• Fallible leadership

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Former Google CEO, in a recent interview, admitted that he was too busy to see Social Network coming. Former Microsoft CEO, at the turn of the century, admitted he too missed the significance of the Internet. The Vatican, after years of floundering, decided to settle sexual abuse cases (…

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  • Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: You know how good the economy is by seeing how many Hummers are on the street. But we 2.5 per cent growth 1Q 2013, we go from Hummers to Hyundai, from Gap to Goodwill. With 90% debt level, half-a-million debt per man woman and child, trading down is the least of our worries (Patriotic…

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  • Life’s soundtrack

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: I have just received a photo showing a hot-air balloon over Seattle, with me and Geoffrey in the basket. We just need a soundtrack to add to it. The puffy hot air, the wind which carried us over the lush-green scenery with Bill Gates himself living on the ground. If…

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  • Dilemma called Life

    30+ Chinese women start protesting the label of “unwanted” goods. Tunisian Topless Jihad set a World Religion on fire. Men teetering on retirement seeking work and love in the wrong place. A friend in search of affordable physical therapy and health care coverage. Dilemma called Life. If it’s easy and smooth, it wouldn’t be called…

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  • Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: In some cultures, people felt ashamed to put on clothes, or if they dressed at all, they would go to the middle of the house in plain view instead of the far corner (where it would draw more attention to the act of changing). Au contraire, at 24-hr fitness,…

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  • Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: I had my share of empty TV studio, that is, between broadcasts (6PM and 10PM). Now, there is no recoup time. We have evolved to Office 365, with servers resided in the “cloud” instead of the (telco) closets. Mobile working has evolved from CB radio, to Motorola brick phones, from…

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  • Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Each represents a distribution venue in various era. Now, the man behind “As Seen On TV” wants to do away with call center altogether. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/business/media/30adco.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&hpw=&adxnnlx=1309474819-WalLu/L4Q4AdzzCWZqpw4g Essentially, he just keeps the container, while relying on the “cloud” and the credit card to elicit impulse buying. Welcome to the future, where…

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  • Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: It started with interchangeable parts in a gun factory, then “re-engineering” in the auto-assembly plant to full automation (former Secretary of Labor Reich said that if workers lose their sense of optimism, then there is no replacement). In NY, the manufacturing sector employs 40% a century ago, now it…

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  • Inertia and urge

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: In business parlance, we call them “entrenchment” and “creative destruction”. Find a niche, dig in. By the time you crossed “valley of death”, someone had already elbowed in to eat your lunch. As Venture Capitalists scour the globe looking for “the” deal, they find new energy and risk-taking in places like Rwanda, Indonesia…

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  • Summer setback

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: That summer in Jr High, I experienced a setback: Hapkido went wild, leaving me with a broken arm. The Kung Fu Hall already had my parents’ release, so even if it had been the fault of the visiting Red-Belt Master (who held up the brick, but moved it unexpectedly…

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