A flurry of milestones
plus going head-to-head with Jann Wenner
Friends - this month has flown by in the rush of back-to-school activity; various events; rotator cuff rehab; and a number of personal and professional milestones.
On January 17, school resumed, and I was back on campus for the ninth year of Strategy for the Networked Economy. The contrast with the previous week’s relative quiet was dramatic. On Tuesday January 17, it seemed like all 31,000 of the UC-Berkeley student population were out and about. The previous week I’d been on campus for meetings. I took this photo on January 9, on a rare non-rainy day, from Berkeley SkyDeck.
Unfamiliar yellow orb sets to the west
Speaking of: SkyDeck is now accepting applications to its 16th batch! It will also hold a demo day for its 15th IPP (International Partner Program) on February 8.
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I also celebrated the 15th anniversary of starting my consulting firm, in January 2008. I remember driving, in true old-school fashion, to Sacramento to file paperwork for California LLC so I could sign NDAs and contracts. This, of course, turned out to be an interesting time to start a consulting firm that planned to focus on startups. Sequoia famously put out this memo to its portfolio. Suffice it to say, I pivoted. I’m grateful for the experiences; the people I’ve met; and for the clients I’ve had the opportunity to serve over the years.
Also this January - our kids also turned 16 and 13, perhaps the most profound milestones of all. These individuals I used to cradle like footballs are becoming nuanced, thoughtful individuals.
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It being the ninth year teaching Strategy for the Networked Economy (S4NE), I’ve refreshed the syllabus (again), adding new readings and cases, and kept some old friends from past years. New cases include cases on Spotify; Outsourcing at Intel; SafeGraph; and Digitalization at Siemens. Last year’s class felt light on industrials so added an industrial transformation case. New readings include the oft-mentioned Chip War; The Business of Platforms; and The Cold Start Problem.
And, then this happened, heading into Week 2 of class on January 24. I was reminded I’d be going head-to-head with Jann Wenner, on the Berkeley campus. Which would you choose, dear reader?
I haven’t read Rolling Stone in a while. That said, I felt like when I last passed up on seeing Lou Reed - if I pass up now, when I will next get the opportunity? Ultimately, with Lou Reed, another opportunity did not come. Nonetheless, one of the things I appreciate about teaching is the commitment to the schedule: class happens, rain or shine, even on days when the founder of Rolling Stone is coming to campus.
So I did my duty to Hogwarts Haas and also hosted a wonderful guest speaker to talk about network effects in micromobility - Ben Bear, serial entrepreneur, former CEO of Spin (acquired and sold by Ford Motor), veteran of Vungle and other startups, and now CEO of BuildCasa, a seed-funded startup looking to accelerate housing development in California. Ben’s career arc from education to adtech to micromobility to housing is fascinating. I’m grateful to Ben for joining class and sharing his experiences as executive and CEO at Spin.
Readers of this newsletter may recognize Ben as making a repeat appearance. I first heard in speak in November 2022, at the Haas Mobility Summit.
So, naturally, I invited the incoming and outgoing officers of the Haas Transportation and Mobility club to join the fun.
Continuing the tradition of impact events on campus, Jensen Huang - the Jensen Huang - will be at Haas today, January 31. When the CEO of NVIDIA comes to campus, you go to the event. I will attend and then bolt over to to my evening class to set up.
On January 26 I was able to join a Japan Society of Northern California program and dinner with Mark Lambert, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He had an optimistic message about the potential for collaboration between Japan and the Bay Area, in the context of regional collaboration between Japan, the US, and regional partners in Asia. He was fresh from a visit to Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in that context. It was wonderful to hear a thoughtful, experienced civil servant share his insights.
photo courtesy of Steve Pollock, JSNC
I would love to see regional collaboration extend to better collaboration around work visas between partner nations, because right now that system has too much friction.
Many thanks to JSNC for organizing.
Onward and upward!
Jon