There are all sorts of loony notions being promulgated as truths by many political, academic and business leaders, not to mention agitators, activists, anarchists and the mainstream media. Those people have one thing in common: They’re all idiots. And those idiots are confusing the hell out of young people, all[…] Read On
Monthly Archives: September 2017
Forget ‘Making the World a Better Place’ — This Is How You Motivate Employees
Back in the ‘90s, I took a job at a Dallas-based microprocessor company named Cyrix. Anyone who visited us understood our mission, thanks to the tombstone prominently displayed in the lobby. Engraved on its marble surface was the famous Intel Inside logo, followed by three foreboding letters: RIP. That was[…] Read On
The Death of Public Relations, RIP
When I ran marketing, public relations strategy was relatively straightforward. There weren’t that many influential analysts, pundits and media powerhouses, so the PR folks built relationships and didn’t bug them unless we had real news to pitch. And we followed the old axiom: If the WSJ covers it, the others[…] Read On
In a Rut? This Is How You Break Out of It.
I’ve been an officer of several public and private companies, run a Silicon Valley startup, been involved in two IPOs, cofounded a boutique management consulting firm and worked with countless founders and VCs. It’s been one hell-of-a ride, but you know what? I’m no entrepreneur. There are two reasons for[…] Read On
Should You Upgrade Your iPhone?
For a while, we upgraded iPhones every two years. Then it slipped to three. Going forward, who knows? Will I upgrade to Apple’s new iPhone 8 or X? Nope, and I’ll tell you why: We have so many gadgets now that upgrading has become an annoying, time consuming, expensive pain[…] Read On
Why None of Us Can Afford to Forget 9/11
A few years back, I headed off to San Francisco International Airport on eve of July 4th, concerned about warnings of possible terrorist attacks the likes of which we hadn’t seen since 9/11. The day was thankfully uneventful, but it brought back personal memories of the most devastating attack on[…] Read On
The Time the Web Saved My Bacon
Watching a ballgame after a brief power outage, my 60-inch Pioneer plasma decided to crap out. The only sign it was still alive was a tiny blue LED in the lower left corner blinking on and off 12 times and repeating the pattern over and over. I tried turning it[…] Read On