On This Mother's Day Week-End In the United States

As we go "dark" here in #Outsiders, we wanted to wish all the Mothers a wonderful Mothers' Day Week_End and not forget how blessed we all are.  This simple yet profound image from #bing says it all:

 

We hope all enjoy this courtesy of the team @Guideposts by clicking here and simply wish all a
 

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Notations From the Grid (II): on #mistakes, #failure & #fear

This is an "old" yet very vital message from Michael Jordan on all who are on the midst of pursuing their "Vision of the Possible":



This is ever so critical especially during Small Business Week 2015.   We found it disturbing how CNBC reported how it is tough to launch a Small Business.    The need to keep on is ever so critical.   It is what drives us as we continue the on-going curation and evolution of #Outsiders as we also embrace these thoughts courtesy of the ever perceptive +Jonathan Huie & his team:


A life lived in fear is a life half lived.
- Anonymous

If we let things terrify us,
life will not be worth living.
- Seneca

If people are good only because they fear punishment,
and hope for reward,
then we are a sorry lot indeed.
- Albert Einstein

The whole secret of existence is to have no fear.
- The Buddha

People living deeply have no fear of death.
- Anais Nin

An #Outsider Newsflash: On #Alibaba

Alibaba is coming out with earnings later on today.     Reports are that some $ 70 Billion Dollars have been wiped off the valuation since it went public.   We will be monitoring here and providing guidance over the ensuing days.

Notations On Our World: Brief Thoughts on the Social Grid (#Twitter, #Weibo et. al)

We have been assessing the State of Twitter ever since the latest earnings annoucement.    The idea that somehow Twitter is even being thought of as another MySpace is a profound challenge that will befall Twitter for a while.

What is also quite amazing is how Google Plus is withering away.     We have found it of great interest to see how Hangouts has evolved as it has and we're in the process of testing it out.  We are also amazed by the latest that was rolled out by Google called Collections that our Founder did a test of it and released a First Collection.    It is billed as a cmpetitor to Pineterest--and it has some cool features including sorting which may be an answer also to Instagram.      Weibo, though, is another whole new World as +NDTV of India noted this as The Indian Prime Minister was on a trip to China:

Five Things to Know About China's Social Network Weibo
Read story: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/shortlink.aspx?article=688513

Another serious Social Media Practitioner has to understand, embrace and leverage the power of Weibo.   We here @ #Outsiders plan to use the #Weibo Platform extensively as well.

Notations From the Grid: On #mistakes

Part of creating a "Vision of the Possible" is about making mistakes.     What Einstein reminded us ever more is critical to observe for all as we celebrate Small Business Week This Week:

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein #quote

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) May 5, 2015

As a "start-up", we are stumbling along--but we believe.   It all begins there!!!

Thought(s) For the Week: On the Ultimate Vision of the Possible

As we begin a new week here in #Outsiders, we wanted to feature the latest from +Jonathan Huie which we are privileged to feature here and throughout the #Outsider Network:
 

You can't live a perfect day without doing something
for someone who will never be able to repay you.
- John Wooden

What power there is in our service
when our actions line up with our mission, skills and joy.
– Mary Anne Radmacher  

You can't live a perfect day without doing something
for someone who will never be able to repay you.
- John Wooden

Every charitable act is a stepping stone toward heaven.
- Henry Ward Beecher 

& not forgetting this ever:

 

Notations For the Week-End: On the Fate of #Twitter & #LinkedIn

Two of the leading lights of the Tech Space came out with earnings.     During our "Week-End" review, we found this released to the Indepedent of London to be compelling reading--especially as Twitter is starting to be talked about in the same class as MySpace:

“@Independent: Twitter is in trouble – and that news should surprise precisely nobody http://t.co/usHybmASKC pic.twitter.com/MI9WHq3GGJ”😱😱

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) May 3, 2015

It was even more striking as the team at BI Intellignece released this to its' Email Subscriper Community that we view as crucial to observe:

This chart explains why investors have turned sour on LinkedIn LinkedIn’s shares plunged 19% Friday following weak guidance on its earnings call yesterday. Its revenue forecast for next quarter was $670 million to $675 million, far below analyst expectations of $717.5 million. LinkedIn’s revenue has grown almost every quarter, but at a slowing pace. In the first quarter of this year, it had revenue of $638 million, up 35% from last year. But that was a much lower growth rate than previous years: it grew 46% between the first quarters of 2013 and 2014, and 72% between the first quarters of 2012 and 2013. It doesn’t look all that great when you break it down by individual products, either, based on company data charted for us by BI Intelligence. Talent Solutions, the recruiting side of the business, which accounts for more than 60% of its total revenue, grew 36% year-over-year, down from its 50% growth rate in 2014 and 82% in 2013. Premium subscription growth was down almost 20 percentage points from last year, while Marketing Solutions growth was about the same as last year — around 40%. Read »

T

Fascinating to be witness to.....

