Tien Tzuo, the CEO of Zuora, has written a powerful book that is wholeheartedly and unabashedly about subscription monetization. Brilliantly structured and extremely well researched and written, it makes for a compelling read. Of course, the author was at Salesforce.com before he founded the company, Zuora which specializes in the subscription economy. It is hard to argue with the points made by the author and the book is undoubtedly thought-provoking. As he asks repeatedly in the book, “what product or service do you have, that cannot be moved to a subscription model?” It is difficult to find an answer to that question. A few did come to my mind – something like a TV or a Washing Machine – surely, these cannot be on a subscription model. But, I am wrong, of course. There are any number of online sites that nowadays rent TVs. A simple Google search for “TV on rent” threw up 4 advertised results, followed by numerous
Punctuality
Pritam was late in reaching office one day. He knew that he was in for a difficult conversation with his Manager, who had insisted that he be there on time. Of course, he knew that he was late for a crucial meeting with a customer. He was already 15 minutes late and he was the key presenter in the session. But, he had had to drop his wife off en route to the office and later realized that he had forgotten his phone at home. Returning to his home and getting stuck in traffic – one thing lead to another and he was in this situation yet again in his professional life. Srinivas was getting impatient. He was having to stall for time with the customer, who was understandably anxious to get started. He had messaged and called Pritam multiple times in an attempt to ensure that he would be in the office for a 10:30 a.m. call. All of
Leonardo Da Vinci – Case Study of a Genius
The first impression from the book is the incredible amount of research that has gone into making a book on a person that lived in the late 1400s through till the first quarter of the 16th century. Helped, undoubtedly, by the voluminous notes left behind by Leonardo, Walter Isaacson has weaved a wonderfully chronological and detailed story around the life and times of the arguably one of the greatest geniuses that the world has ever known. Starting from his ancestry, tracing the story of his birth and childhood, through the multiple cities and works of the man leading up to his demise in 1519, it is truly a testament to the work that the author has put in to bring Leonardo’s story to us. For me, what stands out from the entire book is the pure obsession that Leonardo had with whatever interested him. Like the author suggests, even if Leonardo had chosen to write a book or had been
Leadership – Trump style
One of the latest tirades from Donald Trump was against Lebron James. I have been thinking of his style of functioning and that of the “traditional” style of leadership. All the books that I have read on leaders, all the leaders that I have seen, are more or less, role models. At the very least, they offer words of wisdom and speak what I like to call, “The Universal Truth”. Take Barack Obama – I am no expert on his policies or the impact that he had on the economy of the United States or that of the world. I was always impressed with the way he carried himself and the way that he spoke. His handling of particularly volatile situations seemed to always be in a calm and measured method. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, comes across as very petty, impetuous and pusillanimous. Trump is the President of the United States of America. Arguably, one of the most prominent
Lost in Shangri-La – Outdated and insipid
Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff is a story of the survivors of an American plane crash. Set towards the end of the 2nd World War, in Netherlands New Guinea, it recounts the tale of a fun sortie that went pear shaped for all the travelers. Originally published in 2011, I had the opportunity to read it only recently and I found it quite insipid and unlike many other survivor stories that are so awe-inspiring. When survival against all odds comes to mind, I think of the 127 hours – a movie by Danny Boyle. This is definitely not even remotely in that league. The 3 survivors of the plane crash were all in the military, albeit one was part of the Women Army Corps and not a trained soldier by any stretch of the imagination. Nevertheless, following the plane crash, the three of them manage to haul themselves to a place from where the Search and Rescue planes are
Mithun's Musings 