See I told you so.........
Watches as timepieces


http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=13298065&src=rss/technologyNews

Tech Company Visits

Had a chance to visit some tech companies so thought I would do some name dropping. After a long time assisting to develop standards Staccato Communications is really starting to get some traction, they have a new CEO, Marty Colombatto, I have spoke to him a few times via e-mail and it looks like everything is in place over there. They have been under the radar for awhile, I really get a sense you are going to be hearing a lot more from them. AeA is going to assist them in an open house they are going to have in the near future - they recently moved into a new building in Sorrento Valley.

AeA hosted a 'North County Technology Mixer' and I had a chance to catch up with some AeA Members. Cymer hosted the event, they have a nice amphitheater that provided a cool backdrop for our event. We had about a hundred folks show up, the format is really simple we pick a geogrphic cluster of tech companies, in this case Rancho Bernardo, we recruit a few CEO's to tell us what is going on with their company. Bob Akins, CEO Cymer kicked it off by telling the Cymer story. I had a chance to meet the new Cymer COO Ed Brown, nice guy - some of my members knew him from previous stints at other companies. Next we had Tom Carter, CEO Trellisware brief us on his company, they are a ViaSat Spinoff and have some very intriguing technology. Everyone who knows Tom Carter, says he is the smartest guy in the room!! Next Robert Harling, Operations Director of AP Labs brought us up to speed on what is happening at AP Labs. They are moving very quickly and are adding folks almost as fast as they can find them, they have established a reputation for some very cutting edge quality technology work, especially in 'rugged design'.

San Diego is a very exciting place to be right now, lots of new companies coming out of the block, very diverse which bodes well for the region.

I Don't wear a watch

I don’t wear a watch

Recently I was playing Video games with a very video proficient 9 year old. We were playing one of those inexpensive plug in to your video game of old Atari games. I relayed to my young playing companion that when I was young you could only play these in arcades and we would pump quarter after quarter into the machines. He looked at the poor quality of the graphics and the slow game play and turned to me with all the pity a 9 year old can muster and said “that is so sad”. BTW I kicked his ASS in Galaga, I kept two spaceships for most of the time. He insisted it was a cheat and after I beat him a few times he asked what other games I had. Take that

The point being that technology marches on and once in a while it destroys other technologies, we all know this, but sometimes the cultural effects of the heap bin of technology has a real impact. Hence my new discovery/observation - I don’t wear a watch. I carry my phone everywhere and it has a digital watch on the screen, it is a clamshell so I can see the time when it is closed. I recently lost an expensive watch, and when I say lost I mean my three year old hid it and now I can’t find it. I was never into the ‘ I need 5 watches’ thing and figured I saved a lot of money over the years by only having one nice watch. Upon gearing up for a replacement search, I had the revelation that perhaps, just maybe, I don’t need a watch. Why do I need two pieces of equipment that do the same thing?? I have been testing my observation the past few weeks having gone watchless. I feel liberated, almost naked without something I have wearing since high school. I no longer have to worry about where I left it the night before. I don’t have to take anything off before I do any manual labor. OK, so that did not happen that often, but it did happen once in a while!! More importantly I don’t miss it or feel the need to have one.

Now, what else can I get rid of????

Alternative View on Google/China

While I understand the angst about the recent Google decision to accept Chinese conditions for market entry. I would like to point out an alternative view, (it may not necessarily be mine!!)

Yes, Google did conform to Chinese government regulations, in much the same way Google is also complying with a host of U.S. regulations, including the largest regressive tax on U.S. Business - Sarbanes Oxley, a particularly onerous set of U.S. regulations. Other foreign owned companies listed on an American stock exchanges must also comply. I am also sure that Google is complying with other foreign regulations in countries in which it operates. Yes, free speech is different and it is abhorrent that the Chinese government chooses to censor what its citizens can see. However..........................

The Internet and the free flow of information is the Trojan horse of democracy for China

For the Chinese, control of the internet is a cruel illusion and Google is rightly letting them have their ‘illusion’. Ultimately the Mandarin censors will be overwhelmed, attacked and thwarted, their illusion will quickly crumble. Information always finds a way to be free. Chinese hackers have already publicly announced hacks to get around a sophisticated network of filters. The masses will use the internet to communicate; underground networks will develop. Internet aided technologies such as IM, wireless communications, blogs, and broad access to the net will revolutionize the flow of information, once the monopoly of the Chinese goverment. The Chinese, will of course try and continue to filter, censor and block objectionable information, it won't work. Snippets of 'subversive' information will slip through, sophisticated users will find ways to reach the information they want, regardless of the Chinese authoriites attempts to stop it. The internet is a product of the U.S.A and no county has exploited it more than the United States, as much as the Chinese may like there will be no ‘Asian Internet’ thus the positive influence of America and other western culture will be felt by the Chinese. Freedom, Liberty, Democracy and Freedom of the Press is imprinted on the DNA of the internet through the inherent free flow of information.

Let the Chinese have their illusions, for their kind it is the beginning of the end. The Internet will contribute to thier demise. And Google will have helped bring it down.

Passages

I was very saddened to hear Pascal Didier, Cymer had recently lost his long struggle to overcome a serious illness.

I met Pascal maybe 5 or 6 times. Pascal had one of the driest wits out of any tech executive I know. I still remember our first meeting some years ago when Pascal asked me if I could cut Cymer's AeA dues in half, as I sputtered for a few moments, Pascal finally told me to calm down and he was just kidding. Pascal had a unique ability to put people at ease, his dry wit, vision and his ability to get right to the point made him an invaluable asset to Cymer.

