“That’s What Google is For”

Over the last two weeks, this scenario has repeated itself a few times.  A junior consultant I am working with hits a simple roadblock and instead of reflecting on the problem and hunting out an answer, they pull the brakes and reply, “I don’t know how to do that.”  Hmm, I held my tongue for 3 seconds, then said, “That’s what Google is for”

It might sound like a flippant reply, but it is not. It is the truth. There is INFINITE access to information. You don’t need to buy a book, you don’t need to make a phone call. You don’t need to go to the library. All you need to do is get the Star Trek piece of glass from your pocket and look it up. Don’t forget the leverage model – use people’s time wisely.

It’s not a good sign. It’s shows a lack of rigor, thought-process, and discernment.  If you need help DEFINITELY ASK for it, but don’t give up at the first turn in the road.

• When you are digging a hole for a fence post, do you just stop when the dirt gets more dense? No, you keep digging.
• When you are studying a math problem, do you stop when you don’t immediately understand the logic? No, you keep pushing til you get it.
• When you can’t get the hotel wifi, do you give up? No, you find the answer.

Are you driving $10,000 day of value to the client? As a management consultant, you are highly paid, and it’s not okay to ask dumb questions. Gotta be crafty enough to answer simple questions. Look it up on Google. Think about the problem. Reach out to your network if you need to. Are you using your logic, network, research craftiness, and business acumen to take you further? Or are you giving up too early?

It’s okay to not know the answer. After all, our clients hire us to tackle the ugly, complex, political, persistent, and cross-functional problems. If the problems were easy, they would be solved already. It’s okay to not know all the answers.

• When you are asking open-ended questions in a client interview to solicit feedback and open the interviewee up.  Build rapport.
• When you are scoping out a project, defining the boundaries of the puzzle, clarifying what is in/out of scope.
• When you are seeking the guidance of an expert, or relying on someone’s advice, wisdom, and judgment that comes from experience.
• When you are directly asked by a client – and honestly – you don’t know

It’s not okay to be mentally lazy.  I know that in the politically correct work of uber-inclusion, it’s not cool to say people’s questions are dumb, but frankly – consultants are held to a higher bar. We pride ourselves on our ability to get smart quickly. If you don’t know how to do something (excel formula, approach to a problem, meaning of an acronym, ways to manipulate powerpoint), AT LEAST TRY to solve it by yourself first.

When I interviewed for my 2nd job, my soon-to-be boss made it clear that there would be lots of executive presentations. This is the book I bought the next day. No shame.

Ten years later, I was on a different project working for the Legal department of a large multi-billion $ company, and this was the book I read at night in my hotel room.

There is no shame in not knowing.  There is shame in not trying.

Related posts:

• Review: The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey
• Consulting is an apprenticeship
• Links

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Consulting Business Model vs. Online Marketing Hype

Consulting Business Model vs. Online Marketing Hype is a post from: Consulting Success

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The Chalk and Cheese of Reputation

Sometimes, the best way to improve your reputation is to contrast yourself with someone nearby who has a really bad one…

That’s what’s happening at the moment for Justin Trudeau’s Canada. While his southern neighbour shudders under the force of hatefulness that is Donald Trump, Trudeau was personally welcoming newly arrived Syrian refugees at the airport. What other head of state would do something like this?

But let’s first go back to the bad side of things. In case you weren’t sure, that’s Trump. For months now, the billionaire presidential candidate has been declaring ever-increasing negative rhetoric about refugees and immigrants. First it was Mexicans, now it’s Muslims. Supposedly in response to the San Bernadino shootings, Trump has stated that all Muslims should be banned from entering the US.

This statement did not come as much of a surprise. Just days earlier, Trump had suggested that all Muslims living in America should be forced to add their personal details to a central database. This move, reminiscent of Hitler’s early policies towards Jews in Germany, horrified much of the world. However, there remained those who were not horrified, who actually support Trump’s policies.

His latest comments on Muslims have attracted widespread condemnation, in the UK notably the ire of unlikely candidates such as David Cameron and Boris Johnson. The latter said he ‘won’t visit New York because Trump might be there,’ But, despite global condemnation, Trump remains popular among a certain segment of American society who fear the ‘Other’ and admire Trump for ‘speaking his mind’.

Journalist Barbara Walters recently interviewed Trump. Here’s a short sample:

Walters: “Are you a bigot?”
Trump: “Not at all. Probably the least of anyone you’ve ever met.”
Walters: “Because…?”
Trump: “Because I’m not. I’ve got common sense. I’m a smart person.”

