Tales from the Silicon Valley Front.

6 months since I posted here.

2011-06-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

Been busy on the work blogs, but gearing up for summer. Amazing that Gigi will "graduate" from Elementary school this week getting "clapped out" whatever that means. Mayson heads into 4th, Addie first, and 3 1/2 Owen is already two wheeling and heading into next year of preschool!

Also remembering my friend Jeff H today as we approach the 10th anniversary of his all too early death...we miss you buddy!

RATING MY 2010 PREDICTIONS! - Stuxnet, Wildcats and random thoughts

2010-12-24T11:03:00.000-08:00

My top ten predictions for 2010 GRADED

Looking through my 2010 predictions, it's clear I am better with technology than sports!
I'd say the Stuxnet prediction took me from mediocre to pretty good, if you grade impact and probability. Working on 2011...

10) There is a major malware incident that results in a compromise which is big enough to make the headlines. This will raise the visibility of cybercrime to new levels -
GRADE - A+ STUXNET rocks the IT Sec space, making NYTime, WSJ and changing the international landscape

9) The IPO market for tech warms up considerably and we see at least 15 filings and 6-7 IPOs out of the valley. I expect these to be about 50-50 enterprise and consumer/web2.0 -
GRADE - WRONG - However, high value M and A and private valuations make up for it and tech prospects are good.

8) The "cloud" suffers a major outage (unrelated to #10) and this slows but does not halt the drive to cloud-computing
GRADE - EHHH, NO huge outage, but lotsa little one, cloud continues to role.

7) Unemployment is the valley continues to hover around 11-12% until after the summer when we finally see real signs of recovery in employment
GRADE - Pretty spot on!!!, though the recovery is slower and later than we'd like

6) Oracle FINALLY owns Sun (does anyone really care anymore?)
GRADE - Yeah, so who cares...

5) The housing market finally stabilizes and we actually see BOTH price and volumes pick up in 2010.
GRADE - Yes on stabilizing, we are halfway there...

4) The Republicans have a decent 2010 election, but don't fundamentally gain much, though they do slow the Dems down in the Senate
GRADE - C here, Republicans did even better in house, so we will see how 2011 goes in Washington

3) The Browns and Indians suck again and the Cavs disappoint in the playoffs (You can take the boy out of Cleveland, but you can't take the sports outta the boy...)
GRADE - Yeah, so who cares...

2) The Wildcats (Northwestern) snap their 61 year streak without a bowl game win by upsetting the Auburn Tigers in the Outback Bowl on Jan 1
GRADE - 62 years and counting, with Persa out for the Ticket City bowl, I'm not counting on a win this Jan 1

1) The Wildcats snap their 0 for forever streak and make the Men's BBALL tourney...
GRADE - WRONG, I clearly have purple glasses on, maybe this year?????
Go Cats, and here's to a great 2011...

Thanksgiving thanks

2010-11-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

Things I am thankful for:

My amazing wife and wonderful children
My great friends both new and old
My amazing clients for helping me to build my business
My families health and happiness
My health and happiness
The teachers and educators we are lucky to have
The safety and security we take for granted and enjoy and those who help protect it
Living in this amazing time and place
The fact that I can make the list above!

Over and out...
Ken

Uverse cares? NOT!

2010-11-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

My chat with Uverse tech support, guess I was kinda pissed...priceless

Mr. Rutsky, thank you for contacting AT&T U-verse Member Support. My name is REP

How may I assist you with U-verse service today?

I am really pissed off about the loss of Food Network, HGTV and other channels

You need to tell SENIOR MANAGEMENT that they are ffing up big time

I want to make sure this message gets through. We give you 30 days to fix this then we are OUTOF THIS SERVICE!!!

I know this is not a technical issue, but this is the ONLY WAY TO GET ANYONE FROM UVERSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOU

PLS confirm that you will pass this up the foodchain...

REP:

Sorry, Mr. Rutsky. As the agreements with the Scripps channel has expired. That is the reason the channels are off air.

I will certainly pass this information, Mr. Rutsky.

ME:

The reason is that ATT management doesnt give a rats ass about what it's customers want. They think it is too hard to switch. This is REALLY NOT Acceptable

and a crappy way to run a business.

pass that on. doesn't ATT have a VP of Cust sat. How can that exec let this happen?

esp when negotiations were ongoing STUPID STUPID STUPID

tell them also to watch twitter, there is NO sympathy for them, just more anger...

REP

We have not expected that this would reach to this situation, we hope that this would be fixed soon.

ME
OK, sorry to yell at someone 3K miles away and 20 steps below the decision maker, but

REP

Every member has raised the same question, how can this be off air when negotiations are going on.

also, according to Food Network, ATT CHOSE to turn this off while neg were going, again total disregard for customers

totally sucks

and they ATT execs will wonder when Google TV rules all

OK, I am done, I am just getting more angry. Like I said, someone at the sr level should understand how much customer anger this generates.

bye

REP

Yes, certainly I agree with you.

I'll escalate this to my supervisor.

My new product marketing blog

2010-06-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

I've decided to split my blog. This blog will be my personal one. I am moving my Product Marketing Blog and Business content to my new site, Product (1st) Marketing (2nd), I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers
Ken

Social media, innovation, B2B Product Marketing

2010-06-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

I've been long since posting. I've been busy with clients and at home with the end of school year rush of events. Lots going on...

Been thinking a lot about Social Media, Innovation and B2B Product Marketing and the various intersections of these. I think there's a big change going on in B2B, lot's has been written about the new "Science" of analytical marketing, but at the same time, there is a huge gap on "Strategic Analytics" for B2B product marketers. I think there is a very real oppty to advance the science and tools that product marketers have at their disposal. More thoughts to come.

In addition, I am curious, if you are a product marketing professional, where do you go for help, advise and learning?? How do you find industry best practices when faced with a problem? Where do you advance your "toolkit"?? What role does social media play today, and do you find it worth your time???

More to come on these topics....

Ken

Next Gen Threat Protection.

2010-05-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

Check this new blog and site from FireEye out. Cool stuff!!!! Last week I wrote about the emerging Next Gen FireWalls, essentially consolidated policy management and compliance products. For next gen threat prevention, interesting to see what FireEye has offered up...

www.modernmalwareexposed.org and blog.modernmalwareexposed.com

Cheers
Ken

Why Checkpoint (and Cisco and Fortinet and PAN) Should Take Notice of McAfee...

2010-04-27T18:41:00.000-07:00

(Disclaimer: I previously ran product Marketing for Secure Computing and McAfee Network Security so has some bias, though hold NO market positions in any of the companies in this blog)

In Sept of 2008, days before the market collapse, Secure Computing accepted an all-cash offer from McAfee. In November, the deal closed. Many wondered what the future of Sidewinder, one of the oldest, but arguably most secure and revered product in the market. In less than 2 yrs, we now have the answer, with McAfee Firewall Enterprise V8.0. 8.0 is a BIG release, even if it only does some of what was announced. Application and user awareness, ePO integration and more make this a big product.