Thought(s) For the Week-End: On #Success & #Opportunity

  

  

  

View of the Week (II): On Desire

View of the Week: On making Life Worthwhile

As May 2015 begins, we here @ #outsiders chose this article from the team at +SUCCESS Magazine received at our offices on the meaning of life.  The embrace of the 4 little Words from the late great Jim Rohm goes a long way towards the ultimate achievement of the Vision of the Possible: 

FEATURED

4 Powerful Little Words That Make Life Worthwhile

You’ve no doubt heard the phrase, a muscle never stretched never grows. The big challenge we all face is how to become all that we can be. That’s why the late Jim Rohn often said, “You can have more because you can become more—and unless you change how you are, you will always have what you’ve got.” And he’s right. You know how good it feels to maximize your own potential and stretch yourself to the limit. In this excerpt from a 2001 presentation by Jim Rohn to thousands, the motivational thought leader shares four powerful words that can make living worthwhile: 1. Life is worthwhile if you LEARN. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. What you don’t know will hurt you. So you have to learn from your own experiences—negative or positive. We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong—we call that a positive negative. Keep reading for 3 more powerful words that can make a difference in your life, according to Jim Rohn.

A Musical Interlude To Enjoy April 2015 Draws to A Close.....

As April 2015 draws to a close, we hope all enjoy "Samba Samba" From the Gypsy Kings for this edition of the "Musical Interlude":

Thought 4 the Week (II): Not Comparing

One of the compelling points about creating a Vision of the Possible is not to compare.  In business, we benchmark and adopt best practices as required--no doubt.    It is ultimately up to us--as many of the leading lights of our time have proven time and time again.   If that was the case we will not have the iphone, the ipad or for that matter the internet.

These thoughts courtesy of +Jonathan Huie  is a telling reminder:

Do not compare, do not measure.
No other way is like yours.
All other ways deceive and tempt you.
You must fulfill the way that is in you.
- Carl Jung

Comparisons are odious.
- Old English Saying

 
Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others.
He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
- The Buddha

Thought For the Week: On Making one's Life a Masterpiece

This is compelling......

I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece.

I challenge you to join the ranks of those people

who live what they teach, who walk their talk.

- Tony Robbins 

Notations On Our World: #Apple Announces//A Brief Newsflash (Courtesy BI Intelligence)

We here @ #Outsiders were on the "standby" to receive news of Apple Earnings.    From this summary courtesy of the team at the Business Insider BI Intelligence team, it is clear that they continue to hit on all key metrics with one exception:  iPAD.   As noted in the  newsflash, it is quite a development that iMAC shipments overtook iPAD shipments for the quarter.  

It will be fascinating to continue to comment on this current pheonomenon as we also wanted to report on this our founder released earlier during the "daily round up" he does:

Sharing this "View of the Week" on a very "interesting" analysis..will #Apple Learn? Wishing all a fab wk... https://t.co/n409AGe8fe
— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) April 27, 2015

The BI snapshot is noted below for reference: 

The one thing that didn't go well in Apple's earnings report, explained in one chart  Apple had another great quarter, surpassing estimates for earnings per share, revenue, and iPhone sales. Its EPS came in at $2.33, up 40%, while sales jumped 27% to $58.01 billion. It sold 61.2 million iPhones, a 40% increase from last year.  While everything pointed to a solid quarter, there was one category that stood out for its below-expectations number: iPad sales.  According the chart below, made by BI Intelligence, Apple sold 12.62 million iPads last quarter, down 23% year-over-year, which translates to roughly $5.43 billion in sales. That's lower than the $5.6 billion the Mac brought in last quarter, marking the first time Mac revenue surpassed iPad revenue. The iPad sales growth has been in steady decline over the past few years. Year-over-year sales have declined in each of the last 8 quarters.  There are many reasons for iPad's decline, namely less frequent update cycles than the iPhone, and lower demand due to the bigger sized iPhones. But some analysts also expect iPad sales to jump once Apple's partnership with IBM materializes into bigger enterprise market share.  Read »

Notations From the Grid: On #Apple & the Future

As a new week dawns here in "#outsiders", we wanted to begin this week with this very interesting analysis done by the Sydney Morning Herald.    Apple continues to be dominating the Tech Space today as it began formal shipment of the Apple Watch in anticipation of its' earning this week.  But this should serve as a "check" for it especially as we have seen stalwarths go down a simliar path:

Sharing this "View of the Week" on a very "interesting" analysis..will #Apple Learn? Wishing all a fab wk... https://t.co/n409AGe8fe

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) April 27, 2015

It will be interesting to observe how they deal through the minefields laid out in this analysis.

