hit $500 million, or even a $1 billion. And each tournament offers a new opportunity for merchandising sales, as players change teams, etc...
Bottom line is that kind of revenue would definitely put pressure on the owners to settle, as the more successful the rebel league becomes, the more the NBA loses value.
more thoughts:
part ii: http://plinytheelder.blogspot.com/2011/07/proposal-to-derek-fisher-and-nbpa-part.html
part iii: http://plinytheelder.blogspot.com/2011/07/proposal-to-derek-fisher-and-nbpa-part_02.html
Now, the NBPA has one big stick with which to hit the owners, and that's the stars.
If I were Derek Fisher, I would try to put together a mini league under the following conditions:
- Eight teams, consisting of the NBA's best 80 or 96 players
- Make Oscar Robertson or Bill Russell the commissioner. Important to have the old-time union connection.
- Allow for the desire of some players to team with others (up to 3 players on a team), then designate a captain for each team.
- Have a selection event, kind of like a draft, where the captains select other teammates, in round-robin fashion
- Play a mix of FIBA/NBA rules (4, ten minute quarters, 22ft 3pt line, etc...)
- 3 pts for a win, 2 for an overtime win, 1 for an overtime loss
- Each team plays each other 1,2,3 or 4 times depending on the desired length of the season
- Most points wins the tournament. Tiebreakers on points differential, points scored, etc...
- Top four teams go into a semis/finals best of 3/5 playoff for the title
- Make the finals a big prize money competition.
- Set the tournament somewhere like Las Vegas, or any area that has multiple 10k seat arenas
- Let the hotels accommodate the players as sponsorship in kind.
- Ticket sales.
- Let the NBPA sell the tv rights worldwide (who wouldn't want to see Kobe & Nash on the same team?)
- Let the NPBA sell video game rights.
- Offer one of the major networks Christmas Day games.
- Let the NBPA sell jersey/merchandising rights worldwide
- Sponsorship, jersey advertising
- A big chunk of money goes to the active players, but 50% to the NBPA's general fund
- Most of the players will be the NBA's stars, so this would be like an all-star tournament
- Short season. If every team played each other 4 times, that would equate to a 28 game regular season. Include the playoffs, the whole thing could be done in a short 3 month season.
- More exciting basketball
- Rebel league factor
- Loyalty to the union
- A chance to play with other stars.
- Better level of basketball than in Europe
- A chance to stay in the public eye. Makes sponsorships valuable.
- Can make not great, but decent money
- reduced travel.
The issue with such a league for the players is revenue, and how much such a venture could generate.
In 2010, NBA merchandising sales across the US and Canada alone hit $1.93 billion, and you can easily double that when taking the rest of the world into account. Most jersey sales are for the top 25 or so players in the league, and most if not all those players would participate in a rebel league. It goes without saying, that this revenue stream comes at the expense of the NBA, as people buy the new, more exciting, rebel merchandising over the existing official wares.
So, in my mind, $250 million per tournament is within easy reach when one takes into account all the sources of revenue, and I don't think it's too far fetched to think that it might hit $500 million, or even a $1 billion. And each tournament offers a new opportunity for merchandising sales, as players change teams, etc...
Bottom line is that kind of revenue would definitely put pressure on the owners to settle, as the more successful the rebel league becomes, the more the NBA loses value.
more thoughts:
part ii: http://plinytheelder.blogspot.com/2011/07/proposal-to-derek-fisher-and-nbpa-part.html
part iii: http://plinytheelder.blogspot.com/2011/07/proposal-to-derek-fisher-and-nbpa-part_02.html
Monday, June 13, 2011
Dear LeBron...
I know things kind of suck right now, but your time will come.
The first thing you should realize is that your team overachieved this year. Forget all the crap from these modern day Max Mercies in the sports press, but you really weren't expected to win a title this year. Getting to the finals was a big achievement in itself, although you should have put up a stronger fight.
What you need to take away from this is the understanding that team coordination and planning often trump individual talent, and that the most important muscle is the grey one between the ears.
So where do you go from here? Well, you need to develop some mental toughness. Not easy, but here's how:
At Liverpool (which you own part of), there's a man called Kenny Dalglish, the original King Kenny. This man has been through more than you could possibly imagine, and come out a winner. He also happens to be the mentally toughest sportsman to grace this fair planet, on the same level as Bill Russell and Mohammed Ali.
Go to Liverpool's training camp, this summer, and listen respectfully to everything that man is willing to teach you. He will provide you with the tools that you need to step up to the next level.
The first thing you should realize is that your team overachieved this year. Forget all the crap from these modern day Max Mercies in the sports press, but you really weren't expected to win a title this year. Getting to the finals was a big achievement in itself, although you should have put up a stronger fight.
