Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

Article was a good reminder of the "good old days".

Joined Cisco in 1995 and retired in 2011 and I will never forget how good it was between 1995 and 2001. I recall about 70 acquisitions during that time period and it felt like we were drunk on our own success, growing 70% Y/Y with no hangover until the DOT COM bubble burst. The belief was every acquisition was going to be a $1B business. The ROI for switching acquisitions was huge but most withered away under the BU structure and given the posts on this blog the culture has become toxic relative to the good old days.

The growth through acquisition strategy impacted innovation within engineering leaving the engineering organization primarily focused on organic innovation, the organic evolution of existing products and technology.

The art of business strategy is to create a sustainable competitive advantage in markets where you compete and I see Cisco being disrupted more than it is disrupting in the technology sector. Re-branding, re-packaging and re-pricing existing offerings and calling them Cloud is not going to work now.

The Board is THE problem. Old, clueless and totally aligned with wrong people.

Creating the boards and councils and letting Giancarlo head off into the sunset were the two biggest mistakes The Board made.

"We have a saying here, 'Early if not elegant,' " Mr. Giancarlo explains. "If you are a year late, that market might not exist anymore. We'd rather learn from our mistakes." Indeed, management has another blunt saying, "If we are not making mistakes, we aren't moving fast enough."

With this philosophy, Cisco has actually made few mistakes. Management believes there are two keys to a successful acquisition: doing the homework to select the right company and applying an effective and replicable integration process once the deal is struck.

Wow. Things have changed for Cisco.

Being early is a thing of the past. We bought Flip when small camcorders were going out of style with the ability for cell phones to take video. Someone certainly didn't do their homework when spending $5B for an acquisition and then later selling it for something in the millions. And all those decision makers are still there getting bonuses.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Now we are a case study of how NOT to do it and its regrettable.