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Earlier this quarter I had an opportunity to contend for a contract product management role associated with a company that provides software to marketing professionals and intermediaries (e.g., in the agency space). At risk of oversimplifying, the software that this company provides is somewhat new in its packaged form – the technology could be consider offspring technology (new product introduction) developed via consulting projects with big brands.

Now in my experience, the sales process for consulting projects is quite different from (interim or indefinite length) management contracts. Whereas the former situation often requires a pitch deck and a proposed engagement methodology, the latter situation tends to be more like a series of job interviews that provide the company a means to evaluate work background, problem solving methods, and personality and managerial fit of the individual.

On the balance, the interviews went pretty well (As far as I could tell, there were 3-4 folks into the final interviews). We had good discussions, with a lot of focus being spent on my perspectives and experiences with the product development process. We facilitated the discussion by breaking the discussion (impromptu) into the various phases of product development, ranging from ideation to opportunity screening and business case to design, testing, and rollout. We also talking about different methods and deliverables that were produced during each phase and different dynamics related to steering and organizational structure.

I got a bit blindsided about 80%-90% of the way in my final interview, however.

I was asked a question something to the effect of "what part of the product development process excites you the most?"I answered something to the effect of, "The part that excites me the most is interfacing with people, gluing people together, and facilitating people. I am not really the kind of person that gets the most enjoyment out of working as a solo person in the backoffice."

Unfortunately for me, the primary decision-maker indicated to me that he was thankful that I had characterized things that way. He indicated that he was looking for someone that enjoys working working in a solo mode. He said that perhaps I would be a better fit for the consulting organization and would be happy to refer me to the head of operations.

Unaware of any contract opportunities in the consulting area, my sales instinct was to express being open, but not to entertain the redirect so directly and immediately. Frankly, if one is trying to zero-in, my general recommendation is not to get redirected on the first, soft push.

So I tried to backpedal. I tried to explain that in expressing my strengthes in facilitating people that I did not mean to diminish my ability in keeping my head down and working on solo activities.

To no avail. At that point, I could read the subtle body language that the contract was already lost.

So where did things go wrong?

In my mind, the things that I lost focus on were the real job requirements. I focused too much on trying to highlight my strengths without focusing enough on fortifying around the unwritten job requirements. While I may have met the job requirements on paper, I probably did not do enough due diligence to figure out what type of contract product manager the company really wanted. As such, I was unable to frame my background in the proper light. Contract lost. Lesson learned.

Update 09/09/09: A link readers may also be interested in – Venture capitalist Fred Wilson posts on "Failure" as a badge of honor (at least in the U.S.)

Here Comes Another Bubble (for the entrepreneurial startup types)

Evolution of Dance (I wish I could dance like this)

A wild illusion. The spinning silhouette mostly starts up clockwise for me.

Update (10/14/07): Lots of comments over here at Marginal Revolution. There is a reference to left brain versus right brain dominance, etc., but I’m not too sure … I like the comment about the person that tried filming it backwards … then when played backwards, the person still saw things going in the same direction.  🙂

Close to two years ago eBay acquired Skype for $2.6 billion. Today I read the news that the synergies are not playing out (surprise, surprise) and eBay will take charges of $1.4 billion, most of which is attributed to the acquisition writedown. From Bloomberg.com:

EBay, acknowledging that Skype hasn’t performed as expected since acquiring it for $2.6 billion in October 2005, said in a statement today that it will write down the value of Skype by $900 million in the third quarter, as well as take an additional charge of $533 million to pay former shareholders under a provision of the takeover agreement.

To put things in some perspective though, Skype’s second quarter revenue is at $90 million. If you read through my past notes, 2004 revenue was $7M and 2005 revenue was projected (near time of acquisition) to be $60M+.

The Internet serves as a great record for these case studies. It it interesting to read some of stuff bloggers wrote two years ago about this deal. And bloggers like Paul Kedrosky (who seems to tip that the impairment may not be enough) and Om Malik are writing again today.

To digress a bit, I can imagine the discussions that are going on about whether the strategy was flawed or whether there was a failure to execute. I don’t know what the case was here, but I can almost hear chanting from my past colleagues and mentors that there was a failure to execute. Seems like execution failures are blamed more often than strategic failures (for better or worse).

Folks may have seen this already, but I saw this article in The Times while on assignment in London last week. My very loose takeaways at the time were that that IQ and income are somewhat correlated but that IQ and wealth are not (may need to check out links below and trace academic paper[s] to find the precise statistical findings). Also interesting was this piece of text from The Times article:

Most of the richest people in Britain, for example, are not salaried, but rather have amassed their fortunes as entrepreneurs or by inheritance.

Related posts: Paul Kedrosky via Paul Brown hat tip.

A post for a Friday. Some things I really like about music are how different styles, multiple levels of thinking, team dynamics, international influence, art, classics, and musical influences and heroes play key roles. As much time as I focus on business, I sometimes find it hard to find the level of color, intensity, and beauty in the commercial world that I find in music. FWIW – Here are some really cool music works that I’ve discovered in the past year:

1. JoJo Mayer and Nerve – a jazz-trained drummer who has blended together techno, breakbeat, jazz, and other styles into a living piece that culminates in some of highest energy drumming I have ever seen. Of the works on this page, I think this band has really added to music as an art.
2. Akira Terao – a Japanese artist/actor who has got a J-Pop/Latin/Tom Jones-like thing going with one of my favorite drummers, studio drummer legend – Vinnie Colaiuta.
3. Herbie Hancock – a Switzerland performance by piano legendary Hancock, who traces back to the Miles Davis quartet-type lineage, playing some fusion classics with Vinnie Colaiuta (influenced by Tony Williams, who also traced back to one of the great Miles Davis quartets).
4. Porcupine Tree – a UK-band that came to my mind after spending some time in the UK this part month overseeing two consulting engagements.  They’ve got a metal-fusion, gothic, sometimes pop-thing going (I’m a little conflicted about citing this song though ’cause as much as I like the sound of the music, it’s the lyrics and multi-level art form of this song [Blackest Eyes] that kind of give me the heebie-jeebies).
5. Herbie Hancock and Christina Aguilera – Not quite piano bar music, but it’s really gripping. This is a side of Christina I really like. Wow. She can really belt it out.

We’ll be moving West to Los Angeles (probably during the summer) as my wife will likely taking a visiting professorship at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Once she starts, this will be the fourth business school environment she will have taught at – it will be interesting to take in some of the differences from the sidelines.

If folks have recommendations or insights on general living, good places to eat (e.g, Chinese, Indian), music venues (e.g., jazz or fusion), wine bars, parking, schools, etc., please feel free to share. I haven’t been to LA in 15 to 20 years methinks.

I heard through the grapevine that Crowded House might be auditioning for drummers in LA. As it turns out, my first live performance playing drums was playing their song "Don’t Dream It’s Over" at the high school senior breakfast. Must be a sign for a career change. 🙂