This last week has been a whirlwind for us. Even though we are still in the planning stages, on Saturday I flew back from New York to San Jose so I could spend a few days at HP navigating through the organization. We conducted some excellent introductory meetings on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Yesterday started off with a quick interview on CNBC. I was then toured through HP Labs and (OMG) I can’t tell you how excited I was to meet the team. I even had a chance to meet an HP Fellow… I was captivated to say the least. Phil had to peel me off of the ceiling when we were done.
I also met Mark Hurd and Shane Robison in person, whom as you know have been key in HP’s recent success. Though meeting Mark and Shane was fantastic and I appreciated their time, the highlight (and somewhat moving) moment of the day was when I visited Dave and Bill’s old office’s in HP Labs.
Phil McKinney described this experience to us many times, and if anyone knows Phil you’ll know that he has a way with words and he can paint a Picasso in just a matter of speaking. Words cannot describe the emotions that run through your body when you actually walk into Dave’s office and you see all the accolades memorialized on his walls. When you walk into Bill’s office you’ll see on his desk his original notepad with notes that he took on his last day, his HP calculator, and a number of other loose items including his loose change. Judging by the way the offices have been memorialized it would seem to me that Bill and Dave always had an open door policy – you can actually see the fade in the floor from the doors being left open all the time (yeah the doors are still left open to this day). The level of care and attention given to Bill and Dave’s memorial at HP Labs was dumbfounding, almost a reminder to all HP employees that at HP’s core is a corporate culture rich with history and respect for others.
Although the deal isn’t officially closed, I speak for the entire Voodoo team when I say “thank you” to those of you who helped make this dream a reality. Obviously without HP’s renewed optimism stemming from Mark Hurd, Todd Bradley, Shane Robison, and of course Phil McKinney this deal would never have happened. ..then there are people on the team who really worked extra hard that we’d like to recognize today.
From HP: Paul Campbell, Mark Gerberman, and Stacy Donohue. Though many people had their hand in making this deal a reality -- you three are stars to the core -- no doubt you should be proud of yourselves. We would also like to thank Ann Finnie and Elizabeth Gillan for the extra hard work from the PR side.
From Voodoo: Although everyone at Voodoo is awesome, there are four people who knew what was going on and really helped make things happen. Angela Lowe, Des Brown, Paul Rintoul, and Trevor Kells. Great job guys! We will never forget the years we’ve had together and the many more to come.
Ravi and I would also like to thank Rupi and Asma, words can’t describe the support you have given us over the years. I’m just preparing you for the additional support we’ll need over the next ten ;-)
