Senior Vice President, Global Customer Collaboration > Covisint > Southfield, Michigan
At Covisint, we deal with some of the biggest companies in the world. Two years ago, at the height of the Internet boom, the amount of time that it took to get those companies on board for an Internet-enabled venture seemed daunting. Now it seems brilliant. By taking our time and developing a clear set of goals, we were able to ensure that the big players in the auto industry were committed to this venture. Sometimes slow and steady does win the race.
At first, the concept of an online exchange for the automotive industry wasn't well understood. Many people saw it only as a virtual auction house for parts, because auction tools were the first tools available. But from the beginning, we intended to offer something richer and more robust -- a range of collaborative online tools for the industry. We're striving to set standards for how the auto industry will use the Internet in the years to come.
When we formed Covisint, our biggest fear was that the giants of the auto business would be unable to work together. But even traditional rivals have come to see the value in setting standards for supplier relationships that will help everyone. Why should suppliers pay for inefficiencies in such basic processes as filling a purchase order? If companies can agree on a single standard, the process becomes more streamlined. Everybody wins.
What hasn't changed in the past few years? It is my belief that doing business on the Internet will not be something separate, something apart from the mainstream. It will simply be the way business is done. Think about your personal life. If someone came to your house tonight and tried to take the Internet away, you'd stand in the doorway. It's become a part of who we are. That's true for business as well.
Covisint LLC (www.covisint.com) was founded on December 8, 2000 by DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co., and General Motors Corp. The company intends to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of product development, procurement, and supply-chain management for the automotive industry. Since its founding, Covisint has been joined by PSA Peugeot Citroën, among others. It operates headquarters from Southfield, Michigan; Tokyo; and Amsterdam.
President > Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment > Los Angeles, California
The Internet is the dominant form of interpersonal communication for this century and beyond. Yes, there has been a tech fallout, but the Internet is not any less a part of our lives than it was two years ago. It's a bigger part of it. It drives the way we communicate.
Right now, email and instant messaging are the two killer apps for the Net. So the next big challenge is to figure out what will drive the Internet's utility in our day-to-day lives to an even higher level. I believe that digital-entertainment distribution is part of that. But it may not arrive tomorrow. A critical component in making digital distribution the dominant vehicle for entertainment will be how many folks can connect via broadband and how soon we will have broadband connections to devices other than PCs. I think it will be 5 to 10 years before we see these things.
But we know that people are hungry for digital entertainment delivered over the Net. Napster has taught us a couple of things. First, people will consume a digitally distributed product even if it's in an imperfect form. MP3-level music is inferior to CD-level, but people consumed it because it was free. Now MP3 has become a de facto standard. Second, people want to consume content on the Internet. Napster validated the idea that the Internet can be an entertainment delivery vehicle.
Today, the two huge challenges are structural (broadband penetration) and strategic (the growth of pay and subscription models) . We're very much in the infancy of this technology and this industry, but it's coming. There is a whole generation of audiences that view the PC as their primary communications and entertainment device, not their secondary device.
Yair Landau became the president of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment in March 2000, when the unit was created. Its mission is to supervise digital production and distribution, as well as computer-generated imaging of content for online motion-picture, television, and PlayStation audiences; to develop new forms of online content; and to produce digital content and services for broadband networks.
Former CFO > govWorks Inc. > New York, New York > Associate > Special Value Investment Management LLC > Los Angeles, California
What a year! I feel as if I should walk around in a T-shirt that says, "I Survived 2001." In January, I watched the closure of govWorks. It was a concept, an idea, a company, and a passion to which I had dedicated nearly two years of my life. Watching it melt away was a huge disappointment. I was CFO of a startup that raised nearly $60 million and still did not make it.
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