Letters Remain

Tag: business

  • In Defence of Branding

    By comparing and contrasting the “two worlds” of direct marketing and brand marketing, Andrew Chen discusses why metrics-driven marketing shouldn’t usurp that of ‘branding’. The nature of internet marketing makes it easy to have a highly accountable, metrics-driven view – but companies that are highly metrics driven easily overlook hard-to-measure issues like brand and user…

  • Advice for Design and Life, from Milton Glaser

    Milton Glaser, the designer best known for creating the ‘I ♥ NY’ logo, offers ten pieces of advice from a life in design: You can only work for people that you like: “all the work I had done that was meaningful and significant came out of an affectionate relationship with a client”. If you have…

  • Procrastination as Newton’s First Law

    There’s a lot I identify with in this article of Joel Spolsky’s where he talks of using the Fire and Motion strategy to cope with workplace procrastination. There have been times in my career as a developer when I went for weeks at a time without being able to get anything done. As they say, I’m…

  • Setting Goals: A Good Idea?

    Could setting goals be detrimental to achieving our targets? Yes, say a number of “management scholars” researching the issue, but only because they may lead to “bursts of intense effort in the short term” or be too narrow and poorly defined. The comprehensive article looking at their work has some interesting anecdotes and some good…

  • Business Models for Web Apps

    Looking at the business models of the top 100 web apps of 2008, Dan Zambonini of Box UK found that 34% use Advertising, 12% a Variable Subscription model, and a further 8% each for Virtual Products, Related Products and Pay-Per-Use. Continuing this analysis he compiles an extensive list of different methods to monetize web apps. via @zambonini

  • 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,…

  • The Cost of Firing: A Comparison of Severance Packages

    With cost-cutting and downsizing on peoples’ minds, The Economist compares the cost of firing people around the world. America, New Zealand and Tonga are among the most company-friendly countries, requiring no penalties or compensation to fire a full-time employee of 20 years. By contrast, a business in Zimbabwe must shell out well over eight years’…

  • On Business Books, Self-Education, and Mental Models

    I mentioned the Personal MBA Book List last week, and today have come across this interview between Josh Kaufman and Ben Casnocha, author of My Start-Up Life. Josh runs the Personal MBA Recommended Reading List — a list of the best business books one would need to read for a comprehensive business education. It’s a…

  • The Personal MBA Book List

    The Personal MBA is a site dedicated to helping people gain an MBA education without the expense of business school. It’s a self-study guide to advanced business topics and concepts. As Kevin Kelly—the founding executive director of Wired—says: No matter what they tell you, an MBA is not essential for landing or handling a good…

  • Comparison of Maternity Leave Allowances

    The Economist graphically compares OECD maternity leave allowances. Sweden is the most generous of the OECD countries, not only offering most time off but also paying 80% of a woman’s salary for 390 days. For fathers, Britain offers a measly two weeks of unpaid leave, whereas in Norway and Iceland, for example, more even division…