The once-ugly becomes beautiful and the once noisy becomes silent. Our garden is a case in point. A big mound of earth, waiting to be moved when the "time is right, but not just now" (dixit man with red digger since mid-December) has been transformed from a blight to a magical hill or at least a beautiful mound! The digger is silenced.
The school bus that disturbs the quiet has been gently muted, even if the children passengers are obviously disappointed still to have to attend school, with all that snowballing waiting to be tackled.
All in all, a jolly good day. Except, the need to rush to the dentist to have a tooth fixed. But all's well now - even if a bit numb before the soreness kicks in.
Yesterday was a good day too, spent in the company of my furniture. You will recall, I have been given a French cabinet to help with my transition to something new. I have made much in previous posts of the gift I now have of the time to consider whether I want to pitch myself back into much the same as I have done before or embark on a new journey. Understand, what I used to do was great and I did make a contribution to some of the best stuff the tech industry has done in a long while. I am proud of that and the job only remains half done still - so much fun and contribution still to be had.
So where am I, coming into 2013? My sessions yesterday were a true touchstone. I still need to do some refining but I am realising that the reason I stayed in tech so long was the fact it was always new. It never stood still long enough to catch its breath. For every innovation coming from NA, something a little more special escaped from APAC and vice versa. Apple is all we hear of but Samsung still rules.
So I am staying in tech, but I want to do it in a different way. It's a crying shame that Europe lags. It is not acceptable that we can still educate the best, give birth to some of the coolest ideas and yet lose that excellence to others. I am not protectionist. Talent needs to thrive wherever it can. Genius needs to find its home in places where it is cherished not spurned.
It's brilliant to see new funding models emerging - some of the stuff falling from the sky is magical - that weird Pebble watch at CES. Not just the fact it made it, but the fact it was kickstarted (sic) with the "help of humanity". These models will maybe challenge the VC status quo, daring again to venture where Angels once feared to tread.
But all this new money aside, we need more work in establishing ways in which these hatchlings can learn the skills to manage growth, sales, marketing, distribution and that whole process of growing up in business and delivering what everyone from the end customer to the board needs. That stuff can be taught early.
No use in having the best apps platform in the world - cool watch or not - if you can't find a way to get the best in the world wanting to develop for it and finding a way to make it worthwhile for everyone to want to bother. It's not just the money. Kudos, fame and even just a good feeling have their role to play. Great to see a young French company help to lead the way - bravo Aldebaran.
Who's job is this? Do we leave it to Darwinian theory or do we give evolution a helping hand? I'm up for the supportive approach. If Europe wants to keep its finest, it needs to act collectively. And it's not just Europe. It's the job of local politicians, industry and education too.
What seems like a small, random tooth kindness can snowball with unexpected results!
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