Strategy is sexy. Operations is not. This is often a problem in the modern business world: everyone wants to be a strategist. Aside from being seen as the best place to get to experiment with the new, fun stuff, it’s also usually seen as the side of the business with all the perks — travel, [ Read More ]
Ask anyone who got into an internet-based business prior to 2000, and you’ll hear nostalgic “good old days” stories, the way my grandparents talk about ‘when Kennedy was President.’ It’s hysterical to hear, and it saddens me endlessly to think about how long ago that was, but it really was an exciting time — and [ Read More ]
Not working is easily ten times more stressful than working — unless, of course, money is not a concern in your life. Unemployment or underemployment is difficult to manage on multiple levels, because — just to name a few examples — it has such a huge impact across all spectrums of your life: Financial stability [ Read More ]
I try to avoid ranting on my blog (which sort of puts me in the minority), but I’m going to deviate from my self-imposed rule for a moment, and I hope you’ll indulge me while I stomp my feet and jump up and down a bit, but this is something that is really sticking in [ Read More ]
If there is always one part of the early interview process that is a sticky wicket it is the, “What were you making at your last job?” question. This is a question that, particularly as someone who recently moved from NYC to Austin, Texas, is a problem to answer. The bigger problem is having this [ Read More ]
It’s probably a weird thing for a vocal atheist to quote, but there is something about the famous prayer that has been resonating with me more and more lately. Well, maybe not the “God” part of it, but the recognition part. Grant me strength to accept the things that I can’t change, the courage to [ Read More ]
Well, today is day #2 and it’s been quite the interesting ride so far. It’s hard to be substantive at a public computer (no laptop – don’t ask!) while standing on sore feet between sessions, but this is a random brain dump of some different things I’ll be circling back to in more detail over [ Read More ]
After writing my post last week, Winners and Windmills, I asked my friend, the lovely and talented Tiffany Miley-Parks if she would be willing to write a follow-up piece that addresses what happens when “passion and skill” are not longer aligned with the “opportunity and circumstance” that make a work environment exciting. She graciously complied [ Read More ]
Accomplishment-oriented people often share a very common character trait: we hate to quit. More often than not, this is a combination of our own need to conquer whatever mountain we have set our sights on, and our belief that others are counting on us to succeed. In both cases, those assumptions are frequently over-estimated. Our [ Read More ]
I really hate working from home. A lot. Aside from the whole ‘building revenue’ issue (hardly insignificant), this is undoubtedly the thing I find the hardest about starting a new business. I miss being in an office. I miss the routine of a schedule. I miss interacting with people who are working on the same, [ Read More ]
As the debate about the best approach to an economic stimulus package rages, I am reminded time and again of the conversations I’ve had throughout my career with non-IT executives when it comes to IT work. Coming from an IT background, of course, I have often found the conversations frustrating, unrealistic and short-sighted, which is [ Read More ]
The San Francisco Bay Area is a unique place. And like all unique places, it will leave its finger print on its natives — often so strongly that other natives will recognize the signs, even on the other side of the planet. What is always a bit unexpected, however, is when you venture away from [ Read More ]