Next generation firewalls are coming hard and fast into the market, led by the innovative and disruptive Palo Alto Networks. Fortinet and others also have some level of this capability, and you can bet that network players Cisco and Juniper are not far behind.

With 8.0 , McAfee has fired a broad shot across the bow of the firewall market. Sure, lotsa questions remain, everything from performance to IPS on 8.0 and its impact on the OTHER McAfee IPS product line, to can McAfee win the love of the channel. However, this is a shot to be reckoned with. McAfee has a $500M+ Netsec business and wants more.

A bit more on IPS. The market seems to be saying this...1) IPS is part of the Next Gen FW 2) IPS provides compliance level protection 3) We need more innovation for threat prevention (witness the recent SNORT NRG initiative.) Now, I see this convergence as a leaving a wide open space for Next generation threat prevention at the NW level, a product that protects against today's browser based attacks, not the network probes of the past. Who/What will emerge to fill that gap?? That's a post for another time...

Positioning from Strength

2010-04-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

Often I observe that when business is good, positioning gets stale. However, no one cares. As one of my good CFO friends once told me "Top line growth covers a lot of rocks". I think this is a shame, and a real missed opportunity. Positioning from Strength is a HIGHLY leveragable activity, one that has the potential to accelerate both business and valuation.

Take my client Nimsoft, recently acquired by CA for $350M on a very healthy multiple. When I arrived to work with the CEO, Gary Read and his exec team, business was going great. Nimsoft had (and still has) a tremendous product, great sales momentum and was an execution machine. However, to Gary's credit, he was open and receptive to a discussion of positioning, vision and go forward marketing strategy, in a way that was highly unusual for a business going so well.

I think Gary saw that Nimsoft was sitting at the apex of an opportunity to reposition from strength, and to use that strength to build a platform and vision that was forward looking and unique. That's exactly what we did when we launched and implemented the Nimsoft Unified Monitoring strategy, architecture, alliance and .com portal.

The results, well they speak for themselves, great going forward positioning, coupled with continued amazing execution led to continued growth and the CA transaction. But we are not done yet, and this week took the next step with the launch of Nimsoft On Demand, a SaaS delivery of Nimsoft Unified Monitoring. Look for more great things to come from the Nimsoft business now that it is part of CA, this is only the beginning.

So, I think this shows very strongly the value of positioning from strength. CEOs and BODs, don't wait for the crisis, IF YOUR BUSINESS IS GOING GREAT, and you haven't examined your GTM positioning and messaging within the last 12-18 months, there's never been a better time than right now...(Need help, well, I know someone who's pretty good at this :))...

New Google Docs ---Document Nirvana or Document Socialism

2010-04-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

So, Google releases a whole new update to google docs today with MUCH fanfare and the requisite sexy blog and youtube video... This ones been in me for a while, and while there are a lot of little reasons I'm not sold (such as dont see biz value of Simultaneous editing, Version control really weak, Change tracking is not so hot, offline access, feature parity to SW) these gaps will are are being closed.)

I think the biggest reason is I want to own my docs!!!

I live my life in a world of docs, spreadsheets and presos, they are the way I create, communicate and distribute intellectual property. Yes, I often do this in teams, and LOVE Box.net for that. But I don't really want you to change that formula or that bullet point and obliterate my content. Do it, save it and call it V2. If I do let you do it to the live one, how do I easily and painlessly see the changes from the one on my hard drive??

I think content ownership IS a big deal ESPECIALLY when working with teams. To me, Google Doc paradigm is Content socialism, and I guess I want private property, even when I let you onto the property and even move the furniture! I've always found pass the baton editing (Sharing sites like box.net fill the bill well for this) more effective than group gropes, which I love on the whiteboard but find incredibly frustrating when dealing with constrained content like Docs, spreadsheet and presos...

Am I a dinosaur?? What do you think???

For IT Technology Vendor Go to Market plans, the 4th C=Cloud!

2010-03-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

This ones bursting out like a rainstorm (pun intended) exciting stuff...

Eucalyptus, according to GigaMon, appears to be on the verge of raising a round with a post valuation of $100M on best I can tell revenues in the $0M range! (Granted, a big name CEO joined, but still, 100M valuation??) When I saw this, it really got me thinking of 1) are we entering a cloud bubble and 2) why, even if we are, how the cloud is changing the business that I and my clients are in. I'll leave topic 1 for another day, but let's take a look at #2.

4Ps and 3Cs - A Cloudy View
Let's pull out the trusty old standard and QUICKLY examine how these change or might change because of the cloud....

Product - The cloud opens up new delivery options for just about any hardware or software offering or capability. IT vendors MUST rethink their product plans and at a minimum better have good reasons NOT to be in the cloud.

Pricing and Cost- In IT mind, cloud = subscription, but does cloud = cheap? That's one of many open questions. The move from perpetual to subscription business is a very tricky one the bigger you get, but the cloud is accelerating an already present trend. Services = subscription. IT products = services...get it...How do you price cloud offerings relative to your traditional on premise/package ones...

And on the cost side, the good news, it's really cheap to get into business, no more hardware, no more datacenters, no more test labs, no more power bills. Ahhh, that works great for new start-ups. But aren't you ISVs used to zero marginal costs on sales. Sorry!, get ready for COGS, more users = more COGS. A great example of a business model issue that helps new entrants move faster than existing ones.

Worried about margin cannabilization, well, guess what, the yCombinator start up down the street built hosting COGs into the model from day 1. They don't expect 95% margins, but you do, oh, no wonder their offering is cheaper. Oh, and by they way, they've been built for low cost scaling too, while it's going to take you a year to get there. Price for scale now and take a margin hit??? Oh so many great marketing problems to solve!

Place - How do you spell "disinter-mediation?" C-L-O-U-D. As product become services, product providers become service providers. Distribution is "free" and
market friction goes away. New geos open without friction. At least that's the theory, but the reality is much more complex and the channel will not go away without a fight and transforming itself...

Promotion - Try and buy, freemium, SEO, Social Media, Viral spread. The Cloud accelerates ALL of these trends. Time to learn some new tricks???

Customer - Who's your customer, where are they, what do they expect. What are they thinking, what are their habits, who cares about you? How do they find you (see P=Promotion) and how do they expect to be found. As more customers can easily try your product is it right for them, are you missing new growth segments that you just aren't looking for???

Company - Is the company ready for change? Is the executive team engaged or scared. How high is the sponsorship of cloud inititatives? Is it genuine of lip service. Do you understand the business model barriers to transformation? Sales quota and incentives, rev rec, HR policies? This type of change can hit every corner of the business, you've got to be ready.

Competition - New competitors, more cloud ready, new substitute products, new pricing models to compete with and on and on. What Hosting provider or Telco would have ever predicted Amazon as a competitor???

OK, have I convinced you or is the cloud all hype? I'm ready to add the 4th C to the old model, CLOUD! Are You????

Great post from my client FireEye

2010-03-25T20:19:00.001-07:00

http://blog.modernmalwareexposed.org/2010/03/the-great-malware-coverup.html

The truth will set you free!!!