What you need to take away from this is the understanding that team coordination and planning often trump individual talent, and that the most important muscle is the grey one between the ears.
So where do you go from here? Well, you need to develop some mental toughness. Not easy, but here's how:
At Liverpool (which you own part of), there's a man called Kenny Dalglish, the original King Kenny. This man has been through more than you could possibly imagine, and come out a winner. He also happens to be the mentally toughest sportsman to grace this fair planet, on the same level as Bill Russell and Mohammed Ali.
Go to Liverpool's training camp, this summer, and listen respectfully to everything that man is willing to teach you. He will provide you with the tools that you need to step up to the next level.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Bill Hicks on Jay Leno
This was Bill talking about Jay, *20 years* ago.
As prescient as ever, and a warning to those who would sell their souls to the Devil for fame, fortune or whatever.
As prescient as ever, and a warning to those who would sell their souls to the Devil for fame, fortune or whatever.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Chris Hipp, 1961 - 2009
Life is sometimes truly unfair... Chris Hipp, passed away yesterday, and the world is a poorer place for it.
There's a character on a TV beer ad called "The most interesting man in the world". Hipp was the real life incarnation of that invented person.
He was one of those extraordinary people whose actual life was far more interesting than anything one could make up: He started out as a semi-pro cyclist in Texas, competing against the likes of Lance Armstrong, and started an SGI reseller in Dallas just when 3D graphics and DCC started to make a real impact in the market. He then founded RocketLogic (later RLX systems) and, in the process, invented Blade Servers and created an entire market, for which he never got anything close to real credit.
Later, he moved west to California, and co-founded Orion Multisystems (where we worked together), a company that built deskside supercomputers, and helped usher in the age of low power supercomputing, and green computing in general. At the time of his passing he was working for DWave who build quantum computers, and along the way, he championed, nurtured and helped a number of companies to get funding, and develop partnerships. He was a visionary who was always happiest at the bleeding edge, and made it his mission to ensure that technology, big or small, had a fighting chance to make an impact, and to change the way people think.
His incessant fascination with other people, and the things they were doing, compelled him to go out of his way to make friends with interesting and creative people, in many fields. Whenever I was with him, at a trade show or an event, it seemed like he knew almost everybody of importance in both the High Performance Computing and the Cycling world, and they knew him too (there are *many* cool and off-color stories). At a show like SC, it would take him 2 days to walk the floor, just because of bumping into people he knew. I think I only ever managed to introduce him to a handful of people he didn't already know, or hadn't already met.
Through it all, one had the sense that even though he had achieved so much, he wasn't close to being finished helping to change the world.
He was infinitely curious, and technologically was attracted to the innovative, the meaningful and the cool. He deeply loved his companera, Lorraine, his cats, cycling, technology and the Chipotle burritos at Maria Elenas in Alviso. He was also one of the few people I called a friend.
I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that a voice that was so full of life is now silent. Damn.
There's a character on a TV beer ad called "The most interesting man in the world". Hipp was the real life incarnation of that invented person.
He was one of those extraordinary people whose actual life was far more interesting than anything one could make up: He started out as a semi-pro cyclist in Texas, competing against the likes of Lance Armstrong, and started an SGI reseller in Dallas just when 3D graphics and DCC started to make a real impact in the market. He then founded RocketLogic (later RLX systems) and, in the process, invented Blade Servers and created an entire market, for which he never got anything close to real credit.
Later, he moved west to California, and co-founded Orion Multisystems (where we worked together), a company that built deskside supercomputers, and helped usher in the age of low power supercomputing, and green computing in general. At the time of his passing he was working for DWave who build quantum computers, and along the way, he championed, nurtured and helped a number of companies to get funding, and develop partnerships. He was a visionary who was always happiest at the bleeding edge, and made it his mission to ensure that technology, big or small, had a fighting chance to make an impact, and to change the way people think.
His incessant fascination with other people, and the things they were doing, compelled him to go out of his way to make friends with interesting and creative people, in many fields. Whenever I was with him, at a trade show or an event, it seemed like he knew almost everybody of importance in both the High Performance Computing and the Cycling world, and they knew him too (there are *many* cool and off-color stories). At a show like SC, it would take him 2 days to walk the floor, just because of bumping into people he knew. I think I only ever managed to introduce him to a handful of people he didn't already know, or hadn't already met.
Through it all, one had the sense that even though he had achieved so much, he wasn't close to being finished helping to change the world.
He was infinitely curious, and technologically was attracted to the innovative, the meaningful and the cool. He deeply loved his companera, Lorraine, his cats, cycling, technology and the Chipotle burritos at Maria Elenas in Alviso. He was also one of the few people I called a friend.
I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that a voice that was so full of life is now silent. Damn.
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