I have spent the last few weeks in a mental fog. When I started Rocket Hangar my initial thoughts were that I would not have enough to do, and that I would be scrambling to keep meaningful work coming in while I explored the landscape and decided on the direction for the company. The reality […]
Tag Archives: Business
The End Of Bland
I have been following the recent trend with the two largest pizza franchises in the US for the last few weeks. Domino’s and Papa John’s have taken to slugging it out over what ingredients are actually going into their pizza, with each claiming that their ingredients are fresher, better, and make for tastier pizza. Of […]
Life Without Google ( Search )
I received a link to an article today on Eric Schmidt’s vision of the future, a world where passive search is the norm, not active. In the article, Mr. Schmidt talks about “knowing your needs before you even ask.” There are examples in the article about walking down the street and having your mobile device […]
When It Becomes Common, It Probably Is Ruined
I have noticed lately that everyone is using Agile software development. I wrote about this trend at Symantec previously, and since leaving, I have noticed it in a number of other larger companies I interact with somewhat regularly. ”We use Agile, and you should too!” It is sad to watch, because the fundamental principles of […]
Work Is Social. For Some People
I spend a lot of time on my own. I work out of my basement in my house, and most of the work I do is over chat or the phone. It is rare that I have to venture out into the big bad world of the corporate office and sea of cubes. I made […]
Firing A Client
A wise man once said “There are two kinds of people in the world. The kind of people that divide the world into two kinds of people, and the kind that don’t.” My version of that for today is that there are two kinds of companies: Companies I want to work with, and companies I […]
Veterinarians vs. Doctors
I was out for some early morning exercise one day this week and started thinking about the Seinfeld episode where Kramer has a mysterious cough that no one can seem to figure out. He then meets a dog named Smuckers who has ( in Kramer’s mind ) the same cough, and resolves to go see […]
Day One – Optimism Springs Eternal
As I wrote about a few weeks ago, I left Symantec Corporation after two plus years of service. My last day was this last Friday. I spent the weekend tying off a bunch of loose ends and have jumped in today with a vengeance on my new venture. I don’t have a name for this […]
Mint.com, what are you doing?
A few weeks back, I was singing the praises of Mint.com. Now, I am beginning to wonder if the acquisition by Quicken is starting to drag them down. There has been an issue for over three months with Capital One Bank wherein the account update will update the balance but not the transactions. While I […]
Exit, Stage Right
I have been at Symantec for over two years. I came there to work with two good friends on some new initiatives happening after their product was acquired. I had never worked at a company that was so large, nor that had the kind of Fortune 500 customer list that they have. It’s been a […]