Notes on Chapter 7

Momenta, GO, QA, and Oracle

In this chapter we see everyone coping with life in the early 90’s. At one time, there actually were large QA departments, and they had real power. At least at 3Com they did. I put Cassie in there mainly for her later job switch, which you’ll have to keep reading to find out!

The QA and Tech Writer groups used to ritualistically say, “We need to be involved from the very beginning!” It sounded good; that’s about all you could say about it. What would they do at the very beginning?

The Momenta story is the most interesting part of this for me. It’s all true, and it was even written about by Harvard Business School. Read more here. Especially when you read the latter reference, you’d think (if you didn’t know how it turned out), “How can this possibly fail? They’re doing everything right!”

The Market

Look at this impeccable B-school analysis from Momenta’s founder:

When you look at an emerging market, the established companies sometimes have a research project and some smart marketing person who goes around saying that this market will be big. Especially as start-ups come along, the good marketing persons within bigger organizations say "Ah! Something new is coming. We better go and participate." But, in general, the established companies rarely succeed, especially in the early years. The people who were big in mainframes did not succeed in minicomputers. When PCs came along, the mini-computer people weren't the big winners. So, whenever you are going through market shifts, there is always a period of three to five years before the big corporations really can overcome their inertia.

As for the competition from start-ups: there is good news, and there is bad news. The bad news is, to start a pen-based computer business, you need $50 million: $15 million for R&D, $15 million for marketing and launch of the product, and another $20 million for the working capital. The good news is that the $50 million scares a lot of venture capitalists away from funding start-ups in this area. They say we cannot commit this kind of money. Therefore, companies who have the credibility to raise that kind of money have a significant advantage.

Both Elahian and Kaplan (GO Corp) start with the assumption that “pen-based computing” was a Thing that was going to be Big. The rest followed from there:

Older companies can’t understand the Thing. They will ignore it or fail at it. This is practically a meme in computer history: The mainframe companies didn’t get minis. The minicomputer companies didn’t get PC’s. Therefore we, the disrupters, can win!

You can’t succeed at this new Thing unless you go global right away. You need massive amounts of capital. We understand that it’s a Thing. Therefore we can win!

Everyone knows that meme. Elahian was great at selling it, too:

A trade paper, Upside, attributed Kamran's success in fund-raising and recruiting not only to his track record, but also to his personality:

He is smooth and charming, a masterful storyteller and intriguing conversationalist. "Part of the reason we invested," IVP general partner T. Peter Thomas sheepishly admits, "is his charm." [emphasis added]

Under the charm, apparently, lies a tough businessman. Mr. Thomas calls Mr. Elahian "tenacious." Says the venture capitalist, who has served on the board of Cirrus since 1985, "It doesn't matter what's in his way. He gets things done expeditiously, inexpensively and he leaves a good taste in people's mouths when he's done...

And Cirrus Logic president Mr. Hackworth adds this: "He's a little like a dog grabbing a man's leg. He doesn't let go easily."

Is there an error in this analysis? Maybe that “pen-based computing” really was a Thing that Apple and Microsoft were going to ignore until it was too late, and that customers would buy a pen-based computer instead of a computer from the established players, purely because it was “pen-based.” If either of those premises is false, then the whole business plan falls apart.

As it turned out, both premises were false.

One more requirement: it has to be feasible to build that Thing.

The Cult

Here’s more from the second reference.

Kathy Schlein, through her laughter, wondered: "Does the ceremony involve any bloodletting!"

Kathy was Momenta Corporation's fifty-second employee. At her first Friday afternoon company lunch, Kamran Elahian, Momenta's president, was asking her to affirm her faith in the Momenta Maxims: "Do you believe in the Maxims? Are you willing to live your life by them?"

The whole doc is worth reading, but let’s return to Kathy’s initiation:

Kathy Schlein joined Momenta after receiving her MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990. She had been recruited by John Rizzo, whom she had previously worked with at the Macintosh Division of Apple Computer. As in her old job of Macintosh "evangelist," she would be responsible for convincing software companies to develop applications for Momenta's new machine.

Kathy described the first company lunch she attended.

It was a catered-in lunch. Kamran led the session, but in a very informal fashion. People described the progress that had been made since the last meeting. There were three of us who were new, and we were asked to introduce ourselves and talk about our pasts. Finally, there was the signing ceremony: A plaque of the Momenta Maxims hangs in the lobby, signed by all the employees. Now it sat on top of the overhead projector waiting to be signed by the new inductees. Kamran's voice became solemn.

"Have you studied our maxims?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe in the maxims?"

"Yes," said Kathy, raising her hands above her head, bowing deeply toward Kamran,

"I believe, I believe."

Other Cult Initiations

Let’s look at the Upasaka Precepts:

The monastic and disciple then engage in a dialog, with the monastic asking questions and the disciple answering. The monastic asks the disciple if he has paid respects to the six directions and if he has the relevant permissions. The monk will ask a series of questions that ensure the practitioner has not committed grave offenses and is both physically and mentally fit to receive the precepts.

The monastic explains the benefits of the precepts as well as the negative consequences of breaking them, and asks if the disciple is prepared to accept them and remain dedicated to the Triple Gem. Next, the monastic asks the disciple if to follow additional habits to prevent breaking the precepts, to discourage others from breaking them, and to avoid excessive attachment to the five skandhas. If the practitioner is prepared, the monk asks the disciple to practice all the advice for six months while remaining under the monk's regular observation.

The Canadian Engineer Oath

I actually kinda like this one from Canada:

"I, in the presence of these my betters and my equals in my calling, bind myself upon my honour and cold iron, that, to the best of my knowledge and power, I will not henceforward suffer or pass, or be privy to the passing of, bad workmanship or faulty material in aught that concerns my works before mankind as an engineer, or in my dealings with my own soul before my Maker," it begins.

Several times during the recitation of the pledge, the anvil at the front of the room was struck with a hammer. The whole thing lasted about half an hour. At the end, the engineers were invited to receive their rings and then allowed to return to the real world.

Momenta Maxims

Perspective/Vision

• Commitment to Excellence

• 1,000 Days to Immortality

People

• Hire the Best... Honesty, Intelligence, Perseverance, Team Oriented

• Inspire Passion to Achieve Our Best

• Savor the Journey

Process

• Identify the Problem... Be Honest

• Find a Solution... Use Our Intelligence

• Implement the Answer... Perservere

Productivity

• Do the Right Things, Do Things Right

• Trust the Team, Respect All Views

• Agree to Commit, Commit to the Agreement

• Team Is Power

Performance/Results

• Shareholders and Customers Fuel the Engine

• Deliver On Our Commitments... Products, Services, Profits

• Recognize Top Performance

• Perception Becomes the Reality

This icon was present in every conference room

If, in a meeting, you thought someone wasn’t living up to the maxims (including Kamran), you could just brandish the icon.

How did it work in reality?

If you are not hopelessly naive, you realize immediately that this can only lead to conformity and groupthink. A real leader leads by example, and by hiring people with good character.

As Mike in the chapter says about handwriting recognition and physical keyboards:

It’s never going to work, and in fact, we now have a keyboard only because one guy managed to beat that into everyone’s head. They hate him for it, too.

While there isn’t much of a penalty for being wrong, there’s often a big penalty for being right.

A confidential source who worked at Momenta told me that they resolved this conflict by referring it to a committee, which compromised between handwriting recognition via stylus, and typing on a keyboard. Because that’s what you do when you “Trust the Team, Respect All Views.” No one can be allowed to feel bad.