More Advice for CEO's

Last week, I shared some advice for CEO's as gleaned from colleagues at Enterprise Irregulars. A few more chimed in this week, and I thought I'd share some more advice to enterprise software industry CEO's.

Greg Gianforte

• Fix your messaging finally. It's been a problem way too long. Everything else is getting to be so right.

John Chambers

• Get serious about SaaS. It sells more routers.
• Explain to us again why you are going after HP's far lower margin server business and pissing a bull off which is 3 times your size?
  

Larry Ellison

• Give it up on the cloud already. You know you need it and so many of your execs and customers love it.
• Be a better partner or be ganged up on.

Leo Apotheker

• Choose your co-CEO now.
• Get your message straight. You're not an "in memory, end to end process, SaaS and Cloud hybrid model committed, whatever else you think you are" company. You're an enterprise solutions provider with more innovation than you ever let on. Let people know that. There's nothing to be ashamed of and its still "hip."

Marc Benioff

• Love you, keep up the innovation, but stop interrupting your partners and customers onstage. Looks REALLY bad. AND show up ontime to your keynotes. The attendees' time is valuable too. Plus Service Cloud 2, Sales Cloud 2, Custom Cloud 2 and Chatter aren't 4 "clouds." Finally, please, keep growing your philanthropy. That's our view into your real heart - and it does SO much good for so many.

Mark Hurd

• Time to leave. You're killing HP.

Randall Stephenson

• The Fake Steve Jobs only threatened. The real Steve Jobs will fly over and smash your face with a rock if you keep trying to "incentize" iPhone customers to use less of your network.

Sam Palmisano

• AARP will honor you this year for being most committed to technology elders. Your data centers, Lotus, Tivoli and other software portfolio, and your average SAP consultant all are the oldest in the business.

Steve Ballmer

• I don't know what to make of you or your company anymore. That's not a good thing. Figure out what it takes to get your customers and folks like us to make SOMETHING of you.

Zach Nelson

• Keep fixing customer service. Lay off the stupid anti-SAP campaign. Its neither clever, cute, nor wins you anything. You've got a good thing going with your product now. Get in alignment with that. Keep integrating social features as you are doing now. Way to go.

More great advice there from some really smart, experienced people. If you have any to add, just put in your comment below or at http://dbmoore.blogspot.com/. Thanks!