"I'm a math guy, a big data guy. Companies can turn customers into fans by finding better and more personal ways to engage with them. "I move more information on our backbone in a day than Twitter moves in a month," he says. Related: The Top 10 Lessons Learned in the Trenches of Startup Year 1. In 2009, Malcolm Gladwell wrote about Ranadivé in The New Yorker, detailing how a man who had never touched a basketball disrupted the youth game while coaching his daughter… Basketball was a math problem, and that was something the girls could understand. When it comes to winning, speed is everything. That also makes a great company. I had to take a number of morale-improving steps to show them that I believed in them and our strategy. How David Beats Goliath When underdogs break the rules. "That first day, I was terrified I was going to make a fool of myself. That's why he joined another investor group led by business magnates Mark Mastrov and Ron Burkle, who were trying to buy the Kings. Overtime. Using his big data skills, and a team of coders that worked for Tibco, he built a social networking app for fans. There’s a growing competition in every industry. Once a fan signed up, "I own you, I know who you are, what you look like, what your household looks like, when you are sitting at game. They won all their games and went to the championship. The investors paid a record $450 million and Ranadive, the math guy, wanted to make a return on that. In Basketball, Skills Aren’t Everything. To execute a real, full-court press, my girls had to be fitter, faster and more aggressive than the competition. Conventions are made to be challenged. Attitude is everything. He had to sell his stake in the Warriors, and beat down a competing bid from Larry Ellison, but his investment team prevailed and bought the Kings for a new record of $550 million, he said. To actually see positive outcomes, businesses need to continuously process and analyze fast data in real time and take instant action. Together they were blessed with three children, namely; Aneel, Andre, and Anjali. Ranadive's vision is based on reading the future of basketball businesses and creating computing solutions in India. It’s not enough for companies to just collect data. Gladwell introduces Vivek Ranadivé, an Indian immigrant to the United States who lives in Silicon Valley and works for a software company. My girls contested the inbounder, disrupting the rhythm of the game. Ranadive notice Enterprises should be taking an offensive stance and act on events in real time. Many years later, when I was living in the USA, I was called to coach my then 12-year-old daughter's basketball team, despite me having never touched a basketball before that. Take advantage of that data to figure out what they want, when they want it, how they want it, and act on that in real time. Speed Wins. VIVEK Ranadive was married to his wife, Deborah Addicott, but they divorced at an unknown time. First tryst with basketball. Vivek Ranadive, the founder and CEO of Palo Alto’s Tibco Software, once famously coached his daughter’s basketball team from Redwood City … (Ron Burkle was initially part of the Kings bid, but backed out in April.). Rather than tell them how I thought the game should be played, I had to appeal to reason. By Vivek Ranadivé. Now he's 100% confident that big data will also turn that investment into a gold mine. Rich countries, poor countries - you don't need a lot of space like you do with cricket or soccer." Speed, working together, the right attitude and thinking outside the box all can yield positive results no matter what business you’re in. That makes them great. The challenge was how to leverage all the players in a way that would lead to victory. Tibco CEO Vivek Ranadive grew up in Mumbai, India, and had never touched a basketball in his life when he volunteered to coach his 12-year-old daughter's team in 2009. Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive returns home to Mumbai, India, to play the Indiana Pacers in NBA exhibition games. The typical rhythm of a basketball game goes like this: after a player scores, the other team has five seconds to inbound the ball. Sometimes, the inspiration to improve your business can be found no further away than your local basketball gym. It’s these companies that are more likely to turn customers into longtime, loyal fans that drive future revenue. And it's worth many times more [than what we paid]," he says. We had to think more strategically and find unorthodox approaches to the game. In Ranadive's words they were "little blond girls" who are the daughters of scientists and lawyers. He plans to have a similar impact on the world of basketball. SACRAMENTO — Vivek Ranadive, the controlling owner of the Sacramento Kings, is a true believer. I never touched a basketball, didn't know what a layup was. Through conditioning, we were a low-latency team. Taus Rizvi is all ears This was not your conventional winning team. 