tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61478109721331475102024-03-08T01:04:56.553-08:00Noah Kindler - Life and TimesNoah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-77231381509849361202020-05-16T16:56:00.001-07:002020-05-16T16:56:12.087-07:00Opportunities in the time of COVID-19<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So recently, almost all news is bad news regarding the economy and especially in certain industries.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mass layoffs, huge losses, and request for government bail-outs to stop companies and their associated workers from going under.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll leave the government policy question to others, but instead ask, "Where are the new opportunities?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New Opportunities:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I stress the world new, because we already know many of the businesses that are thriving in this environment: Zoom, Amazon, Instacart, Gojo (Purell), Retail flour, Peloton....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead, what are the new opportunities? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the largest and generally smartest buyers are private equity funds, and they have recently raised huge distressed funds:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />- <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pehub.com/bain-capital-collects-2bn-for-distressed-fund-pe-firms-get-ready-to-host-summer-internships-remotely-podcast-finding-the-deal-flow-and-fund-term-amendments/&source=gmail&ust=1589759210991000&usg=AFQjCNGJQq7T2jX7sQeTxJFHicExzvw6Mw" href="https://www.pehub.com/bain-capital-collects-2bn-for-distressed-fund-pe-firms-get-ready-to-host-summer-internships-remotely-podcast-finding-the-deal-flow-and-fund-term-amendments/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.pehub.com/bain-<wbr></wbr>capital-collects-2bn-for-<wbr></wbr>distressed-fund-pe-firms-get-<wbr></wbr>ready-to-host-summer-<wbr></wbr>internships-remotely-podcast-<wbr></wbr>finding-the-deal-flow-and-<wbr></wbr>fund-term-amendments/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1lfshg4k6bsn8/Apollo-Pivots-Buyout-Fund-Almost-Entirely-Into-Distressed-Mode&source=gmail&ust=1589759210991000&usg=AFQjCNGYMHHGsRba97gyk1v9xZvsAPGNrQ" href="https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1lfshg4k6bsn8/Apollo-Pivots-Buyout-Fund-Almost-Entirely-Into-Distressed-Mode" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>institutionalinvestor.com/<wbr></wbr>article/b1lfshg4k6bsn8/Apollo-<wbr></wbr>Pivots-Buyout-Fund-Almost-<wbr></wbr>Entirely-Into-Distressed-Mode</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some recent investments have included AirBnB and Expedia -- effectively a 'buy-low' of the best companies, betting that when travel recovers, the best will lead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, for those of us without billions of dollars to invest into these, what are we to look at?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, here are some areas that I believe are ripe to explore:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Retail real estate: Many of the closed retailers will never re-open. The retail apocalypse/mallpocalypse was already in motion, and my big names (J.C. Penney's, J. Crew) have already filed for bankruptcy. So, what will happen to all this space in prime locations? Well, there will soon be the deals of the century for people who can find alternative and profitable uses for the space. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The best of the public companies: Follow the Silver Lake playbook, but go for the public companies which are depressed, but have models that allow them to greatly reduce costs at the moment. For example, hotels brands are effectively OpCos, which revenue share with their landlords. As travel dried up, they took a huge hit, but probably not as big as some people expect, because of their rev-share model, as opposed to being on the hook for a mortgage like many other companies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Technologies which were fringe, but now appear to be the new normal: These need to be evaluated carefully. Many products might have a temporary shortage (ventilators, toilet paper), but will either be too many, or overall usage is simply deferred as supply is stockpiled. However, it does feel like a world where N95 masks and gloves will become more common.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Go beyond demand, but try to think of any structural change to the economy which may be necessary to prepare for. For example, if gig workers become more common, does that lead to car-sharing model where a pool of cars is used during the day by one group, and in the evening by another? Or, does child care change in some fundamental way? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, what does this mean for our careers? Are certain careers basically over? And, if we do retrain, what areas are most promising?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stay tuned. This is moving fast.</span></div>
Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-27883122332898978802020-03-03T08:37:00.001-08:002020-03-03T08:37:44.125-08:00Top 6 take aways from Agile for Automotive conference -- reminds me of 2007 and hearing from Nokia, RIM and Ericsson...Last week, I had the privilege of keynoting the <a href="https://www.automotive-iq.com/events-agileforautomotive/">Agile for Automotive 2020</a> conference in Redwood Shores. <i>Please let me know if you would like me to share my slides.</i><br />
<br />
I attended almost all the sessions and was able to speak with many of the attendees and exhibitors. <br />
<br />
I wanted to share my top 6 take-aways:<br />
1. <b>Agile is still nascent </b>and with few exceptions, not accepted within automotive. The industry mindset is still on 'software as a part,' which should be finished and have pre-defined attributes. Organizational support beyond this mindset is scattered and minimal. I shared many of the quotes that I've heard in the industry of agile-haters, and got lots of nods and smiles. Probably too many.<br />
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2. <b>Volvo (car/Geely part) is the leader in becoming agile</b> in the industry. They're pushing hard, though are in the middle, and as one of my business school professors said, "Everything looks like a failure in middle." I hope they persist.<br />
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3. <b>Tesla's software prowess is ignored</b> by major OEMs. This is somewhat shocking to me considering their recent market cap rise. They are incredibly mis-understood, especially on the product side by their competitors, especially on the software experience they have. In silicon valley, we have an expression, "First they ignore you. Then they try to copy you. Then they lose." Feels like middle-innings here for lots of OEMs.<br />
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4. <b>The tools and ecosystem are still lacking.</b> StackOverflow displayed a compelling, but generic tool. I was surprised that there weren't more OEM/automotive focused solutions, as there are in strict waterfall methodology. Feels like an opportunity for someone to pick up.<br />
