Tag: Zynga

Why Do Good People Fire Good Companies?

This is a question that I have given thought to repeatedly over the years. You have good, hard working people who join a good company and, over time, the relationship between the two changes. That doesn’t necessarily imply things are bad, but just different. The result, unfortunately in many cases, is that the real loss is felt by the company losing the talent and not by the individual losing the company because that prominent individual is very capable to securing a new position elsewhere.

This is clearly evident by the lack of good talent available in the market today and why, in many cases, there are bidding wars on the limited talent pool. If you are in Silicon Valley – I’d like to see you find a great software programmer – go on… find one that is just sitting idle waiting for your call!

Continue reading “Why Do Good People Fire Good Companies?”

Silicon Valley – Respect!

The hype around “Silicon Valley – no longer the place to be!” seems to be everywhere in some form or another nowadays.  Whether it’s in the news or some high profile former valley exec (who, by the way, probably loved the valley at some point because it helped them get mega-rich!), they are all touting the challenges associated with doing business not only in the valley but California too – and, in some cases, doing business in the USA in general!  Fair argument… let’s see if we can break this down… Continue reading “Silicon Valley – Respect!”

So you want to be a VC, eh? (Part 3)

If you take but one thing away from these posts, let it be this:  venture capital is a tough business to get in, be in and stay in. During 2009, the VC industry continued the downsizing that became very visible in mid-2008.  While the global economic issues that surfaced in 2008 (e.g. banking meltdown, subprime market, global economic recession) accelerated the decline and definitely added stresses to the industry, this resizing is a function of the technology bubble bursting several years earlier – also known as the “dot com to dot gone” era.  With many firms that raised money during the bubble unable to raise new funds at this time, a further decline in the number of firms is likely.  While fund raising and investment entered a new range, IPO activity remained at a mere trickle and the acquisition exit marketplace declined both in quantity and quality. Continue reading “So you want to be a VC, eh? (Part 3)”

So you want to be a VC, eh? (Part 2)

So, you still want to be a VC, eh?  I don’t blame you… besides the challenges getting started, venture capital is exciting and provides a level of exposure, both technologically and business-wise, that is hard to match.  And look at some the new friends you get to make… Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Marc Pincus (Zynga), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Biz/Ev (Twitter)… you get the point. Continue reading “So you want to be a VC, eh? (Part 2)”

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