Category Archives: Tech

You don’t become evil overnight

Community, Tech,

"Microsoft is" Google searchHow did Microsoft get a reputation for being evil and having inferior products? Was it one thing they did? Of course not. It was the increase in blue screens of death, along with bad Windows design decisions, antitrust lawsuits, along with the increasing quality of Apple products.

Did Groupon start out evil? No, they slowly started pushing tougher tactics as they reached for IPO, focusing less on their original goal of helping small businesses and more on metrics that investors.

Neither of these companies woke up one morning with a completely different reputation. They slowly earned it. (And they’re just as slowly trying to get past it.)

Most companies never aim to become bad or shady or evil. But many start sacrificing their values in the rush to hit short-term goals. They gradually start ignoring the customer experience in favor of the investor experience. And then, maybe years later, they suffer the consequences.

Invest in your values and your customers now and you’ll have longevity. Sacrifice them for the short term and suffer later.

(“But isn’t Microsoft massively successful? Can you really say that they’re a failure?” Sure I can. They used to be exciting and loved and the thing to have. They have plenty of revenue now because they’re a massive, diversified corporation but I can’t imagine Bill Gates feels that this is the company he dreamed of having.)

My challenge to the Twitter IPO winners (and myself)

Life, Tech, ,

A lot of people made a lot of money today. I have no problem with people making money, and I’m sure they put a lot of work into it.

flattened hatBut they’ve also been very lucky. I imagine very few of the folks who won big at Twitter have ever been hopelessly in debt simply due to basic living expenses. Fewer have ever had a chronic, life-threatening disease. Even less have been homeless. But there are millions upon millions of people who suffer through these things every day. We’re only a few moments of bad luck from being these people.

We’re very lucky here in Silicon Valley (myself included). We work hard, but we can’t discount the effect of luck. And even those who didn’t make a bunch today are still paid quite well.

So let’s take a second to pull our heads out of the Valley. Let’s stop obsessing over what WE are doing and start looking at the problems in the world, in this country, and in this city. It’s something I know I don’t do enough.

My challenge to all of you (and to myself): let’s figure out what fun things to spend our money on, what to save, and then what to donate to good causes*. If the last element is not part of your equation, you’re doing life wrong.

Photo courtesy of neurmadic asthetic.

*I believe in sustainable, effective causes as much as good ones. I’m not asking you to put money in some guy’s hat, I’m asking you to find something you believe in. There’s plenty of great stuff out there!

Support team retention? The MOST important thing.

Customer Service, Tech,

ladder to the sky“So many support teams see members come and go. It’s the stepping stone for ‘more respectable’ jobs. This can be okay in certain organizations, but most of the time it simply results in lower quality of support for the customer. High turnover means training, re-training, and undocumented processes … your customers suffer, and usually the bottom line does as well. Keeping support members who are good at the job is vital.”

(From Chris Bowler‘s blog)

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

I’m encountering this a lot while hiring at ZOZI. This is the first company I’ve worked at that is very attractive to the general public (UserVoice was more “startup cool”) and lots of folks have literally told me “I’ve been waiting for a job, any job to open at your company” while I looked on at their marketing-heavy resumes. Some of them are promising (and hey, one of my existing, awesome team members came to us that way) but most of them are the types whose first question is about the career progression track is at the company. In short, they want to know how long until they can go work in Marketing.

I’ve always been focused on keeping my staff happy but this is a great reminder that it’s not just important, but essential.

(Via Andrew Spittle)

Photo courtesy of Prescott Pym.

Why do you NEED to check your smartphone?

Life, Tech

A hilarious bit from Louis C.K. that is actually pretty profound too. Are we giving ourselves bite-sized doses of happiness to avoid our actual sadness? And is this preventing us from feeling actual, genuine happiness?


It’s a fascinating thought, delivered as a joke. I admit that I check my phone far too often…but I also work hard to give myself moments to think to myself. Whether it be brainstorming, riding my bike somewhere, or just a few minutes sitting on the bus not distracting myself with anything, I think agree with Louis – the good comes with the bad.

Via Thomas Knoll.