Category: business
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Advice on Being a Consultant
Consultant Steve Friedl offers some fantastic advice on being a consultant. I found this comment interesting: I purposely put the technical part of this Tech Tip last, to reinforce the notion that “customer service”, not “computer science” skills are the biggest factors in a successful consulting practice. But it’s foolish to think that technical skills…
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Interview with Obama’s Campaign Manager
An interview with Barack Obama’s presidential campaign manager, David Plouffe: There are business analogies. One is, we’re a startup, we had to go from zero to 60 in a matter of weeks. Our company, if we were successful, would only last two years at the most. You have an end line. You don’t have quarter…
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For-Profit Charities
Charities should embrace for-profit business models in order to drive fundraising, or so says Dan Pallotta, author of Uncharitable and founder of the now-defunct Pallotta TeamWorks company; a for-profit organisation that produced many successful fundraising events for nonprofits. In his column The Sin of Doing Good Deeds, The New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof…
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Recession’s Influence on Working Habits
During times of recession the way business is conducted changes drastically. Given the current economic climate, Lynda Gratton—a professor from the London Business School—wonders what working habits will emerge now? The 1981-82 recession heralded the end of the notion of a “job for life”. Jobs and careers would never be the same. The mantra following…
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Success During the Great Depression
From Google Answers: “What industries fared relatively better and worse in terms of pricing and demand during the Great Depression of 1929? Do the industries reflect a hierarchy of demand from essential consumables to deferrable purchases to capital goods? What specific companies did well in any industry and what distinguishes those companies.” The answer provides…
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Conducting Technical Interviews
Eric Ries, ex-CTO and current tech startup advisor, offers advice on how to conduct a thorough and effective technical interview. Just one of many methods, obviously, but some good information nonetheless. Finding great engineers is hard; figuring out who’s good is even harder. The most important step in evaluating a candidate is conducting a good…
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Google Interviews
Stories abound of bloggers going for interviews at Google and writing up their experiences (as a cursory search will show), but I’ve never felt the need to bookmark or share any of them: they’re all rather lacklustre affairs. However, Peteris Krumins’ account of his interview at Google is informative, indepth and unflinching. In short: worth a…
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Advice for Potential Graduate Students (and Employees)
Poignant advice for potential graduate students (originally by the Johnsen Lab, Duke University). Finally, have your fun now. Five years is a long time when you are 23 years old. By the end of graduate school, you will be older, slower, and possibly married and/or a parent. So if you always wanted to walk across…
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Your Personal Love–Growth–Cash Triangles
Personal love–growth–cash triangles: a visual method for evaluating your life, your career, and everything in between. “If you have a shit job, come up with new ways to learn something out of it. If you have a hobby you’re super-excited about, try to turn it into a business. If you’re just starting a new gig,…
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Raising Money for a StartUp Company
Jason Nazar, founder of DocStoc, digs up an old document on Raising Money for a StartUp Company Good information within on the ‘funding lifecycle’, bootstrapping, angel investors vs. venture capital, and valuation methods, amongst others. Entrepreneurs face a great deal of challenges in building a successful venture. They have to identify a good opportunity, in…