Focus

Yesterday I attended the TechLinks "Let's Do Business" reception at the Ashford Club and had an opportunity to hear a few words from Rob Webb, the CIO of Equifax. A very interesting chap who hails from Canada and has lived around the world including Hong Kong, Japan and the UK. I then rushed back to Buckhead to join a small dinner that had been arranged for Matthew Szulik, the Chairman of Red Hat. A busy night and an early start this morning with the Excalibur Awards, an annual event of the Technology Association of Georgia and one that our firm sponsored. Matthew was the keynote speaker and I very much enjoyed his remarks. I was especially taken by a quote that he attributed to Tom Friedman (The World Is Flat)........"If it can be done, it will be done. The question is, will you do it or will it be done to you?" I'm a big fan of Tom's having read everything that he has ever written including many of the articles and blogs his views have generated. Of course Tom lived in Lebanon during some fairly tough years and has never been shy about expressing his opinions, which is one of many reasons I admire him. I had forgotten this quote and have to admit it really got me thinking.

Anyway, back to Matthew: super speaker and true entrepreneur. His comments were well received by the audience; and he only slammed Microsoft once, although it was done to perfection. Open Source fan or not, you have to admit that it has been one of the most disruptive technologies in the past decade. Without you would be paying Microsoft significantly more for software, emerging growth companies might never have taken off, and global collaboration would not be anywhere near today's levels. We all owe Matthew a big thank-you for making change so positive for all of us.