What a young person needs to take from the Yahoo/Microsoft Merger
I got some emails from kids younger than me asking what this means and what they should do. And more problematically from one of them, what my predictions were with Google and cloud computing, an office suite and dark fiber. NONE of that matters.
Google doesn’t even know and that’s the entire point. Since no school is teaching it, we need to focus on learning that:
The successful companies of the future won’t “sell” things, as much as they will solve economic problems and thus create value for the customer. Sometimes those two things are the same, but often times they aren’t.This is the key to understanding the economic future of the world, and why some companies will compete and some won’t. – Tucker
Stuff like, which stock your should buy or short, who will up ruling the internet, all that is irrelevant to us. What we should take from this is confirmation of what I wrote about last week–that when attacked, centralized organizations tend to become more centralized and thus exacerbate their own problems.
Whatever your major is, what kind of grades you get, where you plan to intern, how much traffic your blog gets or which company you have storing your data–all that is piddly, logistical, small picture stuff. What really matters is whether you understand the meta-level change: the shift between value extraction and value creation. Forget ALL the details until you firmly grasp that new paradigm. Otherwise, you’re studying lesions, instead of figuring out the disease.
You can only beat speed with more speed.
You can only beat strategy with more strategy.
You can only beat Google by being MORE Google (i.e., more open, create more value, be even better to people). – Tucker
So fooling around with predictions is fun, as long as you remember that the chances of them coming through are abysmal at best. We don’t know anything. What you can spend your time on today–as you wait for your turn for these things to matter–is learning how to attack strategy, avoid centralization, and to look to the core of things and not their meaningless dressings. Can you do that? If you can’t–or even if you sort of can–then just ignore the Yahosoft merger and focus on what counts.
I would start with:
The Pirates Dilemma–Matt Mason
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything–Don Tapscott
All Marketers are Liars–Seth Godin
The Strategy Paradox–Michael Raynor
BubbleGeneration (blog)–Umair
Definitely agree Ryan. We need to focus on whats in front of us. Most of the younger people I have come into contact, focus on irrelevant things. Focusing on themselves is the most important thing you can do. I believe that “we” as human beings can adapt to anything that becomes to difficult for us to tackle. We learned to do those things, through paying attention and asking ourselves questions, about how and what our next step should be. Great article, keep it up.
“You can only beat speed with more speed.
You can only beat strategy with more strategy.
You can only beat Google by being MORE Google (i.e., more open, create more value, be even better to people).”
I don’t see how this fits with the idea of attacking strategy instead of attacking tactics.
“Most of the time, you’re attacking the tactics–or just trying to beat them in the game they chose.”
being “more google” than google seems to me the exactly the kind of “attacking tactics” thinking you’re trying to avoid.
I hope I didn’t misinterpret the context of the quote.
The Pirate Bay is under attack by the Swedish courts, and have responded by making it clear just how decentralized they are, and that they couldnt even stop the Bay if they wanted to.
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/01/swedens-latest-attack-on-pirate-bay-might-work-but.html
This seems to be the opposite side of the coin from the Microsoft Yahoo merger, and for exactly the same reasons.
I don’t know if Umair brings up the Pirate Bay at all, but there you go.
It’s not that you should necessarily imitate Google, it’s just that when the Game changes, you either have to engage or withdraw. Microsoft and Yahoo have frozen, which is neither.
You wouldn’t beat Google by being slightly “less evil” just like you wouldn’t beat Tucker by being a little more drunk. But you still need to be HONEST, because they’ve added that to the equation.
You say a lot but I have one simple question for you:
How exactly are you planning on making any money? Forgive my podunk mind but I don’t see a single strategy of financial success in all of your ramblings. Elucidate.
Billy, the answer to your question is hiding in plain view. All those links to amazon, you don’t think that they are present just only because RH loves books just so much, do you?
Good catch. But at the same time, I’ve never linked to a book I haven’t personally read. And when I like to books that I read but didn’t like, I don’t use the code.
Which is what I mean about CREATING VALUE. Most of the books I link to I don’t sell enough to pay for my copy. But I still read as much as I possibly can. If it works out, it works out.
RH – I don’t hold it against you, everyone needs to pay the bills, just hope you don’t do it at the expense of quality. In the end almost everyone decent gets a taste for money and sacrifices quality, just hope you will take your time because I usually enjoy reading your work.
RH – I don’t hold it against you, everyone needs to pay the bills, just hope you don’t do it at the expense of quality. In the end almost everyone decent gets a taste for money and sacrifices quality, just hope you will take your time because I usually enjoy reading your work.
Great post man, It’s exciting to see all of this taking place and know there are people who are using their vision and taking risks to change the rules of the game.