'I would love to bring basketball, Bollywood, fashion and cricket together', says Vivek Ranadive - Indian-American businessman Vivek Ranadive, Sacramento Kings owner, talks about bringing basketball to India and scope of game in country. For starters, I never raised my voice at the girls. NEW ORLEANS -- Few people, if any, have a stronger desire to see the sport of basketball flourish in India than Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive. I was pleasantly surprised, as were the girls, to find what helped me succeed in business worked to the basketball court, and vice versa. Enterprises should be doing the same. Several years ago I took on the challenge of coaching my daughter’s middle school basketball team. Exhibit an unshakable belief in people and they don’t want to let you down. Her father, So when Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and hedge fund magnate Chris Hansen wanted to buy another California NBA team, the Sacramento Kings, and move it to Seattle, the "the mayor called me" he said. This is the case in business, as well. They will connect with customers much more intimately. SACRAMENTO, CA - APRIL 2: Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and his daughter, Anjali Ranadive, entertain the fans during halftime of the Los Angeles Lakers against the Sacramento Kingsat Sleep Train Arena on April 2, 2014 in Sacramento, California. Companies that do this well, and fast, have a leg-up on their competitors. [1] But he was sharp. I wanted to spend more time with her, and the team was without a … They played "full-court press" and blocked passes, double-teamed the best players and blocked inbound balls. Lacking much skill, but we had to disrupt that flow. They were underdogs but we turned that to our advantage. They actually perform better. The Mumbai native grew up playing soccer and cricket on the sands of Juhu Beach but ultimately became enchanted with basketball years after becoming a wealthy tech innovator in Silicon Valley. Typically, this goes uncontested. Related: What Being Punched in the Face Taught Me About Business. The problem was I had never even touched a basketball. But a coach can’t just force players to buy into such a system. We had two experienced players, but the rest of the team, like me, had never played the game. - and realized speed was our advantage. Work like a jazz band. These were girls who spent their time solving math problems and dreaming of becoming marine biologists, not playing sports. Growing up in Mumbai, I was a huge cricket fan. I did, and do, know how to run a business, however. I wanted to create a fun environment where the girls were motivated to work harder and smarter by the prospect of success, not by the threat of negativity. It all came together as a symphony but it wasn’t the structured music of a marching band like the other teams. Several years ago I took on the challenge of coaching my daughter’s middle school basketball team. I converted the game with a math equation and came up with a way to win every single game," he says. They couldn’t shoot. Vivek Ranadivé decided to coach his daughter Anjali’s basketball team although he knew nothing about basketball. Hire smart people, give them the freedom to improvise and innovate, take advantage of their unique strengths. Since his girls didn't have the skills to compete by traditional methods, his formula was to have them grab possession of the ball as much as possible. Why have so few adopted it? Mr. Ranadive was asked a series of questions and … He asked him to buy the team and leave it in Sacramento. Be a low-latency business. Anjali is a twenty-four year old musician who has had the likes of French Montana and Tyga featured on her songs. However, majority team owner Vivek Ranadive's daughter is a sight for sore eyes - for both Kings and non-Kings fans. I wanted to spend more time with my daughter, so I foolishly volunteered,"he told Business Insider with a laugh. "We're building a new arena, which I personally guaranteed, and we're off to a great start. “Muskrat” and “Bubbles” were two of our favorites. Like most Indian-Americans of his generation, 55-year-old Ranadive is a big cricket fan and had never really played basketball — till he had to coach his daughter Anjali and her basketball team of 12-year-old girls for the National Junior Basketball championship or … What Being Punched in the Face Taught Me About Business, The Top 10 Lessons Learned in the Trenches of Startup Year 1, What the NFL Taught Me About Being a Motivated Entrepreneur, What My Father's Early Departure Taught Me About Business. David vs. Goliath. We played more like an improvisational jazz