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Larry Ellison has a lot to teach business people today. I’m willing to concede it might not be that he is a genius, but simply because he’s from an older genera
by Top19 9y ago
Larry Ellison has a lot to teach business people today. I’m willing to concede it might not be that he is a genius, but simply because he’s from an older generation and has practices that are mostly ignored now.
1). The influence of Japanese culture on Ellison: in a world of Agile ironically everyone seems to miss how incredibly beautiful Japanese philosophy and literature is. In an age of “authenticity” and emotional excess, the “Book of Five Rings”, by a 17th century Samurai, is eerily relevant today.
2). Destruction, not profit: I actually like this quote. When I first heard it I rolled my eyes, but if you watch this video Larry Ellison never talks about profit or EBITDA or any bullshit like that. When people think of destruction and failure, they think of Microsoft in the 90’s, but really it’s more two-way than that. I think this philosophy is very motivational in the sense that Time Warner Cable must be destroyed, Pfizer must be destroyed, Equifax must be destroyed, etc.
3). Steve Jobs: Ellison and Steve Jobs first met when Ellison went over to complain to Steve about his peacocks making noises in the morning. After that they become friends for the next 30 years, and Oracle had a plan in place to buy Apple and reinstall Jobs in 1995. I wish Ellison had more Steve Jobs in-him when upgrading Oracle products, but at least he could see the success of Jobs.
EDIT: I mention a video in one of my comments. For that part I wasn’t referring to the audio interview posted above, but this: https://youtu.be/thRAjlyCfKE https://youtu.be/thRAjlyCfKE
- sk5t 9y agoThis seems a bit of a puzzling list... 1) What specifically of Japanese philosophy informs Ellison's approach? What has either Ellison or Japanese philosophy to do with agile or its complement? What is the meaning of "emotional excess"? 2) Why would one think of "Microsoft in the 90s" together with "destruction and failure"? The 90s were an incredibly successful time for Microsoft. Why must TWC, Pfizer, et al., be destroyed? Because some folks don't like large, dominant, somewhat pathological organizations? 3) "Upgrading Oracle's products"--does this happen? Isn't Oracle's approach the the diametrical opposite of a consumer hardware company that sells on product strength and style?
- maxlamb 9y agoCan't answer all of them but a few thoughts: 1) Agile methodology was essentially developed by Toyota and its roots are inspired by Japanese philosophy 2) Microsoft's main philosophy at the time was essentially to "destroy" all competition in order to remain a monopoly. Regarding TWC, Pfizer, Equifax, strong arguments can be made that they are very bad for consumers, either rent-seeking monopoly (TWC thanks to owning large parts of physical network), attempt to make more money by keeping consumers sick (Pfizer), or plain fraud (Equifax). If a startup can provide the same or better services without the harm, it can destroy these parasitic companies, benefitting both the entrepeneur and the consumer. 3) Sure Consumer (Apple) and Enterprise (Oracle) product strategies are different but I wouldn't say they are diametrical opposites..in the end both Oracle and Apple are in the business of maximizing sales of technology products. Ellison sometimes appeared to lack the visionary aspect of Jobs when it comes to upgrading products, i.e. when he said at a conference that cloud is just hyped B.S. (I think it was 4-5 years ago), then have spent last few years trying to catch up to the competition. http://www.cbronline.com/news/cloud/he-said-what-5-things-larry-ellison-actually-said-about-cloud-4563323/ http://www.cbronline.com/news/cloud/he-said-what-5-things-la...
- PostOnce 9y agoThe Book of Five Rings is relevant to what, exactly? Why do business guys latch onto stuff like this so hard, it is literally a book about sword fighting, it tells you where to put your feet, how to grip the sword, to keep your pinkie loose and grip with your forefingers. How is that strategy going to help your SaaS business?
- barry-cotter 9y agoSame reason everybody loves The War of Art and The Inner Game of Tennis or Impro. The lessons you can learn from them are applicable far beyond the fields the books are technically about.
- icelancer 9y ago>>Same reason everybody loves The War of Art and The Inner Game of Tennis or Impro. The lessons you can learn from them are applicable far beyond the fields the books are technically about. Generally the reason people like these books is because openly advertising you like them makes you sound enlightened.
- ericd 9y agoI'm sure a lot of people start reading The Art of War because of a cargo-culting impulse, but it actually does have some interesting thoughts in it. You might enjoy it.
- barry-cotter 9y agoThe War of Art != The Art of War https://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Winning-Creative-Battle/dp/1501260626 https://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Winning-Creative-Battle/dp/15...
- ericd 9y agoOh, huh, I guess my brain autocorrected, thanks for the correction. It sounds like you'd recommend it?
- alexasmyths 9y agoEBITDA is not 'BS'. It's a pretty good metric, actually :) It really just means 'profit without weird accounting things taken out'.