Archives by Date: February 2005
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February 28, 2005
NYT: Wal-Mart Pulls in $20k of Profit a Minute
By the time you finish reading this, Wal-Mart will have raked in $20,000 in profit (yes, that's profit -- not sales), according to an interesting article in Sunday's New York Times.
"It recently reported that for the latest fiscal year, it had profits -- not sales, but profits -- of $10.3 billion. But, of course, that's one of those disembodied corporate numbers that mere mortals with $307.63 in their checking accounts can have trouble getting their minds around."
I'd like me a piece of that!
Posted in on February 28, 2005, 09:02 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Interesting article on Google from GQ
John Heilemann's "Journey to the Center of Google" is an interesting look into the usually tight-lipped Google. The article spends a lot of time discussing how founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin had trouble "growing up" and letting go to certain aspects of the company. It especially interests me given that I read Lucky or Smart? today and author Bo Peabody suggests that the B-Student entrepreneurs should always cede control to the A-Student managers, when the time comes.
"I asked him, 'How the hell do you make decisions? From the outside, it seems crazy.' Eric spent forty-five minutes trying to answer, but he couldn't describe it. And the thing was, he was proud of that. He said it was a new way of doing business. There was no hierarchy; they acted as a triumvirate of equals. They were breaking all the rules. I thought it was a disaster in the making."
My favorite is that co-founder Larry reportedly tried to ban telephones from the new Google office complex.
Posted in on February 28, 2005, 12:09 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
February 27, 2005
Lucky or Smart? by Bo Peabody -- a Quick and Great Read
Today I went to take a look at the gates in Central Park... I hadn't seen them yet and didn't want to let the opportunity pass. On the subway ride there, I read Lucky or Smart? Secrets to an Entrepreneurial Life by Tripod founder Bo Peabody. What a great book!
First off, it's 58 pages, so I'm not sure if you can even call it a book. One of my favorite sections is the chapter called "Entrepreneurs are B-Students. Managers are A-students." It's something I've always believed. Here's a snippet:
"B-Students don't know everything about anything and are excellent at nothing. B-Students do, however, know something about a lot of things, and they can complete almost any task with some modicum of competence...Entrepreneurs are B-Students."
I'm a B-Student. Brad Feld does a great job at summarizing this book over at his blog.
Posted in on February 27, 2005, 07:50 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
February 22, 2005
USA Today's Ad Placement Blunder of Olympic Proportions
I enjoyed (and agree with) former New York Times columnist Robert Lipsyte's editorial on why he doesn't want the 2012 Olympics in New York.
With all the hooplah over the proposed site of a stadium critical to the Big Apple's Olympics bid, Lipsyte does a great job at saying what I have had trouble expressing.
But the best part was that beneath this giant editorial exclaiming "Olympic Unwelcome Mat" was a quarter page NYC2012 advertisement announcing that "Every neighborhood will celebrate."
Whoops. Hope the NYC2012 didn't pay too much for this ad to be placed below the editorial blasting what it's advertising.
Posted in on February 22, 2005, 06:40 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
