

Nokia is a startup - tomh-
http://swombat.com/2011/2/9/nokia-is-a-startup 

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pclark
Not really. Nokia wishes it were a startup, what they have is far harder to
fix. Startups are usually trying to construct a platform in some capacity (eg:
releasing as early as possible and making something _someone_ wants as a
stronghold to expand from and take over the world) before they run out of
cash.

Nokia has legacy _junk_ (products, technology, software, patents, brand
perception) all of which is declining in value. Nokia is still profitable -
for now.

The idea that Nokia will be able to change, is, IMHO, hilarious. Most leaders
can assess why a company is dying, but understanding _how_ to fix it - is
exceptionally hard. His memo states the same advice any idiot would tell you
(why yes, we should focus on something and crush it) _but what?_

It took Nokia over _3 years to realise this_? How long will it take to resolve
it? A decade?

Nokia will never convince stakeholders (being a public company and having
130,000 employees) to scrap products that generate billions of dollars - even
if it is in decline. It's like asking news orgs to stop printing newspapers.

 _this is why big companies die to startups_

You probably think you can continue your mediocre efforts and products and
also do something new and innovative, but when you put it like I just did - it
sounds impossible. It is.

I could go out and raise $10M and do a better job at doing what Nokia wants to
become, than Nokia itself. True story.

~~~
neutronicus
_I could go out and raise $10M and do a better job at doing what Nokia wants
to become, than Nokia itself. True story._

That's quite a claim.

~~~
pclark
At least I didn't say I could do it in a weekend.

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rbanffy
In a sense, yes. They have a 98% chance of failing in the next two years ;-)

(I am not sure what the number is for the US or Finland, but in Brazil, this
was the death rate for commercial partnerships in their first two years)

------
Geee
They were in similar situation in 90s when they decided to sell their PC, TV,
and cable divisions etc. and bet everything on mobile.

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mbesto
This reminds me of how the Atlantic turned a profit:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/business/media/13atlantic....](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/business/media/13atlantic.html?pagewanted=all)

~~~
swombat
Definitely, impressive stuff. That said, the Atlantic had rather a lot less
than 130,000 employees to steer into a new direction... And Nokia needs to
find a new niche where it will make some €40b of profitable business, if it is
to avoid being acquired... in the large, public corporation world, it's grow
or die.

~~~
mbesto
Very true, but the Atlantic also has a steeper history, which may or may not
be advantageous to it's ability to pivot. On one hand, the management probably
realized that publishing has changed so much over it's 135 year lifespan so it
was only natural for them to pivot. On the other hand, it may think that the
company has been able to survive for so long by selling content. I don't know
enough about the history of change within Atlantic to really give my opinion
on it.

At the end of the day this has to do with breaking a company's embedded
culture and at least Nokia's CEO is taking the first steps to doing that.

On a different note, I wonder if Microsoft will take a hint here. They
essentially need to do the same thing.

------
jk-in
And Nokia seems to be gambling like a startup. If the Atom based smartphone
doesn't work out well, they may be wiped out of the smartphone market
altogether. A MeeGo phone with a powerful ARM processor (OMPA4/Tegra2) may
have been a safer bet.

