Acquire a startup with an innovative CEO. Allow the acquired startup CEO to lead & transform Cisco's culture.
This post was very interesting to me and I have to admit I thought for a few minutes trying to figure out what startup I know that turned out to be well invested money. Roughly all of Cisco's acquisitions were bad. Not a very useful thread, but I wonder what do you think which startup would be a good investment?
No CEO capable of fixing Cisco’s culture would be stupid enough to take the job. The same goes for most people at every level which is why the culture has been a problem for so long.
Since I saw reference to umi, is one of the vehicles wrapped with the umi logo still rotting in a Boxborough parking lot with flat tires? Now that I think of it, are there any employee cars in the Boxborough parking lots?
Name one in the last 30 years that has been CEO less than 5 years.
We are referring to the CEO of a buyout that comes into CSCO.
"Say what you will about JC, but if he touted a flip phone, I can’t blame him for that one."
Haha. I made mistake when I said Flip phone. I meant Flip camera. So basically a one trick pony camera that was just a small part of already existing smart phones at the time.
Although I can see JC touting a flip phone in this day and age all in an attempt to convince people how great they are. My wife loves her flip BTW. And I mean phone this time.
FYI,
JC isn’t retired.
Do some research.
I love my flip phone. Very straightforward phone. I don’t spend two years of my life scrolling through social media.
Say what you will about JC, but if he touted a flip phone, I can’t blame him for that one.
Most of these executives are certified psychopaths. They also enjoy the power of controlling the livelihoods of several thousand families. It's not easy to replicate that type of power retired on a golf course... ask JC
“ In what scenario would a CEO who was just handed tens of millions of dollars want to stick around to run Cisco? Cisco actually does the opposite and usually pushes them out in 2 years.”
Name one in the last 30 years that has been CEO less than 5 years.
"Wait, this is the best part! Flip was NOT a phone"
Ha you are so right. I just typed 'phone' in the by mistake. I guess I sort of blew my point I was trying to make about irony :)
In what scenario would a CEO who was just handed tens of millions of dollars want to stick around to run Cisco? Cisco actually does the opposite and usually pushes them out in 2 years.
After a massive layoff, I attended a new technology training in Building D-H. It was heartbreaking to walk through those buildings after a recent layoff. Awards and certifications still on the desks.
None of those buildings are owned by Cisco anymore.
What about Umi? It was so weird coming to work one Monday in one of the 20s buildings (think it was 23 but anyway around there) and the either third floor was cleaned out. No people, no Umis. Consumer telepresence was gone.
There was also the room they had and building 19 for all the people they laid off after Flip got ki---d. You still needed a badge, but even laid off people could access it because it was kind of on the side. Layoffs are just a way of doing business there.
" Touting his Flip phone"
Wait, this is the best part! Flip was NOT a phone, it was just a d-mb standalone camera! Never mind smartphones were already a thing and that the ipad was right around the corner, nope JC knew better! JC never had any insightful technology leadership or vision. His grand idea was that equipping everybody and their fluffy pet with a HD-camera was going to boost demand for bandwidth, hence sell more network gear! He repeated the mistake of venturing into dead-end markets several times: anybody remembers the Cius tablet? Or Linksys? Or KISS?
"The WebEx acquisition was ahead of its time, and their leadership went on to create Zoom. Rather than sideline and fire the WebEx executives... maybe promote them to the ELT?"
Oh the irony. All the time and money the id--t JC spent trying to get into the consumer market. Touting his Flip phone when the tech was already outdated and being implemented in Smart Phones. However the answer was under his nose. He just never had the brains or foresight to see it. What a terrible leader he was/is. He made lots of dough though.
This'll never work. Cisco drives away all of the innovative leaders and those who remain are forced to kowtow to Chuck and ELT untill they become spineless jargon spitting worms.
Pensando.io
The WebEx acquisition was ahead of its time, and their leadership went on to create Zoom. Rather than sideline and fire the WebEx executives... maybe promote them to the ELT?