Friday 27 November 2009

Playing to Win

Last week at university we did the Markstrat Online simulation. It is a game in which you have to manage a company, competing with other students. While usually it is played from home, at Erasmus we had designated class time to play it. This made a very social experience and so I really enjoyed it.

Working in a good team is fun

It was so much fun to do this exercise. I liked the competitive thrill of it, as with each round we were eagerly waiting to find out the results, comparing them with others soon afterwards, and jumping straight to work to come out on top next time. I must say the whole experience wouldn’t be the same had it not been for the awesome group members I was lucky to work with. I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with them, and I know that one day they are really going to be some of the best in our field.

Best teammates ever: Jorien, Alex and Erik.

Three takeaway points

Three things I learnt from the simulation:
  1. Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork. This is the most important element of success. If you cannot work together, you will work against one another.
  2. Clarity, consistency and concentration. In business (and in life as well, actually) you have to have a clear vision, it will greatly help you with decision making, steering you in the right direction. Once you identified what is it that you want to do, stay with it, this is the only way to master it. Then, do not branch out too quickly, rather concentrate - remember that your resources are limited, so set off to achieve the second objective only when you do not have to significantly sacrifice the first one.
  3. Watch out for competition. Never neglect the competition, keep your moves secret (be humble), outmaneuver them before they outmaneuver you, and mercilessly exploit their every mistakes and weaknesses.
So how did we do eventually? We won!!!! And what a joy it was to celebrate our first place in the industry with my teammates! It was a truly awesome experience!!!

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Mac, Mac, Mac!


Just came across this quote by NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. I totally love the cockiness behind it and just had to share it:

Apple uses the best technology for their [computers]. Apple says to their customers: if you buy a computer from us you can be sure we have selected the best technology inside for you. That is their promise to consumers. Their promise to consumers isn't we've selected the best technology for you with the exception of what Intel allows us to use. That's not their promise. And that's why Apple uses the best technology where they want whenever they want. And that's why I'm all Apple! At home it's just Macs everywhere. It's NVIDIA's technology in all of them but I use Macs. My son has two Macs, my daughter has a Mac, there's an extra Mac just in case and my wife has a Mac. It's just Mac, Mac, Mac! Because I know it's got the best stuff inside.*

Aside of the cockiness, this is such a powerful statement about the Apple's marketing. What Mr. Huang is saying is that Apple simply provide the consumer with the best solution possible with no compromises made. Consequently, Apple simplify the decision making process for consumers by removing the issue of hardware from their considerations. This is so crucial because most consumers will not be proficient enough to make these considerations themselves. As a result, Apple provide consumers with what they really want - a computing platform tailored to their needs. Doing this naturally creates an impression that Apple respect their customers. And this is the approach to business that I respect the most.