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the good news is I was young and didn ’ t need to sleep , and we just figured it out . But in hindsight , I should ’ ve learned the business side – finance , marketing , sales and so on , to balance out the tech side which I knew well – before starting a company .
Secondly , I am a very optimistic and trusting person , but business is business and I ’ ve learned that you can trust but you also need to verify . Particularly when you ’ re hiring people , you really need to understand their motivations and ambitions . You should follow your instincts but also dig in and ask the tough questions . Over the years I ’ ve learned it ’ s important to trust but verify .
If you could go back to one great event / moment in your life , and relive it all over again , what would it be ? Well , I ’ ll give you two . In the past , I would ’ ve said it was taking Informatica public . You know , you work hard , year after year every Sunday you ’ re in the office working hard towards this dream , you ’ re learning on the job and yet somehow you ’ re not tired . So when we made that IPO happen , I felt for one day I could let down this big heavy rock , this responsibility that I was carrying around , I felt light and wonderful that day .
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Party guest – Mahatma Gandhi
Favourite holiday destination – New Zealand
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That was the past , but if you ask me that now , I ’ d absolutely say the birth of my daughter . It eclipses everything I ’ ve ever done in my life . It humbles you . Having a family , tying a knot to the universe , is just a whole different dimension of awesomeness . It makes everything else look small by comparison . |
What are your hobbies / interests outside work ? Photography , fly-fishing , anything outdoors , that really keeps me going . I live in California , so Yosemite is not far from us , and I never tire of visiting .
Where is your favourite holiday destination and why ? Without question , New Zealand . It ’ s still so organic in a meta sense , it doesn ’ t feel spoiled or overrun ,
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it ’ s all very natural and as it was intended . Everything is fresh and local , straight out of the tap – everything just tastes better there . Plus , I get to do my photography and fly-fishing there , so it really has become a paradise for me .
If you could choose three dinner party guests who would you choose and why ? Well , I ’ d want a diverse mix around the table , as that always makes for the best conversation . I ’ d probably pick a statesman , a businessperson and a literary figure . So my dinner guest dream team would include the following : Mahatma Gandhi Andy Grove Pablo Neruda
How do you think our industry will look 10 years from now ? Ironically , some things will still be same , some of the biggest players will still be around . Although some of them are going through a very healthy and impressive transformation , such as Microsoft ; they ’ ve done an amazing job . But the biggest players will probably be the same .
The wildcards are , what happens with the three horsemen of the cloud – the race between Amazon , Google and Microsoft ? This will be the biggest shooting match over the next 10 years , and it will be very interesting to see how this plays out .
Legacy players die but not quickly enough . Look , movie streaming overtook DVD sales but the latter is still a multibillion dollar market ! So things don ’ t change as quickly as they should . But lots of amazing new companies will come on to the stage . There will always be bright new stars , often in different forms and coming from unexpected places , that show up in that firmament – and that ’ s what makes it fun and interesting .
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March 2017 | 17 |