June 22, 2007

So Good, Google Asks Us For Favors!

OK, that's a little bit cheeky for a headline, I'll admit. We've actually really enjoyed our relationship with Google over the years, from being one of the largest customers back at HotJobs in 2001, to our industry-leading collaborations today!

June 19, 2007

Don't do it!

Start-ups sure sound like fun! Marc Andreesen explains why not.

The comments are pretty good too. And I think I've experienced every single one of these in my four years of starting-up TheLadders.com.

June 18, 2007

Fare thee well, Steve Higgins.

My friend and college roomate, Steve Higgins, finally succumbed to brain cancer this Saturday after his 3-year battle. Steve was one of the best people I've ever known, and I learned so much from him. He was also a sometimes contributor to Stone, and an early helper on TheLadders.com as our first editor at FinanceLadder.

There's so much to say, but why don't I let a few pictures tell the story better than a thousand words will do....

Hig and me in Argentina in January 2003 -- what a trip! Red wine and grass-fed steak dinners could be had for less then ten bucks a head! This is when Hig and I decided that we had to buy a summer house in Mendoza, Argentina :)

Here's Higgins and me celebrating the first day of SalesLadder.com. I had just signed up our first three subscribers, so of course a fine lunch was required to celebrate! Chanterelle and neckties. Hig wrote this post recounting our afternoon.

And here is the TheLadders.com team in fall 2003, out for a pint at Bull McCabe's after one of our Tuesday night meetings round my living room table...

Gosh, I guess I've known Steve for twenty years now. And trying to list all the wonderful places we went together, and things we did together, and pints we had together, would be very meaningful to me, but just strings of words, husks of the experience, to you.

So perhaps the fitting send off is related to another passing.

Steve was a news junkie and a book reader at a level exponentially greater than me. And for those of you who know my news junkie-ness and my ever-expanding reading list, that's quite something.

So one morning in 1995, I get a call from Hig: "Marc, Jerry's dead," letting me know that Jerry Garcia has passed away. Now, I'm a big Deadhead -- saw the Dead 17 times before Jerry passed on and still listen to their music more than anything else in my iPod.

I was distraught, crying, distresed, and just wanted to crawl into the music. So I went out to my car, and popped in Brokedown Palace, one of the sweetest elegies of all.

You can listen to it here, by clicking on the link and selecting Track 21...

Fare you well, my honey, fare you well my only true one.
All the birds that were singing are flown, except you alone.
Going to leave this Brokedown Palace,
On my hand and knees, I will roll, roll, roll.
Make myself a bed, by the waterside I will lay my head
Listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul
River going to take me, sing me sweet and sleepy,
Sing me sweet and sleepy
All the way back home

It's a far gone lullaby, sung many years ago.
Mama, mama many worlds I've come
Since I first left home.
Goin' home, goin' home, by the waterside I will rest my bones,
Listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul

Going to plant a weeping willow,
On the bank's edge it will grow, grow, grow.
Sing a lullaby beside the water,
You know lovers come and go, but the river roll, roll, roll.
Fare you well, fare you well,
I love you more than words can tell,
Listen to the river sing sweet songs,
To rock my soul.

And I guess that's how I feel about my friend Steve this morning. He lived a beautiful life with friends and family and fond memories. The past few years have been hard for him, and we all wish him godspeed now that his suffering has passed.

From your friend forever -- "Fare thee well, Hig."

June 04, 2007

New CMO at TheLadders.com

Yay!

We announced this morning that we've hired Robert Turtledove as our Chief Marketing Officer.

I'm very excited to have Robert joining us after an exhaustive search in which we spoke with almost 150 candidates. The level of interest in the job from the leading lghts of marketing and branding was really overwhelming.

So I guess it's a good news day here at the nation's largest $100k+ job website!

:)

Naadam

Google Alerts are really fun for keeping in touch with topics that you have a low, but consistent, level of interest in.

For me, that includes Naadam, Mongolia's annual religious festival / rodeo held in mid-July that I attended in 2002.

The breaking news that came across the Alert this morning? According to the Ulan Baator Post, the New Horse Race Course Will be Circular, instead of a straight line!

June 03, 2007

TheLadders.com in The New York Times

Hey! We made the New York Times! With photo!

Great to see our business model getting validation from the broader world.