IMOP, Cymer has one of the top management teams in town, Bob Akins is well known in the community and guides Cymer with a steady hand, I once joked to Bob that the cyclical nature of the semiconductor business must lead him to have a manic depressive mindset. Bob and his team has been able to 'even' out the cycles. In the semiconductor bust a few years ago, one would have thought that a company like Cymer would have been decimated, instead Cymer concentrated on R&D, and preserving their very technical workforce they had worked so hard to develop. Cymer has managed the boom/bust cycle incredibly well and probably does not get enough credit for this. Pascal was part of this and will be missed.

Pascal's passing will be missed not only by Cymer but the entire technology community.

Holy Cow, I have never seen that color before

“Holy Cow, I have never seen that color before”

Lauren Carroll
My three year old daughter on seeing her first sunset yesterday

Everyone is bothering me about when I am getting my three year old her first computer. Being the daughter of a geek would seem to make her an early candidate for her own computer not to mention her own case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I made the decision to wait on the computer as we both looked at the sunset yesterday. It was a particularly beautiful one as shades of purple and pink mingled to serve up a wonderful palette of colors. She asked me if she could touch it and I told her that if we touched it would disappear, she was surprisingly ok with this answer and sat next to me and continued to enjoy the ‘new colors’

If she had her own computer, I wonder if we would have had the opportunity to share that moment.

Changes

So as everyone laments the fact that San Diego loses another corporate HQ, AMCC Press Release, I was quoted (Union Tribune Article) commenting on it, I told them that while any loss is bad, the workforce should stay intact. It is one thing to move the CEO and CFO's to the valley, it is quite another to move the engineers and key R&D folks, many of whom I am sure are very fond of San Diego.

San Diego needs to get used to the idea that it is not a Corp. HQ town. And that is not all bad!! San Diego should celebrate the innovation that takes place in San Diego and the hundreds of small technology startups that dot our landscape. I would even make the argument that when these companies get bought up, people that cash out turn around and invest in other San Diego startups. We have seen it at HNC Software, MP3.com, Ipivot and a host of other 'cash outs'. From my point of view as executive director, I have benefited from these spinouts as many of them have joined AeA i.e. HNC offshoot ID Analytics and Ipivot offshoot Tarari as well as countless others.

Speaking of AMCC, Tom Tullie, past president of AMCC recently landed the top job at Path 1 Networks. I had met the Chairman of Path 1 Networks , Fred Cary a few years ago while we were on a lobbying trip to Washington DC on stock options. Qualcomm had very generously donated the use of their corporate jet and Path 1, AMCC, Cymer and a few other folks made the trip. I talked to Fred about their technology and sounded very promising, even back than. Picking up Tom Tullie was quite a coup for them.

Politics

So, we have a new Mayor !!!!! I spent quite a bit of time with our Mayor Elect during the recent campaign. Mayor Elect Jerry Sanders spent an inordinate amount of time in Sorrento Valley and other tech clusters. I had told Jerry that he was due an honorary protect protector for spending so much time around tech companies. I also hosted a tech fundraiser (under my own name, not AeA!) with a few of my tech CEO friends, which introduced Mayor Sanders to even more tech executives. Jerry also showed up at the annual AeA High Tech Awards where he mingled with even more tech executives.

It could be argued that the time Candidate Jerry Sanders spent with tech companies was not equal with the fundraising efforts of the tech industry. Jerry Sanders was not a self funded candidate, he relied on extensive fundraising for his successful candidacy. The fact that he took time to understand the tech industry bodes well for our industry. Mayor Elect Sanders genuinely seemed to understand the importance of the tech industry as an economic driver. The reality is - he did not have to. The tech industry, has historically been apathetic in the local political scene. However this is starting to change. Technology Executives are waking up to the realization that they must be part of the process, and yes this means supporting candidates by participating in fundraising.

Several issues of critical importance to the tech industry will be decided in City Hall, Co-location, linkage fees, additional streamlining of permitting and other regulatory issues will all benefit from a more engaged tech community.

200 tech companies coming to San Diego

The AeA Classic (Financial Investor Conference) is coming to San Diego this year. AeA has held this event annually for over 30 years! Most of the recognizable tech companies have made their way through the Classic!! It is for public tech companies over 100M in market cap. Around 700-800 investors typically attend this event. Most of the San Diego public companies typically attend. Amazing how many Tech CEO's/CFO's are in one city at the same time probably rivals some of the big trade conferences for senior attendance. My national folks host this so not much for me to do. I try and make sure the local companies that are attending are happy with thier participation.

Investor Relations - My Take
I have always felt that Investor Relations is much more sales/Marketing than many folks are willing to admit. When I was running the Potomac Council for AeA years ago, there was one year that 24 new companies were attending the Classic, late 90's when IPO's were as easy to come by as new Starbucks. A few of the companies were looking to standout, after some brainstorming, they decided to 'rent' food carts at the AeA Classic to promote thier companies, so one company had a 'Ben & Jerry' ice cream cart and the other had a Ms. Fields Cookie Cart, these two companies had higher attendance at thier individual presentations - and this resulted in more instituitional investors and higher stock price!!!!

Most Investor Relations appear to be reactive rather than proactive - I wonder what would happen if a very aggressive IR function was enabled at some of these companies, marketing pieces, telemarketing, all professional - just a more marketing spin to perhaps the number one job of most companies 'increasing shareholder value'

I also was taught (Doug Poretz, who should still have an IR firm in Northern Virginia!) that companies need to tell a story and that story will have an arc it is not always positive but you need to get investors hooked into the 'story' of the company and than listen to your narrative and also believe there will be a happy ending.

More later.....

I Blog

Part of my job as Executive Director of the AeA is to understand the regional tech climate in San Diego. This includes keeping up on new technologies as well as the tech landscape of San Diego. This blog will be an attempt to document that.