Tralfaz

Author: geoffand

  • Typical – Pricing

    CalculatorWith my abundance of spare time lately, I have been picking up some of the books I have on a variety of business topics. Books that I have skimmed or have done some spear fishing for in the past when I needed to quickly get up to speed.

    As one of the core tasks of product management, pricing has always been somewhat of a challenge. Not the act of setting prices, although at some places I have been, that can be quite cumbersome, the hurdles and barriers put in place. No, the challenge is more on how to determine the reference price, and what “value” your differentiation brings to the plate and how to put a price on that.

    One of the chapters in the book I am reading “The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing” is on the financial analysis around pricing. Cool, I have a degree in physics, and I love love mathematics. Right up my alley. So the big example is to calculate a break even table and graph for what happens when you reduce the price.

    Conceptually, it is simple, you figure out the variable costs per unit, the number of units, calculate the contribution margin, and then figure out how many more units you need to sell so that your price reduction is profitable.

    Me, being a physicist, mathematics geek, I look at how to make it more difficult than it is. I am building elaborate excel spreadsheets, doing regression analysis, and not quite getting it.

    Then I go old school. I get pencil and paper out, my trusty HP-41C out and manually do the math.

    Damn, I was making it far more difficult than it needed to be. It wasn’t even requiring algebra to get answers.

    Curse my geek-y side.

  • San Diego trip – Coda

    San Diego trip – Coda

    It was a wonderful weekend in San Diego, and apart from some serious rain Sunday morning, the weather was exemplary. About what you expect from the historical experience.

    We trekked down to visit my folks for my dad’s 83rd birthday celebration. My sister and myself were the family, as alas, our brother was tied up and unable to make the journey from Seattle.

    Tom Ham's LighthouseAs I documented, Saturday was jam packed with excitement, and capped off with a fabulous meal at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse restaurant, with probably the best view of the San Diego Skyline.

    Their menu was also exquisite, with my pan seared yellowtail being absolutely delightful.

    Sunday we awoke to some rain. Not torrential, but enough to make us think of indoor activities for the day.

    We started with an unusual breakfast. My sister recommended this small 24 hour Mexican restaurant. It was clearly housed in an old Taco Bell establishment, and my Machaca breakfast burrito was quite good (and way over-filling).

    Since Trader Joe’s opened at 8:00 AM, we took a quick trip there to pick up munchies for the return trip on Monday. It was the one time I had no trouble finding parking at a TJ’s store. Sunday at 8:00 AM.

    Our plans were to meet at the folks at 10:00 AM, and our likely destination was the Scripps Aquarium in La Jolla.

    When we got to the aquarium, we were met with the not unexpected crowds. The main parking lot was overflowing, so we drove down the hill to an overflow lot, and hiked the 1/2 mile or so to the aquarium entrance.

    The aquarium wasn’t huge, like the fabulous one in Monterey Bay, but it was interesting. It is laid out in two main exhibits, one a traditional tank environment, and one that is more kid friendly, with activities, and interactive displays.

    loggerhead sea turtleThe highlights were the kelp bed tank, a huge display of the ecosystem around the floating kelp, the loggerhead sea turtle that they rescued from a power station intake in New Jersey, who was too damaged to release back into the wild, and was approaching the age when its gender would become evident (apparently, around the age of 35 years, the length of the tail increases for male loggerheads).

    There were other notable sights to see, including the view from the back patio where the touching ponds were, and a fascinating display of sea horses and sea dragons.

    After the aquarium, we needed a lunch place, so Siri directed us to a nearby sandwich shop where we found parking (I was stunned that we easily grabbed two spots in the small parking lot), and were treated to a quite delicious sandwich.

    From there, we returned to our hotel to rest, with the plan to meet up again around 5 for a quiet evening watching a classic movie, and scarfing on Pizza.

    The Pizza came from Oggi’s Sports and Brewhouse, and was more than adequate. We then settled down to watch “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”

    I have seen the movie many times, and while it is at a deep level a very (very) disturbing story, it also is quite enjoyable, and was even spoofed by American Dad in an episode. One time, I need to count how much alcohol is consumed during the film. My liver hurts everytime just watching this movie.

    Around 10:00 PM, the evening wrapped up, and we said our goodbyes, knowing that we had a long drive home the following day.

    On Monday, we departed at 7:30, and as we approached Temecula, we caught some heavy rain. Fortunately, the traffic wasn’t too bad, and we made it through without incident.

    Finally, we got home at 4:30PM, picked up Garrett from the sitter, and the pack is complete again.

  • San Diego Diary – day 1

    San Diego Diary – day 1

    After a sluggish start, we decided that we would go to Torrey Pines Preserve. Alas, when we got there, the parking situation was, uh, abysmal, so we regrouped and headed to the Carlsbad Flower Fields.

    The Flower Fields were touted in a blog on Sandiego.org, so we asked Siri to get us there. Fortunately, it was only 20 minutes from Del Mar when we passed the Torrey Pines crowds.

    Karen had been there before, but not for a long time. In the interim, it had become quite well developed, with a lot of support structure, and sprouted an Outlet mall next door. It is hard to fault the description from the Blog post so I will quote it here: (more…)

  • San Diego Travel Log – 1

    As a follow on from my post on visiting Napa to buy some of the yummy V Sattui Madeira for my dad’s birthday party this weekend, we are now in San Diego.

