Infineon (Part 1): Seeing Some Light

By Guest Author Nalini Kumar Muppala

Continuing with our detailed analysis of European players in wireless semiconductor space, let’s take a look at some recent developments at Infineon Technologies AG. Earlier detailed coverage of Infineon can be found in Vijay’s series.

Infineon ranked tenth among top semiconductor suppliers in 2008. But of late, the company has been in the news more for the financial storm it is wading through than for the quality of its performance. This post delves into related moves on the organizational front. Subsequent posts concentrate on product portfolio, strategy, and outlook. >>>

Hollywood’s Content Crisis: Robert McKee (Part 1)

The Guardian has called Robert McKee the “most influential storytelling theorist since Aristotle.” As a screenwriting instructor, he has taught students as illustrious as John Lasseter of Pixar and Akiva Goldsman, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “A Beautiful Mind”, “The Da Vinci Code” and other films. For over 15 years, his Story Seminar has been the ultimate writing class for over 50,000 screenwriters, filmmakers, TV writers, novelists, industry executives, actors, producers, directors, and playwrights.

I took this class in July. This interview was recorded in September. If you have any aspiration to write for film, I highly recommend the seminar. I invited Bob to discuss the business of film with me, and it helped me gain clarity on a number of issues.

SM: Box offices have seen a surge in movie tickets sales as it looks as though people are going to the movies more during the recession. At the same time, there is a story crisis in Hollywood films. We see a lot of the same stories repeatedly. Why is storytelling facing a crisis?

RM: I agree with you. From the Hollywood point of view there is no story problem. It is not in crisis. They are making a lot of money and they are happy to do that. >>>

Next Strategy Roundtable on Wed. Oct. 7, 2009

Through this free, online Positioning Roundtable, Sramana Mitra aims to help early-stage entrepreneurs further develop their business ideas. Entrepreneurs can participate from anywhere by computer or phone and there will be a live, interactive chat throughout the webinar. You can find more details and register here.  We hope you will join us on Wed. Oct. 7, 2009 at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. EST/10:30 p.m. IST.

Deal Radar 2009: Reply!com

As more small and medium-sized businesses adopt online marketing techniques for local advertising, it’s no surprise that there are an ever-increasing number of companies focusing on local advertising and Web analytics that are eager to offer their services. Over the past few months, Deal Radar has featured notable players in this space. Today’s company, Reply!com, is an online marketplace that targets local and category-specific consumers on a per-click or per-lead basis. The company aims to provide a highly profitable alternative to the online marketing solutions offered by major search engines and ad networks by eliminating the need for complex and expensive online marketing infrastructures. It offers a system for gathering data and distributing information about potential customers from online traffic. >>>

Teaching 50,000 Students Online: APEI CEO Wally Boston (Part 7)

SM: How do you keep your courses relevant and up to date?

WB: Every three years we hire a consultant to review our degree programs. This is a cycle that every degree program we offer goes through. We evaluate them to make sure the program meets the standards of accrediting bodies. >>>

Teaching 50,000 Students Online: APEI CEO Wally Boston (Part 6)

SM: Can you talk about the financials? When you came on board in 2002, what was the revenue level and what was your financial strategy to move the company ahead?

WB: In 2002 I believe we finished the year at $10 million in revenues. We raised $10 million through our private equity firm. In 2005 we raised another $17.5 million; we used most of that money to buy out the founder and some of his co-founders. >>>

Deal Radar 2009: SMS GupShup

SMS GupShup is a social messaging platform launched in 2004, at a time when SMS was only used for person-to-person (P2P) messaging and content players were selling ringtones and wallpapers to mobile subscribers. >>>

Teaching 50,000 Students Online: APEI CEO Wally Boston (Part 5)

SM: It seems as though your learning outcomes are similar to a corporate vision.

WB: We have five institutional learning outcomes: Lifelong Learning, Information Literacy, Communication, Academic Skill, and Critical Thinking. They were developed by our faculty as the key learning outcomes. >>>