VanderZanden preaches the insurgent's creed

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“‘Eurisko was exposing the fact that any finite set of rules is going to be a very incomplete approximation of reality,’ Lenat explained. ‘What the other entrants were doing was filling in the holes in the rules with real-world, realistic answers. But Eurisko didn’t have that kind of preconception, partly because it didn’t know enough about the world.’ So it found solutions that were, as Lenat freely admits, ‘socially horrifying’: send a thousand defenseless and immobile ships into battle; sink your own ships the moment they get damaged.”

This is from Malcolm Gladwell calls the “insurgent’s creed” in “How David Beats Goliath” and it’s a good way to look at Bird and the crazy year the company has had.

Are big companies squeezing labor?

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Noah Smith and Russ Roberts debate whether big companies (tech companies in particular) are using monopoly-ish power to push wages down. Noah cites the declining share of wages as an expense; Russ thinks this is a function of investing in technology. Maybe they’re both be right - it’s not a squeeze in a traditional monopolistic sense, but a case of commoditizing your complement - big companies are using software to commoditize what was previously high-skill, high-paying labor. Either way, it’s definitely worth a listen!

"Unicorn Stock Options—Golden Goose or Trojan Horse?"

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Good paper on the lack of liquidity for employee equity packages. Could be considered (in the case of private companies, at least) another “barrier to diffusion” discussed here. (“To the extent that rising use of employee noncompete agreements limits the ability of technical employees to take their skills to new firms, diffusion is slowed.”)

good v bad june

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i have written about juicero before because lol but now, even though this is a bit late, we have to discuss the june oven. guys, the june's first model that came out was $1,500 and it is literally a toaster oven. they just came out with a cheap second model and it's only $599- whatta steal!!!! i just really don't understand 1. how this is silicon valley tech (its oven building) and 2. how it is so expensive. i did a little reading and june's reps say that it's more expensive than a toaster oven b/c the june inspires people to cook more than a toaster oven and it inspires them to cook things they otherwise wouldn't.....like steak. anyways lol. this isn't that interesting but i think i am just pulled in the direction of things named june since that's my kid's name. pics below of good v. bad june. thnx and have a good one! :)

good june

good june

Develop "process knowledge"

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I recommend checking out this excellent blog post by Dan Wang on the importance of "process knowledge".  His idea seems similar Hayek's knowledge of time and place (a concept illustrated by this Marginal Revolution commenter) but with a focus on a community's knowledge instead of the individual's.  The bit about the Japanese shrine is going to be stuck in my head for a while!

fedex and blackjack and cjm search

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most days i am so thankful for having started cjm search. i get to work however often i want with insane flexibility and lots of time to spend with my dog (obvi most important and first), daughter and husband. then there are other days (they're rare but they happen) where i have the occasional panic that my husband, who now works w/ me at cjm search, quit his job at a top law firm in nyc and we threw away two years of nyu law school tuition down. 

anyway, my husband bill was recently listening to a podcast and learned about the start of fedex and it makes me feel so much better about my life choices, b/c if frederick smith can start a multibillion dollar business on a crazy bet in vegas with the company's last dollars, i think we will be fine. 

but like seriously did you guys know that fedex was basically bankrupt and couldn't get anymore funding, so smith (ceo) took the company's last $5,000 and bet it in vegas on blackjack, turning it into $27,000 and kept the company alive for one more week-- just enough time for it to take off?????

we go 0 to 300 -- the mike krieger, drake song

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excellent post by instagram cto, who took team from 0 to 300, on hiring engineers. 

the cliffnotes: when instagram was acquired he had a team of just 6 generalists. 

first engineering hires-- should be generalists who know how to solve your problems and don't get too into the weeds. to test for this- give engineering interviewees a complicated problem to solve with finite period of time. see how much they solve in said time. if it's not much....boy bye. these people should also have passion (for engineering and for the work they're doing) and not just be there to work. and (i think prob most importantly!) these early hires should be diverse!!!! it's true. most companies f this up pretty early ;) 

next engineering hires-- managers. you need managers before you think you do. you want to have mgr behavior on your team before you actually need management. 

then... you go from generalists to platform engineers to product engineers. 

^^ "When it comes to that shift, timing is everything. Do it too soon, and you lose the benefits of that culture-building intermediate stage. Do it too late, though, and you may sow the seeds of discord. “We made the switch around 150 engineers, which was too late,” says Krieger. “I think the breaking point — and the clearest sign that this was something that we needed to change — is when your product managers and your engineering managers start hating each other.”"

 

 

Employee #4

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I've been anxiously checking this blog daily since April 7, my first day with CJM Search, for Colleen's post that would introduce me to the CJM Search blogosphere but like Andy Rooney on most things, I was disappointed.  

So I will do this myself.  My name is Bill McGeehin and I am employee number four (after Roy and June of course) of CJM Search!

Also, since this is a WORK blog, here's a very professional podcast recommendation - listen to this EconTalk podcast about Gawker and Peter Thiel.  Generally fascinating and the interview vs. audition discussion is a particularly good bit for anyone in the job market.

I'm looking forward to getting to work!

Matt Levine writes about getting paid to NOT work...

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And that's the kind of business I'm trying to run. JK, but if someone wants to pay me to pet Roy and eat chocolate then, plz hmu. Also, mmm Popeyes... 

Food and Not Food Stuff.

One of my fundamental beliefs is that the best business model is getting people to pay you not to do something. A classic of the form is the old story that the great mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer Joe Flom "was so feared as an adversary that he was frequently paid handsome retainer fees by companies nervous about becoming takeover targets," just to keep him from working for a bidder. I probably first heard that story when I was a junior M&A lawyer working hundred-hour weeks actually doing deals, and the thought of being paid more money not to do deals has haunted me ever since.

Here is a Bloomberg News story about Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen posting better-than-expected same-store sales numbers last quarter because people really like late-night fried-chicken delivery. Here is a Bloomberg News story about how Silicon Valley startups are getting into the business—somehow it is a business—of fasting. “Not a fan of ‘late capitalism’ meme,” tweeted Matthew Klein of Barron's, “but seems appropriate to describe charging people hundreds of dollars just to tell them not to eat.” You can read the article to figure out how the startups are monetizing not-food—also, to figure out how this counts as “Silicon Valley”—but I prefer to just use my imagination. 

And what I particularly prefer to imagine is Popeyes getting into the fasting business. Sure people will apparently pay $17.99 for Popeyes to deliver them an eight-piece fried chicken meal, but what I want to know is, how much will people pay for Popeyes not to deliver them an eight-piece fried chicken meal? Because nothing will mess with your calorie-restriction plan like a bucket of fried chicken delivered to your house  at midnight. If not giving people food can be a business, surely it can be a lucrative bolt-on business for a company that is otherwise in the business of giving people food? Like if Popeyes charged $17.99 for chicken and $24.99 for no chicken, presumably same-store sales would skyrocket, and with essentially no increase in costs. Please invest in my ICO.