Right, That's MY Job
Right, That’s MY Job
I made a dumb comment at our recent Board meeting that got me thinking. We came into the meeting with, in addition to lots of the regular updating and reporting, one specific strategic topic we wanted guidance on from the Board about something that’s been nagging the management team for a while without an obvious solution.
We had a great conversation about the topic with the Board and got very clear guidance as to their perspective on what we should do. I agreed with most of it, albeit with a couple modifications, but more than anything else, I was happy for the note of clarity on an issue with which we’d been struggling as a management team.
So my comment in the meeting was "that’s pretty clear direction, we’ll go do that" (or something along those lines). Whereupon one of my Board members politely reminded me that actually it’s not the Board’s job to make things happen, only to give advice and counsel, and that I shouldn’t take their words as gospel and assume they’ll work. Right. Good point.
The Board is my boss (I am on the Board, but so are five other people), and while there are some items where the Board does have the final say, the overwhelming majority of my actions and the actions within the company are really up to us. We can seek guidance when we feel we need it, but that guidance doesn’t come with a guarantee that it will work operationally — nor does it give me the ability to absolve myself if things don’t work out in the end.
This is a point worth thinking about no matter what role you play in your organization. Most people, most of the time, have a lot of latitude in how they go about their job. Sometimes, the boss tells you what to do. But most of the time, you’re on your own, and while you can and should get advice from above when necessary, the most successful people in business are the ones that take the guidance and factor it into their own decision-making and initiative as opposed to blindly following.
Whiplash at Google
Whiplash at Google
A friend of mine who works at Google invited me over to have lunch last week. It was fun to see their NY office — it had a similar fun vibe to their main campus in Mountain View. But it was a study in contrast in terms of how they treat guests.
First, I had to sign a one-sided NDA in order to enter the premises. Totally offputting as the first point of contact and a requirement to even have lunch. I know other companies do that was well but was surprised given the whole “do no evil” thing to see it at GOOG.
But then of course, there was the free super gourmet cafeteria: hazelnut-encrusted wild halibut, braised fennel and leeks, lavash, and seared scallop and seaweed with a ponzu vinaigrette. I’m not even sure what ponzu vinaigrette is, but I can attest that it is yummy.
Mostly, it was just interesting to see what the Google machine has built in Manhattan — 1,200 people (including 300+ engineers, which is truly astounding) and growing!
Book Short: Finishing First
Book Short: Finishing First
The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness, by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval, is one of those “airport books” that takes about an hour to read. I had an ear-to-ear grin reading the book, in part because, well, it’s just a happy book, filled with anecdotes about how a smile here or a gesture of kindness there made a difference in someone’s life — both personally and professionally.
But part of my interest in the book was also driven by a long-standing debate we have at Return Path over whether we’re “too nice” as a company and whether we should have “sharper elbows.” I was struck by a few comments the authors made, things you would expect like “nice doesn’t mean naïve” as well as things you wouldn’t like “help your enemies.” To me, that says it all about success in business: you can be a fierce competitor externally and demand accountability internally and still be a warm and kind person, and that’s the best (and most rewarding) place to be.
Half Your Waking Hours
Half Your Waking Hours
I just came back from our annual Board/Management ski trip (and Board meeting) — we had about half of both groups join, which is typical given the time commitment. We had a great time, and the conversation for the three days was a nice blend of business and personal.
The thing that struck me during the weekend — and I am reminded of this regularly in the office and at other work events as well — is how much I genuinely enjoy the company of the people with whom I work. Whether it’s my senior staff, my Board, or anyone I can think of in other roles within Return Path, we can manage to have a good time together and have fun as well as be productively thinking about and discussing work.
With generic assumptions of 8 hours of sleep a night and 8 hours of work a day (neither one being true of course, but canceling each other somewhat out here), we spend half our waking hours on the job. So we might as well choose to work with people that we get along with! That doesn’t mean everyone we hire at Return Path has to be like-minded or have the same sense of humor. But it does mean that we look for people who have that spark in their eye that says "I get it"; it means we want to find people who are articulate and have strong convictions and are not afraid to speak their mind; and it means we screen for people who can be light-hearted and don’t take themselves too too too seriously when we recruit, interview, and hire.
Think about that "half your waking hours" thing the next time you’re hiring someone. Which candidate (of the technically qualified ones who are in the right zone in terms of compensation) would you rather spend your day with? In my former career in management consulting, we used to call this the "Cleveland Airport test" — as in, if you were stuck in the Cleveland Airport with this candidate, would you be happy or sad about it?
Half Your Waking Hours
Half Your Waking Hours
I just came back from our annual Board/Management ski trip (and Board meeting) — we had about half of both groups join, which is typical given the time commitment. We had a great time, and the conversation for the three days was a nice blend of business and personal.
The thing that struck me during the weekend — and I am reminded of this regularly in the office and at other work events as well — is how much I genuinely enjoy the company of the people with whom I work. Whether it’s my senior staff, my Board, or anyone I can think of in other roles within Return Path, we can manage to have a good time together and have fun as well as be productively thinking about and discussing work.
With generic assumptions of 8 hours of sleep a night and 8 hours of work a day (neither one being true of course, but canceling each other somewhat out here), we spend half our waking hours on the job. So we might as well choose to work with people that we get along with! That doesn’t mean everyone we hire at Return Path has to be like-minded or have the same sense of humor. But it does mean that we look for people who have that spark in their eye that says "I get it"; it means we want to find people who are articulate and have strong convictions and are not afraid to speak their mind; and it means we screen for people who can be light-hearted and don’t take themselves too too too seriously when we recruit, interview, and hire.
