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I got a panicked phone call from my mother.   “Outlook won’t open.  It’s f*&*#$.  I think all my emails are lost.”

I asked what she was doing when it failed.  Nothing, she said, the problem started as soon as she turned on the computer but it was working fine yesterday.  I had her reboot, run through virus checks; everything I could think of.  Nothing worked.

When I got the computer I found the problem in the error logs: Virus Software.  No, not a virus, I mean – the Virus Protection Software itself was the problem.   The new computer came preinstalled with free trials of MacAfee’s everything-including-the-kitchen-sink security software.  What it didn’t come with was clear notice about what happens if you don’t purchase the software, or uninstall it, before it lapses.

The day that Outlook died, or seemed to, was the day all the free trials lapsed.  The anti-virus component had been paid for; the others were overlooked and ignored.  They didn’t like the lack of attention.  The anti-spam component (I believe) had a bond with Outlook and hung on like a jaded ex-lover.  Outlook tried to function but it was smothered by the anti-spam piece.

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Rumors were swirling that there was about to be a new British invasion, that the Beatles were coming to iTunes.  Instead, at yesterdays much hyped Apple press conference in London new ground was broken in a different direction.  Apple announced that in partnership with label EMI, for the first time, there will be DRM-Free music at the iTunes store.

As part of a deal, the digital catalog of EMI music will be sold in two forms:

• The standard DRM-laden 128kbps AAC file that’s defined iTunes will remain at .99 cents.
• An alternate, higher sound quality (256kbps AAC) download free of any DRM restrictions will be sold at a premium price of $1.29/song

After initially selling through Apple, EMI plans to offer similar rights-free music (and video) through other outlets.  Retailers who participate will be able to choose several levels of quality (including options which may exceed the iTunes peak of 256kbsp). Retailers will also be able to choose between offering the music in MP3, AAC or WMA formats.  

The combined effort will increase the portability of music across different platforms and may influence the market opportunity for smaller player manufacturers.

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What happens when a successful professional athlete nears the twilight of career?  Most seem to follow one of three trajectories:

• The Quiet Departure: characterized by choice to  retire from the limelight to live quietly with family where the great wealth accumulated can be enjoyed or redeployed towards new challenges.
• The Clinger–On: characterized by the desperate effort to hold just a little longer rather than acceptance of the end of one period and the opportunity to begin another
• The Transitional Talker: characterized by a shift to either sports broadcasting or the front office whereby the athlete accepts the end of one career, but can remain close to the sport he/she loves and begin something new.

Curt Schilling, the outspoken, bloody-sock hero of the Boston Red Sox 2004 World Series campaign, and todays pitcher for the opening game of the Red Sox 2007 season, has a few years left pitching at an elite level but in seeming anticipation of the next phase of his life, has begun charting a new, and less common, trajectory.

Last fall, Schilling together with partners Todd McFarlane (the famed comic book creator/writer, toy manufacturer, baseball fan and co-owner of the Edmonton Oilers hockey team) and   Robert “R.A.” Salvatore (a best selling author of fantasy fiction and creator of video game storylines)  launched a gaming company originally called Green Monster Games.

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After 6 months of dating, and tabloid-worthy rumors and speculation not far behind the kind of paparazzi press coverage Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan get, Tribune Co. today announced it had settled on a buyer. The newspaper and media giant will be sold to billionaire real estate investor, and local Chicagoan, Sam Zell for approximately $8.2b.

The share price for the purchase will be $34, a premium of approximately 6% over last weeks trading but in line with pricing from September, when Tribune Co. announced it was for sale. That price is less than the average 9.8x multiple of Price to EBIDTA for Tribune’s public competitors.

The transaction will occur in two tender offers, the first for 126m shares will close in the second quarter. The second, for the remaining shares will close in the fourth quarter. The company will borrow the money in two $4.2b increments to buy back the stock.  Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan will finance the deal.

Zell, who recently sold his Equity Office Properties Trust to Blackstone Group for $39b is personally investing $315m and will gain rights to a warrant entitling him to buy 40% of the company.   To reduce the debt load which, including borrowing for the purchase price, will exceed $14b, Zell has announced a plan to sell the Chicago Cubs baseball team at the close of the current baseball season.  It’s also a possibility that Zell will consider selling the LA Times property to Eli Broad and Ron Burkle, the LA-based investors who lost out in their bid for Tribune to Zell.

With Tribune a private company, Zell and his management team, will have a better situation to turn around the company than if it remained public.

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In the animation world, Pixar has been king for the past decade.  After spinning off from  Lucas Film in 1985, being bought by Steve Jobs, and eventually going public, the company found its footing in the mid 90’s and became a dominant player in CGI animation.  Pixar’s string of hits started with Toy Story in 1995, and has followed with commercial and licensing successes for nearly all its major releases since:  A Bugs Life in 1998, Toy Story 2 in 1999, Monsters Inc in 2001, Finding Nemo in 2003, The Incredibles in 2004, Cars in 2006 and more on the way.

On January 31st, Ed Catmull co-founder and former President of Pixar, one time CTO of Pixar and now head of the joint Pixar Disney Animation Studio (following Disney’s $7.4b acquisition of Pixar last year) spoke at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business Entrepreneurship Conference.  

In his presentation, Dr. Catmull spoke about process and culture at Pixar; Effectively, things that are part of the company’s recipe for success that have been learned with trial and error.  Many of these points, along with others made in an interview with some students (found here) translate across business markets and seem smart managerial practice. 

While he gave the speech some time ago now, there are 4 management lessons I took from his speech and interview which  I’ve been wanting to put to paper:

Look for what’s wrong, not just what’s right:

Early on, Pixar created a structure with programmers, animators and producers that differed from standard practice in the industry.  The thought was a more equal peer system coupled with an “open door” “easy access” process would make for a healthy culture.  Turned out, there were problems lurking and they were almost missed. 

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Last week Ticketmaster announced the purchase of a majority stake in Nashville based music marketing/fan-club/fan-ticketing company Echomusic.   The terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

Echomusic, which  provides musician fan-websites, marketing, sponsorship services and direct-to-fan ticketing, will help with Ticketmaster’s (a division of Interactive Corp.) efforts to move into broader promotion, and non-traditional ticket sales (resale, dynamic pricing, direct-to-fan).   It will also give Ticketmaster more tools for building relationships with bands and promotions and  that may increase revenue opportunities from channels beyond the ticket-fee charges that account for the bulk of their revenue.   (Ticketmaster earned $279.1 in revenue for Q4 2006, up 10% over ’05). 

Despite the benefits of the deal, the deal is, arguably, as much defensive  for Ticketmaster as offensive. Click to Read More

High profile executives aren’t unlike many professional athletes when it comes to retirement; neither stay quiet for long.   It doesn’t matter whether departure was voluntary or forced, or whether success was motivated by love of the game, or the ego stimulation of being a celebrity.  The thrill of competition and the excitement of a big deal are powerful stimulants and tempting lures.

On September 30, 2005 Michael Eisner resigned from Disney a year before his contract expired.  Mr. Eisner seems to have spent much of the time since doing the corporate equivalent of autograph signings: he’s been a fixture on high profile speaking tours.  He’s also been host of his own MSNBC talk show.

It now looks like Eisner is quietly setting the stage to get back into the game through his current business entity The Tornante Company.   The small, Beverley Hills based, company seems to be something of a private equity firm focusing on New Media and Entertainment properties.  (Whether Tornante is capitalized solely by Eisner, or with other investors is unclear.)

Since April 2006, Tornante has made two publicly announced deals. Click to Read More