More access to the c-level at Google for Canadian businesses?

 Patrick Pichette from Bell is joining Google as CFO. Congrats to him for landing such a job in a great company like Google.  I'm sure - Lot's of people will be trying to leverage that relationship now I'm sure from this side of the border!This makes me very optimistic about the opportunities this could bring for Canadian businesses within Google.

Canadian Copyright reform tabled - are we in the US

I've been thinking for the longest time we were going to be smart about this Copyright thing. Well it looks like the US have had their way, they been painting us as the kingdom of piracy for the last little while, and now Harper's government is tabling a bill that will make an outlaw of every honest citizen in this country. Woopidoo - we now have the time to timeshift using our PVR, thanks M. Industry Minister. Read more here and at Alec's

Look there is no way it should be illegal for me to have my tunes in any device I want if I have paid for the tune. Or a movie for that matter.

The sad thing about this whole thing is the industry is annoying the very own people who are still buying their product! It won't stop the kids from doing anything, and now me an avid buyer of music to this day, I'm being told what I should be doing with my tunes. It's rubs me the wrong way.

Rove at DEMO

Our very own Rove at Demo - watch them here! This must be nerve racking as well, but Rob and Paul pulled it off...

if business is like hockey, a good team knows how to get the puck out of the corner!

Last week I posted my impression of doing business in Canada,  and that to be in business you have to want to run fast and want it bad.

Another article along those lines from Pat DiPietro the fact that we may not play to win, we like being liked! and then he goes to explain that when we play and compete in hockey we're a totally different beast, we play to win, we do what it takes to win. So his answer, imagery is "Let's do business like we play hockey. Play to win, expect to win". I like the image.

Business is no picnic, and it's not about being liked, alright I get that. It's also very much about knowing what to say, how much to push, what to ask, and not being afraid to take a chance. So to use the hockey analogy, you have to have the guts to go get the puck in the corners.

I think other cultures like the US are much better at going in the corners to get the puck. I think it's about being decisive, it's clarity over certainty. If I want to be certain, it will take time, and I will probably miss my window. Clarity is about everyone on the team having clear marching orders, and executing. Ok but what if I make the wrong decision, and we're all marching the wrong way - well let's change the decision fast, so being able to revisit and having the robust dialog that goes with it. And this is another thing that the US I think do best, anyway from my experience in the valley, they don't mind being wrong as much, and changing their mind.