Great Day for Nimsoft! Nice day for KJR...Positioning matters

2010-03-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my first and still active client Nimsoft got acquired by CA for an OUTSTANDING valuation of $350M. You can read ALL about it a here.

Just a great result for Nimsoft customers, employees and shareholders, as CEO Gary Read said here, a "Triple Play!".

Lot's of commentators have lauded this deal, one particular comment stuck out for me from the Register here:

Specifically, the quote I'd point out (with the emphasis mine) is....
"Last October, the company rolled out a new integrated suite of products called Unified Monitoring, the main reason why CA is interested in Nimsoft. The Unified Monitoring suite doesn't just babysit all the physical and virtual stuff humming away in the data center, but also Amazon EC2 and Rackspace Cloud compute and storage utilities, Salesforce.com CRM software and Google Apps for Business...."

I am proud to have played a role in helping Gary and the team position and align both the communications and the product roadmap to this new vision last year. It's proven to be the right product at the right time, and the team has done an a great job of articulating and then acting on a vision with the speed and delivery of a great company. It's one thing to talk the talk, it's another to really embrace it. Yesterday, connecting vision, positioning AND execution really paid off. Congrats!!! Well done, and thanks for having me be part of it.

Gary talks alot about Cloud being a discontinuity in the market, and that new winners and leaders will emerge. Gary has both vision and execution, and CA is lucky to get the team, and in my opinion, got a bargain!

Keep up the great delivery and lead the CA team into the brave new future of Unified Monitoring....

Back to the blog, RSA thoughts, etc

2010-03-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

The really good news is that I've been so busy, no time to blog...the really bad news is so busy no time to blog...

RSA was a nice event. It was good to see many of the old Secure Computing gang, most who seem to have landed nicely either within MFE or at a variety of other places. My client, FireEye had a great show, thanks Hollman, Phil and Mark P and everyone else who helped out. New friends from FireEye such as Marc M and others made for a great show... Even our "book" signing went off nicely with about 150 folks at the B Bar terrace.

It was even nice to see Wendy from the conf sales staff, and for once, not to spend hours debating...

RSA never ceases to amaze me. As someone who is a mktg guy, it reminds me of the HUGE amount of vendors that buyers need to deal with...truly humbling. My favorite humorous moment was the irony of hired "booth bunnies" wearing t-shirts that said "Intelligent Whitelisting"...

Hoping to get some more substantive blogs out soon but no time for deep thoughts...

Cheers
Ken

Ten Blogs I hope to Write in '10

2010-01-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

10) Customer references - Why they are so dang hard and what to do about it

9) Why are imaginations are never as good as the bad guys, and what to do about that!

8) Starting a consulting business, 10 mistakes I never thought I'd make, ..

7) Completing my fist century ride since 1990 at the age of 48...

6 and 5) Product Differentiation Pressure (TM) con'td

4) Cavs win the NBA title, ending a 47 yr drought without a major championship in Cleveland (OK, I can dream can't I...)

3) How I made it through the first year of my business

2) KJR Associates launches first SaaS providing Product Marketing with tools for success

1) Another healthy and happy year for my family and friends (God willing...)

Over and out
Ken

My top ten predictions for 2010...

2009-12-20T16:13:00.000-08:00

I dusted off the crystal ball to do my top 10 predictions for 2010 covering technology, the valley and a few other random topics of personal interest...so here they are in descending order...

10) There is a major malware incident that results in a compromise which is big enough to make the headlines. This will raise the visibility of cybercrime to new levels

9) The IPO market for tech warms up considerably and we see at least 15 filings and 6-7 IPOs out of the valley. I expect these to be about 50-50 enterprise and consumer/web2.0

8) The "cloud" suffers a major outage (unrelated to #10) and this slows but does not halt the drive to cloud-computing

7) Unemployment is the valley continues to hover around 11-12% until after the summer when we finally see real signs of recovery in employment

6) Oracle FINALLY owns Sun (does anyone really care anymore?)

5) The housing market finally stabilizes and we actually see BOTH price and volumes pick up in 2010.

4) The Republicans have a decent 2010 election, but don't fundamentally gain much, though they do slow the Dems down in the Senate

3) The Browns and Indians suck again and the Cavs disappoint in the playoffs (You can take the boy out of Cleveland, but you can't take the sports outta the boy...)

2) The Wildcats (Northwestern) snap their 61 year streak without a bowl game win by upsetting the Auburn Tigers in the Outback Bowl on Jan 1

1) The Wildcats snap their 0 for forever streak and make the Men's BBALL tourney...

Go Cats, and here's to a great 2010...

My website is live!!! YEAH

2009-12-09T14:48:00.001-08:00

I'm officially in business at http://www.kjrassociates.com Check it out!!!

This is basic, but really now makes the business "Real". Great day at KJR :)

HUGE TSA leak, flawed technology, flawed management, all of the above

2009-12-08T19:23:00.000-08:00

I spent 2+ years as CMO of http://www.workshare.com One of our product, Protect, automates and discovers the presence of metadata in documents, including poorly redacted content, ie when the content is hidden but can be easily recovered.

Frankly, both Microsoft and Adobe, the 2 vendors who dominate the creation and publishing of business and goverment documents simply haven't closed the loop holes that let uneducated users create poor documents like happened to the TSA today!

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/78830417.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/12/08/u.s.tsa.training.manual/index.html

This is TRAGIC for 3 reasons:
1) It could lead to tragic loss of life
2) It will cost taxpayers billions in damage control and changed processes
3) It's been happening for years and could be avoided with a simple $30 product , Workshare Protect

So I hope someone in the goverment calls Workshare tomorrow and buys this product for EVERY desktop in the entire goverment employ. I am sure this will be a lot cheaper than $30 at that volume...

I am outraged and amazed that this could happen...

Note: Yes I am a shareholder, but I'd gladly not see a penny from this...

WOW...

Exciting and busy times for my business and me!

2009-11-30T17:49:00.000-08:00

I've moved into and opened an office, signed my second client, am in the process of incorporating and launching my consulting firm, and planning a January launch party! In between, I'm exploring some investment opportunities with an old colleague, trying to find time to blog, buying office supplies, running a 5K on Saturday in SF with my oldest daughter Gigi, trying to keep the gym visits + rides at 6+ per week and getting ready for the holidays and the rush of birthdays in our house. Wow, no wonder I'm tired!!! But good tired!!!

2010 promises to be an exciting one indeed!

If you want to learn more about my new business, drop me a line!

Holiday Cheers to You and Your Loved Ones...
Ken

The Chicken, The Ostrich and the Wiseman; A Holiday Tale of Caution and Opportunity

2009-11-24T17:14:00.000-08:00

(Authors note: I have Cloud Computing on the brain. My client, Nimsoft, is changing the landscape of IT Monitoring with their recent Unified Monitoring Launch. I penned this little parable in honor of the Nimsoft customers who have the courage to challenge the status quo...For my non-tech friends, well, the puns will probably be lost on you, sorry...)