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5. <b> Agile is not an industry priority.</b> Most attendees are still mid-level. Though, almost every other major priority (connectivity, autonomy, improved safety, sharing) is incredibly software-based, somehow, the lack of software expertise is not yet a high-level industry concern. It's viewed similarly to, "making our interior better," and had a large view that 1 or 2 suppliers would just solve it. Good luck with that. <br />
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6. <b>Software is viewed as an inconvenience by most people in the industry</b>. Everyone was aware of <a href="https://www.teslarati.com/volkswagen-id3-software-bug-e-golf-us-sales/">Volkswagen's recent struggles with their ID</a>. This was viewed as a failure from the software group within VW, and not as some sort of wider critique on how the car is made. The basic view was, "They should get better people." The academic/industrial/experience that software problems always happen with linear/waterfall development was entirely ignored vs. the simpler story of a group performance problem. Good luck with that too. <br />
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Overall, I came away realizing the opportunity is bigger than ever to bring great software to automotive, and the established players do not yet view their, 'lunch as being eaten' like the pre-iPhone phone OEMs, even though Tesla is surging. <br />
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Any bets on how this plays out differently from the great phone OEMs of the early 2000s: Nokia, RIM, Ericsson....<br />
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<br />Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-2384339932449491172020-03-03T08:20:00.003-08:002020-03-03T08:20:54.645-08:00Forbes: My interview with Katina StefanovaReprint from:<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katinastefanova/2020/02/26/the-economy-strikes-back-against-coronavirus-interview-with-noah-kindler-former-executive-at-canoo-and-knotel/#3811cbd27ab7">https://www.forbes.com/sites/katinastefanova/2020/02/26/the-economy-strikes-back-against-coronavirus-interview-with-noah-kindler-former-executive-at-canoo-and-knotel/#3811cbd27ab7</a><br />
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Thank you Katina for the opportunity to connect on this.<br />
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The Economy Strikes Back Against Coronavirus: Interview With Noah Kindler, Former Executive At Canoo And Knotel</h1>
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<small style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 9px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2; text-transform: uppercase;">GETTY</small></div>
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The increased probability that the coronavirus has spread beyond China to become a global pandemic halted equities’ seemingly unstoppable rally. In the last couple of days the S&P 500 fell by 6.5%, the largest loss since August 2019. The first line of defense supporting risky assets such as equities is “Helicopter money”, with both the government of Hong Kong and the government of Singapore recently<span> </span><a aria-label="announcing" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-25/hong-kong-set-for-budget-deficit-amid-unrest-virus-outbreak" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-25/hong-kong-set-for-budget-deficit-amid-unrest-virus-outbreak" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-25/hong-kong-set-for-budget-deficit-amid-unrest-virus-outbreak">announcing<span> </span></a>that they will give out cash to their citizens to assuage market concerns related to the coronavirus.</div>
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However, investors have concerns whether the global economy will be able to quickly recover from the impact of coronavirus. Below, I interview Noah Kindler, an expert in innovation and entrepreneurship to explore his views of whether the global economy is resilient enough to withstand the impact of coronavirus. </div>
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Noah Kindler is an experienced entrepreneur and innovator. He has founded and led product innovation at companies in both the consumer and enterprise markets including for Canoo and Knotel, which are both unicorns. He has a BS in Computer Science from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard. </div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Stefanova:<span> </span></strong>Noah, it is a pleasure to talk to you. Please tell me, what do you believe will be the long term economic reaction from the coronavirus? Can you draw some historical parallels to predict the types of innovation that could potentially arise as a result of coronavirus?</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Kindler:<span> </span></strong>I am optimistic about the global economy’s ability to adapt to the coronavirus threat. The combined power of innovation and entrepreneurship can not only halt the advancement of the coronavirus, but also create a global economy far more resilient to future pandemics. Such optimism is grounded in history.</div>
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Customer Service In The Age Of Perpetual Newness</h3>
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Empowering Aging Through Innovation</h3>
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Just as 20 years ago after September 11th, out of fear and sadness, the US and global economy emerged stronger than ever. We saw industry create a whole new class of services and technologies, which were desperately needed to address the threat of terrorism: security screening, identity and intelligence products. Arguably, some of the most impactful technologies such as AI, data analytics, face recognition, voice recognition were propelled forward by government research and venture capital specifically as a result of the rising threat of terrorism. The impact of the coronavirus is similar in its ability to incentivize innovation. Today, with the risk of global pandemics on the forefront of both governments and business, we’re seeing a need for rapid innovation to help patients and care providers; to address business continuity, and government security — and many of these just do not yet exist.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Stefanova:</strong><span> </span>Noah, based on your entrepreneurship and Venture Capital experience, what areas specifically are you looking at as potential emerging business models to protect the world from the risk of pandemic? As a result, which public and private companies should investors look to invest into.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Kindler:<span> </span></strong>I see five areas which are simply needed now, more than ever, and will be needed even more in the future with increasing internationalization.