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You know, auxiliary stuff like business socks. https://www.evernote.com/market/feature/socks-en_CA?sku=SOCK00106 https://www.evernote.com/market/feature/socks-

You know, auxiliary stuff like business socks. https://www.evernote.com/market/feature/socks-en_CA?sku=SOCK00106 https://www.evernote.com/market/feature/socks-en_CA?sku=SOCK...

PhantomGremlin 11y ago
Unbelievable. Too much VC money sloshing around. I know that there's a lot of groupthink in the VC community, and so CEOs aren't always selected strictly on merit. But even I, with no executive experience whatsoever, would know not to OK something like that. As Saint Steven once put it: I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things. Why didn't this dialog take place in a board meeting? CEO: thanks for the hundreds of millions of dollars you've invested in us. Here's something new we've done. We're putting your money to good use. WE HAVE SOCKS FOR SALE!!! non-spineless Board of Directors: That's great. Let's all just go back to your office and help you clean out your desk. Then we'll escort you out of the building and the rest of us will reconvene to discuss finding a better steward for the hundreds of millions of dollars we've given you. Edit: just to emphasize, the quote above was from Jobs discussing focus: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/629613-people-think-focus-means-saying-yes-to-the-thing-you-ve http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/629613-people-think-focus-me... IMO startups that aren't making money and that keep having to do rounds of financing need to, most of all, FOCUS. Evernote board should be chanting: FOCUS! FOCUS! FOCUS!
- bduerst 11y ago
  I'm pretty sure it came from branching out into workspace inventory, like monitor stands, and then jumped into business accessories, like laptop bags and (yes) socks. The margins are already so thick that they probably only had to sell a few to break even.
  - sherifmansour 11y ago
    But I do think, this is precisely the point they are trying to fix. They all seem like logical moves in themselves, but when you look at them in combination, it's clear an overarching strategy is lacking. From Socks to Evernote Business to Recepie capture..
robwilliams 11y ago
Oh my god, this has to be a joke. The lines "We've got you covered" and "It's your business" are too bad to be real.

You know, auxiliary stuff like business socks. https://www.evernote.com/market/feature/socks-en_CA?sku=SOCK00106 https://www.evernote.com/market/feature/socks-en_CA?sku=SOCK...

PhantomGremlin 11y ago

Unbelievable. Too much VC money sloshing around. I know that there's a lot of groupthink in the VC community, and so CEOs aren't always selected strictly on merit. But even I, with no executive experience whatsoever, would know not to OK something like that. As Saint Steven once put it: I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things. Why didn't this dialog take place in a board meeting? CEO: thanks for the hundreds of millions of dollars you've invested in us. Here's something new we've done. We're putting your money to good use. WE HAVE SOCKS FOR SALE!!! non-spineless Board of Directors: That's great. Let's all just go back to your office and help you clean out your desk. Then we'll escort you out of the building and the rest of us will reconvene to discuss finding a better steward for the hundreds of millions of dollars we've given you. Edit: just to emphasize, the quote above was from Jobs discussing focus: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/629613-people-think-focus-means-saying-yes-to-the-thing-you-ve http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/629613-people-think-focus-me... IMO startups that aren't making money and that keep having to do rounds of financing need to, most of all, FOCUS. Evernote board should be chanting: FOCUS! FOCUS! FOCUS!

bduerst 11y ago
I'm pretty sure it came from branching out into workspace inventory, like monitor stands, and then jumped into business accessories, like laptop bags and (yes) socks. The margins are already so thick that they probably only had to sell a few to break even.
- sherifmansour 11y ago
  But I do think, this is precisely the point they are trying to fix. They all seem like logical moves in themselves, but when you look at them in combination, it's clear an overarching strategy is lacking. From Socks to Evernote Business to Recepie capture..

robwilliams 11y ago

Oh my god, this has to be a joke. The lines "We've got you covered" and "It's your business" are too bad to be real.