February 2012 – Hector A. Ruiz

Facebook’s IPO

On February 20, 2012

Almost everyone in the business world should be aware of the upcoming IPO of the social network giant called Facebook, while also wondering what is at stake for the future of the social media giant.

There has been a lot of attention towards this event, similarly to how just about a year ago LinkedIn filled for their own IPO, with the stock price eventually performing exactly as it was expected. Tech leaders Google and Apple have been able to surpass their financial goals over time, allowing them to become part of the greatest public offerings of all time.

Financial goals and expectations put aside, the success of Facebook’s IPO depends more on what their next move will be. Back in 2004 when Google went public, they had already began expanding to other areas outside the core business of being a search engine. They figured Google Ads and began laying plans out for products that are have become part of our lives to most of us today, such as Chrome and Analytics. They also bought YouTube and acquired the license for Google Earth. Bottom line is that Google had many doors open and many opportunities, and they took them.

So what will Facebook do? They can’t buy youtube, they can’t create Google Ads or Analytics, or a new LinkedIn. For now they seem to be pretty much on their own. Since they are now going to be a public company, they have to live up to their investors’ expectations. This means that they will have to set goals and new objectives that keep the company growing. If company growth doesn’t happen, the value of the stock will not rise. So I guess this is where the core of the problem is. The solution may then be either buy other companies, or invest heavily in R&D and start developing new technology products.

It is good to become a public company and to raise money from investors. However this move brings responsibilities that are entitled of being a publicly traded company.

Who knows: in a few years, we may be seeing a Facebook browser, or a Facebook cell phone software. Those are the kind of goals they have to work on from now and on.

Copernicus: Poland’s gift to us

By hectoraliruiz

On February 19, 2012

In History

February 19 is the birth anniversary of one of the greatest minds that have lived in our planet: Nicolaus Copernicus, the man who began the scientific revolution in Europe and set the foundation for the birth of modern science as we know it today. Arguably, the greatest polish ever born.

In his last published book, “On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres“, Copernicus detailed a new theory of planetary motion for our Solar System, which up until that point was thought of the Earth as center of the universe, with all the planets and starts moving around it. Copernicus new vision called “heliocentric model” proposed that the Earth was not the center of the universe, but instead just like the other planets known at the time, it revolved around the Sun. It also proposed that the reason for sunsets and sunrises was the Earth’s rotation around its own axis. Years later, Kepler, Galileo and Newton would confirm and cement Copernicus’ place in the history of science.

What is not well known about Copernicus and is part of the reason why I decided to blog about him, is that he also contributed to other fields, such as law, strategy, engineering and economy. Copernicus came up with an early theory of the effect of “quantity of money“, an early predecessor of the Quantitative Easing (or money supply) theory. He also wrote about the “value of money”, and about how bad coinage drives good coinage out of circulation. Additionally, he also spoke five languages: Latin, German, Polish, Greek and Italian.

An all around genius, Copernicus’ contribution to our society is priceless and his legacy will live among us forever. If you ever get the chance to travel to Poland, see if you can pay a visit to Copernicus’ tomb and spend a few minutes at the place where the man who defined our Solar System now rests.