Fred Kindle '88

1988

Hello team. Its mid-year and we're all at full speed at what we're doing. For many of us that's driving kids to sports, orthodontists, etc. But now it's time to communicate the latest happenings with '88ers. Well, I'm full speed on making the world a great place for great cell phones (By the time you read this, you'll see some really cool stuff in music and gaming come to market.), so not much time to pull information out of you. You have the email address: If you're motivated drop me a line sometime. I know everyone loves to hear about the happenings from colleagues, partners.

Probably one of the biggest stories I've heard of in terms of 88ers taking on positions of mass scale is Fred Kindle's selection as CEO of ABB in February. If you're unfamiliar, ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that operates in about 100 countries and employs about 115,000 people. Check Fred's little company out at www.abb.com. Fred has had a number of quotes, notable ones include: "I look forward to my new task at ABB. The know-how and commitment of the people at ABB, the reputation of the ABB brand and the strong global market position of the company provide an excellent foundation for an exciting and successful future." Do a Google search or what have you on Fred and ABB and you'll see a gaggle of articles praising ABB's selection of our Manfred. His note to me is typical Fred --- fairly modest and ready to move forward with this one.

Last month, I mentioned my meeting with Scott Ableman and how he's been dabbling with Internet commerce. Well, in June, Scott took a new position as chief marketing officer for a company called Inphonic Inc. This after, as I said, spending the last two years learning about e-commerce at Network Solutions. You'll be surprised to know you probably know Inphonic. They're the No. 1 retailer of wireless services on the Internet, with a more than 50 percent online market share --- and that's before Scott takes over! They are the underlying provider behind wireless phone sales on Yahoo! Shopping, MSN Mobile, AOL Wireless, Circuitcity.com, Buy.com and hundreds more, including a few brands of their own. Go ahead and peck around, you'll see them. Scott's new office is right on the waterfront in Georgetown, about a mile from the school where son Ethan and daughter Hannah are starting fourth grade and kindergarten, respectively, this fall. So, right, you guessed it ... Scott gets to drive the kids to school every day. As he puts it, "That's going to be important because I have a feeling I'll be working past their bedtime as Inphonic plans its IPO." The Internet is alive and well again.

Janet Kunz DeFrino checks in from Darien, Conn.: "After working part-time for 10 years as both a sell- and buy-side analyst, I've started an executive search firm focused on the hedge fund space. The firm, MUSE, is run by myself and two partners. We also have division, MUSE Network, that specializes in placing women in demanding part-time and consulting positions within the financial services community. My husband Peter '89 started a long/short equity hedge fund called Iron Horse Capital in August 2002. Our three children, Jack, Annie and Kate are 10, 8 and 6. We are still living in Darien, Conn."

Hope you are having a great summer. Not much new to report on my end. At the time I wrote this, the girls were planning a summer trip westward, to Colorado. I'll be in and out of Asia. Jamie becomes a Bat Mitzvah in October, need to start ordering stuff for that.

Hey, people, love to hear about your happenings, even if it's the mundane life decisions, like which minivan is right. So, I look forward to your email. Go ahead and use steve.langer@motorola.com as your place to make news!