Day: July 4, 2017

We all have heard the 7 year itch. Have you ever asked why its 7? Why it is not  10 or 4. Looking back,  I have had those 7 year itches.

Have you had the urge to leave your job or change your role significantly around 15 years? Think about this  very carefully or ask around!! I left my first job after 16 years

What about 30 years. Perhaps time to retire. Or seek a completely new profession?

Now lets look at businesses. Lets review two examples.

1. Apple: From 1997 to 2007 – it was the Apple IIe.  7 years after founding, 1984 (MAC). 7 years later (1991 – Powerbook).  7 years later (Steve is back with iMAC). 30 years since founding (iPhone). New product, New Business model. Apple re-invented. (http://applemuseum.bott.org/sections/history.html)
   
2. Sun: 1982-1989 – Motorola + BSD Unix. 1989-1996 – Solaris and SPARC. 1996-UltraSPARC 1 and Java. 2009 (27 years), acquired by Oracle.  http://devtome.com/doku.php?id=timeline_of_sun_microsystems_history

Why 7? Why 15?  Why 30? The 7 year itch feeds into the 15 year peak which feeds into 30 year retire/re-invention cycle. Since businesses are made of people, especially in the technology sector, business cycles have the same 7, 15 and 30 year cycles.  At 7, one becomes proficient in a domain (10,000+ hours) and change is in the air. At 15, you feel like you reach a peak. At 30 you become obsolete (retire) or re-invent.

At the core of these 30 year transitions, the DNA has to be relevant or one ‘retires’. The biological DNA that define our value proposition, businesses  do as well. Apple has the core DNA of designing eye candy products (materials +  UI). This has transcended to the desktop to the mobile.  IBM has the DNA of general computing business. That has unchanged over decades.  Sun had the DNA of Open-source and open systems. Intel has the core DNA of device engineering and manufacturing (Moore’s law).

The similarity has to do with human productive cycles. While this assertion is not statistically accurate, but there is enough data to suggest why there is a linkage between business cycles and human productivity cycles.

First lets visit some 30 year cycles…In most cases the business model changes – not just technology. Usually the incumbent sees the technology shift and can handle it. But they fail to see or react to the business model change.

Survivors:

1. IBM: Strangely IBM has revived itself every 30 years. There was mainframe from 1950s to 1980s. Then there was PC and Global Services from 1980s to 2010s. Now its on a re-invention cycle with Watson and Enterprise Cloud. IBM has done this over its 100 year history repeatedly and perhaps the only one. But its facing that issue once more…Time will tell…
   
2. Apple: From 1997 to 2007 – it was the Apple IIe.  7 years after founding, 1984 (MAC). 7 years later (1991 – Powerbook).  7 years later (Steve is back with iMAC). 30 years since founding (iPhone). New product, New Business model. But same DNA. 1992 was a critical year as we all know. 2014 is 7 years after the first iPhone. Another change cycle? The smartness with Apple was the move from shrink wrapped software to Appstore. New business model. Fantastic!  The iPhone which is 10 years old will reach its peak the next few years.  Apple will have to have its next big act before 2021 ?
3. HP: Another survivor has gone through two  30 year cycles and in the middle of the 3rd. Remains to be seen how it will evolve

Recycled

1. Sun: My Alma mater. Started in 1992 and dies or got gobbled up in 2010. Perhaps lives inside Oracle – not really. Again 28 years and died. Founding DNA = Opensource + Interactivity and big memory. Lost its way when Linux took over (Opensource – around 1998 – 15 year!!!). 
2. DEC: 1957-1987; VAX9000 remember. That was the beginning of 30 year run. Got gobbled up and could not handle the next business transition
3. Many other companies fall into this category (SGI…..)