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">New treatments</em>: Vaccines and medications to treat pandemics and quickly tweak and distribute optimized formulations as required, like for the flu every year. This will boost pharmaceutical research and increase government investment in the area. Also the ability to produce such treatments on demand and in large quantities as well as transport them efficiently to wherever in the world infection spreads will create an opportunity for new and creative medical companies. The innovation has already begun with companies such as<span> </span><a aria-label="Gilead" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.gilead.com/" href="https://www.gilead.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.gilead.com/">Gilead</a><span> </span>(70.10 USD),<span> </span><a aria-label="Inovio" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.inovio.com/" href="https://www.inovio.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.inovio.com/">Inovio</a><span> </span>(3.74 USD),<span> </span><a aria-label="Moderna" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.modernatx.com/" href="https://www.modernatx.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.modernatx.com/">Moderna</a><span> </span>(23.76 USD) leading the way. For example, Gilead came up with a drug that can help treat coronavirus symptoms, and Inovio and Moderna started to develop coronavirus vaccines.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Diagnostic equipment</em>: Diagnostics equipment that is effective and inexpensive, can be used by non-medical professionals such as airport personal or self administered simply does not exist. Investors should look for companies that are developing screening equipment to quickly discover people who may be ill or carrying a virus, and should be isolated from groups: first level, secondary, etc. These technologies can be customized for their environments, be it a hospital, airport, church or even at home.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Spread reduction technologies</em>: As we’ve seen on cruise ships, their ventilation systems are woefully inadequate to contain and isolate infections. Various air filtration and other protective equipment is needed urgently. This equipment may have the ability to quickly upgrade protective capabilities as needed.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Inventory stockpiling and pre-positioning</em>: In 2001, when the anthrax scare was at its peak, people were stockpiling the antibiotic Cipro. And, recently, we saw China urgently build a large isolation hospital in under a week. I imagine a word where stockpiles of such inventory are built up and maintained as needed. New types of logistics and storage companies may arise as a result.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Financial products</em>: I’ve watched my 401k drop almost 10% as a result of the coronavirus. I hear of hedge funds changing their trades based upon this. It turns out that I, like almost everyone, was long ‘no-pandemic.’ While the people who are sick are the true tragedy, we shouldn’t overlook that this virus has wreaked havoc on people’s retirement security. Additionally, airlines are predicted to lose $30B and other industries like cruises and conferences are sure to suffer. Even Apple’s stock has lost $50B of market cap from this virus. As such, individuals and industries will want to diversify, to varying extents with targeted financial products.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Stefanova:<span> </span></strong>What specific financial products should investors add to their portfolio? </div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Kindler:<span> </span></strong>I see a need for adding assets to investor portfolios that provide protection in case of pandemic. The simplest way for retail investors in this environment is to reduce volatility by selling some of their equity exposure and adding gold ETFs (<a aria-label="SPDR Gold Trust" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.spdrgoldshares.com/" href="https://www.spdrgoldshares.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.spdrgoldshares.com/">SPDR Gold Trust</a>,<span> </span><a aria-label="iShares Gold Trust" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.ishares.com/us" href="https://www.ishares.com/us" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.ishares.com/us">iShares Gold Trust</a>,<a aria-label="Aberdeen Standard Physical Swiss Gold Shares ETF" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.aberdeenstandard.com/" href="https://www.aberdeenstandard.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.aberdeenstandard.com/"><span> </span>Aberdeen Standard Physical Swiss Gold Shares ETF</a>). Katina you have written about precious metals and unlevered real assets recommending to investors to add those to their portfolios as one of the<span> </span><a aria-label="core macro themes for 2020" class="color-link" data-ga-track="InternalLink:https://www.forbes.com/sites/katinastefanova/2020/01/17/five-macro-themes-for-2020/" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katinastefanova/2020/01/17/five-macro-themes-for-2020/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_self" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katinastefanova/2020/01/17/five-macro-themes-for-2020/">core macro themes for 2020</a>. Additionally, you predicted that gold will outperform both equities and bonds as early as April 2019 (<a aria-label="3 Reasons Why Gold Will Outperform Equities and Bonds" class="color-link" data-ga-track="InternalLink:https://www.forbes.com/sites/katinastefanova/2019/04/25/three-reasons-why-gold-will-outperform-equities-and-bonds/#35a977f860a0" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katinastefanova/2019/04/25/three-reasons-why-gold-will-outperform-equities-and-bonds/#35a977f860a0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_self" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katinastefanova/2019/04/25/three-reasons-why-gold-will-outperform-equities-and-bonds/#35a977f860a0">3 Reasons Why Gold Will Outperform Equities and Bonds</a>). It is not too late for investors to buy gold even now.</div>
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<img alt="A graph representing how gold over-performed equities and bonds over the past 10 months." data-height="1147" data-width="1981" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5e56f31f765d4500072d45d6/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto !important; max-width: 100%; width: 687.656px;" /></div>
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<small style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 9px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2; text-transform: uppercase;">MARTO RESEARCH</small></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Stefanova:</strong><span> </span>Noah, are you seeing entrepreneurs start to look at these areas?</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Kindler:<span> </span></strong>It’s early, but I’m starting to hear of various bits and pieces here. I would expect to hear more over the next 18 months, especially depending on whether the coronavirus becomes a pandemic. There for the time for investors to adjust their portfolio is now.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Stefanova:<span> </span></strong>Can you share any other thoughts on the coronavirus?</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Kindler:<span> </span></strong>It’s a tragedy foremost. My heart goes out to those affected. The front line workers are heroes and do not get enough credit. I hope in the future that patients and workers have even better opportunities and outcomes. However, I am an optimist and we have seen over and over the global economy adapting to quickly to respond to new threats again and again through the power of technology innovation and entrepreneurship. This time it is no different.</div>