Think about that "half your waking hours" thing the next time you’re hiring someone. Which candidate (of the technically qualified ones who are in the right zone in terms of compensation) would you rather spend your day with? In my former career in management consulting, we used to call this the "Cleveland Airport test" — as in, if you were stuck in the Cleveland Airport with this candidate, would you be happy or sad about it?
Book Short: Virtuous Cycle
Book Short: Virtuous Cycle
Danny Meyer’s Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business is a fun read if you’re a New Yorker who eats out a lot; a good read for entrepreneurs around scaling leadership skills as the business grows; and a great read for anyone who runs a serious customer service-oriented organization. I’ve eaten at all of his restaurants multiple times over the years except for the new ones at MOMA (perhaps a few too many times at the Shake Shack), and while I like some more than others (perhaps the Shake Shack a bit too much), they all do have great hospitality as a common theme.
While there are a lot of good lessons in the book, Meyer talks about something he calls the Virtuous Cycle of Enlightened Hospitality that matches the general hierarchy of constituents or stakeholders in a business that I refer to at Return Path: employees, customers, community, suppliers, investors. His general point is that if you have happy employees, they make for happy customers, and returns for investors will follow. While the specifics may or not be true of all businesses, I bet the first and last item are — especially for service-oriented businesses in any industry. I wish we had a better handle on the Community aspect at Return Path, but we at least do an OK job at it, especially given the geographic diversity within the company.
(Note this was one of Fred’s favorite parts of the book as well from his review — nice to see a professional investor in agreement!)
ROI Radio Interview
ROI Radio Interview
Greg Cangialosi, CEO of Blue Sky Factory and a client of ours, runs a podcast series on his blog called ROI Radio. Last week, he interviewed me. It’s a bit long, but feel free to listen or download here. We mostly cover things related to Return Path — our products and how we do things — but we also talk a bit about the growth and development RSS/feed technology and FeedBurner.
Help Me, Help You, Part II
Help Me, Help You, Part II
Thanks to the nearly 100 readers who responded to my reader survey this past week. While I’m not sure it’s a truly statistically significant base of OnlyOnce’s audience (I’ll have to ask my friends over at Authentic Response), I’ll treat it like it is. Here’s what I learned. First, the general results:
- Satisfaction levels are good – 46% are regular readers and love it, 48% read occasionally and think it’s ok, and only 6% gave it an “eh – wouldn’t miss it if it went away”
- Entrepreneurship is the most popular topic, with 86% interest, and Leadership/Management is a close second at 82%. Online/Email Marketing came in at 61% and Book Reviews at 43%. Current Affairs and Travel (which I almost never use) were 31% and 25%, respectively
- 72% of people feel frequency at 1-2 posts a week is on target. Only 4.5% want fewer posts, and 24% (those kind souls) want it more often
- Most people other than Return Path staff found the site through a link on another blog rather than search
Next, the open-ended comments were interesting. A summary snapshot:
- Positive comments were generally about tone and candid approach, succinct posts, and topics. One nice person noted his/her favorite thing was “the author” (thank you Mom/Dad/Grandma/Mariquita/Michael)
- Constructive comments varied. Some good ones are noted below:
- “assumes a level of knowledge not everyone has”
- “too heralding of the VC view of the world”
- “too much focus on email/marketing,” “too local/American” (that’s who I am, though)
- “ I would like to see more about what it takes to be a CEO in day to day operations. what skills do you find you need, what obstacles do you come across, issues with driving a company.”
- “A little too much PRish in regards to Return Path”
- “It seems like everything you write about is too positive. Or at least a negative story with a happy ending. Nothing about what sucks to run a company. I run one and a lot of it does suck.”
- “Not enough personal stuff — who is the author?” (see the About Me link on the blog)
- “The word vigilante is bandied around way too much by the author”
- And of course someone noted as constructive feedback that I haven’t yet mentioned my mother’s name (sorry, Mom/Joyce!). And one person suggested I shave. Thanks, really.
Finally, the demographics of my audience:
- 3 % are under 24, 45% are 25-34, 41% are 35-49, 11% are over 49
- 80% male and 20% female (surprising)
- Company data wasn’t so interesting, or I phrased the question poorly – but one takeaway is that about 1/2 of readers seem to be “in the industry” generally speaking, with lots of Return Path staff subscribing as well as lots of other entrepreneurs and a handful of VCs
- Level/title was more interesting – nearly half the audience is SVP-level or above at their company
Thanks again, everyone, and I’ll take note of this feedback for future postings!
Help Me, Help You
Help Me, Help You
I’m conducting a really short reader survey about OnlyOnce. There are about 10 questions, half about the blog, and half about reader demographics. Please take 2 minutes to complete it for me so I know how I’m doing! All responses are anonymous, as you’ll see. Click here to go to the survey.
Use Your Powers for Good
Use Your Powers for Good
Neil Schwartzman, our compliance officer for our Sender Score Certified whitelist program, wrote a great post on the Return Path blog entitled How the Sender Community Can Help Fight Spam. If you’re a commercial mailer, I’d encourage you to read it. It’s a great perspective from a long-time anti-spam leader.
OnlyOnce is Ok
OnlyOnce is Ok
Fred and Brad from Union Square Ventures have a great post today about the kinds of entrepreneurs they like to back and why. I particularly like it because almost half their portfolio is made up of companies led by first-time CEOs, which as you probably know, is one of the founding themes around this blog.