Once upon a time, not so long ago, in a not so faraway land called eSPee land, there lived 3 great friends, the Chicken, the Ostrich and the Wiseman. Not only were they great friends, but they were also fierce business rivals. For many years, they had competed with each other and had all built strong and thriving enterprises.

While it was their custom to avoid business conversations almost entirely, once a year, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, they would meet for breakfast to talk turkey (though that term somewhat offended 2 of them!). At one rather ominous meeting, the conversation went something like this…

The Chicken said, “My friends, though business is good, I fear the worst. Clouds have been gathering over eSPee land and I am quite scared. The waters of the mighty Amazon , EverChanging 2day, threaten to flood us all out of business. I am paralyzed and fear that all the work we have done is doomed.”

The Wiseman nodded, and showed great empathy to the Chicken’s concerns, then turned to the Ostrich.

The Ostrich stretched out his neck and said, “ Mr Chicken, as always you worry too much. These Clouds are yet another passing fancy. My customers are a bit confused, but my key vendors, Harold & Penny and Ida’s Big Machines assure me that they are ready. I’ll stick to them and keep focused on my customers, you can’t lose when you work with the best”

The Wiseman smiled, and as he was in the habit of doing, thought before he spoke. He sipped his coffee, rubbed his beard and said, “My dear friends, I share many of your concerns. Mr. Chicken, I believe you are right to see the clouds as a threat to what we have built, yet does this mean we are doomed? Mr Ostrich, I agree we must focus on our customers, but really, you’ve been with those old vendors for decades, are they really ready?”

With that the Chicken balked and left in a hurry, still panicked, and the Ostrich called his rep who sent the call to a reseller, who finally called the Ostrich back in a few weeks and told him everything would be OK.

A few years later, the three friends met for a farewell dinner for the Chicken and the Ostrich, who were both retiring. The Wiseman rose to give a speech;

“My dear friends, it is with mixed emotions that I bid you both farewell. Mr Chicken, I was sad to see your business close. I wish you well in your retirement in Miami. I warned you not to panic at the Clouds and to invest, but you were too scared to act. Mr. Ostrich, your customers did love you, but those old vendors loved you more, in fact, they loved you to death. I warned you to change, but, well, I hate to state the obvious, but you just had your head in the sand. I am glad we were able to buy your remaining business, and I wish I could have paid more, but many of your customers had already came my way. Had you just listened to me and followed my moves to the new vendors, those who were built for the Cloud and the sun, you might have survived. I am thrilled that you will be enjoying your retirement too.”

The Wiseman really meant what he had said. He had adjusted and invested, without losing sight of his customers needs. He had aligned with new vendors, those who had both vision and execution, but were not tied to the past. He realized that he lived in a Cloudy place (think Seattle!) but knew that this never stopped Bill Gates, so why should it stop him. He business thrived in this new Cloudy world, though he truly did miss his friends…

The End

Dog days and dog nights...but worth it...early thanksgiving

2009-11-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

It's been a LONG time since I last blogged, but between completing our program launch at Nimsoft, and our sick family dog, not much time for deep thought...it's been the dog days, and the dog nights...

I am very proud of the work we've completed at Nimsoft. Nimsoft is truly an amazing story, and we just needed to get out and tell it. Working with the Nimsoft team and a great set of outside help, including my trusted friends Susan and the team at Trainer Communications and Sara at Juicy Design, we really set out to change Nimsoft's core positioning from one of challenger to one of leader.

It's rare to find clients with great products, great customers and great market traction, who also have the courage and leadership to not rest on their success but to think big and take chances. Many CEOs would be content to bask in the glow of an amazing sales performance and great new analyst coverage, etc, but Gary R. and the management team were willing to be bolder. Nimsoft is now positioned for incredible things in the future. Most of the credit goes to the team for building a great product and a great revenue base, but I am thrilled to have the chance to work with the Nimsoft team and help them to put a platform in place that will accelerate their success even more.

At the same time our little dog has pulled back from the brink on Halloween eve, when his heart was down to 50/bpm, about 40% of normal, and is now recovering at home from Trigeminal Neurosis. I don't know much about it beyond what I've read, but the human version, Trigeminal Neurologia is described online as extremely painful, and has even been called "Suicide Disease". Poor little guy, no wonder he was not moving for a week!!!

I also have a new respect for the compassion and caring of people in veterinary medicine, I am sure they make a good living, but they sure do seem to care a lot too. Thanks to Barb Kollin, Linda Jorgenson, Dr Phelan, Dr Adamo and the crews at both Sequoia and South Peninsula Emergency pet hospitals. Sure we spent way too much money, but it's good to have been on that team too...Though he may have lost his eyesight in one eye, we are hopeful that Macabee will recover and live a happy dog life again, doing what dogs do best, sleep, eat, play, relieve, repeat...

So as we roll toward the T-giving holiday, I'm grateful for family (and dog!), great colleagues, challenging work and life in general. I may have a few more wrinkles after the dog days of Oct/Early November, but that's a small price to pay....

Cheers
K

Blue Shield Still Sucks

2009-10-26T10:07:00.001-07:00

Trust me. First see this post:

http://sijobfront.blogspot.com/2009/10/if-you-want-healthcare-coverage.html

Now after 6 months of runaround, they want my wife to get a full physical (at our cost), reams of documentation, etc, etc, and then they MIGHT do us the favor of taking our business...

Six months ago I wasn't for big reform, but now I hope these insurance bastards are all run out of business...

UGGGHHHH

Luck to all NU 84s, and thanks for a great weekend

2009-10-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

So, wifi from 35K never ceases to amaze.

Twenty five years seems like a long time, and hey, I guess it is about 1/3 of your life, hopefully a bit less. Walking the Northwestern campus was like a strange time warp, seem like nothing had changed but everything had too. 1980-1984 seems like a distant dream. Then walking into the reunion party and seeing the faces from that dream was both exciting and a bit unsettling. Some great people, and most seemed to have changed yet stayed the same.

I think of my journey since then, a long and winding road, filled with dreams fulfilled and for the greatest most part joy and a luckily relatively small amount of sorrow. I think of all the transitions, from engineer to sales rep to business person, from Chicago to NY to Chicago to Ca, from single to married to father, and it is hard to imagine to have asked for a more fufilling journey.

Many years ago, my old high school wrestling coach had a saying, "luck is when preparation meets opportunity." Northwestern truly did prepare me for life. The education, both in and outside the classroom, the people, everything, must of made me a very lucky man. I've had a thrilling career, and am blessed with an amazing wife and 4 incredible little ones. Who woulda predicted that? And I was really amazed by the success and maturity that I saw in all those 47 year olds who seem like they were just 22 a few years ago! Well done friends.

