Hi Anthony,

Indeed interesting. Though I don’t think it takes big data analysis for anyone to realize that technology is a necessity now in every business endeavor and that geeks rule the world. Simple observation would have suffice to see that that has been the trend since the PC came about in 1977 and that the trend is only expanding now with IoT and ecommerce increasingly pervasive.

Seems to me that part of his speech was another way for Nadella to justify the price he paid for LinkedIn, and maybe the price they are paying for Github as well.

Though for a corporation with a net profit of US$16.6 billion a year they can certainly afford it.

I don’t disagree with their fundamental strategy for growth since its quite obvious the logic behind it. I just can’t understand their financial modelling and the corporate spin they put out to justify their acquisition pricing.

Some folks have pointed out to me after reading my article that it is data that justifies the price. I’m well aware and have written about how pricing data is somewhat an art as well as a science like many financial assets are.

“Data is oil, wheat and pork belly”

It’s a very thorough examination of data’s evolving importance, pricing, ownership and control, benefits, investment opportunities, as well as problems.

Cheers,

Lance