May 27, 2006

It Really Stands Out

Microsoft re-designs the iPod package, and shows they have a great sense of humor.

Perhaps inadvertently, this video gives me a really positive feeling about Microsoft -- it's fantastic that they can laugh at themselves.

May 26, 2006

Can Cellphones Cause Explosions at Gas Pumps?

Just got a call from my brother Matt while he was pumping gas. I told him to hang up and call me back when he was in the car -- it's not safe to talk on a cellphone while pumping gas, right?

So I decided to do the research, and sure enough, it seems to be an urban legend. Here's the U.S. Navy's take on it.

A Fun Parody

Of the bouncing balls ad.

May 25, 2006

Jobs Accepted on TheLadders.com Last Week (sorted by salary)

Hey, Readers!

Here's the full list of 276 jobs accepted by TheLadders.com subscribers last week (May 15th - May 21st):

To see the list sorted alphabetically, click here.

Jobs Accepted on TheLadders.com Last Week

Hey, Readers!

Here's the full list of 276 jobs accepted by TheLadders.com subscribers last week (May 15th - May 21st):

To see the list sorted by salary, click here.

May 24, 2006

Acquired or Expired

Test your internet bubble trivia with this quiz! I scored 21.

May 22, 2006

The VC Trap

Paul Kedrosky is easily my favorite blogger. The topics -- VC, investing, skeptical optimism and the internet -- are my favorites.

His posts and material are provocative, insightful and clever.

And he's always looking at things from a new angle.

Today's no exception with this post on The VC Trap, Part II:

A reader (thanks Brian!) sent in the following as an email, and he has nicely agreed to allow me to repurpose it as a post:

After reading your blog post on why VCs seem to desire only startups with proven teams, tech, biz models, etc., I realized why the bubble happened and why the crash was inevitable despite the valid projections on where the Internet/Web would be right about now (b/c of broadband, wireless, faster chips, increased storage, et al).

Since my theory only touches upon consumer-facing startups it may or may not pertain to infrastructure and enterprise plays and despite my generalization, there are exceptions to every rule.

To follow upon your conversation with the startup CEO you spoke to, this is my outline of why things happened the way they did and will continue to happen in the same manner.

The first entrepreneur, call him Radical Joe, has a newfangled idea about a technology or business model. Radical Joe, not in step with conventional thinking, may lack the presumptive network, pedigree, or attitude of a VC's ideal entrepreneur, so when he pitches his idea to investors he is turned down flat. Despite the rejection, Radical Joe bootstraps his startup with F&F money. Lo and behold, the idea takes off and the business becomes a genuine hit. Now Radical Joe is celebrated in the press and lands on the cover of Business 2.0, if not Time.

VCs, cursing themselves for not funding Radical Joe, plot their revenge. If a nobody like Radical Joe could succeed, they rationalize, how much better could a startup do staffed with A-level talent and stuffed with a boatload of cash? So, they recruit the usual suspects (big tech ex-managers/retired CEOs/I-Bankers/entrepreneurs-in-residence) to run me-too startups into a now "proven" market (because of Radical Joe's perseverance). The startups are invariably overcapitalized and spend money like drunken sailors; though the rational is always justified as a need to steal market share away from Radical Joe's breakthrough (but then-unloved) idea. While consumers often benefit from this tremendous competition with goods and services often given away for free (but made up in advertising), it wrecks company balance sheets, including Radical Joe's; wiping out late-to-the-party investors when the bubble inevitably bursts.

Newly formed VCs who invested just as the punch bowl was taken away from the party get hammered in the downturn. They bemoan about how all this money poured into risky copycat startups created brutal competition which left few winners standing with their investments among the losers. To placate their angry LPs VCs say they'll be more disciplined as a way to better insulate their risk the next time (if they're still around). That usually means, as you guessed it, funding only perfected technologies with superior management staffing the startups in a "proven" growth market.

Can you say deja vu?

Nice work, Paul!

May 21, 2006

Manhattan from tip to toe!

Well, I did my Manhattan walk -- from tip to toe -- again today.

Here's the Google map:

It's about 14 miles as the crow flies, and 15 miles as actually walked. I love it and it's an amazing walk. Third time I've done it and my best time yet -- 3 hours 56 minutes!

Top 100 Recruiter Keyword Searches on TheLadders.com

We've been looking at the most common keyword searches by recruiters on TheLadders.com, so that our 800,000 subscribers can know what keywords from their relevant experience will attract attention.

Here's the whole list:

May 19, 2006

A Long Wait for Guinness

fantastic commercial.

I'm #7!

According to HRBlogs.org via jason:

7. Stone :: Marc Cenedella
Show/Hide Feed
Updated : 2006-05-16 09:45:00
Technorati Rank : 20211

May 15, 2006

The World's Most Poorly Managed, Hugely Successful, Company

Google co-founder Larry Page, last week:

We are a little over the edge right now in terms of our disorganisation.

May 12, 2006

Jerry Garcia playing St. Stephen on Hugh Hefner's Television Show

I love you, YouTube!

May 09, 2006

The Grinch

Why don't they have a class in Lawyer School that reminds attorneys to not send nasty "cease and desist" orders to sympathetic, publicity-favorable high school students?

The jerks in this case are copyright attorneys who ordered 75 high schoolers in the Bronx to trash 3 months hard work rehearsing "Chicago" because their high school is within 75 miles of the Broadway show.

Yep.

I'm picking Cave-In by Thursday.

May 06, 2006

More than 15,000 recruiters on TheLadders.com now

My PR folks will be up in arms, but I can't hold it in!

After announcing in January that we have More Than 10,000 Recruiters Now Posting Jobs at TheLadders.com, I'm excited to note that here in May, we've crossed the 15,000 recruiter mark!

Why?

Because it's always free for high-end recruiters and hiring firms to fill their $100K+ jobs from our 800,000 subscriber database.

Hmmm. Free. Targeted. Easy. Quick.

I'm starting to sound like a brochure -- forgive me, won't you? ;)

Naadam: 800 Years of the Mongolian Horde

For fun, I set up a Google Alert for "Naadam", Mongolia's annual 3-day religious festival and rodeo that is the nation's high holiday.

I attended Naadam in 2002 and it was amazing -- watching the descendants of Genghis Khan race horses across the open steppes is one of those grand life experiences that remain with you all your days.

So it's always a little jolt of pleasure when Google Alerts delivers me a reminder of Naadam.

Here's a press release highlighting the 800th Anniversary of Mongolia for this Naadam. If you have a spare week in early July, hop on the red-eye from Moscow and get thee to Ulan Bator!

May 02, 2006

The Amazing New MyJobs from TheLadders.com

Check out our new My Jobs at TheLadders.com -- we've made it easy (thanks Ajax!) to save jobs, keep track of where you are in the process, and take notes along the way.

Congratulations to the whole team here at TheLadders.com!

May 01, 2006

How Many Recruits Could A Recruiter Recruit, If A Recruiter....

Great article from David Manaster on what the proper recruiter workload is. His data points to 11 open positions as the falling-off point for efficacy.

I think there's also a "speed-to-hire" component that would need to be included to properly understand the right metric. I.e., a recruiter with 11 open positions and an average closing time of 6 months would end up hiring fewer people than one with 6 open positions and an average time-to-close of 2 months.

Baby Name Voyager

The Baby Name Wizard: NameVoyager is really, awfully cool.