    Friday – Travel Day

    As airfares were ridiculously expensive, even a month in advance, we decided to drive. Save the airfare, and the cost of a rental car. Big win.

    Of course, that meant driving the 9 hours (with pit stops) from San Jose to San Diego. Mostly smooth, we were against the commute on the way out of Silicon Valley, and the trip down I5 was boring. (more…)

  • Napa Surgical Strike

    Napa Surgical Strike

    Yesterday, I did a quick trip to Napa Valley. The first one since before I moved to Arizona back in 2003. Being a weekday, and off season, it was a pleasant drive with not too much traffic. A bonus.

    The reason for the quick day trip? My father is celebrating his 84th birthday this coming Sunday, and we are visiting him in San Diego, and one of his favorite libations is to take a nip of the outstanding V. Sattui Madeira dessert wine.

    I first stumbled across this fine Madeira in the early 1990’s on a lark. Not being a “Port” person, I really didn’t understand the complexities of a good after dinner drink, but on a trip through the Napa valley, we stopped at this place that had a reputation for having a great delicatessen for a picnic lunch. (more…)

  • Sleazy Sniping Domain Registrars

    Sleazy Sniping Domain Registrars

    I have a few sites, most of them I have paid the extra bucks for the “privacy” options. But there are two that I just forgot this extra.

    Bad idea.

    Yesterday, I got in the mail two letters for the two domains where I didn’t pay for the privacy option. They were identical. They look awful official. They try to scare me into opening my wallet and get my credit card out.

    Of course, I know a little more than the average. I know that this isn’t from my registrar (I register at MediaTemple and mydomin), and if you read it you can see that they are asking you to authorize transferring it to them, and for a mere $45 a year (or $40 if you renew for more than one year).

    What fucking burglars. I pay $12, or $15 a year depending on the registrar, and most of my domains have been prepaid for 5 or 7 years.

    What assholes. I am sure that they hook a lot of people with this scam. I guess I will look up the BBB and file a complaint.

  • The Dreaded Zombie Product

    The Dreaded Zombie Product

    At every company I have been at with some history (more than a decade or two), I have found there to be at least one product that is long beyond the “Milk it” stage. Orders have dropped off, and customers have moved to either a different technology, or into a replacement product. Of course, you still get the occasional batch of orders for it, thus the hesitancy to discontinue it formally.

    The development of a product should follow a lifecycle from investigation, definition, to alpha, then beta and production. You will note that I didn’t say “and finally, production”, that is because there is one more phase that is difficult to actually achieve, obsolescence or discontinuance. (more…)

  • Three Generations

    Three Generations

    I recently renewed my passport. As I didn’t need it immediately, this time I chose to go though the proper process (fill out the form, mail it in with a check, and wait for the State Department to return it).

    It was to expire on March 19, 2016, so it was indeed due. Of course, whenever I open my passport, I think of all the trips, both business and pleasure, I have taken over the last 20 years. Perhaps, I will catalog all my entry/exit stamps, but for now, they will remain memories.

    As the last time I needed my passport in a hurry (and I had an employer who preferred we use the expediter service), I was somewhat insulated from the process of renewing. Fill out the form, pay the service, and 3 days later I had my passport in my hot little hands. This time, I got the passport, and the passport card (recommended by our hosts we will be staying with in Mexico, as it greatly reduces the time at the border), and paid the expedite fee, as I don’t like being separated from my passport, even when I am not traveling. Also, as 2006, when I last renewed, was when they began requiring passports for trips to Mexico and Canada, there was a crush of applications at that time that led to long delays in processing, and now it is 10 years later, and the threat of the RealID rules are causing another goldrush on the passport services, I felt it prudent to expedite.

    Less than 2 weeks later, I got my new passport book, and a few days after that my passport card. But I was bummed that I didn’t get my old passport back. I, like many, enjoy thumbing through the visa pages, remembering my trips.

    Yesterday, in an non-descript envelope, my canceled passport was returned. Yay!

  • Strategic Marketing Definition

    Strategic Marketing Definition

    The words “Strategic Marketing” evokes grand ideas and concepts. But as with many phrases, there is more than a little bit of ambiguity in the perception of those who hear it. Different groups within the organization will likely have quite different interpretations of “Strategic Marketing”

    Sales

    When Sales hears the term “Strategic Marketing,” they think that means helping them sell more to what they know they can sell, focusing on the obvious, proven strengths and strong markets. They think of you helping them find more opportunities that are invisible today. (more…)

  • Managing un-sexy products

    Managing un-sexy products

    If you follow the #prodmgmt or #prodmktg hashtags on Twitter, and the ever increasing variety of product management blogs, it would seem like every product management job is some leading edge, hyper tech start up product that is positioned to be the next Facebook, (or Dropbox, or {insert cool cloud technology}).  However, it is much more likely that you work at a company that has a history, and that you will find yourself managing a ho-hum product, in a market that you may not be super excited about.

    Example:  A foolish mistake on a recent trip found me without my toilet kit.  Yep, I forgot it hung in the bathroom.  Apart from my electric shaver, there wasn’t anything worth crying about.  But it did mean I needed to replace my shaver.  Bummer. (more…)