Art, Business

From Steve Jobs’ Life: Don’t Be Afraid to Cannabilize

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Don’t Be Afraid To Cannibalize Yourself Because If You Don’t Others Will:

When iTunes was released, Microsoft managers realized that they needed to create direct user value with an end to end service. Gates felt like an idiot once again, and Microsoft wanted to move forward although it was caught flat footed by Apple. So Microsoft tried to copy iTunes. When Apple created the compatible iPod, and iTunes systems for other PCs it meant that PC users would not have to buy Macs to use the iPod. Steve Jobs did not want to put iTunes on the PC. The cannibalization of not selling Macs was out weighed by the potential iPod sales. Once iPods went PC, Apple was on its way to be extremely extremely lucrative. Jobs said that iTunes for Windows was the best application for PCs ever. When Microsoft came up with Zune, it was obvious that they did not care about the music or the product. Steve Jobs believed that an iPhone might cannibalize sales for Mac, but it would not deter Jobs. When the inventor of the Walkman tried to compete against Apple, they were held back by cannibalization because Sony had a music department etc etc. In 2004, the iPod Mini was the next innovation which helped eliminated the portable music player competitions. Apple’s market share in the portable music player industry went from 35% to 75% in 18 months. The iPod Shuffle also helped grow it further because people like to be surprised. Jobs decided that they should get rid of the screen, you don’t need to navigate all you needed was to skip over the songs you heard.

This is an analysis based on Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and other sources of research. Enjoy.

 More from Steve Job’s Life by Walter Isaacson
Location Really Does Matter for EntrepeurshipChildhood Shapes Your Thinking
Go Get What You Want, If You Have the CourageEducation Is For Conformists
Assume That You Will Die YoungGo To India
Pranking People Requires Creative ThinkingStarting A Company Is Very Difficult
Meet a Brilliant & Nobel EngineerMeetups Bring Insanely Great Ideas Together
Knowing What You Wanted to DoExclude Relevant Information Where Necessary
Have Discipline Over Body and MindPicking A Name is as Simple As Picking Apples
Crime Does Pay!!??Sharing Ideas Is Fine Up To A Point
Most Good Ideas Have to Be Force Down Peoples ThroatsXerox Parc
Run Your Company Our Of Your Parents HouseMike Markkula’s Marketing Theory Is Built Around Three Areas
MacKenna’s Advertising Style WorkedDon’t Worry About A Business Plan Until You Need Investment in a Serious Venture
Create A Simple Product For HouseholdsYour Product Needs to be a Full Simple Package
Jobs’ Management Style Was “Shit” from ’77 to ’85A Startup Will Become Impersonal With Success
Apple III was a bastard childBeing Abandoned = Ignoring Reality
Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists StealSurround Yourself With “A Players”
Reality Distortion FieldBe At The Nexus of Humanities and Technology
Believe In A Closed System & Product ControlMarket Research Is For Idiots
Motivate With The Big PictureUnhealthy Competition Within A Company Can be Corrosive
The Best & Most Innovative Products Don’t Always WinEras Are Defined by Partnerships & Rivalry – Gates Versus Jobs Round 1
Genius Versus Shit-HeadThe Boardroom Showdown & Emotionality
Advertising Does MatterA Messy Company Can Still Work
A Clean Factory Is Insanely Great But The Product Has To SellBeing Right Isn’t As Important As Winning
Imperfection Is A Moral WrongBringing In An Outside Expert Can Be Costly
The Original Macintosh Had Bad SalesFall From Grace Through Management Incompetence
Finding Similarities Between Yourself & Your Business Partner May Not Be GoodEras Are Defined By Partnerships & Rivalry – Gates Versus Jobs Round 2
Force An Ultimatum To Get Control of a CompanyNever Tell The Allies of Your Opposition That You’re Planning a Coup
Brilliant Failures Help You GrowDesign Should Not Trump Processing
Do Not Disrespect Your Potential Business PartnersGet Real On Your Lean Startup
Get A VC Who Missed Out On A Previous Winning OpportunityAvoid The Problem of Focusing on the Small
Gain Financial Control Against Your Business PartnersRivalry of the Ants & Breaking With Disney
Build A Board That Cannot Operate Independently of the CEODo Not Chase Profits, Chase Value
Do Not Force Other Businesses Into Your Closed SystemHow To Save A Dying Tech Company – Fire the Board Or Resign
Merge Your Venture With A Giant That You Can Take OverTargeting the Education Market Is Not Lucrative
How to Save Dying Tech Company – Return To Your Successful RootsHow to Save a Dying Tech Company – Make Products Not Profit, Fundamentally
Skate Where the Puck’s Going, Not Where It’s BeenThe Loser Now Will Be Soon To Win
The Internet Is Made For MusicBrand Yourself Differently
Don’t Be Afraid to CannibalizeCreate Complimentary Product Offerings Without a Lead Loss Generator
Focus On What People Really Want…1,000 SongsGoogle’s “Don’t Be Evil Mantra” is Bullshit
Get Yourself Into the Cloud & A CastleDon’t Fear Change In Industry, Anticipate It
Create An Inventory Management System & Build a Store That WorksConverge Old Devices Into 1 New Device
Do Not Ignore Medical Diagnoses Make Peace With Your Old Enemies
Politics

Margaret Thatcher on a visit to Canada

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On A Visit To Canada
Trudeau’s government was extremely unpopular in 1983. Trudeau argued that the Korean Airliner incident with the USSR demonstrated the dangers when politicians were not in command. He felt that the responsibility was on local military commanders not the leadership. Thatcher responded that there was endemic incompetence on USSR’s communist system of governance. Thatcher met with Progressive Conservative leader Brian Mulroney but found that there was too of the adjective and not enough of the noun in his policy and actions. With Reagan’s visit Thatcher reiterated the sentiment that – in reality – the Soviets had nothing to fear from them since Liberal Democracies are peace loving.

On Lebanon and Grenada
242 American and 58 French troops were killed in a terrorist attack in Beirut. Two Shia Muslim groups took credit. In Grenada, US intervened in a USSR coup attempt. International opinions were negative towards with US. Lebanon led to Grenada.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4a, Part 4b, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9
Politics

Z World Detroit

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This is a crazy Zombie Apocalypse idea from an entrepreneur in Detroit. It actually isn’t that bad. They need to prove that they have a winning team that it committed to making the business work. Hopefully they have someone who has managed DisneyWorld or a theme park on their board. It’s more comparable to a paintball facility than a traditional theme park, so you will have to look at paintball clubs and they scaling problem. The experience has to be fool proof (ie. no accidentally falling to their death while evading a horde of zombies).

That might be tough to pull off without a risk of law suits, and they will have to strike a balance between authenticity and safety. Also, Detroit is very cold in January so it’s likely that demand will drop during the harsh winters months, and so this is a season-based theme park which further cuts into revenue. If people from across the world come to experience the park, then how will Z World manage the volume of guests versus number of zombies? The cost of one zombie employee versus the fee for a guest would also be a concern.

It will be hard to scale when the entertainment is the zombie employees themselves. You have to assume that a guest who has become a zombie will relish the chance to act like a zombie as well. It’s possible that in the process of creating a Zombie theme park, you will have a giant hide-and-go seek game instead since some guests will not want to act like a zombie, as zombies are usually slow and not too sharp. Like a paintball tournament, I guess everyone will want to be the one survivor of Z World. Will the guests actually enjoy trying to survive this over 24 hours? It’s an ambitious project, I hope that it is a success.

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