Trump’s comments have even alienated some of his Muslim business associates in the Gulf, notably the boss of Landmark shopping malls, who announced that his company would remove all Trump branded products from its stores across the Middle East. The residents of Istanbul’s posh development Trump Towers aren’t too happy either.

One Istanbul resident, Melek Toprak, told the New York Times recently: “I now feel ashamed to live in a building associated with such a vile man.”

In stark contrast, Canada has emerged as a real do-gooder, not just compared to the US but by anyone’s standards. Since Trudeau was elected, he has made a swathe of policy changes and announcements, such as the decision to withdraw from airstrikes on Syria, and to allow 25,000 Syrian refugees into Canada. These moves are starting to solidify Canada’s old image as a benevolent, inclusive nation. Arguably, Trudeau’s actions are pulling Canada’s reputation back from the brink, undoing much of the damage caused by his predecessor Stephen Harper.

In terms of nation brand, Canada currently ranks 12th overall on the Good Country Index, a ranking of countries that do the most good for the world as a whole. The US, in contrast, stands at 21st place. This is based on data from last year, so it will be interesting to see how the results change in next year’s edition of the ranking.

Simon Anholt, creator of the Good Country Index, commented via Twitter: “I’m greatly relieved that [Canada] is reengaging with the world.”

But while Canada continues to spread goodwill and re-establish itself in the global order, America’s political climate is bubbling over with vitriol. Islamophobia and discrimination have risen significantly. This does not bode well for America’s reputation, set as it is against a backdrop of wider racism and growing perceptions of a violent ‘frontier’ society. After all, this is the country where school shootings are a regular occurrence.

Many Americans (and indeed, the world) hope and pray that Hillary Clinton will secure the premiership next year. If that doesn’t happen, there’s an actual possibility that Donald Trump could end up leader of the United States. The consequences of that are indeed worrying. America’s worsening reputation could be the least of anyone’s concerns. The risk of the world’s most powerful nation becoming an intolerant, far-right state, led by a man whose comments have drawn comparisons to Hitler, is far more frightening.

This article was first published on PlacesBrands

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Pandora – great music, pretty terrible business

I listen to Pandora every day. On my computer, on my Roku, on my Amazon Echo, in my car, basically everywhere. It’s also a fun short-hand way to ask people what they listen to. My buddy turned me on to Carla Bruni, and it’s my “go-to” station.

Yes, the ads are annoying, but not bad enough to pay $55 a year for the subscription. Then the question enters my brain – how much money does Pandora make?

“Cutting to the chase”, Pandora loses money.

Lots of places online to look at financial statements (yes, I am sure banker-types would go to Bloomberg), but I like Google Finance. It’s clean, simple, and easy to use. Tip: don’t forget to click quarterly vs. annual numbers.

Pandora Income Statement here.  It looks like this.

• Revenues up considerably from 2012, from $427M to $1.1B (not bad, right?)
• Expenses up just as fast, exceeding revenues every year (uh, bad news)
• Net loss every year (completely unsustainable)

Pandora Cash flow here.  Where is Pandora getting their money from? How can you lose money each year and still survive? Some seriously disturbing things here. In 2013, Pandora got $377 from issue more stock. Then in 2015, they issued $301M in debt. Bad news on all fronts. Diluting equity holders by issuing more stock, and adding on more debt for a company that does not show profits.  Arrgh.

Pandora stock performance? We know that financial performance and stock performance are not always correlated in the short-term. So maybe Pandora stock has done well in spite of poor profitability and dilution of equity?

Nope? Since June 24, 2011 (IPO date), Pandora stock is down 19%. . vs. the S&P which is up 57%. Ouch, not good at all.

Check out investor relations here. Since we have already gotten an x-ray view of the company’s terrible financial situation, let’s see what the Pandora Csuite say about their business prospects and why you should invest your money in this stock.

Here is the Pandora management team’s logic:

1) Lots of people listen to radio.  91% of Americans (245M) listen to radio for 18 hours a week.  Of that, 80% is AM/FM “terrestrial” radio.  Lots of room for internet radio to eat into more traditional radio.

2) Pandora has 58% of internet radio. Market share has grown since the IPO and is more than double the closest competitor, Spotify.

3) Increasing the amount of usage. Pandora has done an admirable job of getting MORE PEOPLE to use the service  MORE OFTEN.

