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HBS Working Knowledge: For Business Leader

HBS Working Knowledge: For Business Leader

Hiring is Obsolete May 2005 (This essay is derived from a talk at the Berkeley CSUA.) The three big powers on the Internet now are Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft. Average age of their founders: 24. So it is pretty well established now that grad students can start successful companies. Like everything else in technology, the cost of starting a startup has decreased dramatically. The less it costs to start a company, the less you need the permission of investors to do it. The most interesting subset may be those in their early twenties. Market Rate I once claimed that nerds were unpopular in secondary school mainly because they had better things to do than work full-time at being popular. Or more precisely, I think few realize the huge spread in the value of 20 year olds. Till now the problem has always been that it's difficult to pick them out. It's hard to judge the young because (a) they change rapidly, (b) there is great variation between them, and (c) they're individually inconsistent. Product Development

How to Use Your Subconscious to Change Your Life “Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.” – Thomas Edison Your subconscious loves to do work while your body performs other tasks that are easy. I can prove this very easily by asking you how many good ideas you have had while driving or in the shower. Using subconscious requests will… Improve your motivation.Help you become happier.Increase your emotional intelligence. You’ll see improvement in less than a month. My last request was… “Please give me more patience when commuting to work and allow me to even enjoy my time in the car.” Within a month I was enjoying my ride to work. My latest request is… “Let’s find creative ways to grow my blog.” I took this approach because it’s going to take a request to my subconscious and action in my waking life to make this happen. Mindset My mindset is changing by setting my subconscious on a certain issue. The 3 step request only takes five minutes: Step 2: Take two minutes to visualize yourself actually able to do this thing.

How to Start a Startup March 2005 (This essay is derived from a talk at the Harvard Computer Society.) You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. And that's kind of exciting, when you think about it, because all three are doable. If there is one message I'd like to get across about startups, that's it. The Idea In particular, you don't need a brilliant idea to start a startup around. Google's plan, for example, was simply to create a search site that didn't suck. There are plenty of other areas that are just as backward as search was before Google. For example, dating sites currently suck far worse than search did before Google. An idea for a startup, however, is only a beginning. Another sign of how little the initial idea is worth is the number of startups that change their plan en route. People What Customers Want Should You?

Start Your Day in 33 Different Ways Mornings are underrated. I consider them fundamental for the whole diurnal experience. What you do in the very first moments of your morning will fundamentally and inexorably shape your entire day. Most of the time you spend your mornings by routinely performing some habits, on auto pilot. Consciously inserting your intentions in these very first moments will have a huge effect. Here are at least 33 ways in which you can transform your days by only spending 5 minutes every morning. 1. I love the morning stillness and the unspoken promise of something ready to start. 2. And do nothing. 3. Point your mind to something you’re really grateful for and stay there. 4. Regardless of the current season. 5. You’re going to spot it pretty easily if you put your mind to it. 6. Write an answer to an old question, do part of a small chore, move an object out of somebody’s way. 7. Empty your mind and isolate from your environment. 8. 9. Like in getting physical. 10. 11. Let go. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Berkun blog & Blog Archive & The start- One common pattern I’ve seen with small tech companies is how their initial success by focusing on self-driven engineering talent creates problems they are completely unequipped to solve. I call this the start-up management inflection point. The premise: Small engineering start-up is born, does well, hires like mad.Heavy hiring bias for self-driven solo programmer prodigies.Company grows; scores of engineers are productive, but conflicts and miscommunications rise.Soon primary challenge isn’t quality programmers: it’s organizing them. No matter how self-directed programmers are, eventually their utility declines as ambiguities in direction, conflicts in direction and ownership increase. When a certain size is reached, likely 100 to 200, the company changes because of scale effects. The trap: Dozens of tech-sector companies are stuck in this trap and have been for years. So what’s the solution? The answers come fast if everyone has shared goals. Good questions include: What are the symptoms?

8 Things to Stop Doing Right Now The main purpose of this site is to help you be who you want to be and live the life you want to live. I think everyone deserves that at the bare minimum, and I believe that everyone can achieve it. Therefore, a lot of the messages that I share here are positive, inspiring and action orientated. With this post I want to change direction, and not cover the things you should be doing, but the things you shouldn't be doing. Photo Credit I truly believe that successful implementation, or actually 'de-implementation' of these methods will dramatically improve a number of things. What I mean by improving your awareness is that you actually might 'wake up' to some of the things you've been doing, and understand exactly why I say you need to stop doing these things immediately. 1. Ask yourself, is there anyone in this world that could achieve what I want to achieve? 2. “Why do some people have all the luck?” These are all questions that deserve no time to be pondered. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. zp8497586rq

SciGuy: Steorn and free energy: the plot t Steorn has now posted a slick, five-minute video that features interviews with company CEO Sean McCarthy as well as the company’s marketing director. For more background, see our earlier discussion. Like I said, the video’s slick, and not too heavy on scientific detail. McCarthy: The first roadblock is science. The video explains that a “quiet” campaign was plan A. McCarthy: The claim does rail against so much thinking from ordinary people, through the engineering community to the academic community, it’s a prerequisite that this is accepted by science, and that this is embraced by science. Then, he concludes by saying it’s Steorn against the world. McCarthy: We have to fight public opinion, we have to fight the scientific community and we have to fight the energy industry. The more I think about this I am of two minds: 1. 2. (Other points of discussion: ILikeYourStyle, Archaeoastronomy, and Engadget.)

15 Amazing Castles from Around the Globe Although designed and built for the prominent purpose of defense, today the castles seem like somewhat unrealistic constructions straight from the fairytale world. From solid strongholds to oriental fortresses and highly decorative palaces, the castles are our connection to the past, where legends mix with history and reality blends with a fairyland. This fairytale castle is the historical seat of the Prussian Kings and German Emperors. Its origin dates back to the Middle Ages - it was built in the 11th century, then completely destroyed in 1423 and reconstructed in 1461. The view from the castle that stands on top of Mount Hohenzollern (855 m) is as stunning as the complex itself. Although it looks like a castle, Howard is actually a stately home - a private residence of the Howard family that has resided in the complex for more than 300 years. Segovia Castle, located in an ancient town of Segovia in central Spain, started off as an Arab fort in the 12th century. Burg Eltz castle.

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