band, agile, quick and adaptable to changes, resulting in a beautifully orchestrated force. Basketball "is a sport that lends itself to that," Ranadive said of the globalization effort. RANADIVE'S RELATIONSHIP TO basketball has never been conventional. But before all that, he had to face a crew of expectant 12-year-old girls on the first day of practice. We had to play in real time. Sunil Gavaskar was my idol. Those other dads were "7-foot tall, ex-Stanford players," Ranadive recalls. Vivek Ranadive is determined to return the Kings back to that throne. A few years back, Ranadivé was asked to coach his 12-year-old daughter’s basketball team, even though he knew nothing of the game. "It can be played in cities, it can be played in villages. By taking the unconventional approach, we were able to catch our opponents off-guard, which gave us the advantage. When Ranadivé becomes the coach of his daughter Anjali ’s basketball team, he decides to behave as he would at work—in a calm, measured manner. This is true at my company, as well. The companies that take the unorthodox approach can break through and succeed. That experience led to me falling in love with the sport. She is also quite the … It is no longer a struggle, if you have the right tools. I wanted to spend more time with her, and the team was without a coach. It let fans buy tickets and gear, but it also encouraged them to join a fan club, link it to their Twitter/Facebook accounts. The only problem was Ranadive had never even touched a basketball. Notice if there are any unique trends in how your competitors are operating. He never coached a girl’s basketball team, did not understand the game, and never even played the game before. He discovered basketball was a math problem. With Control4's Hot IPO, Cisco Turned $20 Million Into $40 Million, Greylock's Jerry Chen Wants To Become The Godfather Of A New VMware 'Mafia', Pennsylvania Kills An IBM Contract That's 3 Years Late And $60 Million Over Budget, EU sees carbon border levy as 'matter of survival' for industry, Oaktree, BlackRock Are Among YPF Creditors Organizing, Venezuela reopens flights to Panama and Dominican Republic, TC Energy shares fall on fears of KXL oil pipeline cancellation, Israel sharing COVID-19 data with Pfizer to help fine-tune vaccine rollout. In Chapter 1 of "David and Goliath," Gladwell brings up a story about a man Vivek Ranadive, the coach for his daughter Anjali's basketball team. When Vivek Ranadivé decided to coach his daughter Anjali’s basketball team, he settled on two principles. He’s a humble, brilliant person with a giving soul. When Vivek Ranadive decided to coach his daughter Anjali's basketball team, he settled on two principles. "I'm a single dad. If you redefine the business as a social network, capture it, find ways to expand it, then you can always find ways to monetize it. The first was that […] Why they are working? I didn't know what to do. He had missed the draft pick so his team was composed of the least experienced girls not picked by other dads/coaches. The girls didn’t come from athletic families. Ranadivé has also spoken various times of how his Indian heritage has shaped him. Our team parents were our biggest fans who supported us at every game. We went from last place to first place in new ticket sales. He’d never played it and hadn’t actually touched a basketball before. I made them run the whole first day and then I went and studied the game.". One time a fan tweeted about getting cold pizza, and the system promptly sent the guy info on how to get a free hot dog, Ranadive told us. "I'm a single dad. The tech CEO decided to use his lack of knowledge as an advantage to think outside the box. This is especially difficult, though, because he knows very little about basketball. These were 12-year-old girls with enough emotional growing pain in their lives. Kings owner Vivek Ranadive's plans for basketball's growth in India include preseason games in Mumbai, Delhi and a practice in front of the Taj Mahal, in addition to grassroots-level programs. So he volunteered to coach her 7th grade youth basketball team. No, in fact—the coaches were not used to playing that way. IE 11 is not supported. This would spark a love for the game that would eventually have him owning two professional teams, including beating out Steve Ballmer to buy the Sacramento Kings in May and, before that, beating out Larry Ellison to buy the Warriors. A single father to three children, he volunteered to coach a middle school girls basketball team, in hopes of spending more time with his daughter … They can't rely on size and strength. You don’t have to look to business gurus or books for the Holy Grail. In the 20th-century business world, corporations were structured and predictable like a Sousa marching band. Vivek Ranadive transformed