Follow-upWe’re up to 90 subscribers and one of you went a helped out one of our sponsors (The Craftsman PM), so thanks!
Tech & Work WorldSayulitaI had a nice chance to spend the week in Mexico this week. A friend of mine rented a house here in Sayulita and asked if we wanted to go along. Since I work remotely, so long as there’s a fast enough Internet connection, I’m good to go.
Coté Memo #063: Working at Pivotal and Yak shaving
Follow-upIn reponse to the analyst access commentary from last time, a reader wrote in:
Are you familiar with Securosis? They’re a security-only analyst firm.
Their business model is pretty different – everything they publish is free, and make money through sponsorship and inquiries etc. They have a model they call totally transparent research. I don’t know how much they make – but apparently they make enough to cover themselves.
Tech & Work WorldWorking at PivotalI started a new job earlier this month at Pivotal.
Coté Memo #062: The Problem with Analyst Access
We’ve got a new sponsor this week, see below. There’s a 10% coupon. I’m planning on going to the event to get my lurn on.
Also, I wrote this pretty fast. Pardon messups.
Tech & Work WorldThe Problem with Analyst AccessOne of the core opportunity/problem diachotomies in the analyst industry is “access”: access to the analyst’s insights, access to the analysist content, and access to the analysts themselves. Gate-keeping this access is the basis for much of the business: paywalls, paying for consulting, etc.
Advice for being an industry analyst
Occasionally, my fellow analysts ask me for advice on being an analyst. Here’s an edited up version of one of my recent emails:
Learn how to listen to yourself, focus You have to learn to trust your intuition about what you focus on, your own style and voice, and, most importantly for monetization, how you market yourselves. The last point is important for commercial success: in most cases, the (analyst) company you work for will do a poor job marketing you compared to how well you can market yourself.
Coté Memo #061: On the tedious need to have an opinion
Tech & Work WorldHaving an opinion, or notIn the types of jobs I've found myself in over recent years - analyst, strategist, "content producer" in the form of podcasts and blogs - you have to generate a lot of opinions. The best actually seem to really care about the things they have opinions over and can express, at length, why they think like they do. Think about the ATP crew or any of the other podcasts out there: they really care about Apple!
Coté Memo #060: Mark all cookies as read
Follow-upThe Docker piece I mentioned last time is up. Check out the summary on my blog, and 451 clients can read it behind our paywall.
Because Docker links always come in pairs, here's the recording of the closing panel at DockerConEU, where I was one of the panelists. Software Defined Talk listeners will notice I'm wearing one of my recommendations. No Kirkland products, though, sadly.
Tech & Work WorldWhatever happened to "
Docker: IaaS or PaaS? Reflections on DockerCon EU (451 Research)
As mentioned in my newsletter recently, I typed up a think piece on Docker (the company and the emerging ecosystem after it’s EU conference earlier this month. 451 clients can read it behind the paywall, but here’s the 451 Take:
The ecosystem around the Docker container technology is in the process of figuring out Docker’s identity while at the same time contending with a sudden rise in popularity. Although early attention on Docker paired it up against the likes of VMware at, let’s say, the IaaS level, as we investigate further, Docker looks like more of a PaaS innovator.
Trogloxenes, also called cave guests, are animal species which live close to caves or at the very entrance of the cave, but cannot live exclusively in a cave.
As the new space intended, I’ve formed interesting, unexpected bonds with my cohorts. But my personal performance at work has hit an all-time low. Each day, my associates and I are seated at a table staring at each other, having an ongoing 12-person conversation from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s like being in middle school with a bunch of adults. Those who have worked in private offices for decades have proven to be the most vociferous and rowdy. They haven’t had to consider how their loud habits affect others, so they shout ideas at each other across the table and rehash jokes of yore. As a result, I can only work effectively during times when no one else is around, or if I isolate myself in one of the small, constantly sought-after, glass-windowed meeting rooms around the perimeter.
That’s what I ended up doing at Dell, except they had a lot of little glass “flex spaces.” I just claimed one each day for a year and half. It was great!
As we have grown and evolved, we’ve realized that the best salespeople don’t have to necessarily be trained in retail. They just need to be trained in life.
http://fortune.com/2014/12/26/container-store-sharon-tindell/