Drawing to a Close
With August drawing to a close as we enter the dog days of summer, we start to get ready for fall. The XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing are living up to their advance promise and NBC, in spite of this being the first Olympic Games with extensive live online coverage, is getting very good ratings. (More)

Free Markets
These may have been the most challenging 12 months for the global financial system since World War II. Who would have forecast that the subprime meltdown in the United States would lead to a global credit crunch or that The Bear would be brought to its knees and that the only alternative was a fire sale to JPMorgan Chase (JPM)? (More)

Beijing 08/08/08
In the fall of last year I wrote about doing business in China and the many trips I made to China during my time at Reed Business (B2B in China). As I watched the XXIX Olympics' masterful and beautifully choreographed opening-night ceremony on Friday evening, I thought back to many of my visits. (More)

New York State of Mind
On Tuesday evening, Major League Baseball staged its annual All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Once again the American League All-Stars beat their National League counterparts, winning 4-3 in 15 innings and securing home field for the American League’s representative in the Fall Classic. The pre-game show with All Stars from the past brought back many memories. (More)

Stars Fall to Earth
As the Bear Market continues and forecasts begin to come down for fiscal year ‘08, we will start to see some stars fall to earth. Yesterday, EMC CEO and VMware (VMW) chairman Joe Tucci moved to oust VMware’s cofounder and CEO Diane Greene. (More)

A Bear Market
As stock markets around the globe continued their slump last week, the headlines proclaiming that we are in a bear market were omnipresent. The markets were all down very significantly from their October ‘07 highs. With oil and gold heading in the opposite direction and setting new daily highs, there was no denying that the bears were now in charge. (More)

Summer
I am sitting at my desk in my home office in Blackhawk. It is clear that spring has given way to summer across the United States, and today’s high temperature is forecast to reach 105 degrees. Outdoor activities such as golf will give way to air conditioning today. The summer of ‘08 should prove to be a memorable one, with premium gasoline touching $4.75 per gallon on the west coast and with the airlines canceling flights to deal with the surging fuel costs. (More)

Rivals
On Thursday evening the NBA finals open in Boston, with the Celtics facing the Lakers. These fabled franchises have met eleven times in the NBA finals, but this is the first time since 1987. Back in the '80s when they met three times in the finals, Larry Bird led the Celtics and Magic Johnson led the Lakers. Their personal rivalry started in the 1979 NCAA championship game, which was won by Magic and Michigan State. These two champions gave us the most intense rivalry of the '80s. (More)

The Fortune Jinx
Last week, as I flew west to Los Angeles, I settled in to catch up on my magazine reading. I had with me the most recent issues of BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune and Sports Illustrated. I am a longtime subscriber to all of them and still look forward to a block of uninterrupted time when I can read them cover to cover. I found the current issue of Fortune of particular interest, as it ranked the largest private equity firms and had an up-to-date profile on each of those that made the cut." (More)

The Middle Market
It was not that long ago that all the large, well-known private equity firms in the United States and Europe were focused on the largest deals they could find. I remember meeting with many of them as I was deciding on what I wanted to do in my next chapter after Reed Business, and the question for many of them was how large were the deals I wanted to do or how large an equity check they could write. (More)

Declaring Victory
Last week we saw several individuals and corporations declare victory. After Microsoft's (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer decided not to go hostile and not to raise his $31 bid for Yahoo (YHOO) beyond $33, he walked away and said that Microsoft’s current online strategy was fine and that it would just take longer to offer a real challenge to Google (GOOG) without Yahoo. (More)

Transitions
In the fall of '07 I wrote a column titled "Global Brands," where I stated, "As we transition to a digital world, managing our brands becomes ever more demanding....All of us in the B2B or B2C world tasked with transitioning to the digital world are looking for the Holy Grail, an umbrella brand that inspires confidence and trust and at the same time can support many vertical channels..." These challenges in the spring of '08 look even more daunting, with an economy that has stalled and a digital revolution that has accelerated. Clearly, '08 is turning out to be the most challenging year for our industry since '01-'02. (More)

The Masters Tradition
There is one weekend every spring that I clear my calendar from early afternoon until early evening, the weekend of the Masters. I find myself seduced by the beauty of the course, particularly Amen Corner, combined with the challenge it holds for the world's best golfers and its unique traditions. There is something special at the end of this tournament when the prior year's winner puts the Green Jacket on the new champion. (More)

The Bear, Jimmy & Jamie
Two weeks ago I wrote that while I start every week with an optimistic outlook that the worst of the credit crunch is behind us, I soon find myself disappointed by the "other shoe dropping.” Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed on that Friday, March 14th, when we learned that the venerable Bear Stearns (BSC) was suffering from a classic run on the bank and that many of its traditional trading partners were refusing to trade with them. (More)

The Rise & Fall
With the resignation of Eliot Spitzer two weeks ago, I started to reflect on why someone who has climbed the mountain would self-destruct in such a public manner. I decided that a professional could provide more insight than the news pundits and commentators, so I turned to a friend, Dr. Steven Berglas, who I recalled had written a book in the late '80s on this behavior, The Success Syndrome. What follows below is an interview I conducted with him. (More)

