Tools to go remote: How Netgear's CEO stays connected
25/02/2021 05:00
By Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
NEW YORK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - When Patrick Lo co-founded
computing networking provider Netgear Inc NTGR.O in 1996, he
envisioned an online utopia in which "the internet was going to
drive everything."
Who would have guessed that the distant future Lo had
imagined would be here in a virtual flash?
"When the pandemic happened, that got compressed into a
1-1/2 year time frame," said Lo, 64, chief executive of the San
Jose, California-based supplier of networking hardware for
consumers, businesses and service providers.
"We've got Disney and Fox saying: 'We've got to do these new
releases online.' We have Peloton and people doing exercise and
personal coaching at home," Lo said. "That's a huge change."
Lo talked to Reuters about pivoting to a new normal in the
past year. Edited excerpts are below.
Q. How has this pandemic changed your business?
A. There are two really clear trends we started seeing in
the pandemic after about three months into it.
The first is on the consumer side: there is a segment of the
market which demands the best Wi-Fi internet experience bar
none, no matter what the cost is. To them the activities are now
100% conducted online - work, homeschooling their kids,
exercising, entertainment, Zoom parties, Zoom dinners.
In many of these families, there are three to four family
members, and they can't interfere with each other while they
work, so they separate themselves. That means there has got to
be enough bandwidth.
Work, school and other activities are conducted at corners
of their houses far away from each other. So Wi-Fi must cover
all ends of the home. That's not cheap - it's $1,000 to $1,500 a
system. We've seen tremendous pickup in this particular segment.
The second trend is protecting online activity from cyber
attacks. They want to make sure they keep an eye on their kids.
We're seeing these same trends in Europe and Asia big time.
Q. What has your focus been, as a result, when it comes to
new products?
A. The products that we have with the best coverage and
speed for everybody have been around for more than a year, but
they didn't pick up strongly until the pandemic.
What we're seeing right now is that the service providers
are responding to it. Here (in the Bay Area), Comcast is
offering two gigabit internet - and then you have Samsung, which
just brought out a phone supporting two gigabit internet.
Because of this, we're rolling out Wi-Fi that can support two
gigabit internet.
We're getting feedback from parents on the software side.
They want a feature in smart parental control software that
builds in awards, like, "If you're a good kid, I'll give you two
more hours of Facebook."
This won an Innovation Award at CES (the annual technology
trade show in December) and rolls out in the middle of March.
Q. What's the best job advice you've received?
A. When I was at Hewlett-Packard, David Packard was still
there. He said, "Patrick, you could be smart, you could be
hardworking and that's good, that's fundamental, but to progress
in any organization you need two forces. You need pull and
push."
You've got to push as hard as you can. You've got to work
hard and be willing to volunteer to do more work. But the pull
is equally important - you've got to have a mentor several
levels above you who will pull you along, then you will be
successful.
Q. What are your new work rituals?
A. I go biking at least four days a week, all by myself, and
on my neighborhood side streets that have very little traffic.
It gives me quiet downtime for an hour on weekdays, which I
didn't use to have.
I do this during the workday. Every time, I come up with new
ideas, so it's really good. Also, it's making me exercise, which
enables me to tell myself, "OK, now you can eat more."
(Reporting by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan; Editing by Lauren Young and
Richard Chang)