Maybe it is a bit ironic that I now find myself at a crossroads of my career, and at a crossroads in the family. I have decided to go out alone as an idependent consultant, and our first child is approaching tween-ness and already showing signs of independence, and hormones :). As I embark on the next 25 years, I've already marked the data for the 50th in 2034, and I think I am prepared well to venture into my new consulting business and to continue to create a loving home for our children to grow in and to eventually leave from. I only hope that my preparation paves the way for more opportunity and luck...and to all those others, fortunate enough to have had the preparation I did, I wish you all the luck

Over and out
"Rut"

Depressing Morning; The Demise of the Newstand!

2009-10-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

I was feeling great this morning after a tough spin class and a cappucino, when I stopped at Mac's in downtown Palo Alto to pick up the Silicon Valley Business Journal to see the print copy of this feature on my client Nimsoft! Lo and behold, Mac's didn't have it. Also, all the old guys behind the counter are gone.

When I first moved here in 1990, Mac's was like a lifeline back to the midwest, where I could pick up the Chicago Trib, and even the Sunday Cleveland Plain Dealer. Well, I guess it's no surprise that a) Mac's has been sold b) it barely carries newspapers anymore and c) it has now a wide range of hookah's where the cigar section used to be. (I didn't check if they still had the big adult section, but I'd never go there anyways :)!)

So, with the demise of newspapers, so goes another institution, the neighborhood newstand. I am sure you might find a few of the relics next to phone booths and near subway stations in NYC and London, but that's just a matter of time too. I love the digital world, but am feeling nostolgic and sad about the loss of print.

I predict that when my kids grow old they will say, "My Dad has to be the last man in the world who wears glasses (ie hasn't had lasix) and still reads the newspaper everyday (if I can still find one...) Oh well, old habits die harder than neighborhood institutions!!!!

I think (like an engineer) , therefore I am (an engineer)!

2009-10-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

In 1986, I made a decision that changed my life. I left a blossoming yet new engineering career to dive head first into business, at the most grass roots level, as an IBM sales rep. At the going away party in East Fishkill NY, my friends gave me a t-shirt (long gone to the goodwill) that said something like "Former Engineer - Technically Obsolete!"

Since that fateful day, my career has led me from sales rep, to business school, to CMO, from IBM to Intel to Netscape to successful and not so successful start-ups to my new consulting endeavor, KJR Assocs, from NY to Chicago to the Silicon Valley and to and through the black monday of 87, the dotc0m bubble burst of 2001 and the financial meltdown of 2009...and in all that time engineer has not been a word that I've even considered using to describe myself.

Until this Tuesday, when during the 7th worst rainstorm ever recorded in the bay area, I had an awesome coffee meeting with Julio Ottino, dean of the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern, my alma mater. Dean Ottino is a really dynamic guy, and I was honored to hear about all the great things he's been up to at NU, and even more flattered for some of the introductions that he offered up in our broad ranging and very entertaining conversation.

One thing sticks out in my mind. When I said to Dean Ottino that I was a "reformed engineer", I was corrected. Dean Ottino said (pardon the paraphrasing...) "It used to be that engineers were judged by what they made, but now they should be judged by how they think"

Dean Ottino also talked about the "Whole brain engineer". Every day of my career I have worked with engineers in some capacity or another, software engineer, systems engineers, developers, EEs, etc and I guess after a while I starting thinking of them as them, not us. I see now that this is a mistake. Thinking like an engineer means problem solving methodically AND creatively, with equations and with the heart. Above all I think it is a commitment to the analytical and the science of shaping the world to the benefit of the society. A daunting and awesome responsibility.

So now, as I prepare to travel to my alma mater for my 25th year (audible gasp) reunion, I am thinking of getting a t-shirt that says, "Think Like an Engineer, and You'll Never be Obsolete!" Thanks for the insight Dean!!

If you want healthcare coverage, amputate your arm don't fix it!

2009-10-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a little personal experience to understand the true F*&D-upness of the US's healthcare insurance system. I could rant for hours, but to see the hypocrisy and ridulousity of the system, just read the email we had to send to Blue Shield of California (YOU SUCK!) today.

After you read this you will see why we are considering having my wife's left arm amputated even though it works great (BTW, she's a righty, so no big deal, right?:)). Also, if you break a limb you may consider amputation to protect you from future coverage denial. Don't fix it, throw it out. Not your arm, our whole BS system. I hope Blue Shield of Ca get regulated to death! Just abosultely ridiculous

Dear XXXX,
Attached you will find a scan of all the relevant documents on my applications for Balance 2500 coverage. To recap the timeline for you:

On July 14th, 2008 I shattered my elbow in a freak bicycling accident
On July 17th,2008 I had reconstructive surgery, a radial head arthroplasty for a comminuted radial head fracture
On approx August 20th 2008, I completed physical therapy and have been symptom and treatment free since
In April 2009 : I applied for coverage under the Balance2500 plan on your recommendation
On May 5, 2009, we were informed in the enclosed letter from Jenny K medical underwriter that we were declined coverage because:

"The information indicates that you have the following, which exceeds Blue Shield's Underwriting acceptance criteria:

Fractured elbow requiring reconstructive surgery, radial head replacement within last year"

On June 9, 2009 we requested underwriting reconsideration in writing supported by a letter from Dr. Frank Chen stating that I was complication and symptom free, essentially cured. Both of these items are enclosed.

On June 25th 2009, we were informed in writing that we were declined again, and I quote with CAPITAL BOLD italics emphasis being mine:

"We regret to inform you, based on this review, coverage through our Balance2500 plan must be declined UNTIL YOU HAVE BEEN SYMPTOM AND TREATMENT FREE FOR A MINIMUM OF ONE (1) YEAR"

In August 2009 I reapplied for coverage effective October 1st. PLEASE NOTE, AS OF OCTOBER FIRST I HAVE BEEN SYMPTOM AND TREATMENT FREE FOR 14 MONTHS, WHICH IS CLEARLY MORE THAN A YEAR.

On September 4th I was again declined for coverage with the NEW EXPLANATION:

"This information indicates that you have the following which exceeds Blue Shield's underwriting acceptance criteria:

History of fractured radial head with replacement"

Now the criteria is changed? I am a year + post treatment, but now the rule changes. What's is going on here. Please reconsider this application and be reasonable. We are at our wits end here. How does the criteria change when it was clearly stated previously. Are you all just trying to waste our time. This is really frustrating. I WANT coverage, and am healthy.

Thank you for your consideration,

Joel' C Rutsky

Fall is in the air...here comes 2010

2009-09-30T13:50:00.001-07:00

Soccer balls are flying in AYSO, footballs are in the air everywhere (to be nostalgic for my NU friends I quote "...do you think the 'cats are gonna win this year or will it be just the same..."), the temperatures are beginning to drop, and the leaves are dropping. At the same time, Q3 is coming to a close, and Q4 is getting ready to roll.

I always think this is a good time to reflect and begin to set next year's business goals...so here are mine:

1) To complete all of the back-office "work" I need to do for KJR Associates, especially electronic presence and basic accounting before the year starts!

2) To refine and execute my personal marketing plan including blogging more, networking with more gusto, and actually building and managing a pipeline.

3) To further develop and refine my Product Differentiation Pressure concept and turn it into a useful tool and valuable IP for clients.