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Katina Stefanova is the CEO and CIO of Marto Capital, a global, systematic absolute return strategy that trades in many diversified markets including FX, rates, equities and commodities. Katina frequently speaks at many conferences and events across the globe on topics including investing, technology, and entrepreneurship and is a thought leader on disruption in the asset management industry. Prior to founding Marto Capital, Katina spent over 9 years at Bridgewater Associates as a Senior Executive. She began her career there as a Senior Investment Associate. Katina then became a Management Committee Advisor, where she held leadership roles overseeing various areas of the firm. Prior to Bridgewater, Katina was a senior leader in the financial services and technology space, including serving as a Director of Business Strategy at IBM. She is also the co-founder of AcordIQ, which delivers state of the art portfolio intelligence and governance solutions with expert consulting services to asset managers and institutional investors. Katina holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in International Relations from Brigham Young University.</div>
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</printbar></footer>Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-43177706412696545862020-02-26T08:29:00.003-08:002020-02-26T16:16:35.188-08:00The economy strikes back against coronavirus<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
My take with Katina Stefanova on Coronavirus and how silicon valley can step up here.</div>
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<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katinastefanova/2020/02/26/the-economy-strikes-back-against-coronavirus-interview-with-noah-kindler-former-executive-at-canoo-and-knotel/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/katinastefanova/2020/02/26/the-economy-strikes-back-against-coronavirus-interview-with-noah-kindler-former-executive-at-canoo-and-knotel/</a></div>
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#coronavirus #coronaviruschina #innovation #venturecapital #startups</div>
Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-52201902020636151072020-02-18T10:03:00.003-08:002020-02-18T10:03:56.913-08:00Automotive hates agile: Phased delivery and governanceI want to thank my fantastic (twice) former colleague Amin Ariana for much of framework here.<br />
<br />
I experienced huge frustration here, and wanted to share thoughts on why.<br />
<br />
Two accepted principles of almost any automotive product development are: Phased delivery and governance.<br />
<br />
Typically, powerful parts of the organization, that control significant resources will manage both of these, in the name of, "coordination," and "watching the money."<br />
<br />
<b>Phased delivery</b>: Programs are divided into phases, with various interim milestones before full production: alpha car, beta car, pre-production, low-volume, etc. For each phase, there are a set of requirements, which become more complete overtime. <br />
<br />
This naturally appeals to people because each milestone allows for judgment on what is 'ready' and what is 'behind.' It also forces decisions (vendors, engineering trade-offs) that otherwise might end up in paralysis or continually pushing for a better deal.<br />
<br />
<b>Governance</b>: By its nature, this is a group of functions that track progress, are involved and often approve major decisions, and apply countermeasures and involvement when they perceive need. Two of the most common ones in automotive are: 1) vendor approval, and 2) budget/internal hiring.<br />
<br />
Effectively, to get access to resources, such as hiring contractors, hiring internally or using other vendor products, someone outside your group needs to be convinced. While this in theory provides an important counter to 'going rouge' or lack of accountability -- in practice, it gives a ton of power and input to non-experts, who typically set up a process for non-software parts of the business, and then demand compliance in the name of, "I watch the money carefully," or, "I want to make sure it all comes together," and force non-agile into the system.<br />
<br />
The challenge here is that automotive is just not set up for agile. Even if a sub-culture can work this way, there are lots of functions that simply don't care, and gate resources. They block agile, slow down quick decisions and force large requirements, which are inevitably pulled up at a later date for, "where are we on this? You gave this to me..."<br />
<br />
<b>So, what to do</b>:<br />
<br />
Often, when stuck in this trap, people try to work around it. Thinking, well, I'll just fill out the form, but we can all shake our head in agreement when we say we're agile. Good luck.<br />
<br />
Instead, explicitly opt out of this at the beginning, but propose an alternative. Include the vendor, governance and other such teams in sprint planning sessions. Bring them into the tent. Make sure that the person/people involved is sufficiently senior to actually approve, and not just a token person tracking progress. <br />
<br />
<b>Agile is tough in this environment</b>. The system rejects it. There are teams built to reject it. We naturally want to please people and try to be helpful for their "board presentation on what we're delivering over the next 9 months. "Just a few bullets." "Now, a bit more detail, like everyone else has."<br />
<br />
Just say no. Half measure lead to full failure. Agile means agile. Set up the whole company for success, or don't bother and accept bad software, just like everyone else in this industry. And, don't listen to McKinsey here either (per my previous post). <br />
<br />Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-46048278005278070682020-02-14T09:00:00.001-08:002020-02-14T09:17:59.327-08:00Agile and automotive: McKinsey's take is wrong<br />
<br />
McKinsey recently published an article on software in Automotive: <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/mastering-automotive-software-launch-excellence?cid=soc-web">https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/mastering-automotive-software-launch-excellence?cid=soc-web</a><br />
<br />
Here's what they say about it:<br />
<br />