Credit Crunch & Moguls Battle
Since August the credit markets have been savaged by the subprime mortgage debacle. I start each week believing that the worst is behind us and that the moves by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his counterparts around the world have calmed the markets and that most of the write-downs should have taken place, only to be surprised by the "other shoe dropping." (More)

The Dollar
While we are experiencing an early taste of spring in the Bay Area and New York City remains locked in winter, this week is proving very cold for the U.S. dollar. It has weakened against every major currency, but particularly against the Euro and the British Pound. (More)

Corporate Culture
As the battle intensifies between Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo (YHOO), many writers continue to focus on the difference in corporate cultures between The Valley and Seattle. We also have some large Yahoo shareholders, like Bill Miller of Legg Mason, joining the Yahoo board in declaring that the $31 per share offer is inadequate. (More)

The Dust Settles
As we analyze the results from the Super Bowl and Super Tuesday, a common element to success emerges: Football teams and presidential campaigns must be built for the long term. (More)

Mobile
Normally January and February are not my favorite months, with cold and snow on the east coast and significant Pacific storms on the west, but I must admit that this year these months are packed with plenty of fascinating and significant events in business, politics and sports. (More)

Momentum
As we start the new year, the word that keeps coming up in politics and business is "momentum." Hillary lost it in Iowa but regained it in New Hampshire. McCain lost it six months ago when his campaign started to run out of money before he had run any ads, but he regained it in New Hampshire and hopes to keep it in Michigan and South Carolina. (More)

2008 Forecast
At this time of the year, all pundits try to provide insight into the New Year. I will join them with my own forecast for 2008. (More)

Cooling Down
As we enter the homestretch of '07, it is clear that we have survived the August and September credit crunch that the subprime mortgage market inflamed. It is also clear that Ben Bernanke and his counterparts in Europe provided the essential market liquidity when it was needed and that the rate cuts were effective in avoiding a very hard landing. (More)

Happy Thanksgiving!
I have reflected more and more of late on the distinction between the artisan and the artist. In most great media companies, the executive team and the talent who create content execute against a strategy that the leadership team has defined.. (More)

Confidence
As fall moves into winter we are seeing more turmoil and a lack of confidence in the leadership of our blue chip financial institutions. (More)

Renovation
Renovation of a home, product portfolio or oneself is never easy. It requires painstaking attention to detail, with little margin for error. (More)

Learning How to Win
The historic collapse of the New York Mets in September started me thinking about the responsibility coaches in sports and managers in business have for both winning and losing teams. (More)

B2B in China
NOTE: This column first appeared min’s b2b. During my last two years at Reed Business, I made 10 trips to China. I was very fortunate during this time to have an excellent partner in Hugo Shong, the Managing Director of IDG China and a general partner in IDG’s burgeoning venture capital business. If you want to do business in China, I strongly recommend the partnership approach–choosing the right partner is the key to success. (More)'

Global Brands
Tuesday the Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate, as I had predicted, by 1/2 a point. The discount rate also moved down by 1/2 a point, and shortly thereafter Bank of America announced that they were lowering their prime-lending rate by 1/2 a point. The global stock markets rallied on the news! (More)

Stop Looking in the Rearview Mirror
NOTE: This column first appeared min’s b2b this past week. It is mid-September and the football season is finally here. Sunday’s games showed us that the Patriots, led by their inscrutable coach (even more inscrutable these days than ever, with the spy scandal and the $500,000 personal fine from the NFL), Bill Belichick, will once again contend with the Colts for the AFC title. I recommend the late David Halberstam’s “The Education of a Coach,” which is about Belichick. It has some new insights and into what he has brought to New England and the NFL; all leaders can learn something from this book, though not as much from Belichick’s latest actions. (More)

Fall Innovation
Mary Claire often reminds me that September and October are the most wonderful months, from a weather perspective, regardless of where one is in the world. That certainly is the case in New York, where the US Open is in full swing and the crowds are enjoying gorgeous evenings to go along with outstanding tennis..... (More)

August Credit Turmoil
For those of us in the media business who focus on M&A and disappeared several weeks ago, our world was changed while we were enjoying our favorite recreational pursuits.... (More)

Dog Days
Here we are in the early "dog days" of August & New York City is starting to empty for the month. We seem to have taken on the European approach of everyone heading out of town for the month. Prior to leaving though, Rupert Murdoch won his prize, The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones, once the Bancroft family realized that there was no alternative to his "bear hug" premium and he agreed to pay their various fees, which had become substantial... (More)

Private Equity in India
Mumbai, India 7/26/07—During my final year with Reed Business, I served as vice chairman, with a focus on establishing new joint ventures or subsidiaries in China, India and Russia. Our team found an excellent partner in Infomedia India LTD, which is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. (More)

CRM from the Expert, Thomas Keller
I was reminded over the past several days how important retaining customers is to a business' long term health & growth. (More)

Unlocking Shareholder Value
Many of the largest media companies, today, are portfolio plays that combine content with distribution. At one time this approach was very fashionable, particularly in the late 80's and '00. Time Warner (TWX) is the example that is often brought forward & its failed merger with AOL... (More)