It wouldn’t be right to produce any content today without paying homage to World Cup Soccer, so before we talk about our Two for Friday, let’s take a moment to salute the worlds biggest sporting event! Good luck to all the teams and fans of this amazing event and congratulations to the host country Brazil for their early win.
Today was a rich environment for content and while it was tough, the two topics for today will hopefully be of great interest to you. One of them involves a bold move by Tesla Motors. We’ve said it before but in case you didn’t already know, we LOVE bold moves by manufacturing companies and Elon Musk has been a great source of exciting things for us to discuss in the US Manufacturing sector. The other involves Caterpillar’s Twitter account, which seems like an odd thing but it will make sense when you read why it’s important.
- All Our Patent Are Belong To You
- Why In The World Would Anyone Follow Caterpillar On Twitter?
All Our Patent Are Belong To You
This week on the Tesla Blog an article by Elon Musk addressed the world with innovation, humor and courage. The idea of going directly against the insane trend of patent hoarding was an innovative and courageous approach. It’s great to see a leader looking at the big picture and doing something that no-one would expect. In this case the case was made that for Electric Car technology to progress and meet the demands of the world, Tesla won’t be able to do it alone.
Technology leadership is not defined by patents, which history has repeatedly shown to be small protection indeed against a determined competitor, but rather by the ability of a company to attract and motivate the world’s most talented engineers. We believe that applying the open source philosophy to our patents will strengthen rather than diminish Tesla’s position in this regard. -Elon Musk
Musk is not affraid to use the legal system, but he picks his battles, you might have recently read about how he was challenging the US Airforce for what he called a “Launch Monopoly”. In the process he made some great points, why should the Airforce (U.S. Tax Payers) pay more than they have to? Musk claimed in that case that SpaceX could do it cheaper, a whole lot cheaper in fact.
The humor part is the reference to the 1989 “All your base are belong to us” meme. It’s refreshing to see a leader who is unafraid, unapologetic and eager to change the world for the better without being too serious all the time.
The message is resonating too, the feedback I saw in the comments and on social media have been very encouraging.
Why In The World Would Anyone Follow Caterpillar On Twitter
Twitter is difficult for many to understand in fact even as a self professed technology advocate I struggled to get comfortable with it when I first started using it. This article points out that Twitter can be useful and Caterpillar was a great example because of the non-techie image of tractors and heavy equipment it imposes on most of us.
“It’s not just Jay-Z or an NFL player.” says Russ Laraway, Twitter’s Senior Director, SMB. “And Caterpillar isn’t the only example. You’ll find companies like Raytheon, Siemens and Honeywell who are also very active. And there are thousands more in the B2B space.”
If you are looking for a place to potentially edge out your competitors, or start conversations with people in your industry this article by Gene Marks is a great starting point.
Until Next Time
Here’s to you for dropping by to read another Two for Friday. Enjoy World Cup, your family, following Caterpillar on Twitter, or whatever else excites you. I hope you’ll swing by again next week or check out some of our other Two for Friday editions if you’re a new reader.