<i>The McKinsey Center for Future Mobility just released the article "Mastering automotive software-launch excellence". In the article, we provide an overview of the escalating role of software in the growing launch problems, analyzing its root causes and providing two solution approaches following the launch excellence framework. We, then, dive further into how automotive players can crack the code on superior launch performance by reducing complexity and increasing robustness in embedded software development. More of our latest thinking on <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/mcfm">www.mckinsey.com/mcfm</a>.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
My take:<br />
Frankly, I think McKinsey missed it here and their analysis here is a bit dated, misses the major challenges, and will never make automotive software of the quality or experience people expect from their computer and phone.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is a whole cultural and values based analysis of automotive delivery, throughout the ecosystem, that reminds me of many other industries pre-agile (15-20 years ago) and stands in the way of the necessary changes. They have a way of working around negotiation specs and delivery - and view software as a part or sub-system, with a whole organization behind this (finance, program, manufacturing, design, etc). Software isn't 'isolation' or treated as a part, that needs to be spec'd and finished, but an agile mindset of delivery. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Until these barriers come down, software in cars will continue to be the worst part of the user experience, and the few that master it (I'd put Tesla in the lead) will delight their users and find that software is not 'just another part of the car' but one of the key elements of the mobility experience and delivery<br />
<br />
Software has never done with half measures, and these recommendations are even less.</div>
Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-13483344824666831212016-05-31T17:45:00.001-07:002017-12-24T15:27:30.857-08:00How to teach your kid to ride a bike (Noah's method)<div class="gmail_quote" style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
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When I learned to ride a bike...a long time ago...my dad basically ran behind me holding the saddle and yelled, "Pedal!" My only recollection of the experience is raised voices and tears. From both my dad and me. Lots of skinned knees and generally lots of, 'lessons.'<br />
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So, when it was my turn to teach, I tried a different way. Since then. . . <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">I'm 4/4 in teaching kids to ride a bike, ages 4-6. This includes both of my sons, and two nephews. They all learned in under 3 lessons, with no lesson longer than an hour. There were no/few tears, almost no falls and no raised voices. Actually, not so bad. And it was amazing.</span></div>
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Here's how....</div>
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After doing research (i.e., googling and going on youtube), this video is fantastic:</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DpRk1xZbahf0&source=gmail&ust=1464827827577000&usg=AFQjCNEhZEXC_xYgtBYh0B_iMQcDJNHA8Q" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRk1xZbahf0" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">Learn to Ride A Bike In 5 Simple Steps</a><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">I basically followed this, but I also added a few steps:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">0. Burn the bridge behind you. Tell your child that training wheels are done and never going back on. This is good for your kid..., and you. Then, remove the training wheels.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">1. Before starting, </span></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> - remove the pedals (threading is backwards on one so they lock as you go forward, but they're easy to take off with a crescent wrench- here's a youtube link for doing it: <a href="https://youtu.be/jD0vhR7SgZU">https://youtu.be/jD0vhR7SgZU</a>), and</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> - make sure the seat is low so your kid's feet can be flat on the ground -- it'll look comically too low, but it should</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">2. First step is just to walk with the bike between their legs (takes about 1 minutes).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">3. Start gliding down a gentle slope. It can be very gentle. Start only going up a bit and increase as your child gains confidence. It helped to play a game -- we moved a rock as each boy went further. Lemonade and skittles also helped with the motivation. I also did it myself to be goofy and add fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">4. Once your child has gliding down mostly, then go to a parking lot and push. When you push, it's better to push than to run and let go (in fact, running with the child doesn't help much).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">5. Once you can push your child pretty far, put the pedals back on. Help your child start (starting is really hard). Hold under his armpits and tell him to start pedaling, then, push to add momentum. It's important that your child is pedaling to start and you don't just push.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">6. Tell your child to put his feet down when finished. And...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">7. I made it a game with lots of levels. (Level 1, walk with the bike between your legs... Good job. Here's a skittle!). Worked pretty well, especially with my first son. By the time he got to level 6, he was a pro.</span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Once your child can go this far, he/she really only has to learn to start, which takes practice, but he/she eventually learns that the key is to start with one of the pedals at about 1:00 and give it a hard push down while pushing forward -- and starting to pedal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="font-size: 12.8px; font-style: italic;">Some notes: </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px; font-style: italic;">- I found it not helpful to run with my child and let go. While natural and classic, this doesn't help much. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px; font-style: italic;">- It doesn't help to lie and say, "I'll hold on." when you won't. </span></span><br />
<i>- Training wheel, in spite of their name, don't really help train. The only, sorta benefit is learning how to pedal -- and well- most kids know this from tricycles, hot wheels/ etc. Brits called training wheels, 'stabilisers,' which is probably a better name, though they should have a z.</i><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">And, for inspiration, here are my sons' first days on bikes:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Alex (4 years old at the time):</span><br />
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Teddy (4 years old):<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ODF4IZyaVNw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ODF4IZyaVNw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Good luck. Would love to hear more tips and any feedback that people have.</span></div>