Notations On Our World: On Google, Amazon & Microsoft...& Yes: Apple

It has been a very interesting 24 hours yet again for companies who are at the forefront of creating the "Vision of the Possible".

Amazon came out with earnings and the market liked what it saw despite a loss as noted by the Wall Street Journal:  

Amazon Swings to Loss Despite Jump in Sales

http://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-swings-to-loss-despite-jump-in-sales-1429819649

It is amazing how the market continues to have a sense of confidence in Amazon despite losses that continues to mount.   The services they continue to role out, though, is fascinating to say the least.  

Microsoft--who just celebrated 40 years--has topped expectations and is being transformed by its' new CEO as noted in this report from the Wall Street Journal: 

Microsoft’s Results Top Expectations

http://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-profit-falls-12-1429820252

 One example of it is the new Tablet that is packing more "punch" at a lower price point.    Apple is also absolutely as busy as ever as it formally "rolls out" Apple Watch.  As we went to press, we were assessing reports from selected stores around the World where the Watch was to be sold and people had lined up to be among the first to actually get it.

Google also announced as it also came out with its' long-awaited "mobile plan".   The Core Business, though, is slowing down as noted by the folks Bi Intelligence that we received earlier today:

Google's core business is slowing down

Google’s total advertising revenue was $15.5 billion last quarter, up 11% from the same period of last year, it said in its earnings Thursday. The number of clicks on ads (“paid clicks”) was also up 13% year-over-year.

But it’s not all good news for Google, whose advertising revenue accounts for nearly 90% of its total sales.

According to BI Intelligence, Google’s ad sales growth has been on a steady decline over the last few years. Just 3 years ago, it was growing more than 20%, but by last year, the growth dipped to around 15%.

Google’s cost per click (CPC), or how much it can charge its ads, has also dropped by another 7% last quarter, which hints the company could possibly be having trouble with its most important business.

We will be monitoring this here in #Outsiders....
 

Daily Notations From the Grid: On +Google, +Yahoo & +Comcast

It has been quite a day as the leading luminaries of the Tech World continue to transform.  As we noted here yesterday, Yahoo came out with earnings and missed.  The headline in USA Today was "Marissa Meyer forced to explain again".   They are now trying to monetize value in Yahoo Japan after having figured out a way to unlock value in their share in Alibaba.  This is a Google just launched its' "Virtual Mobile Network" on the model of Virgin Mobil, +CREDO Mobile  and other taking advantage of +Sprint & +T-Mobile .  

There is one late breaking development worth noting as we tended to our "Evening Round-Up" here in #Outsiders:

Right on #FCC 👏👏🎉as staff recommends hearing on Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, which would be setback for deal http://t.co/KHeeBYxcX3
— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) April 23, 2015

This can potentially be a deal-breaker--More on that soon...

On Love: A V-Thought 4 the Week

We wanted to share something different courtesy of the team @ givemore.com throughout all the channels of #Outsiders  that reflects upon the goodness of life as our World continues to be witness to the horror and destruction of War--a Way to think different which is one of the implicit objectives of our team here @Outsiders--We hope all enjoy it as a token of our appreciation:

(Click on the image above to watch the video)

We need more love at work.

We need to get rid of the bad stuff and
help each other enjoy more of the day.

Notations From the Grid: On The Spirit of Giving

For this editon of "Notations from the Grid", we bring you this from Project Syndicate on Altriusm and the spirit of giving:

My April Project Syndicate column is on #effectivealtruism, also the topic of my new book, The Most Good You Can Do. http://t.co/9d9L3yjHDs
— Peter Singer (@PeterSinger) April 21, 2015

It is through such action that a "Vision of the Possible" can be ever so possible.

An #Outsider Newsflash (4/21/2015): On #Yahoo Earnings....

We here @ #Outsiders have been routing for +Marissa Mayer ever since he took charge of Yahoo.    We have been quite amazed as to the work she's put into transforming Yahoo.    It is of concern though as we saw this during the "Daily Round-Up" we do on the "Grid":

Yahoo earnings fall short of expectations http://t.co/M2rlDxVDFC
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) April 21, 2015