4) Opportunity for more Pandora in the car.  Pandora’s argument is that most people listen to radio in their car – and therefore – need to integrate into the hardware and grab more of this drive time. To me this is a bit of an odd argument as most cars have bluetooth and can stream from your phone AND lots of people listen to real time radio because they want to listen to talk radio or sports. . . not music.

5) Making money through advertisements. Looks like 80%+ of their money comes advertising on mobile and computer devices.

6) Big player in advertisement game. For mobile ads, looks like Pandora is one of the biggest DJ of ads – right behind Facebook, Google and Twitter.

7) Good customer base for advertising.  See the sample list of customers.

8) Increase RPM (revenue per thousand impressions). Heard of this metric before and found this definition online for RPM from Google Ad Sense:

"Revenue per 1000 impressions (RPM) represents the estimated earnings you'd accrue for every 1000 impressions you receive. RPM doesn't represent how much you have actually earned; rather, it's calculated by dividing your estimated earnings by the number of page views, impressions, or queries you received, then multiplying by 1000. For example: If you earned an estimated $0.15 from 25 page views, then your page RPM would equal ($0.15 / 25) * 1000, or $6.00."

From this slide from their investor relations presentation, I assume that Pandora believes they can offer advertisers a higher RPM than other means.

9) A list of strategic drivers? Pandora ends the presentation with a concept page – as consultants we have seen these pages too often – which is a mix of “drivers” which will help this business to grow – everything from new products to new distribution.

Consultant’s mind conclusion: Pandora had a huge first-mover advantage, but really did not do much with it. They are limited to 4 countries currently and being outmaneuvered by Apple and Spotify. They consistently loose money and seem to be staying afloat largely from paid-in-capital (stock issuance), and issuing more debt.

Apparently, Pandora is shopping itself around to see if there are any buyers. The stock is down 60% recently, and the market capitalization is around $2.5 billion – not cheap.

Thoughts on Pandora and who would make a good acquirer? Do you think Pandora has a future solo, or as a part of a larger media company?

Related posts:

• Quora: What is it like to work at McKinsey?
• 270 blog posts later, how it turns out
• Links

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The ACTION Approach to Growing Your Consulting Business

Hi. It’s Michael Zipursky from Consultingsuccess.com. Welcome back to the Consulting Corner, where consultants learn how to consistently attract their ideal clients and significantly increase their fees. Today, let’s talk about information overload. However, just learning more doesn’t ensure that you will actually be successful Information overload affects far too many consultants. People often believe […]

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An Uber Innovation Experience in Egypt

Taxi in Egypt

This week I have been working in Egypt. Taxi drivers here are notoriously know for ripping off customers, which I thoroughly have experienced. On the first day of my stay, I took three taxi rides in Cairo.

On the first ride, the taxi driver said he knew the destination. Then he set off across the Nile for 30 minutes in 180 degree the wrong direction. While we were arguing and he suddenly did not speak English any more, he stopped in the middle of the street and we were hit by another car from behind, driving into us at 50 km per hour.

My colleague Marco Kamiya and I walked away from the crash scene and found another taxi. Same experience. The second taxi driver also took us for a ride, or (which I doubt) did not know the location of the well-known  Government building in Garden City which we were going to.

The third drive, from my hotel to Ramses train station yesterday morning, was an equally absurd experience. Leaving the hotel with a good time margin for my train, I ended up running to enter the train just before it left for Alexandria. Why? Because my friendly taxi driver had taken me for a rip-off ride.

The Uber Experience

This morning I thought I had enough of Egyptian taxi drivers and decided to try Uber for the first time. I have had the app installed for a couple of years but not got around to use Uber before.

The app is very efficient and it quickly found my location and destination, and summoned a driver. He arrived in two minutes in a brand new black Chevrolet Cruise. The driver spoke excellent English and efficiently took me to my destination for about three euro. I was going to the faculty of architecture at Alexandria University and he even knew which campus entrance was the closest to this building.

In markets like Egypt, the south of France and other locations where taxi drivers have a habit of ripping customers off, Ubers centralised fee quotes and payment system will beat the official taxi drivers anytime, in both reliability and price. If the driver does not behave and the customer complains, then Uber takes him out.

The Battle for the Customer Interface

In the battle for the customer interface, Cairo taxi drivers will not stand a chance against Uber and the competitor Careem. The taxis pick up customers in the street, Uber is available anywhere for anyone who is online. Not surprisingly, A lawsuit is expected to be filed soon by an Egypt lawyer who will be representing taxi drivers against the increasingly popular companies. As Uber gains popularity rapidly in Cairo and Alexandria, I doubt the courts will support an outdated monopoly.

