The first time I was enticed to join a tech startup by some well-known executives and VCs, it didn’t take long for me to figure out that these experts must have been smoking something when they signed up for this gig. I quit after nine months. Sure enough, the company[…] Read On
Most of us are very good at starting things. We start with good intentions but fail to think and follow through. In my experience, that has a big impact on career, business and financial outcomes. And not in a good way. Along the same lines, we tend to do a[…] Read On
When Amazon Web Services (AWS) lost a $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract to rival Microsoft Azure, the ecommerce giant should have just packed it up and called it a day. After all, nobody likes a sore loser. Especially an arrogant one. Case in point: AWS CEO Andy Jassy, who[…] Read On
I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first? The bad news? Okay: The real world is a real mess. Ready for the good news? Okay: You’re lucky to be alive and well and living in it. I once had an employee – a manager,[…] Read On
“We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” – Speaker Nancy Pelosi Every company culture has its own unique jargon. Facebook’s mantra is “Move fast and break things.” Zuck and company sure have stayed true to that, especially the second part. Amazon’s[…] Read On
Success is great; failure sucks. This is not a news flash. It’s also a fundamental truth, no matter what you’ve read on popular business sites. The question is, which of the two results should leaders fear most? Ironically, the answer is “success.” Nobody wants to fail, but we all[…] Read On
At this moment I’m sitting on the veranda of my Silicon Valley mountain home. It’s a gorgeous sunny day – a little on the dry side, but not atypical for this time of year. This would be heaven on Earth except for one thing: The serene sounds of chirping birds[…] Read On