Roese on the Next Thing

By Mark Evans | Published: August 19, 2008

Nortel CTO John Roese
Just in case you missed it, Nortel CTO John Roese did a Q&A with the Globe & Mail’s Gord Pitts. I absolutely, positively love the first question, which Roese handles fairly well, although he would have been better off by saying “I’m not a visionary but I do have some passion for new trends and ideas”.

Q: You are often described as a visionary. How do you do that?

A: It’s the combination of having an opinion and a big mouth. I believe this industry is sometimes lacking a vision – not because there is no vision but people do not articulate it well.

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  • Anonymous

    I believe he was talking about Nortel specifically there…:-)

  • J Gobbels

    I think its more because they don't have a vision.

    ” If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.””

  • exnt

    I got vision, you listenin? I keep my eye on the ball, you know, eyeball! That's a joke son. I keep firin em and they keep goin over yo head! Pay attention! Hyperconnectivity is the thing, the only thing, the biggest thing! Why Hyperconnectivity will be bigger than big! What's that yo say, will it help Nortel? Boy, that's not important! I am the CTO, not the big ole genie of Nortel's stock price..that's Mike Z, and boy is he ever smart! So smart he took the stock price from $30 to $5 without even liftin a finger! Hansome devil too!

  • exnt2

    thoughts on John's scratch pad.

    good question. tough I dont f****** know. Z has made this company a total mess. no leading lines or segments. what should i cut. where should i invest. crap. there is nothing that can be done. hmmm lets see. trumpet hyperconnectivity. PBT is failing. MetroNext is going to be canned. wireless is almost in the toilet. hmmm hyperconnectivty. thats the only way. appear confident. beat the drum.

    build up my profile so I can be hired in 2 years when this is over.

  • broadbandbill

    The biggest joke in the telecom world – John has no prior experience in either wireless or telecom markets, which represents the majority of Nortel’s revenues. Imagine leading a global R&D organization based on INEXPERIENCE!!! At best, irresponsible; at worst, criminal. And they wonder why they are where they are….–bb

  • commentor

    Hiring Roese was the biggest joke and mistake MikeZ did. I think he spoke soo much during the interview he fooled MikeZ who had no clue about what John was saying. The fact is R&D is struggleing under this person because they just can not explain anything to this guy before he takes over the coversation and starts yapping. That is why the CTO office, almost 3 years after the fact is still a uselless entity within Nortel.

    I feel sorry for all the great minds at Nortel, all the true visionaries and the experts (and are lots of them inside) I feel sorry that they are led by this big mouth!. Exnt2 is right, he may be in the move soon (just look at his history).

  • broadbandbill

    I would like to see the CEO show some courage and FIRE this useless idiot; his bet on MIMO-only WiMax may have cost Nortel billions and even ensured that Nortel never EVER has any impact in the wireless space. John Roese is the John Scully of today; talks the talk but could never walk the walk!! –bb

  • Another Nortel Watcher

    BB – very good analogy but in my opinion the combination of Mike Z, John Roese, Choker Hackney, and Richard Lowe are all the John Scullys of today. The rest of Mike Z's hires and appointments are even worse because they're irrelevant.

    This cabinet team is tanking the company. Where is the board? Why don't they act? For ***** sake, what evidence do they need? Do they understand their role? My lawyer understands their role and he's chomping at the bit to go after them.

  • Nortelhand

    My feeling is the same as others. Mike Z has taken Nortel to new lows all the while making a lot of money for himself. He has hired YES men. Do you notice how Mike Z is not talking up Nortel in the press any longer? No fire side chats? No vision statements? Nothing on how Nortel will be great AGAIN? This guy has raped Nortel for his own pocket. Any guesses as to when Nortel is going from the 5s to the 4s?

  • Shackled

    Someone told me Z's contract was up at the end of August. Can anyone confirm or provide more details (if any)?

  • Observer

    Vision is overrated in communications and information technology. The entire industry is turning into a commodity and “services” – a buzzword for companies that really just sell customers things they don't need or want. Every company including Nortel throws around words like “services” which don't mean anything. The only meaningful growth the last 8 years has been in video and application acceleration (which in the context of increased bandwidth) isn't really anything revolutionary. Market shares have not meaningfully changed in the equipment space save for Huawei. The only word that comes to mind for the internet/communications/technology sector is commodity. As someone once said, there's no 'there' there.

  • unknown

    The funniest part is in the numbers:
    Revenue B/(W)

    Q2 2008 YoY QoQ
    Carrier Networks $1,038 (2%) (15%)
    Enterprise Solutions $ 610 3% (5%)
    Global Services $ 536 9% 4%
    Metro Ethernet Networks $ 378 4% 16%
    Other $ 60 5% 7%

    I assume other = CTO office? and how many r&d folks are there in the CTO office at NT? how many in other divisions?

  • Observer

    Vision is overrated in communications and information technology. The entire industry is turning into a commodity and “services” – a buzzword for companies that really just sell customers things they don't need or want. Every company including Nortel throws around words like “services” which don't mean anything. The only meaningful growth the last 8 years has been in video and application acceleration (which in the context of increased bandwidth) isn't really anything revolutionary. Market shares have not meaningfully changed in the equipment space save for Huawei. The only word that comes to mind for the internet/communications/technology sector is commodity. As someone once said, there's no 'there' there.

  • unknown

    The funniest part is in the numbers:
    Revenue B/(W)

    Q2 2008 YoY QoQ
    Carrier Networks $1,038 (2%) (15%)
    Enterprise Solutions $ 610 3% (5%)
    Global Services $ 536 9% 4%
    Metro Ethernet Networks $ 378 4% 16%
    Other $ 60 5% 7%

    I assume other = CTO office? and how many r&d folks are there in the CTO office at NT? how many in other divisions?

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