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Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-80361264450830994862014-02-27T14:45:00.000-08:002014-03-06T11:00:23.940-08:00Agile is not a process!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recently read an article from a consulting firm about the benefits from moving from the, "waterfall process," to the "agile process." The article then proceeded to dutifully outline all of the major elements of agile: sprints, trains, daily scrums, stories, story management, cross-functional teams, etc. The article then talked about why changing process was good and organizations would see a strong uplift in the application development.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WRONG.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the article wasn't wrong because it espoused falsehoods. It was wrong because it missed the heart of agile, and confused the output of agile with its input.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At its core, agile product development is a set of beliefs around building software to: 1) reduce process, 2) push responsibility to the person doing the work, 3) empower individuals, and 4) increase communications over heavier process.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The output of this methodology is very much what we generally thing of as agile. And, you need to guard against the re-appearance of process, as this is a natural quick-jerk reaction for most people, and takes high-level support to avoid.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll give an example. At one company I was at, we had a deadline and ended up pushing out something through Q/A which ended up being very buggy. The was viewed as a process breakdown -- Q/A had signed off on something not ready and hadn't had sufficient time. The result was to add more process, in this case: 1) a 'rule' that Q/A had to have at least a week, and 2) a layer 2 of Q/A to sign of on production releases.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This seemed reasonable. Think it worked? Yeah, right.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead, agile methodology would do away with the Q/A sign-off and have developers sign off on their work. Effectively, you blow-out of the process. The individual would be responsible for signing off on his/her own work and when it was ready. If the work turned out to be buggy, or there were integration problems, you would roll back (more about the environment later) and ensure that people communicated for easier integration. There would be lots of social pressure not to release buggy code. And that's it. And it works a lot better.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, the article missed another point about only having good engineers. Agile very quickly exposes people who are getting things done, and those who are not. Sit in on a handful of scrums, and you'll very quickly know the people who are getting things done, and who are not. Also, with agile, the bad engineers do not hold up the good ones or create roadblocks. I won't go into the decisions to exit bad engineers, but with agile, at a minimum, they don't cause problems like they can when they push themselves into the critical path.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, your products get better. Users are horrible at articulating what they want, what they need, non-standard/edge cases, and knowing what they don't want. Users are much better at reacting. With agile, you get users reacting what they want, and your products improve tremendously.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My opinions come not from theory -- in theory, I love waterfall. It seems to make lots of sense to write requirements and figure out what you want. My opinions come from practice; I've never seen waterfall work well at all. The shift out of a process mindset is counter-intuitive -- I've heard dozens of times someone say something like, "But if I were going to build a building, I would want to know what it would be used for, make blueprints, know my materials....before starting to build." Needless to say, that's probably true for a building. It just isn't for software. Have the confidence that agile works. It works fast too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, that's enough for my agile soap box. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-64694542079814882542014-02-24T16:00:00.000-08:002014-02-24T16:00:08.969-08:00The Idea List<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I keep a list of idea that I think would be interesting to build a business around. It's pretty simple. I try to write them down when I think they're interesting, so I don't forget. Sometimes, I email myself if I'm about to fall asleep, or write it down on a airplane when my mind is wandering, or frustrated, or trying to find something that I can't find.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ideas themselves are just stubs that could be built into a business, not plans or details. In face, I would argue that by themselves, they're worthless. There are lots of good ideas out there, which go nowhere. For example, "website marketplace to allow people to list their apartments like hotels," does not mean you invented airBnB. It's just an idea, floating around. Even if you wrote it down, it's not clear that I'm the right person to do it, or that I would have/could have had the same outcome.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I look back on them, most of them are easily shot down as horrible upon even a small amount of reflection: too expensive to acquire customers, industry I know nothing about, too much of a marketing gimmick with little behind it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few others ideas are shot down by a google search revealing that I'm several years behind and 1% in my thinking vs other people who entered the space a long time ago. My 'innovation' is inevitably minimal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes, the idea seems really exciting at the time, and then when looking back at it, it no longer does. Maybe the prize isn't big enough, or you just couldn't imagine yourself getting up every day and trying to build it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, there are a few that get a bit further. I've spoken to people in industry or mocked up website -- even customers. And, often you learn things that you don't expect, usually that there's a reason why this doesn't exist. An industry structure you didn't fully understand or different motivations for decision makers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then, well, there's the exciting ones. The ones that make you leave your job, your safety and go for it. It's good to know that there are a lot of those too. And, even when the idea becomes a business and inevitably morphs and changes, that initial genesis and spark, is always a bit amazing.</span></div>
