mathattack

583 ms·

1. 7771.▲
   by mathattack 15y ago

   Don't short sell the value of continuous learning. If I have two resumes of people 5 years out of school, both appeared to do equal quality work, and one spent a few years getting the online masters, that would be the resume that sticks ou
2. 7772.▲
   by mathattack 15y ago

   Technology predictions are very tough. (Look at The Road Ahead - missed the Internet ahead) Anything that survived 7 years should be considered a gem that's beyond technology and more about the humanities. (I mean this in the sense of be
3. 7773.▲
   by mathattack 15y ago

   Having style is knowing when confetti is "Voice" versus "Clutter." Great small companies have more room to have Voice. It is very hard for large companies to have it. Or the larger they get, the more they worry about offending someone. T
4. 7774.▲
   by mathattack 15y ago

   There are two way to interpret, "Never Give Up" 1 - Never Give Up on the current project. 2 - Never Give Up on big ideas. Hang in there and heed PG's advice on #2. It's very small consolation, but you're 20 months smarter and wiser than wh
5. 7775.▲
   by mathattack 15y ago

   Good points. Your annecdote about your brother is captures the truism that interviews and resumes are only a substitue for knowledge of someone's real ability. This is why references from employees (smart engineers know others) is much mo
6. 7776.▲
   by mathattack 15y ago

   This does capture yet another benefit of Apple's model of simplicity. Sales and operations become more streamlined when it's not management by committee. It puts a lot of pressure on the top and can make for being a difficult business par
7. 7777.▲
   by mathattack 15y ago

   Thanks for sharing
8. 7778.▲
   by mathattack 15y ago

   In full disclosure I didn't. I am just throwing out opinions from the cheap seats. :-)
9. 7779.▲
   by mathattack 15y ago

   Thanks for posting. xkcd is great at pointing out the foibles in technology.
10. 7780.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    This is tough for both. Who that is capable would want the new CEO spot? And the chairman will be in pressure to sell the firm. Perhaps a private equity firm will buy and split the pieces? In many senses, a damaged technology firm loses
11. 7781.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    If I buy something, and the vendor screws up, if they give me a bunch of excuses, I am more likely to think they'll screw up again. If the vendor takes personal responsibility, there is less chance that they'll make the same mistake again.
12. 7782.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    Agree on taking responsibility. There are a lot of excuses he could have made: economy, bad PR firm, etc. By taking blame he can now move on to fix things.
13. 7783.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    The Frankenstein problem is huge. Look at the clutter on Yahoo versus Google. Absolutely captures the difference in focus and culture. Frankenproducts are a sign of a bloated middle management that isn't willing to make a stand on win-los
14. 7784.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    She was dealt a tough hand. Very few firms have second lives and very few innovation firms can cost cut to greatness. Motorola is a more frequent outcome than Apple.
15. 7785.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    Travel (even if short term) increases cultural awareness and creativity - there is a payoff too.
16. 7786.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    This book was one of a small list on an informal sales training class that I took. After reading it, I started to get impatient when people didn't follow it. Every time I'd get a monster slide deck sales presentation on a firm, I would th
17. 7787.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    It's actually that they don't want people to lose a day of effectiveness to save money. Some quick math - for an investment bank, average wages can be as much as $400K/year. Divide that by 200 days, and you have someone getting paid $2,00
18. 7788.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    Organizations like Yelp live and die on their accuracy and predictive ability. If Netflix recommends movies you don't like, you will use it less. If Zagat allows too much personal preference, it will no longer be the gold (Maroon?) standa
19. 7789.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    I hear you and agree very much. Gladwell had an interesting article posted here recently about the racism of the Red Sox owner. The challenge is what to do about it? It would be VERY hard to regulate since the internet is so dispersed. Co
20. 7790.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    Interesting. Is this a civil rights issue or a libertarian issue? The libertarian in me says, "let the restaurants that don't comply lose their business". But then I think, would I feel the same about businesses (and government agencies!
21. 7791.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    There definitely seems to be two things going on: - Every year it gets easier to start a new business. - Every year big companies provide less job security. Combine this, and there is a move to free agency. This is great for people who can
22. 7792.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    Small business frequently uses credit for working capital. If you need 10k to front the cash for 5 more staff at your restaurant, why not? The business will grow. In general savings through austerity is better, but many companies would not
23. 7793.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    Now this is an interesting example of recursion in action. :-)
24. 7794.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    Planning doesn't mean slavery to the plan. But planning can be useful, even without 100 page slide decks to sleep through, or massive binders on the wall. Planning can help with: - How many talented developers might we need in 3 years? If
25. 7795.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    It will be interesting to see where Google lands on the spectrum of "don't discontinue anything" and "all eggs in a few baskets". IBM did well in the former, Apple the latter. Google almost seems to be taking the role of VC. Make many bets
26. 7796.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    There is a more subtle and generic message here: your product might sneak outside the target market despite best efforts. Be prepared to pivot. 37s actually has a huge opportunity if they choose to take it.
27. 7797.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    It's actually to keep people from trading on info before it's public. Every investor legally is entitled to get material info at the same time. Being this brutally honest as a firm isn't easy. Sometimes you withhold for what seems to be g
28. 7798.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    Good to see he hasn't let it get to his head. Still eating ramen suggests they're scrappy, and his post is about customers rather than an exit.
29. 7799.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    This seems natural. The same things reducing the cost of first movers also apply to second movers. The only way to win is to provide better value, either through getting network effects quicker, or innovating more. For better or worse the
30. 7800.▲
    by mathattack 15y ago

    The sad part is Stewart covers news better than most so called journalists.