4) To launch at least one other conceptual framework that for my business

5) To be engaged in projects that are challenging and meaningful for ethical and aggressive clients

6) To keep learning and challenging myself, from both successes and failures

7) To keep my eyes on the prize: Balance, growth and excitement, not $$s and ccs.

8) To assemble my personal BOD for guidance and counsel

What are your personal business goals for 2010??

YAWNER ™ : White papers, why???

2009-09-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

As I am knee deep in a whitepaper deliverable for my current client, I stumbled on this posting:

http://www.visientllc.com/blog/ on not being "boring" with your marketing...and I was reminded of the acronym I created while at McAfee...

That's just a YAWNER - Yet Another White Paper Nobody Ever Reads. (Of course the YAWNER now has a close cousin, the YAVNEW, Yet Another Video Nobody Ever Watches, but that's for another time!).

I content that 98% of whitepapers from technology companies are YAWNERs and yawners. Why is this? Well I think there are a variety of reasons, but they net out into 3 broad categories:

1) Ready Fire Aim
2) The Kitchen Sink
3) Getta J0b (0r hire it out...)

First, as fundamental as it is, most whitepapers are simply not well targeted. Who is the audience, what is the current belief, what is the desired belief and what are the key messages. These are basic questions that any marketing professional should ask, but I am amazed at how rarely the product managers that I've spoken to or worked with can crisply articulate answers even in retrospect. Getting sleepy yet?

Second, too many whitepapers are just the kitchen sink. Well, this is a great whitepaper about product X, so let's throw product Y into the mix because it's strategic too. Or let's try make this serve "multiple audiences", so the business whitepaper ends up with 5 pages of dissertation on the ins and out of our API set. You get the picture. You almost know if you can't cover a topic in 10 pages or less, there's more than one topic, break it up. If you're targeting is on, the message should be lot tighter. Eye's drooping???

Third, getta job! As much as we would like every PM and PMM to be a great writer, the fact is, most are not. But a good editor (insourced or outsourced) can make all the difference. And you PMMs out there reading this, insist on it. Take your knowledge and leverage it, don't try to be everything! Now I'm getting tired!

So, in summary it's just plain simple: 1) Target 2) Resist scope and subject creep 3) get the right skills deployed. Maybe then yours will be one of the 2% of whitepapers that are actually readable and powerful marketing tools...

Good luck!

Random thoughts on social media and PDP™

2009-09-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

Jim Tybur's interesting post here: http://irongiving.com/ made me think if Twitter and other social media could be a great way to measure Product Differentiation Pressure™ ...Not sure yet how they connect, but maybe....

Product Differentiation Pressure: Do features matter?

2009-09-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

Yes and No. It's the great contradiction of product differentiation, features mean nothing, yet features mean everything. Let me explain.

Features mean nothing - Customers (except a few really geeky early adopters which are not subject to the laws of nature:) don't buy features, they buy benefits. Or even more specifically, they buy either to put money in their pockets or to sleep at night. Nobody ever slept because their had a new feature. But lotsa people sleep well when they solve problems. Features don't matter!

Features mean everything - Let's go backwards here. Customers have problems. Product deliver benefits that solve problems. Features are the engines that make the benefit delivery possible.

Benefits that I can deliver that my competition can't are the crux of high PDP™ (Product Differentiation Pressure!) Unique features that are the engines for these specific benefits are the key to LASTING Differentiation!

Oh, and the customer better Care about these benefits. And Care means they will change their decision to get this!

Ask yourself, have I identified a set of unique features that create one or more unique benefits that I deliver better than my competition, and that a set of buyers Care about. If the answer is yes, you are on the way to high PDP.

Next blog I'll take a look at an example from my past...

Product Differetiation, why it matters, part II

2009-08-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

In my last blog I stated that , "differentiation is at the crux of an effective go to market strategy".

Why? First, let's define product differentiation.

Product differentiation is the messaging that communicates
why your product is better than the competition at delivering
a set of business benefits that matter to a set of buyers.

So, there's a definition. Been too too busy doing to write...But please note the absence of the word "Feature" or "feature set" in this definition. More to come on the roles of features in product differentiation next time...

PDP™, More to Come, and why it matters

2009-08-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the positive feedback on Product Differentiation Pressure™, or PDP™. PDP is a concept which I've been working on for a while, and there is much more to come. Before I dive deeper into the symptoms of poor PDP, I wanted to talk about why this is so important.

I am a classically trained technology marketer. I crossed the chasm and grew up in the tornado. I've got a lot of respect for the traditional view of whole product from Geoffry Moore, and positioning ala Reis and Trout, and the good old 3 Ps and 4 Cs that I learned in Marketing 101. In fact all of these are tools to pull out and use with success.

Why then focus on product differentiation, especially at a time where all the experts say differentiation is not substainable?

Well, to me, differentiation is at the crux of an effective go to market strategy. That's a bold statement, so I guess I better explain why. But the kids are roused now and blogging time is over for this morning...time to cook breakfast...more to come later...

Ken

Diagnosis - Poor Product Differentiation, How to Spot a Silent Killer!

2009-08-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

So many products, product lines, and even companies suffer from poor differentiation and don't even know it. Poor differentiation is like high blood pressure, it kills silently and slowly. Products don't maintain price points, it's hard to scale sales, etc. If only we had a simple cuff to put on our arm to measure our "Product Differentiation Pressure™." Well, until then, here's a simple list of symptoms of this silent killer...

Selling on price not value

Difficult to replicate sales success across reps or channel partners

Win rate below achievable (as benchmarked by best reps)

Difficult to partner (long initial sales cycle or stuck with techies)

Selling lower in org than desired

Stagnant marketing (conversion rates, content, etc…)

Lack of breakthrough beyond tech evaluators/cognoscenti

Sub-optimal targeting

Feature and/or generic focused discussion

Product roadmap not “focused”, spread like “peanut butter”

Product requests accepted that don’t seem to fit with agreed priorities

Lack of real or perceived strategic “vision” in roadmap

Ask yourself honestly if these symptoms reflect your product or company. If you answer yes to more than a few, you've got a low Product Differentiation Pressure™ or PDP™, and unlike blood pressure, where high kills, low PDP is the killer here.

In my next blog, we will look at each of these symptoms in a bit more depth...

SWATing Away at Marketing Plans

2009-08-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I blogged about anything even somewhat substantial. I am heads down on my project with Nimsoft. It is exciting and challenging, and I am loving it. We've built a very aggressive launch plan, and are now in deliverables execution mode. This is the grind part of the project, and every inch of progress is hard work. The team here is great and we are doing a lot of good work together.

I just put together a nice summary preso of the Secure Computing SWAT initiative work we did on Web2.0 threat protection in the late 2007- end of 2008 timeframe. It was probably one of the most successful campaigns that I've worked on end to end. This was really successful on a lot of levels, and is a model that I am using today for the current project we are doing. If our Nimsoft "Project Owen" is half as successful, than we hit a homerun at Nimsoft.