The poster children of the local digital disruption, Uber and Careem, shows how transport and services can be provided just as efficiently by new entrants tapping into privately held idle capacity as by existing providers and at a lower price.

In the time of the smart phone, firms which provides a digital user interface can enter markets with only minor investment in capital equipment. Uber does not need to buy cars, Airbnb does not need to build hotels or apartments, Facebook creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory, and so on.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the world has developed complex supply chains, from designers to manufacturers, from distributors to importers, wholesalers and retailers. It is what allowed billions of products to be made, shipped, bought and enjoyed in all corners of the world.

Then in recent times the power of the Internet, especially the mobile phone, has unleashed a movement which is rapidly destroying these layers and moving power to new actors.

The balance of power between the different service layers in the digitally disrupted value chain is a battle for control. Price-comparison sites first seemed to provide welcome traffic to airlines before airlines tried and failed to starve them of their business and promoted their own apps and websites as the preferred route.

In this new age of digital disruption, the customer interface is everything.

The new breed of companies is the fastest-growing in history. Uber, Careem, Amazon, Alibaba, Airbnb, Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook, Google and so on. These companies are independent, thin user interface layers that sit on top of vast and costly third party supply systems, and they interface with a huge number of people, channelling customers’ orders to suppliers for a margin or kick-back at close to zero cost per transaction, and they create large volumes of online payments, ensuring transparent pricing.

In today’s hyper-interconnected world of global competition, if one domino falls, it will topple any number of others. The points of connectivity are so numerous and tangled that literally no-one is able to predict with certainty where digital disruption will take us. As people increasingly look online for low cost options, we continue the internet E-commerce revolution not only by convenience, but also by increasing price concerns.

And this is the nub of digital disruptions connection to slower economic growth, especially in the advanced economies of Europe.

Before Uber, clearly there was spare capacity in privately owned cars, which sat unused for many hours each day. So too with apartments that were empty and unable to be let out by the owners when they were not there.

Uber and Airbnb, and others disrupting asset markets, have tapped this idle capacity without adding to investment, and as they take business away from taxi companies and hoteliers, the rate of economic growth will remain held back. Do you see, dear reader, this unexpected Damocles sword of the e-commerce revolution?

The Economist Joseph Schumpeter taught us about innovation and coined the term “creative destruction” to describe the process of the old being constantly replaced by the new. In fact, he viewed the economy as somewhat like a living organism, constantly growing and changing to maintain its health. Schumpeter’s analysis has proved of lasting impact, and has garnered the respect and attention of those involved in economic policy. As humankind advances in maturity, overcoming the selfishness that threatens the life of successful economies and democracy, much of Schumpeter’s work continues to inform and support the development of a healthier, prosperous society that satisfies all people. Or, at least, that is the theory.

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Economic Assessment of Al Alamein New City in Egypt

Earlier today, on the grounds of employing the principles, strategies, tools developed in UN-Habitat’s Strategic Plan 2014 -2019, the Achieving Sustainable Urban Development project (ASUD) – one of UN-HABITAT Egypt’s projects- run a joint meeting between UN-Habitat staff supported by UN-Habitat Urban Economy and Finance Branch, the Egyptian national counterpart General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP), the New Urban Communities Authority and Bearing Consulting to launch an economic assessment of Al Alamein New City at the north west coast of Egypt.

The economic assessment aims to analyse financially the future revenues of planning Al Alamein New City. An analysis that requires an understanding of the value chains and supply chains, supply/demand effect and the local/regional economic development at Al Alamein New City (ANC). Furthermore, the assessment aims at providing a continuous productive Urban Economy that will be proposed as a coherent strategy for Al Alamein New City development.

The meeting tackled the vision of the assessment, methodology, deliverables, context and approach. In addition, the participants discussed the data sources and stakeholders of this assessment.

The Alamein New City project component has witnessed distinctive achievements throughout utilising an advanced town planning methodology that secures broad social inclusion for local communities as well as it critically examines the Egyptian approach to new urban communities and its development aspects. In general, the Achieving Sustainable Urban Development (ASUD) project addresses capacity building in the field of urban planning, design, land legislation/Management, local economic development, youth employment and crosscutting issues such as mobility/energy.

The Achieving Sustainable Urban Development project (ASUD) implements pilot interventions in an integrated manner, through which key stakeholders and development partners work and learn as one community of practice. These pilot interventions focus both on city extensions in secondary towns as well as new city developments as city extensions.

Press release written by Engy Azzam, Publications Officer at UN Habitat in Cairo

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