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Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-81385839852015158552014-02-21T08:29:00.002-08:002014-02-21T08:30:52.167-08:00Know where the money is going<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following up on a post from a few days ago (<a href="http://www.noahkindler.com/2014/02/early-stage-grudge-work-accounting.html">http://www.noahkindler.com/2014/02/early-stage-grudge-work-accounting.html</a>), I received some great comments discussing that in accounting in particular at an early-stage company, it's important to know where the money is going.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One friend even talked about how he did all his own accounting, just for this purpose. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I couldn't agree more on the goal. From a financial perspective, the money is expensive and it should be managed carefully. Also, from a personal perspective, as an entrepreneur, you've given up huge amount of opportunity (e.g., higher paying job, unpaid time starting the company, etc.) and have probably also spent years teeing up the opportunity. I know I've done that. You've then sold much of the upside as equity to have this chance. When you see the money go out the door unsuccessfully or poorly managed, it gnaws at you. I've experienced the emotional reaction of seeing large checks go out the door for something that doesn't work. Here, I like to make a distinction between well-spent money that doesn't work, vs. poorly spent money.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For example, at one company, we once used $50k on an ad campaign that brought on users for a $10/month product. We obtained three users, or approximately $17k/user. I called this the, "Buy them a Honda Civic" acquisition strategy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While this was very, very painful, it was ultimately a well thought out and managed campaign and given some constraints, we couldn't do a smaller test campaign. I still believe it was well spent money, but expensive learning that something didn't work. And it hurt I still think of this when I see Honda Civics.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The even more painful time comes when you realize that you were careless and now have an invoice for something that could have or should have been avoided. I remember signing a check for a monthly ad campaign that had stopped performing 60 days prior. It has simply been overlooked as some other priorities had taken over This prompted me to: 1) have a discussion and end the campaign immediately, and 2) change the way we did things going forward. While it still was unpleasant, ultimately, the loss was minimized and avoided in the future, which is the best result possible at that point. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Money out the door is a forcing function and moment of choice. One of the simple steps that I always value and insist on is that someone involved in the fundraising process, and ideally the CEO (not a finance/accounting person), signs all the checks and approves all payrolls. This ensures that every single dollar that leaves the account, is controlled and managed by one person with both financial and personal skin in the game. (The only exception is an expense check to the person himself, as it's generally good to not have someone sign checks to himself)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While there are obviously downsides to this method (using checks, the occasional rush to find the CEO when he's out of the office when an urgent payment is needed, etc.), the upsides are substantial. It's amazing how frequently simply signing a check makes you realize that you don't really need something (e.g., a software subscription you used to use and then moved off of with only legacy data, a contractor whose project hasn't performed well and you should make the call to end, etc.). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, I always try to keep the overhead low on knowing where the cash is going, and put in place reasonable/minimal cash controls. One of the easiest is having someone else enter the invoices into the accounting system and prepare the checks weekly. This both: 1) reduces the time of truly administrative tasks, and 2) ensures a separation of the preparation of checks from signing, which is good cash control governance in any case.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other parts of accounting like the exact definition of revenue, depreciation policies, differences between A/P liabilities and expenses, etc., are generally unimportant for start-ups as you focus entirely on cash and do not make different decisions based upon these differences. Don't focus on them. One of the best things to always challenge an accountant with is, "Does this matter? Is it material? Will we make different decisions based upon it?" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Know where the money is going.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-24506056414167338232014-02-19T09:18:00.003-08:002014-02-19T09:18:38.099-08:00Day 1 at a big company vs. Day 1 as a founder at a small company<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my former board members, Stephen Semprevivo, and I were discussing the differences between your first day on the job at a bigger company vs. a founder:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Founder - day 1: </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- You have responsibility for absolutely everything. This ranges from product, sales, facilities, operations, recruiting, accounting, compliance, legal, finance, IT, marketing, etc... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- You have (almost) unlimited decision making authority, both formal, informal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- You have unlimited flexibility on title, office location, etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- As you go forward, you give up these responsibilities/authorities and move to focus on highest priorities. e.g., you outsource HR, someone else takes over IT, you bring on a marketing lead, etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bigger company- day 1:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- You have effectively no responsibility. Even if you're hired for something with formal responsibility specifically, you're certainly still being evaluated before you're trusted to fully take it on</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- You have no decision making authority. Even if you have something formal, undoubtedly, there's still time before you're trusted</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- You have no flexibility on title, office location. It's already set</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- As you go forward, you gain these responsibilities/authorities as you increase in importance and trust within the organization. e.g., you now need to sign off on all hires, or approve certain budget items or approve any product changes of a certain sort</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While there are obviously some generalizations here, and of course many more differences (I've tried to focus on responsibility/authority matrix) the principle is pretty sound. I've seen people struggle both ways, going big->founder or founder->big. I even now explicitly have conversation with people who have never been at a very small company about how it's different and how some of what makes someone successful at big, doesn't translate to small.