As I work on solidifying the KJR Assoc consulting business, the SWAT case study is a great template and service offering case study. It's all coming together...Looking forward to chatting with several friends on this topic over the next weeks, squeezing this in between presentation, whitepaper, website, demo, and other Owen deliverables...

Head back down now...

Guest Blogger, Owen R! : The future of California?

2009-08-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

(Owen Rutsky is 2 in September, though he doesn't say much (Baba, Bebe, sPonge Bob,toes, head, hello, bye bye among them) he sure seems to have a lot on his mind. His Dad let him share the blog space today....)

Hey Dad, thanks for letting me blog...it's tough to get many words in with 3 older sisters ya know. Anyways, I love it here in California, the sunshine, the attitude, the opportunity....oh, wait, Dad was just saying it just aint what it used to be. I wonder what it will be like when I grow up. Dad says, hmmmm, for the first time since he moved here almost 20 yrs ago, he wonders if it's such a great place.

Work, work, work he says, and you never get ahead. Then you pay and pay taxes, but my sister's class size is up to 26 people in the 4th grade next year, whatever that means, I don't think it's good like 26 new hotwheels cars would be. When does it get better? I don't know, the houses arent worth near as much, Obama and Arnold (who are those guys) both seem to want to raise taxes, (I dont think Dad likes that, but he also says that bush was a bumblehead too...)

Oh well, I gotta go and play
Later!

Clouds here, clouds there, macrotrends, opptys?

2009-08-05T10:38:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that Cloud computing is everywhere, as I've pointed out in a previous post. I would like to point out 3 macro trends that get are related, but get a bit less attention

Trend 1: The Merging of Enterprise and Service Provider: For years, it's been talked about, but virtualization and "cloud" will accelerate this even more. The compute "grid" is pretty dang agnostic about location, Service providers will need to be more enterprisey and visa versa.

Trend 2: Disambiguation of terms: Cloud means so many things to so many it is almost meaningless. It's much more interesting to talk about PaaS or ITaaS or SaaS and their interrelations than throw out the "cloud" word willy nilly, though even these terms need better definition.

Trend 3: Federation will be the next hot space. Whether federation of resources across hybrid space or federation of security or federation of x, I predict that for the "cloud" to really accelerate, we must lower the friction of federation across just about all the core IT functions. Some bigger vendors are missing this as Billy Marshall points out here...

We are entering the next generation of IT infrastructure and we get to solve all of the old management problems over again, yeah for us!!!!

Ken

Boys night!

2009-08-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

So the girls all went out to see the Jonas Brothers in concert. Here I thought I'd be able to get work done, but it took me almost 2 hours to get Owen down, he misses Mommy. Some good things take a while!

I had a nice coffee today with an old frat brother, he was a senior when I was a freshman. He's now a v. successful equity manager and hasn't changed that much, but then again, neither have I...

Tomorrow is a busy day to make up for tonight, and then dinner with 2 close friends...Boys night tonight, and boys night tomorrow!

I Agree: Cloud Requires Mature IT Service Management - Cloud Front Office

2009-08-03T20:17:00.001-07:00

I Agree: Cloud Requires Mature IT Service Management - Cloud Front Office

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Congrats to old friends and new...a transaction

2009-07-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

It was about a year ago that I "bumped", at least virtually, back into John Street and Scott Chasin formerly of USA.net, then of MxLogic and now, as of today, of McAfee. It's a bittersweet I am happy for John, Scott and the old crew from Secure, and also the new crew at McAfee. (For details see http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=21988) . I remember well sitting with the team in Denver and in Mtn View doing the netscape.net mail service deal in 1997 (How did that get to be 12 yrs ago, crap!!!) . Omid (yes, the Omid, I knew him b4 goog!) , Amy, Alan and I from Netscape and John, Scott and his team. Ahh, the good old days!

I am still a huge believer of the Hybrid Delivery strategy we cooked up at Secure, and I wish MFE team well in executing. Well done! And congrats to John, Scott and the team!

Karma, it's a funny thing

2009-07-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

Don't have too much to say on this topic, but it is amazing how small the world is. And with Linkedin etc, you just can't escape your past. Moral of the story: Treat people right, be honest and ethical, hold your head high and count on karma...at least you sleep at night then.

Ego...success...Joyce and sunshine

2009-07-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

I've been contemplating a lot about the role that ego plays in the job search and in the running of companies. Certainly, Entrepreneurs need egos. But when does ego get in the way as companies grow. Steve Jobs is a data point that says maybe never! Others I've seen who were great had/have very little ego. I guess it comes down to a) how you manage it b) how you use it. After all, isn't charisma an output of ego? Don't we want our leaders to be charismatic, isn't that what drives new companies and old to success.

Being in the job market, and doing consulting both mean putting a lot of ego aside....after all, as a consultant, your role is to deliver for the company, not for your ego, it's a quickie relationship, and for it to work it's ALL about the results. In the job search, if you let your ego get in the way, well it is very easy to slip into defensiveness or depression or both. I've been think that James Joyce might have been in a job search when he said...."

The artist, like the God of the creation, remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails. "

I think you do need to rise above your resume', get perspective, space, remove the ego, and then get on with it!

I've been trying to view my career as a piece of art, most like a novel. It's got an arc, and a destination, but it's not always been or will it be a straight line. After all, how many of our careers are predictable? For that matter, it does intertwine with our lives too. I was speaking with a old colleague who provided wise advise..."Your next job isn't what you are doing with your life, you are doing so much more..." So if our lives are stories, then our career is just one of the story lines. Then there's family, friends, spirituality and yes, the arc and story of our ego...

Now I am waxing randomly and philosophically, guess that's what happens when you take the kids out of the day. On to a beautiful day in the Seattle with old friends and new, always a nice refrain.

Cheers

Creatures big and small and in between

2009-07-23T15:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning went like this....

Wake up 530 a: Roll out of bed to sound of silence. Roll bike out of garage and see 3 racoons trolling trash on the street. I hate those pests.

7:15 a climbing up Jefferson by Emerald Hill CC and see a doe on side of the road. I decided not to hit here with my bike :)...seriously, it was quiet and peaceful, and we checked each other out....

7:40: Back home to the little ones here

830: Creatures at consulting gig!

Boy it's energizing to get a whole workout in b4 work...

6 degrees...

2009-07-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Executive A grew up with former colleagues husband and works with late best friends brother. Marketing Director B worked with PR Agency C who I've hired. Recruiter Y is brother of boyhood hero baseball star...

Connections are crazy, and I guess make the world go round....

Great morning, and remembering a friend

2009-07-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

What an excellent way to start the day, a nice ride with my friend Tim E. Great conversation, career and riding tips, and quite a few laughs too...

This career break has been an awesome oppty to reset goals, both life and career. I've learned value of friendship, both old and new and everywhere in between. Over my nearly 20 years in the valley I've met some amazing people and I'm glad to now count Tim on that list.

