Neil’s Blog

Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, March 23, 2020 In 2008, Edward Lorenz died. He was the father of what is commonly known as Chaos Theory. He was a professor at MIT and a meteorologist. His breakthrough research validated the “butterfly effect” — which says that small effects can lead to big changes and that […]

Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, March 16, 2020 I just saw the future. I spent the day at the San Diego Science and Engineering Festival at Petco Park. But as is always the case with the future, it also has a past. So, let’s go back in time and remember Larry Bock, who changed […]

Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, March 9, 2020 What are the risks for smart, powerful, successful women? For advice on that puzzle I turned to an article in the Atlantic by Derek Thompson, “When a Promotion Leads to Divorce.” I try to make a concerted effort to support and coach women entrepreneurs. The statistics […]

I was invited recently to give a talk about entrepreneurship to 75 seniors in the electrical engineering department at San Diego State University. Their professor is Barry Dorr, a classic “give-back” guy, who did 35 years in the industry and is now full-time and all in on sharing and teaching electrical engineering. This guy lights […]

An icon of innovation — Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen — died in January. In 1997, he wrote a book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” which changed management thinking for an entire generation. The book’s thesis was that the factors that helped the best companies succeed were also the reasons some of those same companies later […]