the business world with his real-time technology. With Big Data, the amount of information companies can glean from their customers is huge. We had to play a full-court press, the entire game. Jazz musicians are often more courageous than other musicians. by Malcolm Gladwell May 11, 2009 A non-stop full-court press gives weak basketball teams a chance against far stronger teams. They weren’t tall or well coordinated. Related: What My Father's Early Departure Taught Me About Business. Just as there’s no reason our team should wait until the other team gets to our end of the court to start defending, there’s no value in receiving data that could increase a company’s sales a month after the event. We developed a math equation that would ensure we would win every time. Businesses, however, don’t have fans from the start and can no longer get away with purely a transactional relationship, not these days with so much competition from all directions. They didn’t need convincing to become fans. This was National Junior Basketball--the Little League of basketball. As a coach, I looked at the data on the court - the shot clock, the number of inbound passes, spatial geometry, shots made, the speed of our team vs. the others, etc. Vivek Ranadivé:: No. And we won, a lot. The first was that he would never raise his voice. Tibco CEO Vivek Ranadive grew up in Mumbai, India, and had never touched a basketball in his life when he volunteered to coach his 12-year-old daughter's team in 2009. We analyzed our opponents’ weaknesses and found most teams, immediately after scoring, retreat to defend their basket, giving their opponent the opportunity to inbound the ball to their teammate without pressure and execute a well-practiced play with precision. The companies that win are finding new, innovative ways of providing for their customers and turning them into fans. Rather than read off sheet music and march to the same beat, our team created its own sound, its own game. We had a cheer that was all about the attitude, with a little humor – “1,2,3, attitude, ha!”, Related: What the NFL Taught Me About Being a Motivated Entrepreneur. Good employees will do good work for you, regardless. They have faith in their ability to choose, create and dream. The result is beautiful music. Anjali's basketball team wasn't experienced like other basketball teams, they couldn't shoot, or dribble. He faced difficulty in his education as the Indian government refused to give foreign currency for him to attend ed… We played the game at a much higher and inexhaustible speed than anyone else, giving us a huge advantage over our bigger, stronger and more skilled competition. They learned the roles they each needed to play in this equation. I let them name our plays. I wanted to spend more time with her, and the team was without a coach. Whether you’re a CEO or a coach, there are a number of principles that apply to winning. Even on a ragtag team, everyone has a role to play and every one is vital to its success. He would also create a whole new big-data, mathematical method to make money as an owner. Anderson Cooper: Your daughter's opponents, they just weren't used to playing basketball like this. He believes in data. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Turn customers into fans. He has not played the game, but has the acumen as he coached his daughter Anjali’s U.S. school team to the state title. Vivek Ranadive (second from left) shares his ideas with with Kings coach Michael Malone. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a marine science degree in 2013. Several years ago I took on the challenge of coaching my daughter’s middle school basketball team. And in 2010, he was a basketball fan and jumped at a chance to join a team of investors buying the Golden State Warriors. Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive has some interesting strategic thoughts on the game of basketball. He became the team's vice chairman. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo) ... the girls on Ranadive’s daughter… Motivated and appreciated employees will do truly great work. That I saw to be a missed opportunity. Over the last century, however, enterprises have evolved a more jazz band-like environment, embracing ambiguity, risk and adventure. Vivek Ranadive wanted to spend more time with his daughter. And when you tweet that you had cold pizza, I know that.". He ran the app on Tibco's network, a huge realtime business-to-business network used by banks, insurance companies, hospitals, and airlines to send messages. Unlike most franchise owners, Vivek Ranadive’s passion for the sport came at a very late age. “When Vivek Ranadive decided to coach his daughter Anjali’s basketball team., he settled on two principles. 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