I've lost a few too, and chatting with Tim about his loss this week made me remember Jeff Helfer. Jeff was irreplaceable to so many of us from the old frat house days at NU, to Jeff's network in NY, to his touching of those in SF that he knew in his ALL TOO SHORT time. All the more spookey is that was exactly 8 years to the day that Jeff drowned that Tim's friend left us. I didn't know Chris, but I hope Chris and Jeff meet up there cause they sure seemed to share the charisma that I miss so much, and they both went doing something they loved. It's hard to believe it's been 8 years my friend, I hope you've got an RSS reader up in the sky, I like to think so...you may be gone, but you'll never be forgotten. Jeez how I'd like to hear your riff on the new President...nothing could replace that!

On the rest of the day thanking whatever powers there are for what I have, which is a awful lot to be thankful for, family, friends, health and that ever elusive and hard to hold onto happiness...

Peace to you Jeff and Chris, and thanks Tim for a great start to a great day...

Hopeful signs? Pipelines growing?

2009-07-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

My dataset is small (4+), but I am seeing a pattern of well established private cos that wisely battened down the hatches over the last 3 Qs starting to see healthier pipelines and encouraging sales. Seems like the wallets in heatlth care, fin services and mfg are loosening, and the overall pessimism is lowering. This is great news as there will be many opportunities for the strong to take share. The first stage of the shake out seems ending. I am expecting a return to growth for the well managed, a struggle for the weak with an overall rising tide by the end of the year. Hopefully Washington will stay out of the way, let the weak fall and let the strong grow stronger. This will mean jobs, wages that begin to rise and a lot happier time for all...

Is your pipeline growing? Are you feeling positive?

Keep your fingers crossed!

K

random thoughts

2009-07-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Mean what you say, do what you say. Don't believe everything you hear. The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence.

I am holding all my thoughts to myself because it's just better. I am just hopeful that karma operates in the universe...and that those with high integrity come up on the top of the scoreboards that matter

On a brighter note, great getting to know the crew at Nimsoft. I'm really loving being back in my element, small, aggressive, growth private cos. That's where the fun is for sure...and I'm enjoying a great day today with the family...

Cheers
Ken

Oh the people you meet...and 4th of July thanks!

2009-07-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

It's been 2 months on this journey and it has been filled with fun, frustration, and adventure...mostly, as with everything else, it all comes down to people, whatta suprise! So, I'd like to thank old friends and new who have offered help, referrals, advice, and just plain favors. To all of you, you owed me nothing and have been there, it sounds corny, but you've restored a lot of my faith in the value of karma!!

There is much good humor along the way too, and I'm learning a lot. One highlight went like this...

Recruiter..." That last name is spelled Charboneau, C-H-A-R..."
Ken..."Oh, I know that last name cause I grew up in Cleveland, and that was the name of one of the biggest flameout baseball players we've seen"
Recruiter..."That flameout is my older brother..."

OOOOOPs...

John, thanks for being a good sport on the phone and look forward to meeting you in person...

So while the pace is slow (are all hiring cycles these days having 6 weeks between interview rounds???) I feel grateful and upbeat, and look for more adventures to come in the weeks and months ahead!

Diet and Exercise milestone - 1 YEAR!

2009-06-24T06:49:00.001-07:00

1 year ago I weighed 176 and my blood pressure was 149/95 with a resting pulse of 90. My doctor told me if I left it untreated I'd probably have a stroke within 3-5 years! That scared me. But I HATED the BP medicine he put me on, so I learned about the DASH diet. It works. I now exercise 6 or even 7 days a week, and follow that diet about to 85% compliance. New stats, weight 161, BP 120/78, resting pulse 56.

How do I stay motivated, well, I wake up in the morning and say, hmmmm, exercise today or die young....easy choice...

K

Home sweet home...ideas come around again and again

2009-06-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

After 8 days in Orlando, there is NO place like home...back to the real world and weather where you CAN be outside allday without drenching your clothes in sweat.

I saw Hunch launch, reminds me of an old shopping aide that AOL had, I don't remember what it was called, but it reminded me that there are no new ideas...just ideas whose time has come, or who changes her stripes

I first learned about Virtualization as part of MVS on IBM mainframes...now we virtualize PCs and servers

I used to try to sell emulation boards that made PCs look like dumbterminals...now we sell dumbterminals and make them look like PCs...

Wasn't delicious a lot like Backflip???

Remember GrandCentral? Check out mashery!!!

Every time the compute platform changes, new startups and tools emerge, then get gobbled up...is the cloud + virtualization one of these times? I think so...

Of course, some companies try to reinvent with these changes...any every succeed???

Cloud Cloud, Everywhere the Cloud...

2009-06-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

Seems like the cloud is now everywhere, even in last weeks business week ON THE COVER!!! (BTW, thanks to the folks at B-Week for continuing to send the magazine, even though I stopped renewing, guess they need the eyeballs, but that's another blog altogether...)

So, what's the cloud to you, a catch all, marketing hype, the next bubble, or the real delivery of utility computing?? Where are the "plays", IT service management (and the big boys are cranking up their drive the "Open" efforts! ), Virtualization, Security (see Bruce Schneier's post here...) ???

Opinions welcome, even if there bad ones...:)

McAfee Network Security Launches, A nice wrap for me...

2009-06-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

Though I didn't hit the road with Dan R, the package of announcements I drove for launching McAfee's Network Security biz made it out pretty dang well...a lot of the coverage looked like this...McAfee takes on Cisco, etc...and this McAfee pushes ePO and this , you can also read the press releases here.

This is really nice positioning work (if I may say so myself:), and the products are strong. I just hope the sales and channel teams can get behind this bucket of stuff with vigor and aggressiveness. The old sidewinder firewall is getting a nice re-launch with some cool app and identity awareness and virtualized and virtual versions, and look at the V aggressive GTM on the mail/web/DLP Internet Gateway bundle...look out Cisco!

As you can see, I take a lot of pride in this chunk of work, and am genuinely pleased to see it hit the market. I wish my old team and the gang from SCUR well with their ongoing journey to #1 in Network Security. I am pretty sure our paths will cross again - soon???

K

COBRA, Haste makes waste

2009-06-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

I waited too long to deal with COBRA, and now we are stuck in the EXPENSIVE, Cadillac plan, because Blue Shield declined us (appeal in process, see comment on process!) , even though we are pretty damn healthy. And to add salt to the would, our income is too high to be subsidized...So, if you are facing COBRA, make it your very first task to get alternative coverage lined up, AND USE A BROKER, the system is ridiculous to deal with as an individual, trust me...

About this blog

2009-06-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

In April of 2009 I found myself in the job market. As a guy with 25 yrs of experience, 19 in the valley I wasn't sure what to expect. Much of what I did surprised me, much didn't. I thought I'd start this blog, part to vent, part to share experience, and part to entertain others in my same situation. In it you'll find tales of Cobra, Twitter, Facebook, endless coffee meetings, and others. Along the way I am learning A LOT about companies, funding, networking, new technologies and trends, etc...So come join me on my journey's and adventures.

Cheers for now, happy trails...