John Mayer just released a new CD of his live performance in Los Angeles. I ordered it from Amazon.
He’s widely recognized as one of the most talented and accomplished musicians of my generation. And many people I’ve talked to firmly believe his abilities with the guitar approach those of Clapton, Santana, and Hendrix. But what impresses me most about John is his dedication to growing and how he has evolved throughout the years. He started off accoustic, moves into teen rock/pop, releases an album dedicated to the electric guitar, then he blends together blues/jazz/country/rock, and now he’s performed all of these different style in the same concert. If you get a chance to preview his version of Tom Petty’s 1989 “Free Fallin’”… really pretty remake.
For me, John Mayer’s music has represented a reminder of transitions in my life. I still vividly remember watching John host and perform “Bigger Than My Body” on Saturday Night Live at my friend Dan’s house the night of my grandfather’s funeral. Before that, I had never really paid too much attention to his work. And I constantly think back to one of Mara and my first dates, where we saw John Mayer (opening act by Maroon 5) at Shoreline. I felt that night was a real turning point for us…
He’s definitely grown up so much since “Room for Squares” and has shown an incredible range as a young musician. Whenever you watch him, it’s clear that he absolutely loves his music and his guitar solos seem to be meditative moments for him… I’m interested to see where his music goes in the future.
Misc.
This past week has been a really busy week for my family and for Mara and me. So this means lots of updates!
Last Friday, my cousin Emily graduated from Los Altos High School. I actually haven’t stepped foot onto campus since I left in 1997, so it felt strange being back. I remember my own graduation and how I felt soooo on top of the world. After 11 years, 2 degrees (working on my 3rd), 4 jobs, and thousands of miles traveled, I’m still trying to figure things out :).
Over the weekend, Mara and I diligently worked on the invitations. I was responsible for creating the maps, which I think came out really well. I even got a compliment on my powerpoint skills from Helen, an ex-consultant! Mara was responsible for printing out the labels for addresses, printing out our reception menus, and she started the process of assembling our invites. I think the whole package looks great and we’re excited that they will be in the hands of our friends and family soon. Some of them went out this week and we’re trying to get the rest out as soon as possible.
And lastly, my brother and I took out our parents for their 30th Anniversary. We had a really nice dinner at The Village Pub in Woodside. Though I’ve constantly heard others mention this restaurant as one of the best on the peninsula, it was my first time there. I thought the service and the food were both very good, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Dining, Life, Misc., Wedding
I took advantage of this long weekend to catch up on my tech news… it’s been a tough few weeks. There’s been a tremendous amount of chatter about Yahoo/MSFT. While I don’t feel particularly strongly about either one of these companies, I decided to scan into the financials of Yahoo. In my opinion, in the last several years, the only company that has done less with as much resources than MSFT is Yahoo.
One look into the income statement of Yahoo reveals why shareholders should be critical by Yahoo’s current management team. From a technology point of view, you can’t ignore management’s inability to create any new innovative products and services. While Yahoo owns a tremendous amount of real estate, it’s inability to monetize it effectively has been downright disturbing.
Now, for the financials… while Gross Profit has grown about 10% from FY06 to FY07, and 18% from FY05 to FY06 (Primarily through top line growth), the resulting Operating Income and Net Income are just downright shocking. Just looking at Operating Income, it’s dropped 27% from FY06 to FY07… and 15% from FY05 to FY06. You don’t have to be a financial guru to be appalled by these numbers. Taking this into context, Google has been growing their bottom line around 36% in FY07 and the whole tech industry has seen substantial growth over this same period.
One of the most shocking fact that I noticed is that Yahoo’s R&D costs have grown from 30% and 45% in the last two years. You would generally like to see a correlation between R&D spending and top line revenue, but we see very little evidence of this.
While being acquired by MSFT may not be the perfect option, the management team’s inability to grow the company and provide a long-term coherent strategic vision is concerning. This is a play that will help MSFT gain the scale economics it requires, improve it’s operational performance, expand it’s R&D capabilities, and help MSFT reposition itself. Whether you believe MSFT will be able to accomplish this, I admire that they are actively seeking ways to grow.
Yahoo shareholders deserve better than what their management team has done for them and I firmly believe MSFT’s offer presents a fair exit. And judging from Yahoo shareholder reactions, it looks like they agree.
Misc.
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