Inside the Technology Revolution

Continued

PROFIT: Do you think that's a characteristic of particular people? What really encourages that kind of behavior?

GREENBAUM: One of the nice things about our version of capitalism in this society is that we are very forgiving. Bankruptcy laws are unique in the United States in allowing someone who has failed in one endeavor to come back and succeed in another. For those of us who grew up in this culture that emphasizes not just success but redemption from failure, it is a freeing kind of mentality that says, "I obviously want to go out and do the very best job that I can. But if I don't do it, I will be able to come back again and have a second, third, fourth, and fifth act." I think that is a unique part of our culture and one that, frankly, is what really makes Silicon Valley what it is today.

PROFIT: How is innovation changing as the technology infrastructure changes?

GREENBAUM: What I find most interesting about innovation in general and in the software industry in particular is that innovation is always chasing commoditization. To be innovative, you have to keep moving up the food chain. Today's innovation is tomorrow's commodity. When I look at what has been really innovative in the last 30 years, these are innovations at a basic level of technology that are working pretty well now. When I look at innovation today, I am looking for innovation at a higher level than what we thought of 30, 20, 10, even 5 years ago: innovation at the business process level, innovation that concerns itself with how we actually work together, as humans and as enterprises, and what we can do to make that process faster, better, and cheaper. That innovation has to start now, from a higher base level of technology.

PROFIT: Can you give us an example of genuine business process innovation?

GREENBAUM: I think that internet commerce was that kind of innovation. Just the kinds of simple things that we do today on Amazon.com or eBay represent true innovation in how businesses interact with one another and how they interact with consumers.

PROFIT: You've been watching Oracle for some time. What's your perspective on the 30th anniversary? What does it say about Oracle that the company is that old?

GREENBAUM: It says a lot about Oracle and a lot about Larry Ellison, that his success was not a fluke. This is not a fly-by-night dot-com boom-and-bust kind of company. This is a company that has actually been providing long-term value for 30 years. It says a lot about the pervasiveness of the core relational database technology that Oracle pioneered and how this has become an essential infrastructure for society and business.