Last Saturday, I was ducking the rainy weather from the comforts of my couch, flipping channels between the Cal/Oregon game and reruns of a couple of old Bond films: The World is not Enough and Tomorrow Never Dies. Obviously, they’re being re-run to spark up interest in the new Bond film, Quantum of Solace (http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/quantumofsolace/?sr=hotnews), and seeing the older films alongside the newest trailer really highlighted the stark contrast in tone.

The older films, which came out in 1997 and 1999, were a reflection of the times: glitzy, ridiculous bad guys, fun new technologies (remember the shot of Pierce Brosnan in the backseat of his BMW, giddily remote driving it with his cell phone?) - the movies are even shot in bright, vibrant colors. The 2008 version of Bond is the complete opposite - from the trailer, the movie looks like it’s shot in grainy, sandy tones, and he’s covered in dirt and blood after doing battle. Even the normally pristine Aston Martin is in real need of a carwash. I’m pretty sure you’re not going to find lines like “I thought Christmas only came once a year” in Quantum of Solace. (Yech.)

Ok, so what’s my point? What I realized was that the Bond films, in order to be successful, have to reflect the times - and our product needs to do the same. 2007 was very different from early 2008, and even early 2008 was VERY different from late 2008, so our challenge here at Cake Financial is to adapt quickly and then adapt some more.

My gut tells me that at the right point in time, investors were very interested in finding other savvy investors, to trade some tips and brag a little about their wins. My gut tells me now that the emphasis has shifted the other way, that most people are hunkering down into protect mode, assessing their personal situation, watching and waiting for signs of recovery. They’re looking for areas to place bets, and to figure out when to place those bets. And so our product needs to reflect that - quickly.

So, we’re taking those steps to move quickly. We’ve reorganized the team, we’ve even reorganized the office for functional groups to sit closer together. Product is now at the center of the storm of activity. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be reorganizing our product and rolling out some new features to better help you manage your investments. As the changes roll out, I’ll post here to our blog to let you know about them, and also about anything we learn along the way. If you have thoughts, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

As Q always says to Bond, “oh, grow up, 007!” We’ll be growing with the needs of our users.