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks again Stephen for the great view.</span>Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-12237510232137763482014-02-17T09:48:00.003-08:002014-02-17T09:48:54.866-08:00The Daily Scrum<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have a strong bias against heavy process, in favor of closer communications, which allows you to 'blow out' of the process trap. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">None of this is theoretical. I have seen brilliant, well-thought out process to create new products. They have been lead by intelligent, capable and motivated managers with full buy-in from teams.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've just never seen it work. Process inevitably becomes a trap. It's something that allows people to shut of their minds, stop making great products and think, "well, I'm following the process." None of this is necessarily lazy or with evil intentions; it's by design. For example, "I'll push my code because the process is that Q/A tests it once I get it working." Or, "that's a great idea, but I can't do it because our sprint/train started and we can't re-prioritize for another two weeks." Or, "that would be great, but the CFO only allows budget updates quarterly, so maybe next quarter..." And, then, well, there are the other cases.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the few process steps I recommend is a daily scrum. It's a simple daily meeting where:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - Everyone says what they did yesterday and what they're doing today in 90 seconds or less</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - It starts on time, irrespective of who is there</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - The goal is to identify when people should communicate (e.g., Oh, I did some work there a few weeks ago) and that no one is repeating work/doing something unknown</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - If people start trying to solve a problem, others need to ask them, "Great conversation, take it after the meeting."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - Only people who have something to say should speak. (there's more theory here on pigs/chickens if you're interested in googling)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The result is a fast meeting (under 10 minutes) where no one looks at his/her phone, and we identify any areas of coordination. It also gives transparency into what everyone is working on and serves as a performance manager too (e.g., if someone is always doing the same thing and not making progress....).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have even extended this to non-technical functions and found it tremendously useful. It also leverages a focused/fast team, which is super important when you're a start-up!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I'm busy from 8:00-8:10 every morning. As is the rest of the team.</span></div>
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Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-54103605299702062702014-02-14T12:40:00.003-08:002014-02-14T12:41:55.854-08:00Opportunity sits down next to you...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was flying back to SFO from New York last week and started talking to the passenger seated next to me. We had a wonderful discussion about soccer and children which made the flight go faster, but he also knew all about my industry. He came out of the financial services and immediately got our product. He was then able to introduce me to some potential clients that he knew. We've already had follow-up and we'll see where the leads go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's always interesting to me how sometimes, it's the unexpected encounters which lead to progress, and why introductions/sales is in many ways a numbers game. We often think of the formal interactions: conferences, warm intros, friends -- as the only way to. And, it's easy to shut-off when you feel you're 'off,' but often this would be at the expense of missing a great opportunity. And, even when it's not a business opportunity, it's fun to get insights into Jose Mourinho's Chelsea FC team!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And yes, I can take a hint too, so I'm not that guy next to you who won't just stop talking if you're trying to sleep....</span></div>
Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-76725792869087081702014-02-12T08:40:00.004-08:002014-02-12T08:40:47.926-08:00Early-Stage Grudge Work: Accounting 101(Modified)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just spoke with a friend of mine who is launching his startup and had questions about accounting and his chart of accounts. This is one of the millions of unsexy, unimportant, yet usually urgent things that come up. (I'll reach out to him to see if it's ok with him if I reference him) His problem was that he had raised money, and had to figure out what sort of system to spend it in a way that he could account for it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clearly, this doesn't really matter because the company succeeds or fails not in this. While I think it's super important to know where your money is going, it's much less so to produce perfect financial statements. Unfortunately, almost every investor term sheet requires financial statements, as do tax authorities, so you're certainly doing something here. And, in a small company, it's probably you doing it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've always viewed a 'win' in this area when you can get the time down to almost nothing, and still be good-enough, not necessarily perfect. Many other functions will also fall into the 'good-enough' (payroll, employee on-boarding, document, AP, IT, etc.). Get it done fast, then focus on the product/market.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My solution is to use an accounting firm focused for start-ups. They 'get' working with start-ups, do all the set-up so I don't need to be an accounting tool expert, and then I can be a fast user when needed. Our accounting statements are not 100% GAAP, but are more cash-based and sufficient for the decisions we need to make (e.g., when do we need to raise our next round? How much did we sped last month?) This also makes taxes at year-end easy - something else in the good enough category.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, get back to the product/market and away from these other things.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com65tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147810972133147510.post-8641111973289973522014-02-11T15:09:00.000-08:002014-02-11T15:09:02.288-08:00Hello World!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my first blog post on being an entrepreneur, with the highs and the lows!</span>Noah Kindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09267867330453478706noreply@blogger.com0