Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D.

@dberkholz.com

1520 Followers 735 Following

SVP Platforms, Architecture & Research, Sabre. Everything from AI to Kubernetes to mainframes, value streams to UX to platforms. Prev: (S)VP Percona/Docker/CWT, analyst 451/RedMonk, biophysicist Mayo Clinic/Oregon State, OSS Gentoo. Opinions mine.

Picture of a snowy backyard with some pine trees. There's part of an indoor Christmas tree in the foreground, decorated with ornaments and ribbon.
Picture that says: Average pace: 11’57”/mi
View of the Portland, Maine, harbor from Luke’s Lobster
A craft beer at a pool bar with an ocean in the background
Picture of POS that says July 29, 2004.
Me holding a small dark beer outdoors at a brewery. It’s sunny out, and there’s a large beer kettle behind me.
Bryan Pitts and Hayley Brooks presenting at MinneBar
A laptop on a table in a hotel room, with a view of Vegas through the window. The laptop is showing a livestream of a conference keynote.
Me wearing a white straw hat with a black band
Screenshot showing biological age of 26. That's 17.3 years younger than my calendar age.
Breakfast at a diner. The plate has egg whites covered with hot sauce and pepper, grilled ham, and a couple of slices of buttered sourdough toast.
A laptop on a stand in a coffee shop with an African theme. A cup of tea sits next to the laptop.
Screenshot of weather app
If there is one topic on which the author moralises, it is the doctrine that executives should seek to maximise shareholder value. Its proponents have “often ended up destroying not only shareholder value but also the very businesses that their abler and better-motivated predecessors had created,” he writes. What follows is a litany of iconic firms that were run into the ground by managers in pursuit of short-term profits, from Imperial Chemical Industries (a 20th-century pharmaceuticals giant that discovered beta-blockers) to Sears, Roebuck (a once-mighty American retailer). The core of Mr Kay’s argument is that it is so difficult to decide what will ultimately create or destroy value that executives are better off simply focusing on building “great businesses”. So what is a company for, if not maximising shareholder value? The author’s answer is “the flourishing of the multiple stakeholders of the corporation: employees, investors, suppliers and customers, the communities in which it operates and the corporation itself”.
Weather forecast of 7°F with a windchill of -5°F
Old analog thermostats from the 1990s
Island-themed artwork that says Key West Bistro
Me in a fully zipped parka with the hood up, walking outside in a park
Me in a college dorm room, circa 2000
An individual-sized French dessert called feuilletine praline cake, on a table at a bakery with a fork and knife resting on the plate. Looking out the window.
Me in June 2023, in a lounge chair, significantly overweight